Termination of a contract of employment by the
employer without notice is regulated under Articles
52 and 53 of the Labour Code. The grounds for
termination set forth under Article 52 are relied on
more often – this is what is commonly referred to as
disciplinary dismissal. While the term is colloquial
and the Labour Code does not use it, this pejorative
designation in fact means termination of an
employment contract without notice, that is a
definitive dismissal of the employee through his or
her fault with immediate effect.
Article 52 of the Labour Code lists three categories
of breaches on the grounds of which the employer
may dismiss the employee without notice.
The first of these is a major breach of the
employee’s fundamental duties. This is the most
frequent cause for the so-called disciplinary
dismissal. A major breach of the employee’s
fundamental duties is understood to mean such
conduct by the employee (action or omission) that
allows attribution of wilful misconduct or gross
negligence to him or her.
The second category includes crimes committed by
the employee during the term of the contract of
employment that prevent his or her continued
employment in the position held, if the crime is
evident or has been confirmed by a non-appealable
court judgement.
The third category is a loss, for reasons attributable
to the employee, of the qualification necessary to
perform his or her work in the position held. The
qualification means any formal authorisation or
certification to perform the job of, e.g. a
physician, attorney, driver, or architect. The loss
must be culpable.
A termination of a contract of employment without
notice is also regulated under Article 53 of the
Labour Code that lists circumstances in which the
employer may but does not have to terminate a
contract of employment with the employee without
notice. Importantly, the provision relates to
situations in which the Labour Code does not
require termination to be through the employee’s
fault. The employer may terminate a contract of
employment without notice if the employee’s
inability to perform work due to an illness lasts
more than three months, providing that the
employee has been employed at the employer’s for
up to six months. However, if the employee has
been employed by the relevant employer for at
least six months or if the inability to work was
caused by an accident at work or an occupational
disease, the employee’s inability to work due to an
illness should last longer than the combined period
of receiving pay and welfare and rehabilitation
benefits on those grounds in the first three months.
Further, the employer may terminate a contract of
employment with the employee without notice in
the event of the employee’s justified absence from
work for other reasons than referred to above,
lasting over a month.
Unlike in the case of termination of a contract of
employment without notice through the employee’s
fault, with the exception of the immediate loss of
employment, the above employment termination
procedure has no adverse effects. On the contrary,
it vests the employee with a special privilege,
namely to report his or her readiness to resume
work immediately after the reasons for the
termination have ceased – within a period of six
months from the termination, and in the case of
receiving rehabilitation benefits – after they are no
longer provided. In turn, the employer is under
obligation to reinstate such employee if it still has a
suitable position.
A contract of employment cannot be terminated
without notice if the employee is absent from work
for reasons of taking care of a child, while receiving
an allowance on those grounds, and when the
employee is kept in isolation on account of a
contagious disease, while receiving pay and
benefits on such ground. Neither can a contract of employment be terminated without notice once the
employee reports for work after the reasons for his
or her absence have ceased.
A notice of termination of an employment contract
should be in writing and should state the grounds
and reasons for termination of the employment
relationship with immediate effect. It is also very
important for the termination notice to include
information on the legal remedies available to the
employee.
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.