Labour and Social Security Journal 07/2024

The subject of this study is to discuss the doubts regarding the compliance of the shape of the provisions regulating the amount and basis of the so-called health "contributions" as a special form of public tribute with selected constitutional standards. In particular, this concerns the charging a "contribution", without any restrictions, on incomes from all insurance titles (the principle of universality of the contribution) in the context of the principle of social solidarity (Article 2 of the Constitution). The universality of the "contribution" will also be discussed against the limitations of the statutory guarantee, both in the context of Art. 47 (individual autonomy), as well as in the light of the principle of proportionality (Article 31(3) of the Constitution) and the prohibition of violating the essence of the right to property (Article 64(3) of the Constitution). In addition, doubts will be presented regarding]g the differentiation of the "contribution" assessment base for different groups of insured persons and the differentiation of the "contribution" rate for entrepreneurs depending on their tax status in the context of Art. 32 section 1 in connection with Art. 68 section 2, art. 84 and art. 2 of the Constitution.

Social enterprises are an important element of the social economy. To obtain such status, an enterprise should employ socially excluded people, act for the benefit of the local community and allocate all profits generated for statutory purposes. The article presents legal status of social enterprises, their legal structure and methods of supervision over their activities. Most of its elements should be assessed positively. In the author's opinion, changes should be introduced in the scope of granting the status of a social enterprise and the scope of monitoring the employment activities of people at risk of exclusion so that the enterprise can carry out its task more effectively.

The article aims to look at remote work from the employer's perspective. The considerations focus on the essence of remote work and the employer's duties related to its use. These issues raise doubts in practice It also explores the prevalence of this type of work in Poland and the economic, including managerial, consequences of its implementation in organisations. The authors found that regulations have formalised the organisation of the remote work process and the rules governing employee duties, primarily aiming to safeguard the interests of both employers and employees. Analysis of statistical data indicates that in Poland, 4–4.9% of individuals worked from home in the last decade, with a significant increase to, an average of, around 9% during the Covid-19 pandemic. The varied amount of remote work in the PKD 2007 sections resulted mainly from the nature of the work performed and staff shortages. Post-Covid the surveyed employers primarily adopted two different solutions: abandoning remote work and permitting occasional remote work or regulating remote/hybrid work in detail (based on applicable legislation), allowing for monitoring employees' duties. In general, employers were more inclined to adopt hybrid work over exclusively remote work.

The discussion on the possibility of combining professional work with caring for a person with disabilities has been carried out for years now. Very often the carer has high competences, qualifications and potential to work or carry out other gainful activity in a way that does not make it difficult to support a person with disabilities. The Polish Labour Code was amended on 7 April 2023 to introduce the institution of remote work. This amendment also offered regulations on caring for persons with disabilities. On 1 January 2024 regulations on the situation of the legal position of persons with disabilities that require assistance and of their carers were amended. Given the above, it is necessary to analyse normative measures that pertain to the possibility of combining remote work with caring for a person with disabilities. Results of this analysis are presented in this study.

According to the provision of Article 229 § 4 of the Labour Code, in case of a medical certificate of contraindication to work in a certain position, the employer is legally prohibited from allowing the employee to work. This is not the only legal consequence of a negative medical certificate, which may in fact become the cause of further measures concerning the content and durability of the contractual employment relationship. A certificate stating the existence of medical contraindications to work may also constitute a sufficient basis for the employer to terminate the employment relationship. On the other hand, psycho-physical incapacity to work may deprive the employee of the right to remuneration. Finally, a negative medical certificate may also justify the employer's interference in the content of the employment relationship with regard to the nature and extent of the work assigned. The purpose of this study is to identify, systematise and characterise the legal consequences of a negative medical certificate in the field of content and durability of the contractual employment relationship.

Nowadays, employees more and more often undertake various types of business trips as part of their professional duties. A special category of such employees are the so-called mobile workers, i.e. workers moving within a strictly defined geographical territory. The purpose of the following study is to discuss the principles of reimbursement of accommodation costs incurred during business travel to mobile workers. The authors question the latest legislative changes to the principles of reimbursement of drivers' accommodation costs and the insufficient regulation of the principles of reimbursement of accommodation costs for other mobile workers and suggest intervention of legislator in that regard.

The author presents a precedent-setting judgment of the Supreme Court, which clarifies that the entity competent to grant consent for the termination of the employment relationship with a member of an employees' council (Article 17 of the Informing and Consulting Employees Act) is only the council as a whole. This competence can not be transferred to other internal organisational structures of this council.

On the initiative of prof. Tomasz Duraj, on 7 December 2023 at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Łódź and on the TEAMS platform, 6th National Scientific Conference of the Non-typical employment relations was held on the topic 'The development of modern technologies and labour law and social insurance law – challenges for the future'. The conference was organised by the Centre for Atypical Employment Relations of the Faculty of Law of the University of Łódź, the Students' Forum for Atypical Employment Relations of the Faculty of Law of the University of Łódź and the District Labor Inspectorate in Łódź. The conference was attended by nearly 40 panellists. Stationary at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lodz was attended by nearly 90 people, and there were over 300 participants online. The event was covered by the honorary patronage of: Rector of the University of Łódź, the Chief Labour Inspector, the President of the Social Insurance Institution, the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs, the LEWIATAN Confederation, the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions and the Polish Social Insurance Association. Keywords modern technologies, labour law, social security, self-employment, platform work