Changes to communities and cooperatives starting in December. "We will enter a new legal reality."

• On December 24, 2025, an amendment to the Labor Code will come into force, according to which employers will be obliged to ensure that their employee positions are gender-neutral.
• As explained by Professor Piotr Pałka, Ph.D., legal counsel and partner at DERC PAŁKA Law Firm, employers will be obliged to ensure that job postings and job titles are gender-neutral and that the recruitment process is non-discriminatory, so as not to undermine the right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.
• - Violation of the principle of gender neutrality may result in severe sanctions in the form of fines imposed by the National Labor Inspectorate or the Court, or claims for compensation by employees as a violation of the principle of equal treatment in employment - emphasizes Professor Piotr Pałka, Ph.D.
• Polish regulations do not explain what is meant by gender neutrality.

On December 24, 2025, an amendment to the Labor Code will come into force, imposing, among other things, an obligation on housing cooperatives as employers to ensure that their employee positions are gender-neutral . Professor Piotr Pałka, Ph.D., legal advisor and partner at DERC PAŁKA Law Firm, explains that this not only poses linguistic and organizational challenges, but will also necessitate adapting existing organizational structures to new legal requirements . Pursuant to Article 46, paragraph 1, item 5 of the Cooperative Law Act, in conjunction with Article 1, paragraph 7 of the Act on Housing Cooperatives, the supervisory board of a cooperative has the authority to approve the cooperative's organizational structure.

Professor Piotr Pałka, PhD, explains that the change in the legal provisions results from Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms, according to which job applicants have the right to receive information from their future employer on:

• (a) the starting salary or salary range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria, for the position in question; and
• (b) where applicable, the relevant provisions of the collective agreement applied by the employer to the position in question.

This information shall be provided in a manner that ensures informed and transparent salary negotiations, for example in the published vacancy notice, prior to an interview or otherwise .

Under this provision, employers cannot ask job applicants about their remuneration in their current or previous employment relationships. Furthermore, employers must ensure that job postings and job titles are gender-neutral and that the recruitment process is non-discriminatory, so as not to undermine the right to equal remuneration for equal work or work of equal value.

- says professor Dr. Piotr Pałka.

In the light of Article 34 of the Directive, the deadline for transposition of the Directive is only 7 June 2026, but our legislator has shown particular overzealousness in this case, unlike in the case of many acts of European Union law, which are very often implemented with delays.

The worst thing, however, is that when implementing the EU directive, our national legislator did not make any attempt to clarify at the level of national law what should be understood by the concept of gender neutrality, the failure to observe which may expose employers to liability for violating the fundamental principle of the Labor Code, the principle of equal treatment in employment.

- emphasizes professor Dr. Piotr Pałka.

Pursuant to the new provision of Article 183ca of the Labor Code:

§ 1. A person applying for employment in a given position receives information from the employer about:

• 1) the remuneration referred to in Article 183c § 2, its initial amount or range - based on objective, neutral criteria, in particular in terms of gender, and
• 2) the relevant provisions of the collective bargaining agreement or remuneration regulations - if the employer is covered by a collective bargaining agreement or remuneration regulations apply.

§ 2. The employer shall provide the information referred to in § 1 in advance, in paper or electronic form, to the person applying for employment, so as to enable them to become familiar with it, ensuring informed and transparent negotiations:

• 1) in the job advertisement;
• 2) before the interview - if the employer did not announce the recruitment for the position or did not provide this information in the advertisement referred to in point 1;
• 3) before entering into an employment relationship - if the employer did not announce a recruitment process for the position or did not provide this information in the advertisement referred to in point 1, or before the interview.

§ 3. The employer shall ensure that job advertisements and job titles are gender-neutral and that the recruitment process is non-discriminatory.

From December 24th this year, we will enter a new legal reality, where local government organizations such as housing cooperatives, which act as employers in legal transactions, will have to ensure gender neutrality in employee positions, so for example, it will no longer be a manager or head of a technical department, but it may be, for example, a person holding a managerial position, and a deputy manager may turn out to be a person replacing a person holding a managerial position.

- says professor Dr. Piotr Pałka and adds:

Examples are numerous, and violations of the principle of gender neutrality may result in severe penalties imposed by the National Labor Inspectorate or the Court, or may even result in employees seeking compensation for a violation of the principle of equal treatment in employment. The introduction of the principle of gender neutrality to the Labor Code will mean that this principle will be included in the section of the Labor Code concerning the principle of equal treatment in employment.