Transformative changes in the world of work driven by globalisation and technological innovation pose enormous challenges for advancing the right to decent work. Decent work remains an "exclusive" and "luxurious" ideal for a growing number of workers. Young workers are especially vulnerable in this regard and are more likely to find themselves in a situation of precarity. This is due to the fact that they are experiencing twofold, inter-related, difficulties: the transition from education to work and the access to employment contracts that guarantee decent working conditions. This contribution analyses legal regulations addressed to young people and evaluates how this legislation impacts the position of young people in the labour market in Poland. The research will focus on solutions reaching out specifically to young people under the justifications of "education to work transition", "job creation" and "young unemployment" and include: apprenticeship, traineeship and internship. The study will examine how the regulation under analysis affects the access to decent work and other fundamental rights at work that are enshrined in both international instruments and the Polish Constitution and regulatory framework.

Balancing work and family responsibilities is a prominent issue for modern society. The relation of subordination and dependence of a worker that characterizes the employment relationship, and makes it different from other work relations, puts an employee in a vulnerable position in terms of control over his or her own working life and balancing it with private life. Participation in paid activity often implies the need to sacrifice private life of the employee, which makes an exchange between the parties to an employment relationship no longer a fair one. Family life is most seriously exposed to a work-life conflict. This is becoming a critical challenge for many employees, especially women with family responsibilities. This contribution aims at offering an analysis of the recent European Union legislative intervention in the work-life conflict — the Work-Life Balance Directive and the position of Poland within this picture. The analysis reveals some limitations of the existing legislation as regards the conditions for people with caring responsibilities to reconcile their working and family duties.