A German investor's Warsaw subsidiary needs to let go of a senior manager. The employment contract is indefinite. The works council has not been consulted. Nobody has checked whether the employee filed a whistleblower report three weeks ago. What looks like a routine HR decision is, in Polish employment law, a procedural minefield – and each misstep can cost the company far more than the severance itself.

Employment termination in Poland is governed by the Kodeks pracy (Labour Code, KC), which imposes strict formal requirements on every dismissal. The employer must deliver written notice, state a genuine and specific reason, consult the works council or trade union where one exists, and respect statutory notice periods running from one month to three months depending on tenure. Failure to follow any single step entitles the employee to reinstatement or compensation of up to three months' salary at the district labour court (sąd pracy).

This guide walks through the full procedure in four stages: the pre-termination compliance checks an employer must run before signing anything; the mechanics of the notice itself; the financial obligations that crystallise on termination; and the most common errors that turn defensible dismissals into costly litigation. Three business scenarios – a manufacturing plant in Silesia, a Warsaw IT company, and a foreign investor's Polish subsidiary – illustrate how the rules apply in practice.

What pre-termination checks does Polish law require?

Before drafting the termination letter, the employer must run four checks. First, verify the legal basis: is this a notice termination, a termination without notice for serious misconduct, or a mutual agreement? Each route has a different procedure and different litigation risk. Second, confirm the employee is not in a protected category. Third, assess trade union obligations. Fourth, review whether any special protection applies – pregnancy, parental leave, pre-retirement age, or a recent whistleblower disclosure.

Protected categories under the Labour Code are broad. Employees on sick leave, maternity leave, or parental leave cannot be dismissed by notice during the protected period. Employees within four years of retirement age are protected against notice termination on the grounds that the remaining period of employment would allow them to acquire pension entitlement. An employer that ignores these bars faces automatic reinstatement – not merely compensation – as the default remedy at the district labour court.

Trade union consultation is mandatory where the employee is a union member or has requested union representation. The employer must notify the relevant union in writing and allow at least five days for the union to raise objections. The union's objection does not block the dismissal, but it becomes evidence before the court. Where a rada pracowników (works council) exists – mandatory in workplaces with 50 or more employees – the council must be informed of collective redundancy plans at least 30 days before the first notice is issued.

Whistleblower protection deserves a separate check. Since Poland transposed the EU Whistleblowing Directive, an employee who has made an internal or external report cannot be dismissed, demoted, or disadvantaged as a result of that report. The employer carries the burden of proving the termination is unrelated to the disclosure. (We addressed the technical requirements for internal reporting channels in our article on whistleblower channel design and technical requirements.) If the employee made a report within the past 12 months and no contemporaneous performance documentation exists, the dismissal is extremely difficult to defend.

  • Confirm employment contract type and applicable notice period
  • Screen for protected status: sick leave, pregnancy, pre-retirement age
  • Identify trade union membership and initiate consultation if required
  • Check for recent whistleblower disclosures in the past 12 months
  • Prepare contemporaneous documentation supporting the stated reason

How must the termination notice be drafted and delivered?

Polish law requires the termination notice to be in writing, signed by a person with authority to act for the employer, and physically delivered to the employee. The notice must state the reason for termination – a requirement that applies to indefinite-term contracts but not, technically, to fixed-term contracts. Even where not strictly required, stating no reason on a fixed-term notice creates risk: courts have extended the reason requirement in practice, particularly where protected characteristics are alleged.

The reason must be genuine, specific, and verifiable. "Poor performance" is not sufficient. "Failure to meet the quarterly sales target of PLN 500,000 in Q3 and Q4 2025 despite a written improvement plan issued on 1 September 2025" is sufficient. The specificity requirement is taken seriously by Polish labour courts (sądy pracy). A vague reason is treated as no reason, exposing the employer to the same liability as an unlawful dismissal.

Notice periods under the Labour Code depend on the employee's continuous tenure with that employer. Employment of less than six months carries a two-week notice period. Employment of six months to three years carries a one-month notice period. Employment exceeding three years carries a three-month notice period. These are statutory minima – the contract may provide longer periods but never shorter. During the notice period, the employer may release the employee from the obligation to work while paying full salary.

We secured the reversal of a wrongful dismissal finding for a manufacturing client in Silesia (autumn 2025), where the original notice letter cited a generic restructuring rationale. The court found the reason insufficiently specific. A redrafted procedure, supported by documented organisational charts and budget decisions, resolved the matter before appeal.

Delivery matters as much as content. The preferred method is personal delivery with the employee's signature on a copy. Where the employee refuses to sign, two witnesses should attest to the delivery. Registered post is acceptable but the notice period begins only when the employee actually collects the letter – or when the second delivery attempt lapses under postal regulations. Email without a qualified electronic signature does not meet the written-form requirement.

What financial obligations arise on termination?

Three categories of payment crystallise when employment ends. The employer must pay all outstanding salary and benefits through the last day of employment. It must also pay out any accrued but untaken annual leave – at a rate calculated on the employee's average remuneration. And, where the termination is employer-initiated and the company employs at least 20 people, severance pay under the ustawa o zwolnieniach grupowych (Act on Collective Redundancies) may apply even to individual dismissals.

