Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has scrapped plans to reform the country’s State Labour Inspectorate, declaring the issue “closed” after determining that the proposals risked granting excessive authority to officials and negatively affecting the economy.
The reform, prepared by ruling coalition partners from the Left, would have significantly expanded the powers of the State Labour Inspectorate, the government body responsible for enforcing employment law.
Under the draft legislation, labour inspectors would have been able to reclassify certain civil-law contracts - including business-to-business arrangements widely used in Poland - as standard employment contracts through administrative decisions.
In extreme cases, such decisions could have been imposed without the consent of either employers or workers. Companies refusing to comply could have faced court penalties.
Poland scraps planned expansion of labour inspectorate powers
Speaking after a coalition meeting in Paris, Tusk said that allowing officials to decide how and on what basis people are employed would be “highly destructive” for many firms and could lead to job losses.
The bill had been approved in December by the government’s Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers and was intended, in part, to meet reform milestones linked to Poland’s post-pandemic National Recovery Plan.
However, it also faced opposition within the governing coalition, including from the agrarian Polish People’s Party (PSL).
Tusk said his analysis showed the risks outweighed the potential benefits, adding that he had made his position clear to fellow ministers and would not pursue the reform further.
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Source: Polish Radio/X/@PR24_pl