Poland: The new provisions on the employment contract for trial period

According to the new provisions, a probationary employment contract shall be concluded for a period not exceeding 1 month – in the case of an intention to conclude a fixed-term contract of less than 6 months; 2 months – in the case of an intention to conclude a fixed-term contract of at least 6 months and less than 12 months. A trial period contract of 3 months may be concluded in the case of the intention to conclude an employment contract of at least 12 months’ duration or an employment contract for an indefinite period. The parties may extend the probationary employment contract once for a period of 1 or 2 months, but not for more than 1 month, if this is justified by the nature of the work.

Moreover, the parties may agree in the probationary employment contract that the contract shall be extended for the duration of holidays and also for the duration of the employee’s other excused absence from work if such absences occur.

Re-entering into a probationary contract with the same employee is permissible only if the employee is to be employed to perform a different type of work.

In the case of a contract of employment for a probationary period, the contract must indicate: the duration of the contract or the date on which it ends and, if the parties so agree, a provision to extend the contract for the duration of holidays and for the duration of the employee’s other excused absence from work, if such absences occur; the period for which the parties intend to conclude a further contract of employment; and a provision to extend the contract by one month where this is justified by the nature of the work.