The Council of Ministers has adopted a draft amendment to the Law on Higher Education and Science, which aims to make it easier for employers to verify data contained in paper diplomas. This change is particularly important for recruitment to positions requiring specific education or qualifications. However, the new measure will not mean that all diplomas can be routinely verified.
How can an employer currently check a candidate's education?
Currently, an employer may request information from an applicant regarding education if it is necessary to perform a specific type of work or in a specific position.
If education is relevant to a given position, the employer may ask the candidate to provide a document confirming its possession, in particular a university diploma.
When employing an employee, collecting information about education is already mandatory under the Labor Code.
The employer may also request documentation of this data to the extent necessary to confirm it. However, the challenge remains in verifying whether the document presented contains accurate data. Currently, employers lack a statutory procedure that would allow them to directly request confirmation from the university.
The university will be able to confirm the data from the paper diploma to the employer
The bill adopted by the Council of Ministers introduces a procedure enabling employers to request confirmation from universities of the data contained in paper diplomas. This solution will be applicable to both job applicants and those already employed.
The condition for this is that the employer has reasonable doubts about the accuracy of the data contained in the diploma. Therefore, the bill does not provide for the possibility of automatically requesting confirmation from universities during each recruitment process.
The application will be submitted electronically and must include, among other things, data identifying the graduate and their diploma, the scope of information the employer wishes to confirm, and a justification for the reasons for doubt. The employer will primarily need to have the graduate's name and surname and diploma number.
Without the candidate's consent, but for a fee
The employer will be able to ask the university to confirm the data contained in the diploma without obtaining additional consent from the candidate or employee.
The university will have a maximum of 30 days to respond. The verification process will be subject to a fee – 0.5% of the average salary in the third quarter of the previous year. This measure will not apply to individuals working under civil law contracts.
Summary
If justified by the requirements of a given position, employers can already request documentation of educational information. A new feature will be the ability to independently verify the data contained in a paper diploma directly at the university.
This may be particularly important for positions where specific education is a requirement for employment or is crucial to assessing a candidate's qualifications. The new procedure aims to reduce the risk of basing recruitment decisions on unreliable or falsified documents while also providing employers with a formal path to verifying the information submitted by candidates.
The next stage will be parliamentary work, first of all submitting the bill to the Sejm.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
The law is current as of October 9, 2026.
Author:
Series editor:
