Conference at Jagiellonian University

On 9 and 10 May 2008 a conference titled “Polish legislation on informing and consulting employees – the second anniversary of adopting a relevant act” was held under the honorary auspices of Chief Labour Inspector Bożena Borys-Szopa and Minister of Labour and Social Policy Jolanta Fedak. It was organized in Cracow by the Faculty of Law and Social Policy of the Jagiellonian University.

The conference brought together a great many representatives of scientific circles from the leading academic centres in Poland, lawyers with practical experience, employers and officials from authorities dealing with supervision of working conditions. National Labour Inspectorate was represented by: Bożena Borys-Szopa, Chief Labour Inspector and her Deputy Anna Tomczyk, Deputy Director of Legal Department Piotr Wojciechowski, and District Labour Inspector in Cracow Tadeusz Fic.

Bożena Borys-Szopa pointed out that the provisions of the Act of 7 April 2006 on informing and consulting employees, and related to the establishment and functioning of workers’ councils, significantly complete the Polish legal system in the area of employees’ involvement in deciding on the company’s operations. In the past it used to rely mostly on the trade unions’ activity in companies and – to a minor extent – on employees’ self-government in state-owned establishments. The enacted legal provisions have one deficiency: they do not determine which entity – workers’ councils or trade unions, are the party entitled to exercise the right to information and consultation on behalf of the company’s staff. First of all, there is no division of competence between workers’ representatives active in enterprises. It creates real practical problems, especially from the perspective of employers’ duties.

The conference participants showed a lot of interest in the NLI’s information stand, where advice was provided and the NLI’s educational and promotional publications were distributed. Individual consultations continued also during the debate.