Changes to the criminal tax law.

The alternatively liable party will be required to pay the tax.

Limiting the possibility of sentencing restriction of liberty instead of imprisonment.

Higher penalties for tax offenses.

Changes to object forfeiture.

Extension of the business ban.

Changes to the criminal statute of limitations.

Reduction of the minimum fine.

Prosecution of criminal offenses committed abroad.

New fiscal offenses.

Labor Code Amendment.

Shortening the maximum period of employment of employees on a trial basis.

An employer will not be able to prohibit an employee from working for another entity.

New rules for termination of fixed-term employment contracts.

More content in the employment contract.

New employer information obligations – watch out for sanctions.

Force majeure exemption.

Care leaves – not just for children.

Longer parental leave.

Flexible work arrangements for parents of children under 8.

Changes in the criminal fiscal law

Preparations are underway in the Government to submit a bill to the Parliament to amend the Fiscal Penal Code and certain other laws. The amendment prepares a number of changes to the criminal law. We will briefly describe the most important of these.

The alternatively liable party will be required to pay the tax

The Fiscal Penal Code provides for so-called subsidiary liability for a fine imposed on the perpetrator of a fiscal offense. A natural person, legal entity or organizational unit is subject to this liability if the perpetrator of the crime is a person who conducts the affairs of the entity as an agent, manager, employee or in any other capacity, and the replaced entity has derived or could have derived any financial benefit from the committed crime. This principle has been in place since the early days of the code. The Government’s new idea is to allow the court to oblige the entity held under subsidiary liability to pay the public debt depleted by the crime.

Limiting the possibility of imposing restriction of liberty instead of imprisonment

Currently, if a fiscal offense is punishable by imprisonment, the court may, under certain conditions, impose a sentence of restriction of liberty instead. The amendment provides for the exclusion of the possibility of imposing a restriction of liberty penalty in the case of the crime of issuing or using an unreliable invoice or bill, if the amount of tax resulting from such a document is of great value, i.e. exceeds one thousand times the minimum wage. The court will not be able to conditionally discontinue proceedings against the perpetrator of such crimes.

Higher penalties for fiscal crimes

When fiscal offenses are committed under certain conditions, for example, in the case of recidivism, the court is obliged to apply extraordinary aggravation of punishment, that is, to impose a higher punishment than under the general rules of punishment for the fiscal offense in question. Thus, the extraordinary aggravated penalty for imprisonment sentences currently cannot exceed 10 years in prison. The amendment calls for an increase in the maximum sentence of extraordinary aggravated punishment to 15 years in prison.

Changes in the forfeiture of objects

Currently, forfeiture of items derived from a tax offense, tools for committing the offense, or prohibited items (or the equivalent of such items) can be ordered when certain crimes are committed. The amendment will introduce the possibility of adjudicating forfeiture of goods that could be presumed to be contraband.

If a court orders the forfeiture of gambling devices, in certain situations such an order can be carried out by selling them to entities authorized to arrange gambling. The amendment calls for the mandatory destruction of such devices or vending machines.

The court shall compulsorily order the forfeiture of the financial benefit obtained by the offender from the commission of the crime. In more serious cases (high-value benefits or when the crime is punishable by more than 3 years’ imprisonment), property that the perpetrator took possession of during the 5-year period prior to the commission of the tax crime up to the time of sentencing is considered a financial benefit. For these more serious crimes, the aforementioned. The presumption will also be applied when it is a third party who achieves the property benefit.

Extension of the business ban

The Fiscal Penal Code provides for a criminal measure, which is the possibility of imposing a ban on certain business activities for a period of 1 to 5 years if certain crimes are committed. The amendment provides for an extension of the maximum duration of such a ban to 10 years.

Changes to the criminal statute of limitations

As a rule, the punishability of fiscal offenses ceases with the passage of a certain period of time. This institution is called the statute of limitations on criminal prosecution, and it is expressed in the fact that an offender cannot be convicted of a fiscal offense after the expiration of the period specified in the Code. The statute of limitations is expressed in years:

• 5 years from the commission of the criminal act in the case of a crime punishable by a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years
• 10 years from the commission of the offense in the case of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than 3 years,

– and begins to run at the end of the year in which the deadline for payment of the public debt has passed (in the case of crimes involving the depletion of public debt).

