In the article the author discusses situations of applying sanctions prescribed in Polish Insolvency Act to an employ­ee, i.e. person being a part of employment contract. Some of these sanctions are possible to apply in case of insolven­cy of a debtor being an employer, regardless of an insolven­cy order. Additionally some of them are necessary during insolvency proceedings to prevent from ineffectiveness of the proceedings. The discussion comprise: avoidance ac­tions referring to employee’s salary, his liability in tort and criminal responsibility, coercive measures, and disqualifi­cation of directors. Sanctions applied to an employee are of course exceptions, that become real if an employee is at the same time a director (member of a directory board) or a manager, in some cases – even a shadow director. These sanctions are motivated by the necessity of protection of creditors and generally the certainty of legal transactions.