Speaking at a news conference in the southwestern city of Wrocław, Dziemianowicz-Bąk said: "Nearly 300 complete applications have already been submitted, and almost 1,500 are pending. The number of employers interested in the program is growing every day."
A day earlier, Dziemianowicz-Bąk told the Karpacz Economic Forum in southern Poland that the ministry’s pilot—open since mid-August and running through mid-September—is designed to test reduced working time "with no pay cuts, no job reductions, no drop in productivity and efficiency," aiming instead to spur innovation and "update work culture."
“This is not just an experiment on paper,” she said, adding that employers themselves were volunteering to join.
Framing her agenda in terms of a renewed conflict “between labor and capital,” Dziemianowicz-Bąk declared: “In this new-old class struggle, the state must take the side of labor.”
She called time a “good, value and resource,” naming it the first pillar of her strategy.
The four-day workweek pilot will be implemented from January 1, 2026, for one year.
Further pillars include fairer working conditions.
The minister said the government is ending unpaid internships—announced in early August—to "curb exploitation of young people."
During her appearance at the Karpacz Economic Forum on Wednesday, Dziemianowicz-Bąk also outlined broader pro-labor reforms, including a reform of the State Labor Inspectorate that would allow it to convert civil-law contracts into regular employment where the work meets statutory criteria.
A draft law enabling that change is now in consultation, she said.
Another pillar is dialogue and workers’ rights. Legislation on collective labor agreements is moving forward, Dziemianowicz-Bąk said, arguing that stronger workplace democracy would bolster the resilience of the world of work to external pressures.
Dziemianowicz-Bąk opened a debate titled “Robots, corporations and workers—the new class struggle: who benefits from the digital revolution?” at the international conference in the Polish resort town of Karpacz.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP