In Poland, reporting of irregularities by employees has been largely ignored. This topic is not part of the professional-ethical or normative discourse. External disclosure involves reporting the irregularity to an external entity that can react or take follow-up action. The issue of external reporting is a highly controversial problem of labor law in Poland, which is limited by the primary obligation of an employee specified in the Labor Code in Art. 100 § 2 points 4. Under such conditions, employees who report irregularities to repair the organization are treated as persons violating their loyalty to the employer, even though they demonstrated the will to rectify the offense and the accompanying readiness to act. An attempt to go beyond this dilemma is to be the new Directive of the European Union on the protection of whistleblowers and the presented draft Polish act on the protection of whistleblowers submitted on October 18, 2021. The transposition of the Directive provisions turned out to be a failure on December 17, 2021. For employees who decide to report irregularities externally, reporting irregularities is a complex dilemma that may break the ties of trust and dismissal by employer-relevant regulations. The Polish Labor Code requires the conceptualization of the rationality of notifications, despite the lack of appropriate regulations in this regard.

Corruption, harassment in a workplace, practices contrary to the correct work process, and many others are irregularities that can arise in any enterprise. This is a problem that affects established democracies and free markets and post-communist countries that are transitioning to democracy and market economies. While the causes of irregularities vary, the tools often suggested tackling them include that do not necessarily encourage potential whistleblowers to report them, whether inside or outside the organization. This article discusses the role of whistleblowing as a whistle­blowing tool. Describes the law and whistleblowing in a comparative context, focusing on the United States and the European Union. The article then concludes with recommendations for strengthening whistleblowing in Europe, where reporting irregularities is just beginning, and the level of protection differs between the Member States.

The current legal status protects only employees within the meaning of Art. 2 of the Labor Code, and in a small part of contractors, it contributes to the deterioration of the situation of semi-dependent/self-employed workers, resulting in effects that are entirely opposite to the intended ones, i.e., the inclusion of the axiology of the protective function into non-employee forms of work. Poland does not have its own scope of protective provisions similar to the labor code provisions that would apply to economically semi-dependent/self-employed workers. In this article, is analyzed the concept of the economically semi-dependent/self-employed as a starting point for granting them certain employment rights. Two main conclusions can be drawn: first, the economically semi-dependent self-employed is not an intermediate category between workers and the self-employed but a subcategory of the self-employed. Secondly, failure to grant them protection by Polish labor law will have a negative impact on the extension of collective rights of the self-employed.

No abstract

Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on many areas of human life, and above all, on the area of economic and professional activity. In particular, pandemic changed the labor market, not only in labor market mechanisms but also in fundamental labor laws. The global Covid-19 epidemic resulted in the Polish labor market - remote work, which was a response to the widespread closure of the country. Unfortunately, there also have been problems with the freedom of speech for employees during the coronavirus pandemic in Poland. The paper focuses on the topics mentioned above, stressing areas related to the security of employee rights that can be considered controversial.