Poland’s new workplace bullying rules: what employers need to do by May 2027

Poland’s new workplace bullying rules: what employers need to do by May 2027

“We employ eight people, so this does not apply to us.” For an employer with staff in Poland, that statement is only half right. A 10-employee threshold exists, but it applies to the requirement to put rules in writing—not to the duty to prevent workplace bullying.

An amendment to the Polish Labor Code dated June 19, 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026, item 1046) took effect on November 5, 2026. It changed the definition of mobbing, the term used in Polish employment law for workplace bullying, and expanded employers’ obligations. Employers have six months, until May 5, 2027, to update or introduce the required internal documents.

Those are two different timelines. Every employer must systematically prevent mobbing from November 5, 2026, regardless of headcount. The 10-employee threshold applies to the additional requirement to set out rules, procedures, and the frequency of relevant measures in internal regulations.

The two obligations—and who they apply to

Every employer: prevent, detect, and respond

Under amended Article 94³ § 1 of the Polish Labor Code, every employer must systematically counteract mobbing. The duty encompasses prevention, detection, response, remedial action, and support for people affected (Polish Civil Service guidance).

There is no headcount exemption. An employer with three employees has this duty, as does an employer with 1,000. It has applied since November 5, 2026, without a transitional delay.

At least 10 employees: set out the measures in internal regulations

Article 94³a § 1 adds a documentation requirement for employers with at least 10 employees. They must describe the rules, procedures, and frequency of measures concerning mobbing, discrimination, and the protection of employees’ dignity. These provisions belong in separate internal regulations unless they are already included in the employer’s workplace regulations or a collective bargaining agreement (2026 amendment).

The deadline to introduce or update those documents is May 5, 2027. This transitional period concerns the documents only; it does not postpone the duty to act.

In this article, internal regulations means the employer-level document setting out these rules. Polish workplace regulations are an existing form of internal employment rules; a collective bargaining agreement is an agreement with trade unions. The required provisions may be placed in either of those existing documents where applicable.

Counting the 10-employee threshold

The Labor Code term “employee” refers to a person in an employment relationship. People engaged under a Polish umowa zlecenia (contract of mandate, a civil-law services arrangement) or a business-to-business (B2B) contract are not employees for this purpose (Polish National Labor Inspectorate guidance on forms of employment).

* An official position from the Polish National Labor Inspectorate (PIP) or the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy (MRPiPS) has not yet confirmed how part-time employees and temporary workers should be counted for Article 94³a § 1. If your headcount is close to 10, check your position with Polish employment counsel.

Example: A technology company has eight employees under employment contracts and 15 B2B contractors. On those facts, it has not reached the 10-employee threshold for the regulations required by Article 94³a § 1. Its duty to prevent mobbing affecting its eight employees nevertheless applies in full from November 5, 2026.

What changed in the definition of mobbing

The previous definition required harassment to be persistent and prolonged. Amended Article 94³ § 2 removes the requirement that it be prolonged. The new definition concerns persistent harassment: conduct that is repeated, recurring, or continuous. It does not cover an isolated incident.

Sources: 2026 amendment and Polish Civil Service guidance.

Removing the prolonged-conduct requirement lowers the evidentiary threshold for an employee: repeated conduct need not be shown to have continued for months. The other side of that change is the express exclusion of isolated incidents. A single infringement of a person’s personal rights still does not, by itself, constitute mobbing.

The burden of proof in mobbing cases remains with the employee. The legislative materials, including the Sejm transcript referring to paper no. 2289, distinguish this from unequal-treatment cases, where a shift in the burden of proof to the employer applies. The Sejm is the lower house of Poland’s parliament.

What the internal regulations should cover

The Labor Code does not provide a ready-made template. The Polish National Labor Inspectorate’s guidance on mobbing and discrimination identifies these key elements:

1. A description of mobbing and examples of conduct, adapted to the organization—including remote work, distributed teams, and digital communications.
2. A reporting channel and reporting requirements: who receives a report, how it can be submitted, and how receipt is acknowledged.
3. The composition of the review committee and recusal rules: who examines a case and how conflicts of interest are addressed.
4. Investigation stages and deadlines, from receiving a report to reaching a decision.
5. Documentation and record-keeping: what is recorded and how.
6. Action after a violation is confirmed, including consequences for the person responsible.
7. Preventive measures and support for the person affected, such as training, monitoring, and assistance.

The regulations should reflect each part of the expanded duty—prevention, detection, response, remedial action, and support (MRPiPS guidance).

A document is not a substitute for implementation. One paragraph about mobbing copied into workplace regulations several years ago may mean a document formally exists, but it does not necessarily describe the required rules, procedures, or frequency of action. Compare what the document says with how reports are actually handled.

Introducing the regulations where there is no trade union

The process depends on whether trade unions operate at the employer. Where there is no union, the approved procedure involves employee representatives:

1. Elect at least two employee representatives under the procedure adopted at the workplace (Article 237¹³a of the Labor Code). The election process can be established through a notice to all employees, provided the rules are fair, everyone can vote, and the process is documented (Labor Code consolidated text).
2. Consult the representatives. Give them an opportunity to provide opinions and comments, and record the consultation in minutes. The employer does not have to accept their suggestions, but the consultation must take place.
3. Announce the regulations using a method customary at the employer, such as email, Slack, Teams, or a posted notice. Formally introduce them by an internal order with the regulations attached.

If representatives have already been elected on an ongoing basis, check whether their mandate remains valid before arranging another election.

