Non-employee atypical forms of employment in Poland: sociological and legal perspectives

Abstract

Motivation: The latest statistical data coming from the Central Statistical Office of Poland reports allows to conduct first estimative study concerning scale and structure of work undertaken in non-employee atypical forms of employment in Poland. Self-employment and work performed under private (civil-law) contracts are often associated with issue of the so-called junk contracts. In this respect, particular role should be assigned to the national legislator who can impose effective regulations designed to combat abusive practices in the field of atypical forms in employment.

Aim: The purpose of the article is to present scale and structure of work undertaken in non-employee atypical forms of employment in Poland and to characterize domestic legal frameworks defining acceptable limits of applying such forms of employment.

Results: Approximately 17% of working population in Poland is employed under non-employee atypical forms. The levels of such forms of employment have been stable in recent years. The problem arises when such forms of employment are imposed on workers against their free will. The data suggests that on the average in 7 out of 10 registered cases non-employee forms of employment were imposed by an employer. Domestic regulations establish theoretically appropriate legal measures designed to reduce apparent abuse of such forms of employment. However, the main problem lies in both the difficulty to properly classify individual cases and the effectiveness of applying particular measures in practice.