Clients of our PRWT accounting office often ask which they should apply the working time system in their company. Of course, the most popular is the basic working time system. In today’s post, however, we will focus on the weekend work system. What is this system characterized by? How can it be introduced?

Pursuant to Art. 144 of the Polish Labor Code, upon a written request of an employee, a working time system may be applied to him, in which work is performed only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, public holidays. In this system, it is permissible to extend the daily working time, but not more than 12 hours in a settlement period not exceeding one month.

What does it mean?

An important feature of this working time system is the employer’s obligation to set work on specific days of the week, i.e. on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Consequently, since the work is to be provided, inter alia, on Sundays and public holidays, the regulations limiting work on Sundays and public holidays do not apply here. Thus, work on Sundays and public holidays is possible and the employer is not obliged to provide another day off from work and is not obliged to provide a Sunday off every four weeks.

How to introduce such a working time system?

The very wording of Art. 144 of the Labor Code, the system may be introduced only upon a written request of an employee. The employee’s application must be kept in his personal file (Part B). The employer cannot unilaterally introduce this system. The employer only expresses (or does not) consent to the employee’s work in this system. This working time system may be used in shift work. The introduction of this system requires its introduction to the employee’s employment contract (if the contract is already in force, it is necessary to make an agreement or termination changing the existing contract). The billing period for such a system cannot exceed 1 month.

Practical problems

A practical problem is the possibility of full-time working in this working time system. In practice, this dimension is less than 40 hours (3 days x 12 hours = 36 hours). Against the background of the year, the situation is as follows: on average, there are 12-14 weekend days in a month (about 166 days per year, including holidays). This means that you can work 120–144 hours a month. Meanwhile, full-time working hours per month range from 168 to 186 hours.

How does it look like in the coming months?

In September 2021, there are 12 days during which it is possible to work in the weekend system, which allows for 144 hours of work (12 days × 12 hours), while the employee’s working time in this month (determined in accordance with Article 130 of the Polish Labor Code) is 176 hours. In October 2021, there are 15 days that can be worked under the weekend work system (i.e. 180 hours that can be worked), while the employee’s working time this month (determined in accordance with Article 130 of the  Polish Labor Code) is 168 hours.

The conclusion is therefore that such an employee will not work full-time. The introduction of this system therefore requires calculating the number of hours that can be assigned to work and specifying the appropriate working time in the contract (appropriate part-time). It should be remembered that if the employee does not work out the appropriate number of hours in a given month due to the lack of sufficient number of weekend days, the remuneration due to the employee cannot be reduced.