Labour and Social Security Journal 12/2025

The analysis presented in the article aims to distinguish among the laws applicable to family law issues and the law applicable to an individual employment contract that com­pete in the context of the problems related to both fields: family law and labour law. Thus, the principle – estab­lished within the regime primaire – of the autonomy of one spouse from the other spouse in taking up employment or in collecting and managing the earnings from his or her work falls within the conflict-of-laws category of “person­al relations between spouses”. The question of the right to compensation for an extraordinary contribution to the maintenance of the family, such as that provided for in the Swiss legal system, is governed by the law applicable to maintenance obligations. The question of the right to compensation for work in the interest of the family, such as that provided for within the separate property regime in the Spanish legal system, is covered by the scope of ap­plication of the law applicable to a matrimonial property regime. In the same way one should characterise the rules of a matrimonial property regime that determine the fate of remuneration for work and of objects used to perform a profession. The question of who is the legal represent­ative empowered to give consent to the conclusion of an employment contract by a child, is governed by the law designated by the Hague Convention of 1996 on Parental Responsibility, provided that the child is less than 18 years old and that a bilateral convention does not take prece­dence. The question of the parents’ competence to man­age assets acquired by their child through his or her work should be characterized in a similar manner.

The purpose of this article is to examine whether the rul­ings of the Court of Justice in Cases C-277/24 M.B. and C-278/24 P.K., which affect the application of Article 116 of the Polish General Tax Code in cases involving VAT lia­bility, are binding for the social security organ as well as for the labour and social insurance courts. This issue concerns the scope of application of EU law and various methods used to establish it. In this context, the analysis takes into account both the case law known as the Dzodzi line and the position of the Polish Constitutional Court regarding the influence of EU fundamental rights on the interpretation and application of national law in Poland, including those falling outside the scope of EU law.

The legal status of journalists is determined by a number of standards, not only of a legal nature. These include con­stitutional standards, press law standards, but also profes­sional ethics standards. They shape the profession of jour­nalism as a specific profession of public trust. At the same time, they create a specific context in which the basis for the employment of journalists must function. This study is an attempt to compare these two contexts and answer the question about the significance of various forms of em­ployment and their adequacy for the professional group of journalists.

Preparatory activities are performed by a considerable number of employees, yet their legal classification and the question of whether they should be recognised as working time remain contentious. Despite the practical significance of this matter, it has received relatively limited attention in the labour law literature. This article argues that the topic warrants deeper scholarly reflection, given its conceptual complexity and potential implications for both legal doc­trine and practice.

Amendments to the Civil Service Act adopted in 2023 in­troduced significant changes to the regulations governing working time in the civil service. The legislator enhanced the flexibility of adjusting working time to the operational needs of government administration offices by supplement­ing the existing basic and equivalent working time systems with additional schemes, namely the task-based system, the shortened working week, and the weekend working arrangement. A substantial revision was also made to the provisions governing overtime work, in particular with re­gard to the rules of compensation. The amendments allow for compensation either in the form of remuneration or time off, and align the rules on overtime compensation for senior civil service officials with the standards laid down in the Labour Code.

Employing individuals marginalized in the labour market is of considerable significance both for those individuals and for the local self-government units within whose territory they reside. The legislator has provided for the possibility of applying social clauses as instruments to foster their em­ployment not only within social cooperatives of legal per­sons, but also within other entities operating on the local market. This article examines social clauses from the per­spective of their capacity to influence the structure and con­ditions of employment. Certain clauses enable an increase in the employment of marginalized persons by imposing an obligation on contractors to establish an employment rela­tionship, whereas others confer a degree of discretion upon contracting authorities by permitting the inclusion of appro­priate contractual provisions. The majority of the proposed regulatory solutions merit a positive assessment. Neverthe­less, in the authors’ opinion, further conceptual clarification within the relevant legal acts is required in order to enhance their effectiveness. By way of illustration, this applies to the specification of the categories of entities eligible to benefit from contracts reserved for groups of entities employing, in particular, marginalized persons. Furthermore, the leg­islator may consider introducing an illustrative catalogue of contractual control mechanisms to be incorporated into agreements concluded between contractors and contracting authorities, aimed at safeguarding the rights of employees engaged in the performance of such contracts.

The article addresses the issue of intra-generational dif­ferentiation in the reception of content related to labor law and social security among members of Generation Z. The author highlights the mismatch between tradition­al institutional communication models and the evolving information consumption styles characteristic of Gen Z. Importantly, Generation Z is not a homogeneous group – differences stemming from place of residence and educa­tional/employment status significantly influence the pre­ferred forms and channels of information acquisition. The aim of the study is to identify these differences in order to gain a deeper understanding of how members of Gen­eration Z engage with legal content. This understanding may serve as a foundation for more precisely tailored information and communication strategies by public in­stitutions. The study was conducted in January 2025 on a nationally representative sample of 370 individuals born between 1996 and 2006. The following research hypothe­ses were formulated: H1: Place of residence differentiates the sources of information related to labor law and social security. H2: There is a statistically significant relationship between educational/employment status and preferred sources of information. The research employed CATI and CAWI techniques, along with statistical analysis using the chi-square (χ²) test.

In order to balance the burdens resulting from profes­sional subordination and numerous responsibilities, the legislator granted officers and professional soldiers special rights, including social benefits. Social benefits for profes­sional soldiers and officers of militarised services can be divided into: housing, travel expenses, allowances, grants, and special subsidies (for leisure, medical treatment, par­ticipation in various cultural and educational activities). The amendments introduced by the Act of 12 Septem­ber 2025 will have a positive impact on the financial and housing situation of officers from some militarised servic­es (the Police, the Border Guard, the State Fire Service, the State Protection Service, the Internal Security Agency, the Intelligence Agency, the Military Counterintelligence Service, the Military Intelligence Service). They also rep­resent a step towards reducing the differentiation between professional soldiers and officers of selected militarised services, not all aspects of which are justified. However, this amendment leads to new differences. The changes did not apply to officers of the Prison Service, the Customs and Tax Service, the Marshal’s Guard, and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. The aim of this article is to as­sess the legitimacy of differences in the status of officers of various militarised services, in terms of social rights, par­ticularly housing benefits.

The author discusses the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on the concept of the qualifications required to perform a giv­en role, and how their loss entitles an employer to termi­nate an employment contract with immediate effect (Arti­cle 52 § 1(3) of the Labour Code).