Paulina Szewioła: Imperfect, but Needed

Poland’s new chief labor inspector has offered businesses a practical way to examine whether their contracts reflect the actual nature of their work relationships. The questionnaire is not perfect, but it deserves a chance, argues Paulina Szewioła.

Janusz Krasoń prepared the self-assessment list to help companies decide whether they selected the correct legal basis for hiring. The initiative follows a reform of the National Labour Inspectorate that entered into force on July 8, 2026.

Under the reform, inspectors can change civil-law contracts and B2B arrangements into employment relationships. That gives the questionnaire a concrete role: it may help businesses identify risks before an inspection determines that a contract should instead be treated as an employment contract.

Experts, however, point to weaknesses in the proposed tool. It does not specify how businesses should weigh the individual answers, and some questions are too general. A question about whether a worker has a defined range of duties, for example, could produce a “yes” answer both where an employment relationship exists and where a civil-law contract is entirely lawful. The same problem applies to some questions about how cooperation is organized.

The questionnaire therefore cannot provide a simple mathematical answer. Its usefulness will depend on whether companies and inspectors can interpret the questions in the broader context of each working arrangement.