On 26 September 2025, the Sejm (the Polish lower house of the parliament) adopted the amendments of the Senate and thus enacted the amendment to the Labour Code, which changes the rules for calculating employees’ seniority. The Act will enter into force provided the president signs it. The president is expected to make a decision on this matter by 20 October 2025.
The main objective of the reform is to (a) expand the catalogue of periods that will be counted as part of the employees’ seniority (both general and company seniority), and (b) introduce a mechanism for confirming these periods by ZUS and/or documents presented by the employee himself.
The entry into force of the new regulations is scheduled for 1 January 2026 for public sector entities, and for the private sector - after the lapse of six months from the publication of the Act in the Journal of Laws, i.e., as expected during the second quarter of 2026.
The changes have a retroactive effect, which means that employees can apply for periods of civil law contracts performed before the date the Act comes into effect, to be counted as part of their seniority if properly documented.
The amendment introduces an expanded catalogue of periods which, if properly documented, will be counted as seniority. It includes:
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