Labour and Social Security Journal 04/2025

Among the catalogue of social rights, the right to social security, which has a very strong axiological foundation, stands out as particularly significant. Its relation to the dignity of the human being is clearly enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reiterated in various international human rights treaties. One such treaty is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which regulates the right to social security in Article 9. Although the content of this provision is broad and general, and international standards for its implementation and protection can be found in other international agreements, it is an important international source of the right to social security. The purpose of the article is to present the broader context of the right to social security in the framework of the Covenant, and to extract from this context and from the content of Article 9 the elements that could define international standards for its implementation and protection. The analysis and evaluation will focus not only on Article 9, but also on the most representative General Comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Abstract The purpose of the publication is to introduce the institution of the Labour Protection Council. The Council, although it has been functioning for many years and is one of the supervisory bodies for working conditions, has not lived to see a wider discussion in the doctrine. The idea of the Authors is to discuss its constitutional position and the historical evolution of its powers, subordination and composition, as well as presentation its contemporary role.

The aim of this article is to identify selected determinants of abuse of unemployment benefits in Poland. Based on the results of quantitative and qualitative research, the authors diagnose the attitudes of adult Poles towards benefit abuse, with a particular focus on the extent and reasons for justifying various forms of noncompliance. The research results and their conclusions are presented in an interdisciplinary theoretical context with reference to, among others, the welfare abuse determinants model and Cressey's fraud triangle.

The article explores the issue of anticompetitive agreements in the labour market in the context of Polish and European competition law. On the basis of existing case law as well as administrative decisions and informational documents issued by the antitrust authorities, two types of illegal agreements may be distinguished – wage-fixing agreements and non poaching agreements. Generally, such agreements constitute restrictions on competition by object. At the same time, not all labour market agreements are prohibited. According to the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, collective bargaining agreements are exempt from the prohibition. In addition, there is a possibility of applying exemptions to certain agreements pursuant to the Article 101(3) TFEU and Article 8 of the Act of 16 February 2007 on Competition and Consumer Protection (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1616). The final part of the article addresses the purpose of the antitrust authorities’ actions on labour market, as these actions indirectly lead to more effective enforcement of constitutional freedom of labour.

Sexual harassment, in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code, is one of the forms of discrimination that affects the most delicate sphere of an employee – his or her intimacy and sexual integrity. The Labor Code indicates that the perpetrator's action must be undesirable, therefore, the occurrence of sexual harassment is associated with the disapproval of the victim to this form of violation. However, it happens that people experiencing sexual harassment due to many factors, such as fear of losing their job, lack of assertiveness, fear of exclusion from the team, do not report their disapproval, but endure manifestations of gender discrimination. Given this context, the aim of this article is to analyze the essence of opposition to sexual harassment. The article argues that the lack of consent to behavior that constitutes sexual harassment is a necessary element for classifying such conduct as discrimination under Article 183a § 6 of the Labor Code, despite the difficulties that often arise when it is manifested. A key part of the discussion is the analysis of the courts' approach to expressing opposition to sexual harassment and their expectations of an employee's response when faced with such experiences, in relation to psychological knowledge.

The commented judgment of 19 September 2023, I PSKP 50/22 refers to the issue of the limitation period for the claim for the return of benefits resulting from the employment relationship that were unduly paid to the employee in the form of remuneration and severance pay. The Supreme Court correctly found therein that this claim is subject to a limitation period under Article 291 § 1 of the Labour Code, and not under Article 118 of the Civil Code in conjunction with Article 300 of the Labour Code.

This article discusses the Supreme Court's case law on the concept of unlawfully collected benefits under social insurance legislation (Article 84 of the Social Insurance System Act and Article 66(2) of the Benefits Act).