Labour law Important duties of employers towards pregnant employees
Key aspects related to the employment of pregnant women include:
- the necessity to ensure appropriate conditions regarding workplace safety and health protection,
- special protection of the employment relationship, and
- working hours.
Sometimes, employers go beyond Polish legal norms and offer additional benefits to pregnant women, which undoubtedly contributes to creating a friendly work environment.
Can you hire a pregnant woman?
Employers often wonder whether they can hire a candidate in an advanced stage of pregnancy – aware that she may be absent from work for an extended period. In this context, it should be noted that Polish legal regulations do not prohibit the employment of pregnant women. On the contrary, not hiring the objectively best candidate for a given position solely because she is pregnant could be considered discrimination. It is important to note that Polish anti-discrimination regulations apply already at the recruitment stage.
Protection of the employment relationship
According to the provisions of the Polish labour code, during pregnancy, the employer may not:
- prepare to terminate or summarily dismiss the employment relationship,
- terminate or end the employment relationship unless there are grounds for summary dismissal, and the relevant trade union organization has agreed to the termination.
Extension of the employment contract until delivery
A fixed-term employment contract or a probationary contract exceeding one month, which would end after the third month of pregnancy, is extended until the delivery date. In this case, it is necessary to determine whether at least 85 days have passed on the day the fixed-term employment contract would end, i.e., 3 lunar months + 1 day from the day of conception. This regulation does not apply to fixed-term contracts concluded for the purpose of substituting an employee during their justified absence from work.
What work cannot be assigned to pregnant women?
Pregnant women may not perform strenuous, dangerous, or harmful work that could adversely affect their health or the course of their pregnancy. Details on this are provided in the Polish Council of Ministers’ regulation of April 3, 2017, on the list of strenuous, dangerous, or harmful work for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Working hours for pregnant employees
Pregnant employees may not:
- work overtime or night shifts,
- be delegated to another workplace without their consent.
Moreover, the employer is obliged to grant pregnant employees leave for medical examinations related to pregnancy if these examinations cannot be conducted outside working hours. For such absence from work, the employee retains her right to remuneration.
From when do pregnant women have special rights?
According to the Polish labour code, the pregnancy condition should be confirmed by a medical certificate. This means that the employer should consider the special rights for pregnant women from the moment the relevant medical certificate is presented. However, what if the employee does not present such a certificate for various reasons? According to the case law, the employer is obliged to grant the pregnant woman her entitled rights even if she does not present the relevant medical certificate but the pregnancy is apparent. Therefore, the employer should grant the aforementioned rights even without a medical certificate.
Summary
The Polish legislator grants pregnant women a range of rights that employers should be aware of. As a positive trend among employers, the additional support for pregnant women, which goes beyond Polish legal norms, such as baby starter kits, should be appreciated.