Poland: How to effectively enforce employee liability for damage to the company’s property?

 

In addition to the general principles of liability for damages, set out in the Civil Code, the Labour Code introduces special regulations on liability in the employee-employer relationship. An employee is financially liable for damage caused to the employer only if the damage results from non-performance or improper performance of employee duties due to the employee’s fault. In addition, the employee bears stricter liability in the event of damage caused to property entrusted to him by the employer.

Liability on general terms

In the event of damage and a decision to bring an action against the employee, the employer, in order to effectively pursue its claims, must prove in court proceedings the circumstances justifying the employee’s liability and the amount of the damage caused. The burden of proof therefore rests with the employer, who must prove that the damage actually occurred, that the employee’s acts or omissions were unlawful, and that the employee is at fault (intentional or unintentional). Ultimately, the employer must also demonstrate a causal link between the employee’s conduct and the resulting damage. Damage should be understood as an actual loss in the employer’s property, i.e. the difference between the state of assets before and after the damage was caused (proof would be, for example, an invoice for the repair of a machine damaged by an employee).

Employee duties

In order to effectively pursue compensation claims, the employer must demonstrate which employee duties have not been performed or improperly performed. These obligations arise not only from the provisions of law (in particular from the provisions of the labour law), but also from the employment contract or additional contracts (e.g. the obligation to non-compete clause) and directly from the instructions of superiors.

Cause and effect relationship

The employee is only liable for the normal consequences of the act or omission that led to the damage. This „normality“ is subject to each assessment by the court examining the facts of a given case. When analysing the cause-and-effect chain, only such acts or omissions are relevant, which in the normal, ordinary sequence of events, according to experience, would have led to the damage.

Intentional and unintentional fault

The type of fault of the employee is crucial to the scope of his or her liability. An employee who has caused damage to the employer as a result of unintentional failure to perform or improper performance of duties is liable up to the amount of three months‘ remuneration to which he or she was entitled on the day the damage was caused.

In the case of intentional fault – the employee is obliged to redress the damage in the full amount, which is understood not only as the actual loss in the employer’s property, but also as the lost profits that the employer could have achieved if the damage had not occurred (for example, lost income due to a machine failure).

Responsibility for entrusted property

The employee is liable for damage to property entrusted under an employment contract or other separate agreement in the full amount, regardless of whether the damage was intentional or unintentional. An employee may be released from liability if he proves that the damage occurred for reasons beyond his control, for example in connection with the lack of appropriate conditions for securing property for which the employer was responsible. In this case, it is the employee who must provide evidence to defend himself.

 

For further information, contact:

Agnieszka Durczyńska, Barrister

Gorazda, Świstuń, Wątroba i Partnerzy adwokaci i radcowie prawni, Kraków

e: agnieszka.durczynska@gsw.com.pl

 

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