New rules for calculating length of service have applied to private sector employers since the beginning of May 2026. With companies continuing to express concerns about the new framework, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has addressed the most common questions. We look at the issues that are (still) troubling employers and how we can help.
Under the amended Labour Code, the following periods (among others) count towards length of service:
- Periods of conducting non-agricultural business activity in respect of which pension, disability or accident insurance contributions were paid
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- Employers should keep in mind that when recalculating an employee’s length of service, they must also take into account the so-called ‘start-up relief’ (ulga na start), i.e. the first 6 months of business activity during which the individual was not required to pay compulsory social insurance contributions
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- Periods of work performed under:
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- A contractor agreement (umowa zlecenia)
- A contract for services to which the provisions on contractor agreements apply
- An agency contract
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in each case where the individual was subject to pension and disability insurance.
This covers, among other things, the periods during which such contracts or agreements were actually performed.
- Periods during which an individual was:
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- A collaborator of a person working under a contractor agreement, a contract for services or an agency contract
- A member of an agricultural production cooperative or a farmers’ circle cooperative (spółdzielnia kółek rolniczych),
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where the individual was subject to pension and disability insurance.
- Such documented periods during which the individual was not subject to pension and disability insurance under separate legislation.
A good example of the above is work performed under a contractor agreement by a student who benefits from an exemption from social insurance contributions under the Social Security System Act. The period during which the agreement was performed will count towards the length of service, even though no contributions were paid to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).
- Documented periods of work performed abroad on a basis other than an employment relationship
According to the Ministry, work performed abroad can be evidenced by:
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- A document from the social insurance or tax authority of the country where the work was performed
- A document from the business activity register
- A certificate issued by the foreign employer
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Extra years of service can lead to, among other things:
- A longer annual leave entitlement
- A higher seniority allowance
- Eligibility for a long-service award, or for the next tier up
- Access to a wider range of roles where a specific length of service is required
- A longer notice period for termination of the employment contract
- A higher severance payment upon termination of the employment contract
What is the deadline for documenting the new periods?
Private sector employees have 24 months from 1 May 2026 to provide their employer with documents evidencing the relevant periods of employment.
If a period is not documented within that timeframe, the employer will not factor it in when calculating the length of service on which the employee’s entitlements depend.
Do the new rules mean that contractor agreements will be treated as employment contracts?
According to the Ministry – yes, but only for the purposes of calculating length of service.
The new rules do not, however, equate contractor agreements with employment contracts. In particular, they do not confer employee rights on contractors.
An employment contract and a contractor agreement remain distinct types of contract, each with its own set of rights and obligations for the parties involved. Individuals working under a contractor agreement will not acquire any new entitlements in respect of that agreement by virtue of the new rules.
That said, where an employee previously worked for their current employer under a contractor agreement, that period will now count towards their length of service with that employer – and may therefore extend the notice period, which is tied to length of service with the given employer.
NOTE: According to the Ministry, including a period of work performed under, for example, a contractor agreement in an employee’s length of service – where that employee is taking up employment under an employment contract for the first time – will not change the rules on granting annual leave. In such cases, employees still acquire the right to annual leave at the end of each month of work, in the amount of 1/12 of the annual entitlement due after one year of service.
Do employers have to recalculate length of service for all employees automatically?
According to the Ministry, employers should update their employees’ length of service – along with any resulting entitlements – where they hold documents evidencing the new periods that count towards length of service, namely:
- Where the employee has submitted such documents; or
- Where the employer previously engaged the employee under a contract whose period of performance now counts towards length of service under the new rules, and still holds the relevant documentation
If the employer no longer holds such documents (due to data retention rules), it is up to the employee to evidence the relevant period, by requesting a certificate from ZUS and submitting it to the employer.
Employers are not required to reconstruct historical records – the onus is on employees, who can obtain the relevant certificate from ZUS.
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