Finding out that you are pregnant can raise immediate questions about work. Do you have to tell your employer
Can you still work night shifts? What happens if your job involves lifting heavy objects or other risks? And perhaps
the biggest concern: can your employer fire you because you are pregnant?
If you are employed under an umowa o pracę in Poland, pregnancy comes with important protections under the
Labour Code. Your employer cannot simply continue treating your working conditions exactly as before if the work
could pose a risk to you or your pregnancy. There are also significant restrictions on dismissing pregnant
employees. However, the exact rights you have depend on your employment situation, which is why the type of
contract you work under matters.
One of the most important protections concerns dismissal. As a general rule, an employer cannot terminate or give
notice terminating the employment contract of an employee during pregnancy. There are exceptions, including
circumstances that justify dismissal without notice because of the employee’s fault, as well as special rules when
an employer is declared bankrupt or liquidated. Certain probationary contracts are also treated differently. The
important point is that pregnancy itself is not a legitimate reason to dismiss someone.
Pregnancy can also change what work an employer is allowed to require from you. Pregnant employees cannot be
employed at night or required to work overtime. An employer also cannot send a pregnant employee to work
outside her permanent workplace without her consent or require her to work under certain systems that extend
the working day beyond eight hours. If you previously relied on overtime or night work for additional income,
these restrictions can therefore affect how your work is organized during pregnancy.
Health and safety obligations are particularly important. Some jobs involve conditions that may be inappropriate
or dangerous during pregnancy, such as certain forms of heavy physical work or exposure to harmful substances. If
your normal duties fall within work prohibited for pregnant employees, the employer may need to change your
working conditions or working hours, transfer you to another position, or, if this cannot be done, release you from
the obligation to work for the necessary period. The employer should not simply tell you to continue doing
potentially prohibited work because “you did it before.”
There are also situations where a doctor determines that your existing work creates a health-related problem even
if the job is not automatically prohibited for every pregnant employee. In such cases, medical recommendations
can require the employer to adjust the working conditions, shorten working time or transfer the employee to
other work. Pregnancy protections are therefore not limited to office jobs or obviously dangerous workplaces. The
employer has to consider the actual conditions in which you work.
Prenatal medical appointments are another important issue. If pregnancy-related examinations recommended by
a doctor cannot be carried out outside working hours, an employee is entitled to time away from work to attend
them. The employee retains the right to remuneration for this time. You should therefore not automatically
assume that every necessary prenatal appointment has to be taken as annual leave.
Many workers also worry about when they have to tell their employer that they are pregnant. In practice, the
employer needs to know about the pregnancy for pregnancy-specific workplace protections to be applied. A
medical certificate may be used to confirm pregnancy. If your job involves night work, heavy physical duties or
other potentially problematic conditions, informing the employer becomes particularly important because they
cannot adapt working conditions to a situation they do not know about.
Your contract type again makes a major difference. The protections described above come primarily from the
Labour Code and concern employees working under an umowa o pracę. If you work under an umowa zlecenie,
B2B arrangement or another civil-law contract, you do not automatically receive the same package of Labour Code
protections. Other rules, including social insurance and anti-discrimination protections, may still be relevant, but
you should not assume that all pregnancy-related employee rights apply in exactly the same way.
Pregnancy should also not become an excuse for humiliating or discriminatory treatment. An employer should not
punish a worker for becoming pregnant, pressure her to resign simply because pregnancy is inconvenient for the
business, or assume that she is no longer capable of doing her job. If someone puts a resignation or agreement
terminating your employment in front of you and pressures you to sign immediately, do not sign something you do
not understand simply because your manager says it is “easier for everyone.”
Keep important documents and communication with your employer, particularly if there is a disagreement about
your duties, working hours or employment status. If your doctor has issued documentation relevant to your
working conditions, keep copies. If you believe your employer is ignoring pregnancy protections or pressuring you
to leave your job, you can seek advice from a trade union, labour rights organisation or Poland’s National Labour
Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy – PIP).
Being pregnant does not mean that you stop being a worker with rights. It means that your employer may have
additional responsibilities to protect your health and ensure that your work complies with the rules that apply
during pregnancy.