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In view of the fact that technological progress is in a constant state of change, current research efforts are directed towards blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Starting with the description of the way blockchain technology operates, the notions of decentralisation, proof-of-work consensus, and practical immutability are explained. Further, the article examines the possibility of using cryptocurrency in order to pay remuneration, realise partial non-cash payment of remuneration or grant an award to an employee. This article presents evidence that demonstrates that remuneration in the framework of the employment relationship in Poland cannot be paid in cryptocurrency, which contributes to the performance of the protective function of labour law. The article concludes that a collective labour agreement could include a clause allowing the employer to realise partial non-cash payment of remuneration in cryptocurrency. Similar provisions could be introduced in labour law, but the Polish legislator has never adopted such a measure. The authors highlight, however, that an award can be paid in cryptocurrency even in the full amount. Next, the authors research the new tax regulations in force in Poland since 1 January 2019 and explain why it is conceptually more convincing to classify revenues from cryptocurrency trading as revenues from money capital and revenues from capital gains than as property rights. The article presents a definition of the disposal for valuable consideration of a virtual currency. The purpose of this article is also to study how high is the income tax on income earned from the disposal for valuable consideration of virtual currencies. Moreover, an overview of the legislation related to tax-deductible expenses is provided. Finally, some reflections on the cryptocurrency trading in the context of the pursuit of an economic activity are given. The review especially highlights the Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, and the judgment of the CJEU of 22 October 2015 (Skatteverket v. David Hedqvist [2015], case C-264/14), which has impacted the approach to the VAT problem in Poland.

In the context of the working-class backlash against free trade represented by Brexit, the recent surge of right-wing political parties in Europe and the 2016 US presidential election, it is timely to take stock of the threats to jobs and wages posed by recent negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The European Commission selectively relied on econometric analyses, predicting a positive impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Its proposed legal text on ‘Trade and sustainable development’ fell short of the European Parliament’s negotiating guidelines, which themselves failed to ensure protection of labour standards. The activities of corporate lobbies threatened the effective protection of workers’ rights. Major risks to workers’ rights are posed by discrepancies between US and European Union labour and social law and labour standards. The most recent legal text lacks compliance monitoring provisions and sanction mechanisms against member states failing to ratify core labour conventions. The investment court system does not resolve the problems of the discredited investor-state dispute settlement mechanism for which it is the proposed replacement. The year 2016 has provided a foretaste of the dislocation likely from trade and investment regulation that sees social and environmental standards and labour rights simply as barriers to corporate profits.

This paper aims to analyse collective labour rights of both “classic” selfemployed persons and economically dependent self-employed workers under the Spanish Statute of Self-Employed Workers (Ley 20/2007 del Estatuto del Trabajo Autónomo). The author applies comparative analysis and critical reasoning with a view to answering the questions: is the scope of protection wide enough, and can Poland draw a lesson from it? The paper presents evidence that demonstrates that among all self-employed workers, only economically dependent self-employed workers are granted the right to bargain collectively. However, findings suggest that in practice, collective bargaining is stymied mainly because it takes place only at the enterprise level, and because the number of economically dependent self-employed workers is minimal. The paper concludes that collective labour rights under the Statute of Self-Employed Workers could be better protected (especially as regards “classic” self-employed persons). On the other hand, however, in Poland, the lack of any criteria that would enable a diversification of the scope of collective rights granted to self-employed persons is subject to criticism. It appears that in some areas the legislator should differentiate the scope of protection. The criterion of economic dependence, which exists in Spanish law, could be successfully used for this purpose.

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