BMSP QUARTERLY

The act of 16 September 2011 on the reduction of some duties of citizens and entrepreneurs came into force on 1 January 2012. This act provides for numerous provisions that amend some provisions of the Labour Code about the deadline for using the outstanding holiday entitlements.
In accordance with the new provisions the deadline before which the employer is obliged to grant the outstanding holiday entitlements to the employee is extended to the September, 30th of the next year.
According to the law provisions effective before 1 January 2012 the employer was obliged to grant the outstanding holiday entitlements before the end of the first quarter of the next calendar year.

The amendment to the Labour Code that came into force on 1 January 2012 has abolished the duty of the employer to apply for the positive opinion of design experts on the designing projects on the basis of which the rebuilding or construction of a building where work premises are located is to be done. Consequently, the employer who has neglected to apply for the positive opinion of the expert will not be punished for the offence, which was provided for in the previous legal status.

From 1 January 2012 there will no longer be possible for the employers to conclude several subsequent employment contracts for a specified period of time with the employees if those contracts are consecutive.
Until now such formation of the employment relationship was possible thanks to the so called anti – crisis act (the act of 1 July 2009 on mitigation of the effects of the economic crisis for employees and entrepreneurs , Journal of Laws, No 125, item 1035 as amended).
The provisions of the anti – crisis act enabled the employers to employ the employees on the basis of subsequent employment contracts for a specified period of time providing the employment period in such a form did not exceed the period of 24 months.
Due to the fact the above – mentioned anti – crisis act is no longer in force, the provisions of the article 251 of the Labour Code shall be applied again; thus, the “conclusion of another employment contract for a specified period of time shall have the same legal effect as the conclusion of an indefinite-term contract if the parties have already concluded two employment contracts for a specified period of time for two consecutive terms, unless the break between the date of termination of a previous contract of employment and the date of conclusion of another contract of employment exceeded one month”.

The act of 1 April 2011 amending the Commercial Companies Code and other acts has introduced the possibility of registration of the limited liability company (spółka z o.o.) via Internet.
In accordance with the provisions of the amendment in order to take advantage of the above- mentioned opportunity one must use a template of the company’s articles of association provided in the act. In order to conclude the articles of association a special form, placed on a special website, need to be filled in. The articles of associations shall contain an electronic signature. Consequently, the conclusion of the articles of associations shall not require the participation of the notary public any longer.
Moreover, the above – mentioned amendment has also amended the act on National Court Register. The new provisions provide a special, one-day deadline (unfortunately non-binding) for the analysis of the application for an entry in the National Court Register for the companies established in this procedure.

From 1 January 2012 the Regulation of 16 December 2011 on the exchange rate of Polish zloty to Euro that forms the grounds for the conversion of the value of the public procurement, as well as the Regulation of 16 December 2011 on the amounts of the value of procurement and competitions in relation to which there exists a duty of sending announcement to the Publications Office of the European Union (Journal of Laws, No 282, item 1649 and 1650) shall come into force.
The new average exchange rate of Polish zloty to Euro has been established and it amounts 4,0196 PLN, which means that the amount of the exchange rate has increased by 0,1806 PLN.
In accordance with the regulation of 16 December 2011 on the amounts of the value of procurement and competitions in relation to which there exists a duty of sending announcement to the Publications Office of the European Union the announcements of the public procurements shall be sent to the Publications Office of the European Union if the value of the procurements granted by the ordering party from the sector of public finances within the meaning of the act on public finances, excluding public academies, state cultural institutions, state film institutions, local government units and their unions, units of sector of public finances for which the founding or supervising body is local government unit, and also the procurements which are granted by the ordering parties that are state organizational unit with no legal personality is equal or in excess of the equivalent of an amount expressed in Polish zloty:
a) 130.000 Euro – for supply or services,
b) 5.000.000 Euro – for construction works;

As regards the value of the procurements granted by the ordering parties other than the ordering party from sector of public finances excluding sector procurements, the announcements of the public procurements shall be sent to the Publications Office of the European Union if the value of the procurement is equal or in excess of the equivalent of an amount expressed in Polish zloty:
a) 200.000 euro – for supply or services,
b) 5.000.000 euro - for construction works.

For the sector procurements the following thresholds have been provided:
a) 200.000 euro – for supply or services,
b) 5.000.000 euro - for construction works.

The thresholds provided for competitions are various depending whether:
a) the competitions are conducted by the ordering parties from sector of public finances within the meaning of the act on public finances, excluding public academies, state cultural institutions, state film institutions, local government units and their unions, units of sector of public finances for which the founding or supervising body is local government unit, and also the procurements which are granted by the ordering parties that are state organizational unit with no legal personality, in this case they amount - 130 000 euro;
b) the competitions are conducted by the ordering parties other than above – mentioned and are not conducted by the ordering parties that grant sector procurements, in this case they amount - 200 000 euro
c) the competitions are conducted by the ordering parties that grant sector procurements, in this case they amount - 400 000 euro.

On 1 January 2012 the amendment to the act - Pharmaceutical Law came into force and threw pharmaceutical market into confusion. In accordance with the new wording of the article 94a of the above – mentioned act advertising of pharmacies and pharmaceutical points and their activities is banned except for the provision of information about localization and working hours. The amendment has also introduced the ban on advertising the off - pharmacy trade facilities and its activities which apply to medicinal products and medical products. In accordance with the act such facilities are herb – medical shops, a specialist medical supply shops and also generally accessible shops. The already introduced changes have widened significantly previous provisions regarding advertising limitations for pharmacies and pharmaceutical points. In the previous legal status the ban on advertising was limited only to such an activity of pharmacies and pharmaceutical points that was addressed to the general public and applied directly to the medicinal products or medical products placed in the lists of refunded pharmaceuticals or the medicinal products or medical products that had the same name as the medicinal products or medical products placed in these lists.