The year 2025 is shaping up to be a turning point for the labour market. The upcoming reforms are set to significantly impact both employers and employees, adapting legal provisions to the realities of today’s workplace. Among the most significant changes are new regulations on pay transparency, a revised definition of workplace bullying (mobbing), and the introduction of supplementary maternity leave.
In this article, you will learn:
Supplementary Maternity Leave
On 19 March 2025, Article 180[2] was added to the Labour Code, expanding employee entitlements related to maternity leave. The new provision allows employees to take supplementary maternity leave and receive maternity benefits amounting to 100% of the benefit calculation base in cases of premature birth or when the newborn requires postnatal hospitalisation. The duration of the leave will depend on the time of birth and the length of the child’s hospital stay.
Entitlement to supplementary maternity leave will apply directly following the conclusion of standard maternity leave or equivalent leave entitlements. Either the mother or a father raising the child may apply for this leave (via paper or electronically), provided the application is submitted no later than 21 days prior to the end of the current maternity leave. The entitlement will also extend to employees who have taken a child into care as part of a foster family (excluding professional foster families) or who have initiated adoption proceedings before the guardianship court.
Importantly, from the moment the application for supplementary maternity leave is submitted until the leave ends, the employer will be prohibited from terminating or dissolving the employment contract with the employee in question, except in cases where the employer is undergoing bankruptcy or liquidation.
Pay Transparency and Equality
On 10 May 2023, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Directive (EU) 2023/970, aimed at reinforcing the principle of equal pay between men and women. These regulations require employers to ensure transparency in relation to remuneration, both at the recruitment stage and throughout the duration of employment.
Although EU Member States have until 7 June 2026 to implement the Directive into national legislation, a parliamentary draft bill amending the Labour Code was submitted to the Sejm on 5 December 2024, aiming to transpose the Directive into Polish law. The proposed legislation introduces a fundamental principle of pay transparency, ensuring full disclosure of remuneration terms both during employment and at the recruitment stage. This marks a significant departure from previous practice, where remuneration issues were often treated as confidential business information.
Under the draft law, employees will be entitled to obtain information regarding their own remuneration level, as well as average pay levels—disaggregated by gender—for employees performing the same or equivalent work.
Violation of the new provisions may result in fines ranging from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000. Employers may also face liability for failing to comply with the obligation to provide required remuneration information to employees.
A New Definition of Mobbing
The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has developed a draft amendment to the Labour Code that seeks to clarify and systematise the definitions of workplace misconduct and unequal treatment, including a revised definition of mobbing.
Under the current wording of Article 94[3] of the Labour Code, mobbing is defined as persistent and long-term harassment or intimidation directed at or concerning an employee, leading to a diminished sense of professional worth, with the aim or effect of humiliating, ridiculing, isolating, or excluding the employee from their team.
The proposed changes redefine mobbing as behaviour involving persistent harassment of an employee, where “persistent” is characterised by conduct that is repetitive, recurring, or continuous. Additionally, the draft introduces a non-exhaustive list of behaviours constituting mobbing, including:
According to the proposed legislation, employers will be required to proactively and continuously combat mobbing by implementing preventive measures, detecting problematic behaviour, responding appropriately, and offering remedial support to affected individuals. Furthermore, employers will be obliged to set out the principles, procedures, and frequency of anti-mobbing measures in their internal work regulations—or, where not required to adopt such regulations, in an official workplace notice.
Conclusion
The labour law reforms of 2025 are intended to modernise legal protections and align them with the evolving realities of the labour market. Supplementary maternity leave, the obligation of pay transparency, and the revised definition of mobbing are key elements of this reform that will impact both employer-employee relations and organisational culture.
Employers should take proactive steps now to familiarise themselves with the upcoming regulations and begin implementing the necessary internal procedures to ensure compliance. Preparing early will mitigate legal risk and help foster a more transparent and supportive workplace environment.
Author: Zuzanna Chudzia, Lawyer
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