There is also a rule that if the crime consisted of the depletion or exposure to depletion of a public liability, its punishability is barred by the statute of limitations on such public liability. As a general rule, public debts are time-barred at the expiration of 5 years, starting from the end of the calendar year in which the due date has passed. To illustrate how important this regulation is, let’s imagine that the due date for payment of dues is September 30, 2021. The offender commits an aggravated fiscal offense related to the depletion of this debt on September 30, 2021. The statute of limitations on the public debt is 5 years, calculated from December 31, 2021, and will therefore expire on December 31, 2026. In turn, the statute of limitations for the crime would expire on September 30, 2031. Due to the indicated regulation, the punishability of the crime will cease when the statute of limitations on the public debt expires, so the perpetrator cannot be prosecuted from January 1, 2027.

The amendment will remove the above rule. The statute of limitations on a public law debt will no longer carry a statute of limitations on criminality.

An even more significant change to the statute of limitations for fiscal offenses is related to the situation in which criminal proceedings were initiated during the period of the statute of limitations. Currently, if in the aforementioned period proceedings were initiated against the perpetrator, the criminality ceases at the end of 5 or 10 years from the end of the period (that is, in simple terms, the statute of limitations is 10 or 20 years, respectively). The amendment provides for a modification of this rule – if a proceeding in rem (i.e., on the commission of an offense, rather than against a specific offender) is initiated during the period of the statute of limitations, the punishability of the tax offense will cease 10 years after the end of the period. The difference is very big – currently, the statute of limitations for a criminal offense extends only the commencement of proceedings against a specific person, and after the amendments go into effect, any commencement of proceedings for a criminal offense will extend the running of the statute of limitations against any person who is subsequently charged. Similar changes also apply to the statute of limitations for offenses.

The statute of limitations for fiscal offenses will be extended from 1 year to 2 years.

Reduction of the minimum fine

The minimum fine will be reduced. Currently, it is 1/10 of the minimum wage, and after the changes go into effect it will be 1/20 of the minimum wage.

Prosecution of criminal offenses committed abroad

The law contains a definition of the so-called “”law”. fiscal crime directed against the vital financial interests of the Polish state. In order for a fiscal offense to have such an attribute, it must threaten the Treasury with financial harm of at least ten times its great value. A great value is a value that exceeds 1,000 times the minimum wage (so currently PLN 3,010,000 is considered a great value). In view of this, a crime against the vital interests of the Polish state is a crime that threatens damage of at least PLN 30,100,000. The amendment calls for this value to be reduced to five times the great value, or PLN 15,050,000.

The commission of a fiscal crime against the vital financial interests of the Polish state justifies the application of domestic criminal fiscal legislation to a Polish citizen or foreigner when such a crime is committed abroad.

New fiscal crimes

The amendment provides for the creation of new types of criminal acts:

Fiscal offence	Kara
Failure to keep books and related documents until the expiration of the statute of limitations on tax liability	Fine of up to 240 daily rates
Failure to timely notify the competent authority of the place of storage of the book and documents related to its prescription in the event of liquidation or dissolution of the entity	Fine of up to 240 daily rates
Providing property or means to conduct or arrange gambling without a license or permit	Fine of up to 360 daily rates
Obstructing an official activity (e.g., an experiment) for a person authorized to control customs and taxation in the field of gambling establishment and operation	Fine of up to 720 daily rates

Amendments to the Labor Code

The Government Legislation Center is working on an amendment to the Labor Code, which aims to m. in. Increasing the protection of workers under fixed-term employment contracts and significantly expanding the information to be provided by employers to employees.

Shortening the maximum period of employment of employees on a trial basis

The Labor Code knows of three types of employment contracts – probationary, fixed-term and permanent.

A probationary employment contract is concluded for a period not exceeding 3 months. If the Labor Code amendment goes into effect, the maximum length of a probationary contract will depend on the length of the employee’s planned employment:

• If the next contract is to be concluded for a fixed term not exceeding 6 months, the employment contract may be concluded for a trial period not exceeding 1 month
• If the next contract is to be for a fixed term of 6 months to 12 months, the employment contract may be for a trial period not exceeding 2 months.

In addition, the parties will be able to stipulate in such an agreement that it will be extended by vacation time and by the time of the employee’s other excused absence from work.

Employer will not be able to prohibit an employee from working for another entity

A rule will be introduced that an employer may not prohibit an employee from simultaneously having an employment relationship with another employer.

