Certificate of employment - a model with extensive discussion

Timely and correct issuance of the employment certificate is the responsibility of the employer and cannot depend on the prior settlement of the employee with the entrepreneur.Failure to comply with this obligation by the employer is treated as an offense against the employee's rights and is punishable by a fine of PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000. The employment certificate should contain mandatory elements, e.g. the employee's working time or the basis for terminating the contract, but additional information may be included in it at the employee's request. The employer does not have to use the model of the employment certificate attached to the ordinance on the detailed content of the employment certificate. It may use a model developed by itself, but containing all the provisions laid down by law.

Free template of the certificate of employment

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Certificate of employment - specimen.pdf Description: printout for manual filling docx
Certificate of employment - specimen.docx Description: printout for manual filling

Work certificate - step by step filling

Pursuant to Art. 97 § 2 of the Labor Code, the employment certificate should include in particular information on:

1. the period and type of work performed,
2. positions held,
3. the mode of termination or the circumstances of termination of the employment relationship,
4. other information necessary to determine employee and social security entitlements.

Employee's data and the period of work

In point 1 of the certificate, the name of the employee should be indicated, and if he has two - both. The employment certificate should also indicate the exact dates of employment, thanks to which the next employer will be able to determine the vacation period necessary to determine the amount of vacation leave due to the employee. The starting and ending dates of the employment relationship should be specified. Previous periods of employment with the same employer are shown if no employment certificate has been issued. If in a given workplace the employee was employed in various working hours, all of them should be provided, along with the periods in which they performed work in particular working hours.

Indication of the period of temporary work in the employment certificate

In point 2 of the employment certificate, the employer indicates the periods of work in the temporary employment agency. If the employer has the status of a temporary employment agency, he should list all working periods including each user employer. Importantly, if the entity issuing the certificate is not a temporary employment agency, it indicates here the annotation "not applicable".

Employment certificate and positions held

In point 3 of the employment certificate, the employer is obliged to indicate the work performed by the employee. At this point, the certificate therefore includes all positions held by the entrepreneur issuing the employment certificate and information about the functions he performed.

It does not follow directly from the regulations, but individual positions or functions should be listed in chronological order. The regulations do not require that the employer, when listing individual positions, indicates the period in which the employee performed work in a given position, but it can be added due to a more transparent entry in the employment certificate.

The procedure and legal basis for termination of the employment relationship

In point 4 of the employment certificate, the employer should indicate the procedure and legal grounds for termination or expiry of the employment relationship. Termination of the contract results in the termination of the employment relationship, e.g. as a result of the death of the employee or employer or temporary arrest for more than 3 months. The termination of the contract, however, results from activities undertaken by the parties to the employment relationship. It is very important in the employment certificate to specify the manner in which the employment contract was terminated, e.g. by mutual agreement of the parties, upon termination by the employee or the employer. The form of termination of the contract is indicated by providing the exact article of the Labor Code allowing for the termination of the contract. In addition, specific cases of termination of employment may be identified. In the event of termination of the employment relationship, the employer may not include in the employment certificate the reason for termination of the employment relationship. On the other hand, the certificate of employment indicates the party that made the termination.

Bankruptcy or liquidation of the employer

In point 5 of the certificate, the period for which the notice period entitling to compensation has been shortened should be indicated. The legislator means a situation where the termination of an employee's contract was due to the declaration of bankruptcy or liquidation of the employer or other reasons not related to the employees. In this situation, the employer may shorten the three-month notice period, but not to more than 1 month. In this situation, the employee is entitled to compensation in the amount of remuneration for the remainder of the notice period.

Information on holiday leave

In point 6, section 1, the number of days of annual leave should be indicated. The certificate of employment should specify the number of vacation days that the employee has used for the current year. This information is necessary for the future employer with whom the employee wants to work in the same year. The work certificate shall only indicate the number of days and hours of annual leave in the calendar year in which the employment relationship ends, used in kind or for which a cash equivalent is due.

The employment certificate does not contain information about the amount of overdue annual leave. Also, the holiday leave used should not be reported other than for the current year in which the employment relationship is terminated. This means that the employer indicates the number of days and hours of vacation leave taken in kind or for which the holiday equivalent has been paid. In addition, the time spent on demand should be indicated separately.

Data on unpaid leave used

In point 6 sec. 2, the duration of the unpaid leave and the legal basis for granting it should be introduced. The date of the unpaid leave for the entire period of employment, and not only for the calendar year in which the employment relationship is terminated, is entered here.

