Distinguishing Between Employees and the Self-Employed : Contract of Employment vs. Civil Law Contracts

The present chapter concerns the difference between work performed under a contract of employment and work performed under civil law contracts in Poland, or as some Western scholars often phrase it the difference between employment and self-employment. The chapter is organized as follows. Following a brief introduction, section one describes the boundaries of employment law in general. Not all persons performing work should be considered employees; some are subject to the provisions of civil, commercial, administrative, criminal, etc. law. Section two lists the elements (criteria) of the employment relationship (contract of employment) pursuant to Article 22(1) of the Polish Labour Code. Section three attempts to reconstruct the methods and criteria (elements) of distinguishing between work under a contract of employment and work under civil law contracts in the light of the case law of the Supreme Court. Section four describes the criteria applied in order to differentiate between work under a contract of employment and work under civil law contracts in the case law of lower courts; these criteria often differ from those developed by the Supreme Court. Section five presents the conclusions