Labour and Social Security Journal 06/2024

The recognition that climate change is one of humanity's main problems justifies the search for mechanisms conducive to environmental protection at all possible levels. One is the employee-employer relationship and the related right to a pollution-free working environment. When considering the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), it should be noted that it does not contain provisions relating explicitly to environmental protection. However, this does not mean that environmental issues are outside its scope of interest. Over the years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has issued several judgments concerning the environment, indicating that when environmental pollution directly affects an individual, there may be a violation of Article 2 of the ECHR. At the same time, on many occasions, the ECtHR has considered the human right to a pollution-free environment not only from the perspective of the right to life but also in close connection with the human right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 ECHR). In our opinion, some of the ECtHR's views formulated in the judgments on the interface between human rights (Article 2 and Article 8 ECHR) and environmental protection can be applied directly to the employeremployee relationship.

The ageing of the population causes an increase in the demand for inpatient long-term care services (including those provided in nursing homes) for dependent elderly people. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the current legal regulations for employees of nursing homes in the context of changes in the care needs of their residents and the care potential of their employees. Therefore, the current legal regulations on employment in nursing homes in the context of changes in the structure of the workforce and modifications in the therapeutic and care needs of residents are presented. In addition, the principles of incurring the cost of care in nursing homes are evaluated, along with suggestions for possible changes.

The study attempts to answer the question of whether the punishment of deprivation of the right to practice the profession of academic teacher has been optimally regulated, given the analysed examples of an analogous punishment in selected legal professions, alternatively, whether the regulations concerning it need to be improved, and if so, to what extent. The study also considers the consequences that this penalty raises under labour law (in comparison with the penalty under Article 276(1)(7) of the Law on Higher Education and Science). The consideration also includes the context of analogous disciplinary punishments in the legal professions of public trust.

The purpose of this article is to assess the validity of incorporating the institution of work abandonment into the Labour Code. Although the provisions governing work abandonment as a cause for terminating an employment contract have been abolished, the actual phenomenon of employees 'abandoning' work still persists. This has numerous negative consequences for employers, including financial ones. The author aims to address the issue of how to classify such conduct by an employee in accordance with current legal standards. Additionally, a de lege ferenda proposal is put forward to suggest specific amendments to the Labour Code regarding this matter.

The probationary employment contract is a useful legal instrument, allowing the parties to get to know each other and decide on further cooperation. Its regulation remained relatively simple and thus easy to use. The changes that were introduced to this contract as of 26 April 2023 constitute a serious impediment to the use of its advantages. Of particular relevance here is the unsuccessful regulation of the intention to employ for a fixed term after the end of the probationary period. This standardisation was not – in the form adopted by the Polish legislator – required by Directive 2019/1152. These changes may discourage the use of the probationary period contract and reach for a fixed-term contract instead.

The study addresses the issue of professional functioning of firefighters in the perspective of onerousness of work and organizational climate. The profession of a firefighter was characterized in the context of applicable regulations and the specificity of difficult and dangerous professions. The concept of organizational climate and its role in determining the quality of work and employee wellbeing are presented. The aim of the research was to assess the organizational climate and take this variable into account in relation to the experience of work hardship. 84 people, aged 24–54, were examined. The empirical material was subjected to statistical analysis using frequency distributions and cross-tabulations. A significant statistical relationship was observed in relation to the category of fatigue, weariness, and overload of the body caused by long-term action. The results indicate that a supportive organizational climate reduces the subjective assessment of this form of onerousness of work. Respondents working in an autocratic climate were more likely to report experiencing this onerousness of work. The obtained results make it possible to formulate practical implications.

Prima vista proceeding in petty offence or criminal proceeding can't be associated with a ruling establishing that an employment contract or, more broadly, an employment relationship existed between the employing entity and the employee, at a certain time, contrary to a written civil law contract or in the absence of a written contract. Since the Polish legislator criminalises, among other things, conduct detrimental to an employee, it is now clear that this is quite possible. If the subject matter of the petty offence or crime includes the infringement of employee's rights, then proving that such an infringement occurred requires also proving that the injured party was employed based on an employment relationship at the time of the prohibited act. In both criminal and petty offence proceedings, the adjudicating court independently shapes the factual and legal basis for its decision. Thus, it may, contrary to a written contract or despite the absence of a written contract, determine that tempore criminis the employed victim provided work on the basis of an employment relationship. The purpose of this paper is to set out the circumstances in which such a determination may be made and, further, to answer the question of whether it may be made in a situation where the employing entity is not a party to the proceedings.

In the paper, the author refers to the position of the Supreme Court and the accompanying argumentation regarding the requirement to indicate in every fixedterm employment contract, including those concluded for the purpose of performing work for a term of office (Article 251 4(3) of the Labour Code), a concrete date of its termination (falling at the end of a week, a month, a year or, for example, an artistic season or at the end of a term of office), marked in such a way that the date of termination is known to the parties and objectively foreseeable already at the time of its conclusion.