The purpose of maternity leave includes enabling parents to provide personal care for their child during the early stages of life, thereby fostering and strengthening the emotional bond with the child and supporting their adaptation to family life. It is difficult to claim that the previous legal framework—under which parents of prematurely born children, or those requiring hospitalization despite being born at term, had to spend most of their leave on medical appointments, therapies, or extended hospital stays—effectively supported this goal for the affected group. As of March 19, 2025, when the amendment to the Polish Labour Code comes into force, the interests of parents of premature infants and newborns requiring long-term hospitalization are now meaningfully protected by law.
Maternity leave
Depending on the number of children born during a single birth, employees are entitled to between 20 and 37 weeks of maternity leave, of which 6 weeks may be taken before the expected delivery date. During this leave, the employee receives a maternity allowance equal to 100% of the benefit calculation base. After using at least 14 weeks of the leave, the mother may choose to waive the remaining part—thereby transferring the entitlement to the father, provided he is also an employee. A formal application should be submitted to the employer, although failing to do so does not relieve the employer of the obligation to grant maternity leave. Subject to the conditions set out in the Labour Code, maternity leave may also be granted to adoptive parents or close family members.
Supplementary maternity leave
Legislator has addressed the needs of employee-parents of prematurely born children or those requiring extended hospitalization by compensating for the fact that maternity leave cannot be interrupted within the first 8 weeks following birth. During the supplementary maternity leave, the employee continues to receive a maternity allowance equal to 100% of the benefit base.
In order to make use of this new employment entitlement, the employee must submit a written or electronic application for supplementary maternity leave no later than 21 days before the end of their standard maternity leave, accompanied by a certificate issued by the hospital. The duration of the leave—either 8 or 15 weeks—is indivisible and depends on the length of the child’s hospitalization, the gestational age at birth, or the child’s birth weight.
If the standard maternity leave ends before the legislation takes effect (i.e., before March 19, 2025), the employee is not eligible for this entitlement. Failure to comply with the statutory time limit, unlike in the case of standard maternity leave, precludes the possibility of claiming this right.
Employer’s perspective
Employers should also be aware of the changes described, particularly if they are responsible for determining and disbursing maternity benefits (this applies to entities that employed at least 20 people as of November 30 of the previous year).
During the period of supplementary maternity leave, the employer is prohibited from initiating any actions leading to the termination—either with or without notice—of the employee’s contract. For example, employers may not begin recruiting a replacement for the position held by an employee on such leave. Any termination or dismissal that does not meet specific, legally defined criteria will be deemed unlawful.
This results in an extension of the protection period. In the case of female employees, protection covers the period of pregnancy and extends through maternity, parental, and childcare leave. If the conditions for supplementary maternity leave are met in a given case, this protection period will be further extended by 8 or 15 weeks.
Regarding employers of male employees who are fathers, it is important to note that legislation also includes provisions protecting them from dismissal. Protection begins on the day the employee submits a request for paternity leave and continues until the end of that leave. Furthermore, employees are entitled to at least 9 weeks of parental leave and at least one month of childcare leave. Fathers may also, depending on arrangements with the child’s mother, take a part of the maternity leave. If any of these entitlements are exercised, in principle, the employee-father cannot be dismissed during the corresponding leave period. Employers must therefore be aware that a father—an employee—may be the one taking the supplementary maternity leave, in which case the protection period will be extended accordingly.
Employers may not refuse to grant the supplementary maternity leave if the employee meets the applicable conditions.
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