{"id":35198,"date":"2026-07-22T14:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/?p=35198"},"modified":"2026-07-22T14:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:11:45","slug":"poland-b2b-contract-reclassification-new-powers-for-labour-inspectors-pip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/2026\/07\/poland-b2b-contract-reclassification-new-powers-for-labour-inspectors-pip\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland – B2B Contract Reclassification: New Powers for Labour Inspectors (PIP)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/em><\/strong> Since 8 July 2026, Poland’s Labour Inspectorate (PIP) can reclassify B2B and other civil law contracts as employment relationships by administrative decision, without going to court. Companies face back taxes and social security contributions for up to five years, plus fines up to PLN 90,000, unless they use the 12-month amnesty (until 8 July 2027) or request a preventive individual ruling.<\/em><\/p>\n

What New Powers Does the Polish Labour Inspectorate (PIP) Have?<\/h2>\n

On 8th<\/sup> July, 2026, new legislation came into force giving the Polish Labour Inspectorate (PIP) a significant new tool: the power to issue administrative decisions establishing that a given cooperation arrangement is, in fact, an employment relationship. This concerns situations where the parties have entered into a civil law contract (e.g. B2B, a mandate agreement), but the work is actually performed for remuneration under conditions typical of employment. What does this mean for companies using such forms of engagement?<\/p>\n

How Does the New Reclassification Procedure Work?<\/h2>\n

The definition of an employment contract remains the same. What has changed is what PIP can do. Until now, the Inspectorate could only take the matter to the labour court by filing a claim for the establishment of an employment relationship. Now, in addition to that route, it can resolve the issue by way of an administrative decision, avoiding long litigation.<\/p>\n

The procedure follows defined steps. First, the labour inspector issues an order to conclude an employment contract, setting a deadline for compliance. Only if the order is not carried out can the district labour inspector issue a decision.<\/p>\n

An important limitation: the decision takes effect only going forward \u2014 from the date it is issued. If it is necessary to establish that an employment relationship existed for an earlier period, the case must still go to court, as before.<\/p>\n

The decision of the district labour inspector may be appealed to the labour court. The deadline for filing an appeal is 30 days.<\/p>\n

What Will Labour Inspectors Assess in a B2B Contract?<\/h2>\n

Above all, how the cooperation actually works in practice, not what the contract says. The inspector will look in particular at whether the worker is subject to instructions and supervision, whether the place and time of work are determined by the company, and how the day-to-day cooperation is structured. If the contract formally points to a B2B or mandate arrangement but everyday reality resembles employment \u2014 practice will prevail.<\/p>\n

What Are the Consequences of B2B Contract Reclassification?<\/h2>\n

Reclassifying the arrangement as employment is not just a matter of changing the contract. It opens the way for the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and the tax authorities to claim outstanding contributions and taxes for up to 5 years retrospectively. Moreover, the new regulations introduce a mechanism for information sharing between PIP, ZUS and the National Revenue Administration (KAS), which will make it easier to identify companies for inspection.<\/p>\n

Is There an Amnesty for Misclassified B2B Contracts in Poland?<\/h2>\n

The new law offers a transitional period: companies that voluntarily convert their civil law or B2B contracts into employment contracts by 8 July 2027 will not be fined for past misclassification. This amnesty is, however, limited \u2014 it only covers fines imposed by PIP. It does not wipe out outstanding social security contributions, back taxes, or any claims the reclassified worker may raise, such as holiday pay, overtime or severance.<\/p>\n

How Can Companies Request an Individual Ruling to Prevent Reclassification?<\/h2>\n

Companies can now apply to the Chief Labour Inspector for a written ruling confirming whether a specific cooperation arrangement qualifies as employment. The ruling costs PLN 40, should be issued within 30 days, and is binding on PIP. It is also shared with ZUS and the tax authorities. There is one important caveat: the ruling only protects the company if the actual day-to-day cooperation matches what was described in the application. If an inspection reveals a different reality, the protection may not hold.<\/p>\n

How High Are the Fines for B2B Contract Misclassification?<\/h2>\n

Financial penalties for misclassification have increased significantly. Court-imposed fines now range from PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000, up from the previous PLN 1,000\u201330,000. For repeat offences, the ceiling goes up to PLN 90,000. On-the-spot fines imposed by inspectors during inspections have also been raised \u2014 from PLN 2,000 to PLN 5,000, and from PLN 5,000 to PLN 10,000 for repeat violations.<\/p>\n

How Can Companies Mitigate the Risk of B2B Contract Reclassification?<\/h2>\n

By taking a close look at how cooperation within the company actually works. The analysis should cover not only the content of contracts but also the way they are performed in practice and the role of management in shaping relationships with cooperating individuals. This is a good time to identify risks and decide whether to adjust the cooperation model or change the contractual basis. Some companies may also want to consider applying for an individual ruling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Since 8 July 2026, Poland’s Labour Inspectorate (PIP) can reclassify B2B and other civil law contracts as employment relationships by administrative decision, without going to court. Companies face back taxes and social security contributions for up to five years, plus fines up to PLN 90,000, unless they use the 12-month amnesty (until 8 July […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":35199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[3413],"class_list":["post-35198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-labor","tag-poland"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35207,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35198\/revisions\/35207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalmondo.com\/pt-pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}