Realisation of the idea of social market economy in Polish labour regime

Abstract

Social market economy has been the desired model of economy since the beginning of the political and economic transformations in Poland initiated in 1989. In 1997, pursuant to the provision of article 20 of the new Constitution of the Republic of Poland, it became the normative foundation of the country’s political regime. Today, twenty five years later, one may wish to analyse the effects of these changes and compare the contents of currently binding regulations of employment issues and labour market practices with the social market economy model which lay at their formulation.

Social relations, regulated by collective labour law achieved through the activity of trade unions and employers’ organisations, collective negotiations and creation of the sources of autonomous law, belong to these areas, which are most neglected in Poland in terms of their compliance with the basic assumptions of social market economy. They aim, among other things, at implementing a social partnership model and workers’ participation as active subjects in the dialogue with employers on matters concerning the conditions of an enterprise, resolving problems and disputes by way of collective negotiations leading to collective agreements. In Poland, this concept is still given only marginal attention.

This paper also identifies problems that arise from implementation of the idea of a social market economy in the practice of individual labour law. Legislative tendencies of the recent years focus on the economic efficiency of enterprises, also at the cost workers’ status, rather than sustained development of economy, fostering for the needs of all subjects involved in the functioning of the enterprise.

With due respect to the achievements of the transformations in Poland after 1989, full implementation and realisation of the constitutional provisions of article 20 constituting grounds for the political regime, has not yet been achieved.