A draft law on internships, which regulates internship rules, has been published on the Government Legislation Center website. One of the most important issues arising from the bill is the obligation to pay interns remuneration.
Paid internships
The draft law mandates the remuneration of interns, specifying minimum and maximum remuneration. The remuneration cannot be less than 35% of the average salary and cannot exceed the average salary. However, in the case of a minor intern, the remuneration will be no less than PLN 250 per month. The entity organizing the internship for the minor will be entitled to co-financing of the internship costs if it is completed for at least 120 hours per month.
The remuneration of a part-time intern will be determined on a pro rata basis.
According to the justification for the bill, the act aims to eliminate the phenomenon of unpaid internships and minimize the risk of an internship replacing an employment relationship.
Days off
According to the draft law, trainees will be entitled to days off:
- 1 day off for every 30 calendar days of the internship – during the first 90 days of the internship;
- 2 days off for every 30 calendar days above 90 days of internship.
The trainee will retain the right to remuneration for days off.
Other issues
Other important issues regulated by the project include:
- the number of interns at the employer will not exceed the number of employees;
- in an entity that is not an employer or employs employees for a total number of employees not exceeding one full-time position, one person will be able to complete the internship;
- it will be mandatory to conclude a written internship agreement;
- an internship contract may be concluded for a period not exceeding 6 months, and its extension will only be possible for the period of the intern's absence resulting from the use of social security benefits;
- the minimum duration of the internship is 4 hours per day;
- the organizer's obligation to prepare an internship program;
- the organizer's obligation to appoint a person who will be responsible for the proper implementation of the internship and for supervising the intern;
- Interns will be covered by compulsory social insurance on the same terms as contractors, as well as accident insurance, unless the intern chooses sickness insurance.
Given that this is an initial legislative stage, the final content of the bill may still change.
Exceptions
The Act will not apply to internships carried out under the Act on the Employment Market.
labor and employment services, the Education Law Act, the Education Law Act
higher education and science, and laws regulating internships in regulated professions.
This means that the Act will not cover, for example, compulsory professional internships for students.
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