On the 21 August 2015 the following amendments in relation to contracts in the Polish labour code were adopted and came into force as of the 22 February 2016;
- Fixed term contracts. A maximum total of three contracts and a total duration of thirty three months must not be exceeded when concluding fixed-term contracts with the same employee, although exceptions do apply to casual or seasonal work, when replacing an employee and where authorization has been obtained by a regional labour inspector. If the number of fixed term contracts surpasses three or if thirty three months is exceed then the employee contract will automatically be converted to an indefinite term contract.
- Contracts for the duration of a specified task are no longer legally valid. There will now only be three types of contracts, probationary period contracts, fixed-term contracts and indefinite term contracts.
- Notice periods for employees for both fixed-term and indefinite contracts have now been aligned to the following; two weeks for less than six months, one month for six months to three years, three months for over three years. The amendments also made some changes to the current laws concerning sick leave certificates, maternity/paternity leave and child raising leave.
