On 17 June 2013, the Act on Amending the Labour
Code and Certain Other Acts of 28 May 2013
(Journal of Laws, item 675) became effective. The
Act amends inter alia the provisions of the Labour
Code regarding the maternity leave, additional
maternity leave, additional leave on terms of the
maternity leave, and parental leave, and the
provisions of the Act on Monetary Social Security
Benefits in Case of Illness and Maternity of 25 June
1999 with regard to the maternity benefit. This paper
examines the above amendments above all in terms
of the new obligations imposed on employers.
Following the amendment, employers are above all
required to correctly assess the duration of the
maternity and parental leave each employee is
entitled to. Under the amendments, the duration of
the leave is up to 52 weeks in the case of a single
birth and from 65 to 71 weeks in the case of a
multiple birth. This duration became possible by
extending the duration of the additional maternity
leave (and of the additional leave on terms of the
maternity leave) by two weeks and the introduction
of a new parental leave of 26 weeks. The parental
leave is granted for a period of 26 weeks regardless
of the number of births. The employer grants the
leave at a written request of the employee, however,
it is required to verify whether the duration of the
leave requested for by the employee is correct and
whether the request has been submitted within the
prescribed period. Under the amended law, the
additional maternity and paternity leave are granted
based on two separate requests, each submitted
within a period of at least 14 days prior to the start of
the leave, or based on a single request for both the
leaves, submitted no later than 14 days after giving
birth. If the deadline is not met, the employer may
refuse to grant the leave.
The situation is slightly different in the case of the
parental leave. This leave is available not only to the
mothers but also to the fathers, either in its entirety
or by being split between the parents. The leave can
be split into no more than three sections of at least 8
weeks each. The actual allocation of the leave
sections between the parents is up to them, and the
employer can refuse to grant the parental leave if the
employee requests the leave for a shorter period than
8 weeks. It is a novelty that the employer may refuse
to authorise the employee to take up work during the
additional maternity or paternity leave. The
employer may not authorise such work if the same is
not possible given the organisation of work or the
type of work performed by the employee.
A significant modification of the previous
regulations also relates to the rate of the maternity
benefit. As a reminder, the amount of the maternity
leave benefit is assessed relative to the average pay
received by the employee over the last 12 calendar
months. As of 17 June, employers are required to
apply several percentages to calculate the amount of
the benefit. The percentage depends on the time
when the mother states which leaves she intends to
request. Prior to the effective date of the
amendments, the maternity leave (and the additional
maternity leave) benefit had stood at 100% of the
benefit assessment basis. Under the amended law,
the benefit payable throughout the term of the
parental leave is 60% of the benefit assessment basis
unless the employee submits to the employer, still
prior to giving birth, a request for the additional
maternity leave to be granted to her immediately
after the expiry of the maternity leave and the
parental leave straight after it. Under such
circumstances, the employee will receive a benefit of
80% of the benefit assessment basis. It is also worth
noting that the employee who submits a request for
parental leave prior to giving birth may decide not to
take it at all. In such a case, she must be
compensated with respect to the maternity benefit for
the period of the maternity leave and the additional
maternity leave up to 100% of the benefit assessment
basis. However, if the employee decides to take both
the maternity leave and the additional maternity
leave, then the rate of the benefit is 60% of the
benefit assessment basis.
The new regulations apply to parents whose children
were born after 31 December 2012 and who took a
foster child after 31 December 2012 of up to seven
years of age and, where the child’s compulsory
education has been deferred, of up to 10 years of age
and filed with the guardianship court for institution
of the child’s adoption proceedings or took a child as
a foster family (other than a professional foster
family).
MILLER, CANFIELD,
W. BABICKI, A. CHEŁCHOWSKI I WSPÓLNICY SP.K.
ul. Batorego 28-32
81-366 Gdynia
Tel. +48 58 782-0050
Fax +48 58 782-0060
gdynia@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Nowogrodzka 11
00-513 Warszawa
Tel. +48 22 447-4300
Fax +48 22 447-4301
warszawa@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Skarbowców 23a
53-125 Wrocław
Tel. +48 71 780-3100
Fax +48 71 780-3101
wroclaw@pl.millercanfield.com
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Miller Canfield. It is intended to provide only a summary
of certain recent legal developments of selected areas of law. For this reason the information contained in this publication should not form the
basis of any decision as to a particular course of action; nor should it be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in
individual cases. The services of a competent professional adviser should be obtained in each instance so that the applicability of the relevant
legislation or other legal development to the particular facts can be verified.