Dumping a union activist becomes more difficult

The Polish government is out to expedite reinstatement of unlawfully dismissed employees. The objective is to secure the interests of employees benefiting from special workplace protection; in practice, however, these moves may precipitate chaos in the HR sphere.

The court of first instance will be able to enjoin renewed employment of unlawfully dismissed employees with immediate effect, without waiting for the verdict to acquire final, non-revisable status. With respect to special categories of employees, such as union members and expecting mothers, reinstatement may be possible even sooner, in the course of the proceedings – promptly upon submission of the employee’s appeal of the termination. At least as much can be gleaned from the governmental draft of the legislative Act regarding liability of collective entities for punishable proscribed acts (…)

According to Adam Kraszewski, attorney with GESSEL, “this is problematic especially if the employee in question has been let go in consequence of violating confidentiality rules, e.g. disclosure of company documents to unauthorised outside parties. Continued employment of such a person exposes the employer to harm. This is a clear indication that the new rules do not strike a balance between the respective interests of the employee and the employer”, Adam Kraszewski of GESSEL explains.

The full text (in Polish) is available at prawo.gazetaprawna.pl.