Flexible forms of employment and flexible forms of worktime organisation in Polish legal system Agnieszka Łukomska-Dulaj

Polish Constitution of 1997: Everyone shall have the freedom to choose and to pursue his occupation and to choose his place of work (…) Public authorities shall pursue policies aiming at full, productive employment by implementing programs to combat unemployment (…)

Basic legal regulations concerning the labour market:  Labour Code (1974)  Act on promotion of employment and labour market institutions (2004)  Act on freedom of economic activity (2004)  Cooperative Act (1982)  Act on temporary employment (2003)  Civil Code (1964)

The idea of Flexicurity – a research project „Estimation of the flexicurity idea implementation into Polish labour market policy and recommendations of further actions” The Institute of Labour and Social Affairs, Warsaw

Active labour market policies demand oriented ALMP - the intervention works, public works or socially useful works, means destined to create work places. supply oriented ALMP - trainings, practices, professional preparation in the workplace, loans for trainings, scholarships for learning period, refunding of transport and flat costs, activation allowance

Special labour market programs Since 2009 starosta (local authority responsible for the labour market policies realisation) can also initiate and organise special programs, to encourage professional activation. Public Employment Services can also realise leading programs in order to find new methods of helping the unemployed or the employers and to prepare some system solutions.

Labour market institutions Public Employment Services, Volunteer Work Corps, job agencies, training institutions, social dialogue institutions, local partnership institutions Precisely described in the Act on promotion of employment and labour market institutions

Flexible forms of employment  Labour Code - definite employment period, employment contracts, deficient work-time employment, substitution employment, work at home  Civil Code - work contracts and commission contracts  Act on freedom of economic activity - self- employment  Cooperative Act - work sharing  Act on temporary employment - temporary employment, with three parties of the contract

Flexible forms of work-time organization Labour Code - tasks, equivalent or intermittent work-time, individual work-time schedule Internal regulations of each company - movable worktime or variable work hours and individual worktime accounts

Act on appeasement of the economic crisis towards the employees and the contractors (called „the anti-crisis Act”) - until the end of December 2011  some special regulations of labour, in accordance with the flexicurity idea  possibility of using the individual schedule instrument for one employee or the whole team, the regulations on the economic lay-off  ongoing consultations, in order to create new legal solutions making capital of the experiences acquired under the anti-crisis Act

Barriers in using the flexible forms of work The main barrier in using the flexible forms of work is the mentality, especially (but not only) on the employees side Barriers pointed out by the employees the lack of holidays in the case of some flexible forms of employment, great cost of obligatory social assurances, lack of self-confidence on the labour market, especially in the case of long- term unemployed, shorter termination period, lower compensations, high stress level, anxiety about lower care for the employees

Barriers in using the flexible forms of work Barriers pointed out by the employers anxiety about dropping down the company’s attractiveness for the employees, anxiety about lower identification of the employees with the company, lower motivation and lower engagement, lack of team integration, worse relations between the employees and the employers, competition between the employees due to the lack of employment guaranties

Both the employers and the employees indicate also that the legal regulations of work are insufficient for the implementation of the flexicurity idea, particularly in the meaning of lack of balance between flexibility and security. Strong opposition against the flexible forms of employment is presented by the trade unions. On the other hand, the trade unions are favourable to the flexible forms of worktime organisation.

Using instruments of active labour market policy in the recruitment process related to public grants organize traineeships, employment subsidy for persons referred to work in the framework for the intervention or public works by the Labour Office, refund of the workstations upgrading and equipping cost

Using instruments of active labour market policy in the recruitment process  Placement - enables unemployed people to acquire practical skills to perform work tasks in a workplace without establishing an employment relationship with an employer  Intervention works - costless employment of persons referred by the Labour Office  Public works - used to reduce the cost of employing persons referred by the Labour Office