Disciplinary termination – Compliance

Even the most legitimate grounds for terminating an employment relationship with immediate effect for fault of the employee will not convince the courts if the employer does not ensure that the charges are comprehensible and clear for the employee. 

In certain circumstances, Polish employment law enables employers to terminate an employment relationship forthwith, without observing the usual period of notice, for fault of the employee. In colloquial usage, this is referred to as disciplinary termination [dyscyplinarka].

The legislature has provided for this termination procedure in the event of:

• Grave violation of basic employee duties;
• Commission by the employee of a criminal offence while her contract remains in force – where her commission of that offence is obvious or has been established in a final court ruling and the fact of such commission renders further work in the employee’s position impossible;
• Forfeiture, through the employee’s own fault, of formal qualifications necessary for performance of labour in his position.

The two latter items on the above list are objective in nature, so citing them in a notice of termination with immediate effect through fault of the employee ought to be simple enough. The first item, meanwhile – grave violation of basic duties by the employee – can be less than straightforward (…)

The full text (in Polish) is available in Rzeczpospolita from 16.08.2018