Fixed-term work - amendments to the Labor Law

The new year brought many changes to the Labor Law. One that should definitely be highlighted is the change in the field of fixed-term work, and below we explain what these changes mean for workers who perform their work through a fixed-term employment contract.

Reasons, duration, number of Contract for fixed-term work

The new amendments to the Labor Act, which entered into force on January 1, 2023, further specify the reasons for concluding a fixed-term employment contract. The employment contract must be concluded for an indefinite period of time, unless the need to perform the work is temporary for some reason, which must be stated in the contract. Testing workers and economic uncertainty are not justified reasons for temporary employment. The above is also valid for any subsequent possible contract that would be concluded after the expiration of the first one.

Under the stated conditions, in total, only three fixed-term employment contracts can be concluded, after which the employer must offer work for an indefinite period, or six months must elapse before the next fixed-term contract is concluded. All contracts concluded one after the other are considered consecutive, if there were no interruptions of more than 3 months between them. Fixed-term employment (one or more consecutive contracts) may last a total of 3 years, after which the same rule applies again: indefinite employment or a break of 6 months. Exceptionally, fixed-term employment may last longer than 3 years if the Contract was concluded for the purpose of replacing workers, if the worker works on a project financed from European Union funds whose duration is longer than 3 years, and if it is allowed by some other Act or Collective Agreement.

For those who are employed through an employment agency with an Employment Contract, the rule of three contracts does not apply. The period of such work is still limited to three years, but the worker can work on more than three Employment Contracts during that period.

I am already employed through a fixed-term contract. What now?

The amendments to the Act also apply to workers who have already been employed for a certain period of time. Skala, if on the day of the start of application of the Law, the worker is working on another contract for a fixed period of time, he is able to conclude only one more.

New rules for the Request to enter into a contract for an indefinite period

The previous version of the Act obliged employers to indicate the reason for concluding a fixed-term contract only in one of the following fixed-term employment contracts. With the new changes, the worker can seek protection of his right to a contract for an indefinite period, if he believes that the contract for a fixed period was concluded unjustifiably. However, another additional right is introduced, by which the worker (with the condition that 6 months of employment have passed and the trial period has expired) can ask the employer to enter into an employment contract for an indefinite period. If he rejects the worker's request, the employer is obliged to submit the explanation for the refusal of the request within 30 days, or 60 days if it is a small employer employing less than 20 workers.