Abstract The article presents considerations on employee subordination, analyzed from the autonomous and technological subordination perspective. The concept of autonomous subordination is already known in the case law and the Polish labour law doctrine. The idea of autonomous subordination was formulated by the Supreme Court in the judgment of September 7, 1999, I PKN 277/99 and was maintained in the Supreme Court's case law for years to come. Technological subordination, on the other hand, is an entirely new global phenomenon originating from algorithmic management. For the purposes of this article, it is assumed that technological subordination- also referred to (with some necessary simplification) as algorithmic subordination – means that, thanks to the latest technologies and appropriate algorithms, employers have acquired entirely new and previously unknown tools for exercising authoritative influence over employees. The article's authors attempted to examine how employee subordination is currently shaped, considering autonomous subordination and technological (algorithmic) subordination, and to determine whether these two concepts of subordination can coexist or are opposed to each other. Conducting in-depth analyses in the outlined research area (also beyond the scope of this text) is important for several reasons. Firstly, there is a lack of clear regulations about employee subordination as the most important structural feature of the employment relationship. Secondly, the understanding of employee subordination changes due to dynamic socio-economic changes. Thirdly, due to the fact that the concepts of autonomous subordination as well as technological subordination can be considered not only in employment relationships, but also in non employment work relationships. In the summary of the conducted research, the article's authors included de lege lata conclusions and proposed considering the introduction to the Polish Labour Code of an intermediate category between an employment relationship and non-employment civil-law work.

The article presents protective rights afforded to employeesother immediate family members by the Act of 16 May 2019 amending the Act — Labour Code and certain other acts. At the beginning, it was reminded that the term "employee-other immediate family member" was introduced in the Labour Code by the Act of 24 July 2015 amending the Act — Labour Code and certain other acts. Due to the amendment of 24 July 2015, employees-other immediate family members were included in the class of persons entitled to maternal or parental leave. The following parts of the article discuss specifically — as presently afforded to employees-other immediate family members — the right to pay for the entire period of unemployment applicable in case of taking up employment as a result of reinstatement. The article explains the crucial relation between the new protective rights under Article 47 LC, Article 57 para. 2 LC and the amendment to Article 177 para. 5 LC. It also points to the positive impact of the reforms made by the legislator in the amended Articles: 50 para. 5 LC and 163 para. 3 LC. Attention was also drawn to the amendment to Article 477² para. 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, introduced by the Act of 4 July 2019 amending the Act — Code of Civil Procedure and certain other acts, in relation to the court's power to impose on an employer the obligation of further employment of an employee until valid conclusion of judicial proceedings. The final part of the article contains considerations on the weakest aspects of the reform introduced by the legislator in the amendment of 16 May 2019. It was emphasized that the legislator's use of the term "employee-other immediate family member" significantly impairs the positive effect of the commented reform of the Labour Code.