Labour and Social Security Journal 03/2024

The article analyses the Court of Justice case law to show its impact on the scope of application of the Council Directive 2000/78/EC. The study is based on the hypothesis that provisions of the directive concerning its scope are subject to broad and functional interpretation by the Court of Justice which contributes to developing EU antidiscrimination law. The most important in this respect are decisions regarding the delineation of 'the reference circle' for comparisons, which are carried out to determine whether discrimination has taken place, as well as those regarding subsequent elements listed in Article 3 paragraph 1 of Directive 2000/78. As a result, the article starts with the presentation of the directive's regulations. The next two sections contain an analysis of the Court of Justice case law considered essential for the topic, including decisions given in 2021–2023. Conclusions focus on the most important aspects of these judgments that may be helpful in the application of Polish legal provisions implementing Directive 2000/78.

Employers are obliged to support their employees in the process of managing their resources. This paper explores the correlation between social workers' personal resources and their level of achievement motivation. The analysis of the psychosocial potential of social workers is part of a stream of research on positive aspects of social service professional functioning. In the study, the Hobfoll Self-Assessment of Resources Questionnaire and the Questionnaire to Measure Achievement Motivation by M. Widerszal-Bazyl were used. The results of a 103-person group of social workers with a mean age of 38 years were analysed. Using factor analysis, five factors were identified within the broadly defined personal resources, which, according to the research technique used, were analysed in terms of the degree to which they were acquired, their importance to the person surveyed and their sense of loss. In the case of achievement motivation, the total score and its dimensions were analysed, in accordance with the Widerszal-Bazyl approach. Statistical analysis allowed the main conclusions of the study to be drawn. There is a relationship between the level of achievement motivation and its selected dimensions and the degree of importance, acquisition and loss of some personal resources. On the other hand, taking into account the overall score for achievement motivation, it turned out that its intensity decreases with the increase of acquired material resources. Correlations between all analysed dimensions of personal resources and the intensity of aspirations of the surveyed group of employees were also revealed. The results of the study may foster a change in the understanding of the psychosocial potential of social workers, and may also prove helpful to social work supervisors and those organising their support and professional training.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the relationship between the innovations introduced into Brazilian law with Process 4.0 and Artificial Intelligence and access to timely and satisfactory judicial protection. The authors indicate how Artificial Intelligence is regulated and applied by Brazilian courts and the National Council of Justice, and what impact it has on labor courts and workers' rights. A deductive, qualitative method based on bibliographic research was used to develop the article.

Abstract Open Pension Funds (OFE) introduced in 1999 into the Polish model of the pension system changed the perception of saving for future retirement and began to popularise the defined contribution system. The extent of the changes, the cost of implementing the new system and the actual and expected results of OFE aroused a lot of social emotion. The article presents the characteristics of open pension funds and the changes introduced over the period of their operation. The analysis of OFE investment efficiency includes a comparison of OFE financial results against the volatility of the WIG20 index and 10-year treasury bonds. The time range of the research covered the years 2010–2022. The research results show that the financial results of open pension funds follow trends consistent with the trends of 10-year bonds, but their volatility is significant in relation to bonds and depends on the volatility of the WIG20 index. This leads to questions related to the investment risk to which the results of open pension funds are exposed. Therefore, suggestions for the direction of further development of open pension funds have been submitted.

The purpose of the study is to discuss the issues related to the status of a shareholder in a limited liability company (spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością, "sp. z o.o.") with particular emphasis on the shares held in the company in relation to the change of circumstances triggering the obligation to pay compulsory social insurance under Article 6(1)(5) in conjunction with Article 8(6)(4) of the Act on Social Insurance System of 13 October 1998 (hereinafter: system act).The above issue is important because this issue is currently the subject of consideration by the Supreme Court in the case ref. no. III UZP 8/23 (date of receipt: 17 October 2023) where a legal issue arose that will ultimately answer the following question: "is a shareholder of a two-person limited liability company holding 99 percent of shares that give him the ability to freely shape the content of resolutions at the meeting of shareholders and make decisions regarding the company's activities, subject to social insurance pursuant to Article 6(1)(5) in conjunction with Article 8(6)(4) of the Act on Social Insurance System of 13 October 1998?" Therefore, in this study the author will attempt to answer the above legal issue by interpreting the relevant provisions of the law relating to the described issue.

The subject of this article is an analysis of the relationship between the protection of the welfare of the child and relief from the return of family allowance that has been unduly collected. Reliefs in the repayment of unduly collected family benefit (cancellation, deferral, installment) are possible only when there are particularly justified circumstances regarding the situation of the family. The purpose of the article is to verify the hypothesis that there is no place (in the system of repayment of family benefits unduly collected) for the examination of the situation of the child (the main beneficiary of family benefits) and for the direct protection of his welfare. In her paper, the author analyzes whether the legislator has properly protected the child and his needs, as well as whether it has allowed the authorities to have a chance to take into account the needs not of the child's family, but of the child himself, when deciding to grant relief from the reimbursement of family allowance.

The author discusses the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court in relation to the subject scope of the Article 264 of the Labour Code. She discusses in more detail one of the latest judgments in this area, in which the Supreme Court assumed that an employee who limited the amount of compensation claimed for unlawful termination of an employment contract by the employer may claim the remaining part of that only within the deadline set out in Article 264 § 2 of the Labour Code.