Severance under the Collective Redundancies Act is graded by tenure. Employees with fewer than two years' service receive one month's salary. Two to eight years of service attracts two months' salary. More than eight years entitles the employee to three months' salary. The statutory cap is 15 times the minimum wage – in 2026, that means a ceiling of approximately PLN 64,500. These amounts are minimums; the contract or collective agreement may provide more.

For employees holding a work permit in Poland or an EU Blue Card, termination also triggers immigration consequences. The employer must notify the Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców (Office for Foreigners) of the cessation of employment within seven days. Failure to notify can jeopardise the employee's legal stay and expose the employer to administrative sanctions. Foreign investors managing international mobility programmes should treat this notification as part of the standard offboarding checklist.

Social insurance settlement follows its own timeline. The employer must submit a deregistration form to the Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych (Social Insurance Institution, ZUS) within seven days of termination. Final salary must be paid no later than the next regular payroll date. Delayed payment of outstanding salary attracts statutory interest and, in cases of wilful delay, potential criminal liability for the manager responsible.

What mistakes turn defensible dismissals into expensive litigation?

The most common error is skipping the trade union consultation step on the assumption that it is procedural formality. It is not. A dismissal issued without the required five-day consultation window is procedurally defective regardless of how strong the substantive reason is. The district labour court will award compensation – typically between one and three months' salary – without examining the merits of the underlying reason at all.

The second frequent mistake is terminating during a sick leave absence. The Labour Code prohibits notice termination while the employee is on a documented sick leave, provided the absence does not exceed the statutory protection period (generally 182 days for standard illness, 270 days for tuberculosis). Employers that issue notices while the employee is absent and has submitted a medical certificate face automatic procedural invalidity.

A Warsaw IT company we advised (spring 2026) had dismissed a software engineer during a period of sick leave, unaware that the employee had submitted a medical certificate by email on the morning the notice was issued. The certificate arrived in the HR inbox before the termination letter was delivered. The court found the dismissal procedurally invalid. Reinstatement was ordered. The company ultimately reached a negotiated settlement exceeding PLN 45,000 – substantially more than a properly structured redundancy would have cost.

Fixed-term contracts carry their own trap. Many employers assume fixed-term contracts expire automatically and require no formality. Under the Labour Code, a fixed-term contract for a period exceeding 33 months – or where the employee has held three consecutive fixed-term contracts – converts automatically to an indefinite-term contract. At that point, all indefinite-term protections apply. Employers running rolling fixed-term arrangements without monitoring the 33-month threshold routinely discover this problem only when the employee files a claim.

For companies with cross-border employment structures, compliance obligations extend across jurisdictions. Our guide on employment law compliance for Slovakia companies in Poland illustrates how multi-jurisdiction structures create layered risks that a single-country checklist will miss.

To receive an expert assessment of your termination procedure before the notice is issued, contact info@kordeckipartners.com. If your company is planning a dismissal involving a protected employee, a trade union, or a foreign national, a pre-issue review typically costs a fraction of the compensation exposure it prevents.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can a Polish employer dismiss an employee by mutual agreement to avoid the notice period and union consultation?

A: Mutual agreement (rozwiązanie umowy za porozumieniem stron) is a valid and widely used mechanism. It bypasses the notice period and trade union consultation requirements because both parties consent. However, the employee must genuinely agree – courts will scrutinise cases where the employer pressured the employee into signing. If the employee was on sick leave or pregnant, mutual agreement is still permissible, but any suggestion of coercion will expose the employer to a claim of unlawful termination disguised as consent. The agreement should be in writing and signed by both parties on the same day.

Q: How long does an employee have to challenge a dismissal at the labour court?

A: Under the Labour Code, an employee must file a claim at the district labour court within 21 days of receiving the termination notice. Missing this deadline is generally fatal to the claim, though courts may restore the deadline in exceptional circumstances. Employers should note that the 21-day period is short – it means litigation can begin almost immediately after the notice is issued. Maintaining complete termination documentation from day one, rather than reconstructing it after a claim is filed, is essential.

Q: Does a whistleblower report filed the day before dismissal automatically block the termination?

A: Not automatically, but it shifts the burden of proof to the employer. The employer must demonstrate that the decision to terminate was made independently of the report and was based on legitimate, documented grounds that pre-date the disclosure. Where no contemporaneous performance records exist, this burden is very difficult to discharge. Best practice is to maintain rolling performance documentation and to conduct an internal legal review whenever a whistleblower report has been filed in the preceding 12 months before any dismissal decision is finalised.

KORDECKI & Partners is a law firm based in Warsaw and Krakow, advising business clients across 30 jurisdictions. Our team combines expertise in Polish and international law with a practical approach to employment law, workforce restructuring, and cross-border mobility. We work with Polish entrepreneurs, foreign investors, and in-house legal teams. To discuss your situation, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.

Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information herein should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel tailored to your specific circumstances. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.