Poland PM Scraps Labor Reform Plans
The Prime Minister announced the decision following coalition discussions in Paris late Wednesday, citing concerns that expanded enforcement powers would threaten employment and grant labor inspectors unchecked control over hiring practices.
"Allowing officials to decide how and on what basis people are employed would be highly destructive," Tusk stated, declaring the government would abandon the proposed legislation entirely.
The proposed overhaul—driven by the Left, Tusk's junior governing partner—sought to empower the State Labor Inspectorate (PIP) to unilaterally reclassify civil-law and business-to-business arrangements as standard employment when misclassification was detected. Companies resisting such conversions would have faced potential litigation.
Additional provisions included modernized inspection protocols, enhanced inter-agency data coordination, and harsher sanctions for labor violations. Advocates argued the measures would address what trade unions characterize as systematic evasion of social insurance obligations and employee protections.
However, opposition emerged not just from corporate interests but from within the coalition itself.
The legislation had already secured approval from the influential Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers and was incorporated into benchmarks linked to EU recovery funding, making Tusk's about-face particularly significant.
Labor Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak, instrumental in developing the reform package, indicated Wednesday she would pursue alternate strategies to curb so-called 'junk contracts.'
"We are talking about a pathology that affects the Polish labor market," she emphasized, arguing the administration must safeguard at-risk workers—including young professionals, gig-economy laborers, and expectant mothers—who face immediate termination under non-traditional arrangements.
Poland ranks among EU nations with the highest concentration of non-standard work arrangements. Approximately 20% to 25% of the labor force operates under civil-law or B2B contracts, with that figure surging to 40% for workers under age 30, especially within service sectors, retail operations, and logistics.
Trade unions celebrated the initial proposal as an overdue remedy to what they view as endemic exploitation through flexible contracting. Employer organizations maintain that such flexibility stimulates job creation and enables companies to control labor expenditures.
By declaring the issue "closed," Tusk has secured provisional harmony between coalition factions and provided reassurance to the business community. Yet the fundamental conflict over Poland's dependence on low-cost, disposable labor persists unresolved, with the Left signaling its intention to pursue the matter legislatively.
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