Praca i Zabezpieczenie Społeczne (Work and Social Security) 2018/11

•  Articles
  • Employee capital plans - a new form of social security? Selected controversies over basic tenets of the EPC Act
    On 4 October 2018 the act on employee capital plans was adopted by the lower house of the Polish Parliament. These plans elude traditional classifications used to describe pillars of the Polish pension system. The act in question a voids qualifying them as forms of implementation of the right to social security enshrined in Article 67 section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Yet, depending on such qualification, basic assumptions of the act raise a number of doubts, mainly of a constitutional nature. The paper discusses these doubts.
  • Antiquae famae custos? Trade unions and politics in Poland
    The activity of trade unions on a political arena in Poland has certainly historical traditions. The transformation of 1989 did not the will to play an important role in politics, at least for “Solidarność”. Apart from sociological or psychological reasons, there are several ones of legal nature, why it occurs. Hereby presented remarks tend to synthetically present them.
• Studies and studies
  • 100 years of hearing cases in the field of social insurance
    The article concerns the development of the way of social insurance realisation and the hearing of cases in the field of social insurance from the moment Poland regained its independence up to the present. In the course of this development, many reforms were carried out, among which one can distinguish, by 1985, the passing the act on social insurance, the act on social insurance courts and the act on district labor and social insurance courts. From this date up to the present, cases at the judicial stage are heard by common courts. The realisation of social insurance – at the pre-litigationstage – is entrusted to the Social Insurance Institution.
  • Report of the Conference “Revisiting solidarity in Europe”
    This report concerns a discussion held in the framework of the Conference “Revisiting solidarity in Europe” which was held on 18 and 19 June 2018 at the Collège de France in Paris. The first part of the conference  was devoted to policies: fiscal, monetary, environmental protection and social. The Speakers focused on erosion of systems of solidarity in these areas, especially - labour and social security law. The second part of conference was the entrance to a European-wide democratic debate on the profound and troubling crisis the Union is facing, and how to resolve it, from the perspective of:  Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Once again, attention was paid, generally speaking, to deficits in solidarity in the respective countries. The follow up of the conference was an open letter from the majority of its participants, entitled "Democracy in Europe", published in the most important national dailies (in Poland, in the Rzeczpospolita of 8/10 2018). Democracy and thus solidarity were indicated in it as searched azimuths for the EU.
• Interpretation and practice
  • Distinctions of artists employment based on a contract of employment
    The basis for employing artists are varies, depending on their choice, the circumstances of taking up a job or its nature. They have civil law contracts or contracts of employment. Sometimes they are self-employed. In many public cultural units, artists have contracts of employment. These include actors, directors, musicians, singers, dancers, conductors and others. In relation to artists, the employer usually has different expectations than from administrative employees. The author presents separations in the employment of artists. She addresses the problem of making, implementation of the contract and terminating employment contracts.
  • The amendment of the act on Social Dialogue Council and other institutions of social dialogue
    Author discusses the amendment of the act on Social Dialogue Council and other institutions of social dialogue and attempts to evaluate it. Considerations might be divided into 3 main groups. The first concerns broadening competences of the Council. The second group refers to, so-called by the author of the project, organizational strengthening of the Council. The third group of amendments regards regional social dialogue councils. The amending act does not increase organizational autonomy of the Council, and therefore is not accordant to art. 87 of the amended act. Included amendments are the next important step towards development of institutional social dialogue in Poland, but surely not the turning point.
  • Cessation of an agricultural activity as a condition for granting the right to an early retirement
    The Author discusses the conditions of granting the right to an earlier agricultural retirement, focusing on the concept of cessation of an agricultural activity. The legislator has not decided o introduce a legal definition of this concept.  In the Act on farmers' social insurance, the concept of "cessation of an agricultural activity" is explained in art. 28 section 4 for the purpose of partial suspension of an agricultural pension or disability pension, but not the right to this benefit. For this reason, in Author's opinion, it is reasonable to assume that this condition of granting the right to an early retirement is fulfilled when a farmer actually ceased to conduct agricultural activity, and not only in situations specified in art. 28 section 4.
• From the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union
  • Suspension of the application of the provisions of legislation relating to the lowering of the retirement age for Supreme Court judges
    On 19 October 2018, the Vice-President of the Court of Justice of the EU issued the order in the proceedings C 619/18 R, Commission vs. Poland, according to which Poland must immediately suspend the application of the provisions of legislation relating to the lowering of the retirement age for Supreme Court judges.
• From the Supreme Court's case law
  • Hierarchy between collective bargaining agreement and another collective agreement - the latest case law
    The author refers to the latest Supreme Court jurisprudence regarding the hierarchy between a collective bargaining agreement and another collective agreement in relation to the situation when another collective bargaining agreement was concluded later than the collective bargaining agreement binding in the establishment.
• According to the National Labor Inspectorate
  • Still about parental leave
• New recipes
• Review of Officials Act from 2018, item 1864 to item 2031
• ZUS ratios and premiums - as at 1 November 2018.

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