Work-Life Balance in Italy pre-, during and post-COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing immense pressure to bear on labour law and social security institutions in all countries of the world, while having a major impact on work-life balance. The total lockdown, also of schools and higher education, the unprecedented fall in the level of production, the reduced possibility of relying on other family members, friends and domestic workers, traditionally constituting the essential pillars of formal and informal caring, in addition to working from home with children doing their schooling online (in large part on the parents’ shoulders) have compelled families to face new and abrupt organizational changes. The aim of this article is to investigate the legislative measures such as parental leave (ordinary and emergency) adopted in Italy aimed at supporting families during the pandemic, with a view to assessing their effectiveness and the impact on the Italian labour market during and after the pandemic. For this purpose, the socio-economic and legal framework dealing with parental leave before the COVID-19 emergency will be outlined, followed an the analysis of the emergency measures to provide support for parents, concluding with some reflections on possible future developments.

The Development of Whistleblowing Laws in the United States and Europe (de lege ferenda remarks)

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 Right to Strike in the Education Sector in Light of Constitutional Provisions and International Legal Obligations

The main area of interest of this paper focuses on the right to strike in public education sector. All the possibilities of limiting the right to strike in this public sector needs to be verified in the context of constitutional provisions and international legal obligations binding the legislator. The possibility of “including” teachers in the Civil Service Corps is being considered in this paper. Under the current state of law, there are no grounds to restrict or prohibit the right to strike in the education sector. The potential subordination of teachers to the rigours binding the Civil Service Corps would require far-reaching adjustments within this institution, stemming from the constitutional provisions that would necessitate these changes.

Uniwersalizm prawa pracy środkiem przeciwdziałania wykluczeniu społecznemu nie tylko w dobie COVID-19

Universalism of labour law a measure against social exclusion not only in the COVID-19 era The aim of the study is to show the essence of labour law through the prism of its characteristic structures and goals. Work is one of the most important values in human life, both in the context of securing living and personal conditions. While working, one acquires additional competencies and skills, which transfer into personal development. On the other hand, unemployment has negative living and social effects. For these reasons, it is necessary to show the tools of labour law that prevent broadly understood social exclusion. Their importance becomes more evident in times of crisis, when employees are affected by its effects. Therefore, the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is an important background for the ongoing considerations.

Prawo do bycia offline jako podstawowe prawo pracownika

The right to disconnect as an employees’ fundamental right The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the associated possibilities for the employers to order employees to perform their work remotely has caused the widespread perception of the employee’s right to be offline outside its working hours (also referred to as a “right to disconnect”) as a fundamental right. This article contains a synthetic analysis of the institution of remote working as the main source of threat to employees’ rights as well as considerations with regard to proposed solutions aimed at protecting the employee against such threat. On the one hand, remote work has a protective function being instrumental in safeguarding the continuity of businesses and the employee’s workplace despite the pandemic, but on the other hand, it significantly interferes with the private sphere and may lead to violations of the regulations on working time. The European Parliament’s proposals on the right to be offline should be assessed positively, although they undoubtedly only guarantee an absolute minimum level of protection. The analysis was carried out following the formal dogmatic method also taking into account comparative tools.

Zasiłek dla bezrobotnych byłych funkcjonariuszy i żołnierzy – wybrana problematyka prawna na tle orzecznictwa sądowego

Unemployment benefit for former officers of the uniformed services and soldiers – selected legal issues in the context of court rulings Although the unemployment benefit is a well-established institution in the Polish legal system, which makes it possible to mitigate the material consequences of unemployment, its practical functioning sometimes encounters serious difficulties, which is illustrated by the extensive court decisions regarding various aspects of the right of former officers of the uniformed services and soldiers to that benefit. The aim of the study is to show the more important problems of interpretation and to formulate proposals of their solution.

Obowiązek zgłoszenia umowy o dzieło do ZUS – usprawnienie systemu kontroli w świetle konstytucyjnych zasad równości, proporcjonalności i autonomii informacyjnej

Obligation to notify Social Security Agency about a specific work contract – improvement of the control system in the light of constitutional principles of equality, proportionality and information autonomy The purpose of the paper is to analyze obligation to notify Social Security Agency about concluded specific work contracts, which was introduced as of 1 January 2021 in the social security system act. Firstly, the way in which the new obligation was introduced raises significant doubts. Under the guise of anti-crisis measures, a new obligation has been introduced in the Anti-Crisis Shield, which has little to do with its purpose. Secondly, the prima facie technical obligation also raises practical doubts, but more importantly, it prompts questions about its compliance with the constitutional principles of equality, proportionality and information autonomy. Fulfillment of the obligation results in transfer to the Social Security Agency of significant data on legal relationship that are – as a rule – indifferent from the perspective of the social security system, the scope of which is not determined by a statute, but by a sub-statutory act.

Social Protection and New Forms of Work: Expansion of Unemployment Insurance Benefits’ Coverage in Estonia

Ensuring social protection for people having lost their jobs is an important part of the social protection system. Although health insurance and pension insurance have traditionally been the most important social protection systems, then social guarantees (both passive and active measures) for the unemployed cannot be underestimated in the changed forms of employment. New forms of work necessitate attention to whether and how people working under new forms of employment, e.g. platform workers, can register as unemployed and whether short-term employment may worsen their standing compared to other unemployed. This article analyses the Estonian social protection system for the unemployed and the planned changes in connection with platform work.

Zatrudnienie funkcjonariuszy w administracji celno-skarbowej po reformie

ABSTRAKT Employment of officers in customs and tax administration after the reform The article presents the legal regulations concerning the officers of the former Customs Service adopted by the legislator on the occasion of the reformed customs and tax administration and the establishment of the National Tax Administration. The institution of terminating the service relations of officers by law was introduced, as well as transforming the service relations into contractual relations as a result of offering the officer further work in the structures of this administration and accepting this proposal by him. Problems with interpreting these solutions were visible in the varied jurisprudence of administrative courts as well as common courts. In order to understand these difficulties, some of the justifications of the judgments have been presented more broadly. In line with these considerations, the thesis is justified that in recent years the legislator has increasingly resorted to this type of solutions and introduced institutions of termination of employment relations by law, and their cause is not “exceptional, special circumstances justified by the state system reform,” which was emphasized by the Constitutional Tribunal, only reforms related to organizational transformations in public administration. This is viewed as the means of replacing public administration staff.

Prawo do strajku generalnego. Rozważania de lege lata i de lege ferenda

The right to a general strike. Considerations de lege lata and de lege ferenda The right to political (general, universal) strike is undoubtedly polycentric in nature, since in order to properly decode and interpret it, it is necessary to refer to both axiology, philosophy and national and international law, including EU law. Moreover, a political strike is in fact not only a result of axiological assumptions, accepted philosophical or doctrinal and political considerations. It manifests the state of the State and the level of democracy in terms of the struggle for the improvement of working and remuneration conditions, social sphere or public sphere.