On July 2, 2020, an MP’s draft amendment to the Labor Code was submitted to the Sejm. The draft provides for recognizing the differentiation of the amount of remuneration according to the employee’s sex as one of the manifestations of mobbing.
In the current legal state, mobbing means actions or behaviors concerning an employee or directed against an employee, consisting in persistent and long-term harassment or intimidation of an employee, causing him to underestimate his professional suitability, causing or aimed at humiliating or ridiculing the employee, isolating him or eliminating him from the team co-workers.
Draft initiators propose extending the definition of mobbing to take actions or behaviors concerning or directed against an employee, consisting in differentiating the amount of the employee’s remuneration based on gender. In their opinion, actions should be taken to enforce the principle of equal remuneration of women and men for work of equal value.
The draft was approved, among others, by the Supreme Court, NSZZ Solidarność and the Chief Labor Inspector. The respondents noted that Art. 183d, which grants the person whose employer violated the principle of equal treatment in employment, the right to compensation. This provision shifts the burden of proof to the employer, relieving the employee from having to prove his discrimination.
The implementation of the proposed change could disrupt the current system of redress and could weaken the protection of workers from discrimination. The respondents noted that for claims under Art. 943, which speaks of mobbing, the burden of proof is on the employee. For this reason, proving that the differentiation in remuneration resulted in an underestimated assessment of professional suitability for him would be significantly difficult.
In July 2020, the project was submitted to the Special Committee.
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