New rules for termination of fixed-term employment contracts

Currently, the employer’s statement of termination of an indefinite contract or termination without notice should include information on the reason for termination. If the amendment comes into force, the employer will also be required to justify the termination of a fixed-term contract.

Similarly, the employer will be obliged to inform the company trade union organization representing the employee of its intention to terminate a fixed-term employment contract.

In addition, in the event of a finding of unjustified or violative termination of an employment contract, the court will be able to rule that the termination (or reinstatement) is ineffective no longer only for an indefinite-term contract, but also for a fixed-term contract. Previously, in the case of wrongful termination of a fixed-term contract, the employee was entitled only to a claim for compensation.

More content in the employment contract

Currently, the employment contract should specify:

1. Parties to the contract
2. Type of contract
3. Date of conclusion of the agreement
4. Working and pay conditions, in particular:
   1. Type of work
   2. Place of work
   3. Remuneration with indication of its components
   4. Working hours
   5. Start date.

If the amendment goes into effect, the employment contract will have to additionally specify:

1. Address of the employer’s registered office or residence
2. The duration of a contract concluded for a probationary period or a fixed-term contract.

New information obligations of the employer – beware of sanctions

Recall that the employer is obliged to inform the employee in writing within 7 days from the date of admission to work about:

1. applicable daily and weekly working time standards,
2. frequency of salary payments,
3. The amount of annual leave,
4. The length of the contract termination period,
5. collective agreement

and if the employer is not required to establish work regulations, the scope of information also includes:

• nighttime
• place, date and time of payment of wages
• the manner in which employees confirm their arrival and presence at work
• The method of excusing absences from work.

If the amendment comes into force, the employer will additionally be required to inform the employee about:

1. adopted promotion procedures,
2. Daily and weekly working hours,
3. breaks in service,
4. Daily and weekly rest,
5. rules regarding overtime work and compensation for it,
6. In the case of shift work – the rules for moving from shift to shift,
7. in the case of more than one place of work – rules for movement between places of work,
8. other than those specified in the employment contract, components of remuneration and benefits in cash or in kind,
9. the applicable procedure for terminating the employment relationship, including the formal requirements, the length of notice periods and the time limit for appeal to the labor court, or, if it is not possible to determine the length of notice periods on the date of providing the employee with this information, the method of determining such notice periods,
10. The employee’s right to training provided by the employer, in particular the number of training days the employee is entitled to per calendar year, and the employer’s training policy.

Proper compliance by the employer with its disclosure obligations will be important, as the failure to inform the employee of the aforementioned. The issues will be punishable by a fine of between PLN 1,000 and PLN 30,000.

If you are interested in verifying that all the information requirements of the new Labor Code are met at the workplaces you run, we invite you to contact us. We can also help prepare customized information forms for you.

Dismissal from work due to force majeure

Employees will be granted additional leave of 2 days or 16 hours per calendar year due to force majeure, for urgent family matters caused by illness or accident, if the employee’s immediate presence is necessary. During the period of this exemption, the employee will retain the right to ½ salary. The employer will be obliged to grant such exemption at the request of the employee, notified no later than the day the exemption is taken.

Care leaves – not just for children

An amendment to the Labor Code will introduce a new type of leave – the so-called “leave of absence”. care leave.

The employee will be entitled to care leave of up to 5 days per calendar year. The purpose of the care leave will be to provide personal care or support to a family member or a person living in the same household, if that person requires care for serious medical reasons.

A family member within the meaning of these regulations is a son, daughter, mother, father or spouse.

The leave is granted at the request of the employee submitted three days before the start of the use of the leave.

Longer parental leave

Parental leave periods will be extended – from 32 to 41 weeks if one child is born, and from 34 to 43 weeks if two or more children are born in one birth.

Flexible work arrangements for parents of children under 8 years old

The amendment will introduce the institution of “flexible work arrangements,” i.e. the possibility of using a preferential mode of work for the employee. Acceptable forms of such flexible organization are:

1. Telecommuting
2. Intermittent working hours (according to a predetermined schedule providing for a maximum of one break in work per day lasting up to 5 hours)
3. Shortened work week system (performing work for less than 5 days during the week while extending the daily working hours to a maximum of 12 hours)
4. Weekend work system (performing work only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
5. Mobile working hours (different starting times)
6. Individual working time schedule
7. Reduction in working hours.

Arrangement of flexible work arrangements may be made at the motivated request of an employee caring for a child under the age of 8.