1 EMPLOYEES’ VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Latest changes in the Labour Code. Employers’ perspective dr Grazyna Spytek-Bandurska Vice-director Department of Social Dialogue and Labour Relations Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan

2 Improvement of employees’ qualifications Polish employers fully acknowledge the role of lifelong learning and development of employees qualifications. Competitiveness of the Polish enterprises is closely connected to employees' skills. In the knowledge-based economy development of lifelong learning is crucial for improving enterprises' and economy innovativeness. © 2009 PKPP Lewiatan

3 Changes in the legal regulations - assessment Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan is highly critical towards the latest changes of the regulation in the Labour Code The objections are connected to specific stipulations that set mutual rights and obligations of employers and employees © 2009 PKPP Lewiatan

4 Changes in the legal regulations - assessment Putting many more duties on employers may lead to the situation that they will have no motivation to take care about professional development of the employees A good solution - that had been in force before the changes in the Labour Code - is to give more flexibility to employers and employees with regard to the conditions of training and improving skills, when training is initiated by the employee © 2009 PKPP Lewiatan

5 Changes in the legal regulation - assessment Critical assessment of the obligation to sign a training contract This obligation should be related only to such forms of training that last longer than certain time (eg 40 hours). In case of training lasting less than the agreed time (eg 40 hours) there should be an option for unilateral decision of employer about sending employee for training course. In such case, employee would have no right to training leave, even if training would end up with exam © 2009 PKPP Lewiatan

6 Changes in the legal regulation - assessment The length of training leave (6 days) is decisively too high and should be determined more flexibly, ie. in the training contract Decisions about the rights and duties connected with sending employees to training and the length of training leave should be the subject of bilateral contract between employer and employee. The length of training leave should be linked to the length of the training course © 2009 PKPP Lewiatan

7 Thank you for your attention © 2009 PKPP Lewiatan