Recent amendments intended to standardize employment seniority calculations have created a legal imbalance, unexpectedly disadvantaging traditional employees while favoring those who perform work under civil law contracts or business activity.
Difficulties with Applying Amended Regulations
The debate over calculating employee seniority resurfaced after private sector employers began applying the new rules on May 1, 2026. While initial implementation in the public sector during January was met with significant scrutiny, the private sector transition has been quieter, largely because these changes rarely involve immediate financial adjustments.
Benefits tied to seniority, such as length-of-service bonuses or jubilee awards, are hallmarks of the public sector. Clarifying transitional provisions was essential there not only for labor law compliance but also for maintaining public finance discipline. Months of expert analysis have now revealed surprising consequences resulting from this legislation.
New Periods of Professional Activity in Seniority
The essence of the change is to include various forms of professional activity—previously excluded—in the calculation of employee seniority. The most significant shift for workers is the inclusion of work performed under commission contracts (umowy zlecenia) and through self-employment, which are among the most common forms of labor.
The objective was to improve the situation of experienced professionals who were previously treated as novices under labor law. While this goal was well-intentioned, it has led to a situation where the execution of the law has arguably caused more harm than the original problem it sought to fix.
The Ministry’s Unexpected Clarification
The original legislative proposal suggested that the new rules would not interfere with existing requirements regarding whether a secondary employment period must be completed to be counted. However, in a January 10, 2026 response to inquiries, the Ministry of Labor surprised employers by stating there is no requirement for these periods to be completed to qualify for seniority-based benefits.
Distorted Power Dynamics
This interpretation creates a significant rift, as it shifts the balance of power. The rule allowing the inclusion of ongoing, incomplete periods of activity applies only to “new” types of work, while the “old” rules still apply to traditional employment periods.
Consequently, an employee with five years of seniority who held a secondary part-time job for ten years finds that their secondary work period is excluded, while a self-employed individual can have their active, ongoing business period counted. This creates an arbitrary gap between those working under different legal frameworks.