Ladies and Gentlemen,
on April 28, 2020, the Sejm received a government bill amending certain acts regarding protective measures in connection with the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. You can follow the legislative process at http://www.sejm.gov.pl/sejm9.nsf/proces.xsp , item 344.
The draft act introduces a number of changes to existing legal provisions, and is also a further supplement to the anti-crisis shield, which has been in force since April 1, 2020. We present the most important of the proposed changes:
- There is no income limit for self-employed individuals applying for ZUS exemption. Self-employed individuals whose income exceeded 300% of the projected average gross monthly salary in the national economy in 2020 will also be eligible for the ZUS exemption. To benefit from the ZUS exemption, the self-employed individual will need to meet the requirement of generating income from their business activity in February 2020 not exceeding PLN 7,000. The exemption will be available for the period from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020.
- Increasing the income criterion entitling to benefits from the maintenance fund to PLN 900 per person , in accordance with the "zloty for zloty" principle,
- No need to obtain a new work permit, change the permit or obtain a new declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner whose working hours have been reduced in accordance with Article 15g, paragraph 8 of the Anti-Crisis Shield (i.e. in connection with the entrepreneur applying for remuneration subsidy from the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund),
- Exemption from the obligation to obtain a permit for foreigners who require a seasonal work permit,
- Recapitalization of funds allocated for the implementation of the financial shield by the Industrial Development Agency SA in the amount of PLN 900 million.
- An additional care allowance will be available if you need to care for a child with a certificate of severe or moderate disability until the age of 18, or for a child with a certificate of disability or special education needs – provided that nurseries, children's clubs, kindergartens, schools, or other facilities attended by the child are closed. Furthermore, an additional care allowance will also be available if a nanny or daycare provider is unable to provide care due to COVID-19.
- Expanding the option to suspend student loan repayments to include interest payments. This solution will allow students to suspend not only the principal repayment (this option was introduced under Shield 2.0), but also the interest payments. Additionally, the loan repayment suspension period will be extended from three to six months.
- The standstill benefit may be granted to a person conducting non-agricultural business activity if they started their non-agricultural business activity before 1 April 2020 (currently, the date of commencement of business activity must be before 1 February 2020), while the other conditions for obtaining the standstill benefit for self-employed persons remain unchanged.
- Extension of the statutory deadline for convening a meeting of property owners if this date falls during the period of an epidemic threat or state of epidemic. This deadline is extended by six weeks from the date the epidemic threat or state of epidemic threat is lifted.
- A 25% increase in the amounts exempt from deductions from wages (i.e., those arising from Article 871 of the Labor Code) for employees whose wages have been reduced due to COVID-19, or whose family member has lost their source of income. The increase in the deduction limit will apply to each family member who does not earn income,
- Repeal of the provision of the anti-crisis shield (i.e., Article 15 of the Civil Code), under which procedural and court deadlines were suspended. Procedural and court deadlines will resume 7 days after Shield 3.0 enters into force,
- Extension of the deadlines for submitting annual waste reports for 2019 , i.e. reports referred to in Article 73, Article 74a and Article 75 of the Act of 14 December 2012 on waste (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2019, item 701).
- Financial support from the COVID-19 Countermeasures Fund for provincial, inter-provincial and international operators providing passenger rail transport services during the state of epidemic threat or epidemic and for the next 3 months after the month in which the state of epidemic threat or epidemic was lifted.
The so-called Shield 3.0 bill is currently being processed in the Sejm and will then be submitted to the Senate for consideration. The provisions concerning changes to labor law, including the ability to notify an employee of termination of an employment contract via email or the employer's unilateral reduction in working hours, ultimately did not make it into the bill submitted to the Sejm.
This material was prepared on the basis of the draft act amending certain acts regarding protective measures in connection with the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (draft version as of April 28, 2020).
