From 5 November 2026 the rules on liability for mobbing and discrimination at work in Poland change. The Labour Code (Kodeks pracy, k.p.) gets a new definition of mobbing, minimum amounts of compensation and a duty on employers to prevent violations systematically. We explain what changes, how a case in the labour court will look and what an employer should do before the new rules take effect.
Legal basis and deadlines
- Act of 19 June 2026 amending the Labour Code and the Code of Civil Procedure (Journal of Laws 2026, item 1046), published on 4 August 2026.
- Entry into force: 5 November 2026 (3 months after publication).
- Employers have 6 months from the entry into force of the Act to adapt their work regulations or adopt a separate policy referred to in Article 94³a § 1 of the Labour Code.
New definition of mobbing (Article 94³ of the Labour Code)
Until now, mobbing required several elements to be proven at the same time: persistent and long-lasting harassment or intimidation, a lowered assessment of the employee’s professional suitability, and conduct causing or aimed at humiliating or ridiculing the employee, isolating them or eliminating them from the team of colleagues.
After the amendment, mobbing means conduct consisting of persistent harassment of an employee. The Act clarifies that:
- harassment is persistent if it is repeated, recurring or continuous; isolated incidents are not mobbing, even if they infringe the employee’s personal rights,
- examples include humiliation, belittling, intimidation, lowering the assessment of professional suitability, unjustified criticism, ridicule, hindering work within the team and isolating the employee,
- ordering or encouraging such conduct is also mobbing,
- the perpetrator may be the employer, a supervisor, a colleague, a subordinate or a person working on another legal basis, acting alone or as part of a group,
- justified conduct expressed in an appropriate form, in particular performance review or criticism of work, is not mobbing.
For both sides this means that conduct in the workplace must be assessed against the new statutory criteria.
Compensation and damages
An employee subjected to mobbing may claim compensation for harm (zadośćuczynienie) of not less than six times the minimum monthly wage or damages (odszkodowanie). With the 2026 minimum wage of PLN 4,806 gross, the lower limit of compensation is PLN 28,836. For discrimination, the Act provides a minimum of one minimum wage and, for repeated breaches of equal treatment, three times the minimum wage (PLN 14,418).
An employer who has paid such compensation may seek reimbursement from the direct perpetrator (recourse), taking into account the degree of fault of that person and of the employer. This matters for managers and colleagues, who until now rarely bore the consequences of mobbing.
Discrimination by association and by assumption
The amendment also extends Article 18³a of the Labour Code. Discrimination now also includes:
- discrimination by association – less favourable treatment of an employee because of their link to a person who has a protected characteristic (for example, a carer of a person with a disability),
- discrimination by assumption – less favourable treatment where the employer wrongly attributes such a characteristic to the employee.
Protection also extends to persons who support an employee asserting their rights. It does not apply to an employee who knew that the alleged violation had not occurred.
New duties of the employer
From 5 November 2026 the employer must counteract mobbing systematically. A formal procedure alone is no longer enough. In practice this means:
- prevention (training, clear rules of conduct, designating responsible persons),
- detection of problems (reporting channels, conversations, analysis of complaints and absences),
- proper response to reports (investigation, protection of the reporting person, consequences for the perpetrator),
- remedial action and support for those affected.
An employer with at least 10 employees should set out the rules and procedures for counteracting discrimination and mobbing in a collective labour agreement or work regulations or, if there are none, in a separate policy (Article 94³a of the Labour Code); the regulations are adopted in agreement with trade unions or employee representatives. In a dispute it will matter whether the employer actually took action, not merely whether a procedure existed.
Do the new rules apply to earlier cases?
Partly. The transitional provisions state that the amended rules also apply to conduct that began before 5 November 2026 but continues after that date (this applies to both persistent harassment and repeated breaches of equal treatment). The amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure do not apply to proceedings commenced and not concluded before the Act enters into force.
How to pursue a claim – tips for employees
- Document events – dates, witnesses, e-mails and chat messages, meeting notes, performance reviews.
- Report the matter to the employer in the way provided in the regulations; a report shows that the employer knew and could react.
- Mind the time limits – claims arising from the employment relationship become time-barred after 3 years from the date they became due (Article 291 § 1 of the Labour Code).
- Costs – the rules on court fees and exemptions in employment cases follow from the Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases; check their scope before filing a claim.
- Consider whether the conditions are met for terminating the employment contract without notice because of the employer’s gross breach of its basic duties towards the employee (Article 55 § 1¹ of the Labour Code). It is a serious decision that should be discussed with a lawyer before the statement is made.
Employer checklist
- Review the current work regulations and anti-mobbing procedures; plan changes within 6 months of 5 November 2026.
- Appoint persons or a committee to handle reports and ensure the procedure is impartial.
- Train managers – they may face recourse liability.
- Keep records of preventive measures; they will be evidence in a dispute.
- Cover discrimination by association and by assumption in HR policies and training.
- Set rules for responding to reports and protecting those who make them.
Frequently asked questions
Is a single conflict with a manager mobbing? No. Isolated incidents are not mobbing, even if they infringe the employee’s personal rights. They may, however, support other claims, for example for the protection of personal rights.
Must the perpetrator’s intent be proved? Under the new definition mobbing consists of persistent harassment; the Act does not require proof of a particular aim or of a lowered assessment of professional suitability.
Will compensation always be PLN 28,836? That is the lower limit. The court may award more, depending on the duration, intensity and consequences of the harassment.
Is the employer liable if a colleague committed the mobbing? The employer is liable to the employee regardless of who the perpetrator was. It may then seek reimbursement from the direct perpetrator, taking into account the degree of fault of that person and of the employer.
Do the rules apply to people on civil-law contracts? A perpetrator of mobbing may also be a person working on another legal basis. The scope of protection of persons not employed under an employment contract depends on the specific legal relationship and requires individual assessment.
This article is for information purposes only and contains general information as of 22 October 2026. It does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion in an individual case. We advise employers on implementing the new procedures and employees in mobbing and discrimination cases.