The Impact of the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the European Union on Polish Labour Law

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present potential legal consequences of the reception of the future directive on adequate minimum wages in Poland as well as the social, economic and political context of this process. The adoption and implementation of the future directive would require changes in Polish law. First of all, the mechanism of setting the statutory minimum wage, especially the reference criteria, would have to be amended. The necessary amendments include also the establishment of an advisory body. Finally, the directive can be seen as an impulse to revive social dialogue, which is undergoing a deep crisis. Due to the complexity of the regulations, it is difficult to clearly assess whether any modifications will be needed as regards the protection of minimum wages. Although the directive could be a chance to improve working and living conditions in Poland, there is no enthusiasm about the draft. The government raises doubts about the EU’s treaty competences to issue the directive and is also very sceptical about the need and possibility to increase the scale of collective bargaining in Poland. Not surprisingly, the approach of the social partners is varied: rather negative in the case of employers and more positive as far as trade unions are concerned. Nonetheless, it would be unrealistic to expect widespread support for the proposed solutions.