Background information

The introduction of one-off budgetary allowances for civil servants and special bonuses for teachers was aimed at reducing the negative inflationary trend and improving the situation of public sector employees. However, teachers' unions as well as civil service unions have continued to demand pay rises and their expectations have not been satisfactorily met by the government in the previous years.

Legal references: 1. Law of 23 December 1999 on remuneration in the national budget and amending certain laws; 2. Act of 7 July 2023 amending the Act on special solutions for the implementation of the Budget Act for 2023 and certain other acts.

Content of measure

These groups of employees and civil servants are entitled to one-off allowances:

• professional soldiers and officers;
• judges delegated to the Ministry of Justice or to another organisational unit subordinate to the Minister of Justice or supervised by him, whose salaries are financed from the funds at the disposal of the Minister of Justice;
• prosecutors and their assessors;
• persons holding managerial positions in the state;
• members of the civil service corps;
• full-time members of self-governmental boards of appeal and boards of regional chambers of audit;
• employees of the Government Legislation Centre;
• experts, assessors and expert trainees of the Patent Office;
• officers of the Customs and Fiscal Service;
• members of foreign service who are not members of the civil service corps;
• members of the National Appeal Chamber at the President of the Public Procurement Office.

Teachers who were in employment at the school on 20 September 2023 are eligible to receive the award.

The one-off allowance for public sector employees and special awards for teachers amounted to PLN 1,125 (€252.9 as of 31 October 2023) per person. In total, the cost of paying the aforementioned allowances and rewards amounted to approximately PLN 955 million (€210.1 million as of 31 October 2023).

Use of measure

According to the Central Statistical Office, 512,100 teachers (FTE) were employed in Poland in the 2022/23 school year. In June 2023, there were approximately 13,000 advertisements for vacant positions for teachers on the curatorial websites. Exact figures on the number of teachers working in 2023/2024 are not yet available, but in recent years the number of teachers has been declining year on year.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Particular professions	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Local / regional government	Local funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Unknown
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only trade unions
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The amendment to the budget act introducing one-off allowances for budget workers and special awards for teachers was the result of an agreement signed by the government with the Solidarity trade union, one of the largest trade unions in Poland. Other trade unions (e.g. Polish Teachers' Union) criticised the measure as a provisionary solution.

Views and reactions

A steady increase in teachers' salaries over the coming years has been demanded by teachers' unions. The special awards for teachers have been criticised by teachers' unions, according to which one-off special awards for teachers do not solve the problem of low salaries in education. The Polish Teachers' Union pointed out that the taxation of the amount of the award results in teachers receiving a much smaller amount - PLN 766 (EUR 178.1, as of 2 November 2023) - than the amount published - PLN 1125 (EUR 252.3, as of 2 November 2023). Also, as some critics stated, the reference in the law to the fact of being still employed at the school on 20 September 2023 as a criterion excludes from the circle of beneficiaries those teachers who have quit at the end of the school year 2022/2023.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 23 June 2022: "Goodbye, school" says not only students. Teachers are leaving the profession en masse (www.money.pl)
• 09 March 2023: Act of 9.03.2023 on amending the Act Labour Code and certain other acts (isap.sejm.gov.pl)
• 17 June 2023: There were pay rises expected, there are awards (www.money.pl)
• 29 June 2023: Education in the 2022-2023 school year. Preliminary results (stat.gov.pl)
• 08 July 2023: The Sejm has passed one-off allowances for teachers - they will get PLN 1125 (www.prawo.pl)
• 14 July 2023: Teachers' allowance and more for holidays. MEPs decided (businessinsider.com.pl)