Paternity and parental leave

Currently, the child's father can take paternity leave in 2 parts for 14 calendar days. This leave may be used until the child is 24 months old. In point 6 sec. 3, the employer should indicate paternity leave, but only if the employee will be able to use this leave with the future employer. In point 6 sec. 4, the periods of taking parental leave should be indicated, as in the case of paternity leave, the employer indicates the leave used only if the employee, due to the age of the child, could use it in the next employment. Importantly, also if the employee used more than one paternity or parental leave, he or she indicates the leave separately for each child, providing the child's name and surname.

Information on parental leave

Information on the use of the parental leave should be included only in point 6 sec. 5 employment certificates. Childcare leave may be used in a maximum of 5 parts, it is granted for a period no longer than until the end of the calendar year in which the child reaches the age of 6. All periods of parental leave used by the employee during employment with a given employer should be shown.

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Employment certificate and employment relationship protection

An employee entitled to parental leave may submit a written request to the employer to reduce his working time to not less than half of the full-time working time during the period in which he could take such leave. Then the employee is protected against dismissal for a period of 12 months. In point 6 sec. 6, we show whether the employee exercised this right.

Childcare in the work certificate

In point 6 sec. 7, the employer shows the number of days used by the employee under Art. 188 of the Labor Code Employees bringing up children up to the age of 14 are entitled to 2 days of carer's leave per child in each calendar year. As it is an annual limit, information about the care leave taken must include an employment certificate so that the next employer has knowledge of the amount of leave used in the calendar year in which the employment relationship ended.

Information on periods of inability to work

In point 6 sec. 8, the employer shows the periods of incapacity for work for which the employee retained the right to sick pay (these are the periods for which the employer paid the sick pay to the employee in accordance with the applicable regulations), i.e. a maximum of 14/33 days. Here you should list the days for which the employee received sick pay. This information is to be used by the next employer to determine the right to remuneration or sickness benefit.

Employment certificate and periods without remuneration

In point 6 sec. 9, the periods for which the employee did not retain the right to remuneration, falling from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003, should be shown. During this time, if the employee was sick for more than 6 days, he did not receive sick pay for the first day of the sick leave.

The period of completed military service and work in special conditions

In point 6 sec. 10, the periods of active military service or its alternative forms should be shown. The forms of military service are defined in the Act on the Universal Duty to Defend the Republic of Poland.

In point 6 sec. 11, the employer shows the periods of work performed in special conditions or of a special nature, as well as its type and positions. An employee who performs work in special conditions or of a special nature is entitled to early retirement, also these data are particularly important for employees who want to apply for early retirement on this account.

Work certificate and additional leave

Point 6 sec. 12 is a place where you can enter information affecting employee rights at the next employer - e.g. whether the employee has been paid a retirement or disability severance pay, or has an employee with a certain degree of disability, used the additional holiday leave he / she was entitled to or the number of hours worked overtime, which must be settled within the annual limit.

Employment certificate and non-contributory periods

Non-contributory periods during the employment relationship are taken into account when determining the right to a retirement pension or disability pension. The non-contributory periods include: inability to work due to illness for which the employee receives sick pay and sickness benefit (also from the accident fund), the period of receiving rehabilitation benefit (also from the accident fund) and care allowance. At this point, the employment certificate does not include periods related to unexcused and excused absences, unpaid, unpaid leaves, childcare leaves and collection of maternity benefits.

Certificate of employment - information on the seizure of remuneration

If a given employee has a bailiff seizure, the bailiff, the number of the enforcement case and the amount of the amounts deducted so far should be indicated so that the new employer hiring the given person can contact the bailiff based on the information from the employment certificate and make deductions from the employee's remuneration.

Supplementary information in the certificate of employment

Additionally, the employer, at the employee's request, takes into account such data as: the amount and components of remuneration, qualifications obtained during the employment relationship in the supplementary information.

An obligatory instruction should be included in the employment certificate. According to the instruction, the employee may submit a request for rectification within 14 days of receiving an incorrect employment certificate. In the event of refusal to rectify the employment certificate, the former employee has the right to appeal against the employer's decision to the Labor Court within 14 days from the issuance of the negative decision. The employee has the right to appeal to the Labor Court, also in a situation where the employer does not notify him of the refusal to rectify the issued employment certificate.