Working day - a project of changes

Pursuant to Article 128 § 3 of the Labor Code, for the purposes of accounting for the employee's working time:

• 24 hours a day should be understood as 24 consecutive hours, starting from the hour when the employee starts working in accordance with the working time schedule applicable to him,
• for a week - it should be understood as 7 consecutive calendar days, starting from the first day of the billing period.

This definition of the working day is to allow employees to rest properly. According to it, if, for example, an employee started work on Wednesday at 8, the next shift may not start until Thursday at 8:00 am. Earlier start of work will be treated as overtime.

These regulations are very troublesome for various companies and institutions because flexible working hours cannot be introduced. If an employee started work at 9 a.m. on one day, he cannot start at 7 a.m. the next day because his goods would be reduced by 2 hours.

Currently, the draft changes assume the introduction of a new definition of the working day. It would allow even two starting work within one working day, without the need to create overtime.

However, the proposed changes will not reduce the scope of employee protection against excessive workload. Their only aim is to make working time management more flexible, depending on the demand in a given enterprise for work.

The provision of art. 132 of KP will still guarantee employees an uninterrupted daily rest. The maximum 8-hour daily working time standard and the maximum average 40-hour weekly working time standard will still apply.

In the light of the new regulation, it would be possible for the employer to plan the length of the working day in such a way that the employee's working day does not violate the principle of 11 hours of uninterrupted rest, while maintaining the weekly standard of working time and the employee's right to at least 35 hours of uninterrupted rest each week.

Opinions on the appropriateness of introducing the new regulations are divided. On the one hand, thanks to the new regulations, it will be possible to plan working time more flexibly. This solution will facilitate the work of entrepreneurs who need employees at different times of the day, but are limited by the provisions of the Labor Code. On the other hand, the new regulation may, however, lead to an employee having to perform official duties on a day off. The employer would then be forced to provide another day off or an equivalent.