Introducing the regulations where trade unions operate

1. Submit the draft to the trade union organizations.
2. If agreement with all organizations is not possible, agree the wording with representative organizations—those representing at least 5% of employees.
3. If no agreement is reached within 30 days of submitting the draft, the employer may set out the rules independently in the regulations, taking account of arrangements made during negotiations.

Build this process into the timetable. Drafting the document is only one stage.

Planning backward from May 5, 2027

The six-month period can become tight once document review, representative elections, consultations, and possible union negotiations are included.

Allow six to eight weeks for consultations and negotiations when setting the project plan. Assign a named owner for the document update and a deputy. Without clear ownership, HR may assume management is handling it while management assumes HR is doing so.

Most importantly, do not wait for the document before responding to reports. If an employee reports mobbing in January 2027, the employer must receive the report, investigate, and take appropriate action even if the regulations are still being finalized.

Other avoidable problems include copying a generic template that does not fit remote or multi-location teams, underestimating consultation time, and setting a response deadline in the regulations that the organization does not meet in practice. If a policy promises a response within seven days but reports sit unanswered for weeks, the employer’s own records may work against it in litigation.

Financial exposure and evidence of compliance

Article 94³ §§ 3–4 of the Labor Code provides for two types of employee claims:

1. Compensation for harm to health: an “appropriate sum” determined by the court in the individual case, without a statutory tariff.
2. Damages: at least the minimum wage where the employment contract is terminated as a result of mobbing.

The approved source identifies these amounts in Polish Supreme Court judgments:

MRPiPS materials also refer to a proposed minimum compensation of six times the minimum wage. The effective date of that change requires verification against the published legislation; it should not be assumed from the ministry materials alone.

A missing document does not automatically make an employer liable for mobbing. It can, however, make it harder to demonstrate that the company actually counteracted it, and that may affect the outcome of a case. Keep records of training and attendance, reports and investigations, decisions, remedial measures, and their results. The policy and the employer’s actions should tell the same story.

Remote teams and employees working from Poland

The Article 94³ § 1 duty is not limited to an office. It also applies to remote work under Article 67¹⁸ of the Labor Code. Conduct through messaging tools, email, or video meetings may meet the definition of mobbing (National Labor Inspectorate in Katowice).

For employees who habitually work from Poland, the source identifies Polish law as the law of their habitual place of work under Article 8 of the Rome I Regulation, regardless of where the employer or the rest of the team is located. A company managing a Polish-based employee from abroad should therefore account for these Polish requirements.

In operational terms:

• Provide a reporting route that remote employees can use; “come to the office and speak to HR” is not enough.
• Include relevant online examples in the regulations, such as exclusion from work channels or meetings and systematically ignoring messages.
• Plan how to announce the regulations and record employee acknowledgment electronically. The approved source notes a broader move toward flexible employment-law formalities, referring to a draft deregulation act of January 27, 2026; treat that reference as a draft, not as confirmation that every electronic formality is already permitted.

Anti-mobbing reports and whistleblower reports

Poland’s Act of June 14, 2024, on the Protection of Whistleblowers requires entities employing at least 50 people to have an internal reporting procedure.

An employer can technically use one form, platform, or contact point for both types of report. The legal procedures should nevertheless remain distinct.

The approved source’s research did not confirm that mobbing as such is included in the Article 3 list of breaches under the Whistleblower Protection Act. Check the current wording of that provision before combining procedures.

If you use a shared intake channel, explain how a report is classified and routed. Each process should have its own handling steps, deadlines, and documentation. Employees should not have to work out which legal category applies before they can raise a concern.

Action checklist

Frequently asked questions

We have nine employees under employment contracts. Do we need to do anything?

Yes. The duty to prevent, detect, and respond to mobbing applies to every employer from November 5, 2026. On that headcount, the additional Article 94³a § 1 requirement for internal regulations does not apply, but the absence of regulations does not remove the employer’s duty toward its employees.

Do B2B contractors and people engaged under contracts of mandate count toward 10?

No. They are not employees within the Labor Code meaning used for this threshold. The method of counting part-time employees and temporary workers has not yet been confirmed by an official PIP or MRPiPS position. If the answer could put you on either side of the threshold, seek legal advice.

Our workplace regulations already have a paragraph about mobbing. Is that sufficient?

Probably not if it does not describe the rules, procedures, and frequency of measures concerning mobbing, discrimination, and dignity. Check whether it covers reporting, investigation, deadlines, remedial action, prevention, and support. Update inadequate provisions by May 5, 2027.

What if we miss the document deadline?

The absence of required regulations does not automatically result in a fine, but it may prompt action by PIP and weaken the employer’s position in a dispute. Without a functioning, documented procedure, it is harder to show what the organization did to prevent and address mobbing.

Can employees use our whistleblowing platform for mobbing reports?

The same technical channel can be used, but the legal processes should be separated. Specify how reports are routed and which protections, deadlines, and records apply. Check the current Article 3 scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act before treating mobbing as a whistleblower-law matter.

How do we show that prevention happens in practice?

Document training dates and attendance, reports received, investigation steps and minutes, remedial decisions, and outcomes. Above all, follow the process your regulations describe.

How we can help

Compliance requires more than a policy: it requires a workable system for reporting, investigation, training, response, support, and record-keeping. We help technology companies and growing organizations review existing documents, draft regulations suited to remote or hybrid teams, conduct consultations with employee representatives or trade unions, train managers, and coordinate anti-mobbing procedures with whistleblowing channels.

The dates to keep separate are November 5, 2026, when the expanded duty to counteract mobbing began to apply to every employer, and May 5, 2027, the deadline for employers with at least 10 employees to update or introduce the required regulations. If you need help reviewing your Polish arrangements, preparing the documents, or training your team, contact us.