BCC Moreover, he drew attention to the too short vacatio legis and the lack of sufficient public consultations, and such important changes should not be introduced as parliamentary projects, but as government projects.
Free Christmas Eve adopted in the Sejm
On Wednesday Sejm adopted – in accordance with the amendments approved on Tuesday during the joint meeting of the Economy and Development and Social Policy and Family Committees – an amendment to the Act on holidays, which introduces a free Christmas Eve and, at the same time, an additional, third commercial Sunday in December. The new regulation is to come into force next year. The draft amendment on days off from work assumed the introduction of a free Christmas Eve. 403 MPs voted for the amendment, 10 were against and 12 abstained. A parliamentary bill introducing an additional day off from work on December 24 was submitted by the Left.
Comment by the president of BCC
“BCC has long proposed a partial abolition of the trade ban in exchange for changes in the Labor Code regarding trade workers. As the employers’ side, BCC primarily draws attention to the too short vacatio legis and lack of sufficient social consultations. Such important changes should not be introduced as parliamentary bills, only governmental, giving 30 or at least 21 days for the social side to submit comments. Moreover, under the governmental procedure, an assessment of the effects of the regulation is required, which would give a real picture of the benefits and costs assigned to the proposed change,” he said. president of ZP BCC Łukasz Bernatowiczquoted in the release.
“Potential to incur significant trading losses”
“It is good that the joint parliamentary committees did not recommend the provisions of the project proposing the introduction of a free Christmas Eve this year. The employers’ side, including BCC, points to the defects of submitting the project as a parliamentary initiative, and not as a government project, and to the related too short a deadline for public consultations. A particularly important argument against introducing a day off on Christmas Eve this year is the potential for significant trade losses related to the already closed contracting dates. goods for sale on Christmas Eve, which for many consumers is the ‘last day of salvation’ in the difficult process of purchasing Christmas gifts, and for many trade industries – the day of long-planned, above-average value of sales of goods related to preparation for the holidays,” added the BCC expert for the economy, legislation and lobbying Witold Michałek.
BCC: There is no unanimity
The club emphasized that there is no unanimity among ministers, representatives of employers and trade unions regarding whether Christmas Eve should be a day off from work and how to bring about this change (establish it as an additional day or replace it with January 6). The government, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy do not agree (MRPiPS) present different calculations, therefore, on this basis, it is impossible to estimate the actual impact of the change on the economy.
“The lack of predictability of law is a burden”
“PO offered that in exchange for… free Christmas Eve there is to be one trading Sunday a month. The Left proposed an amendment that limits working hours on Christmas Eve (only until 12:00). There were also arguments that the de facto statutory introduction of a free Christmas Eve is a realignment of the actual situation, because currently few people actually work on this day, they are much less productive, they end the working day sooner, so it is not possible to clearly talk about the additional cost for employers. finally true,” we read in the statement.
“However, it has been a burden for a long time lack of legal predictability and surprising the labor market with further changes. Polish entrepreneurs have been surprised many times in this way, either by the contribution, or rather by the health tax, or by the Polish Order, and at the same time they are faced with disappointed expectations regarding the lack of fulfillment of election promises to increase the tax-free amount, the VAT limit or return to the previous method of calculating contributions. The committee was repeatedly told that prosperity is built through work, the strength of the economy is measured by GDP, and GDP is generated by entrepreneurs and they need to be provided with appropriate conditions for this. The committees also voted in favor of introducing an amendment to the draft KO, assuming that three Sundays before Christmas Eve will be commercial. According to current regulations, there are two trading Sundays in December. The amendment submitted by the Polish 2050 MP Ryszard Petru to make every first Sunday of the month commercial was not supported. Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk informed that the ministry had prepared a cost calculation based on the day off on Epiphany. According to data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, this cost ranges from PLN 0.3 billion to PLN 1 billion.
What is BCC?
Business Center Club has existed since 1991 and is an Entrepreneurs’ Club and the largest statutory organization of individual employers in the country. Club members employ over 400,000. employees, company revenues exceed PLN 200 billion, and headquarters are located in 250 cities. BCC members include representatives of all industries, international corporations, financial and insurance institutions, telecommunications companies, the largest Polish manufacturers, universities, publishing concerns and well-known law firms. Members of BCC – the entrepreneurs’ club – also include lawyers, journalists, scientists, publishers, doctors, soldiers and students.
