Rights and obligations of the job seekers - Artykul

If you are a job seeker, you are obliged to:

• contact appropriate district labour offices at least once in 90 days period,
• notify the district labour office in which the person is registered about any changes of the data included in the registration card within 7 calendar days,
• inform the district labour office of the justifying reason for failure to visit the office on the indicated day within 7 calendar days, 
• participate in the individual action plan provided for jobseekers or courses, if they are offered to you.

What are the rights of the job seekers?

If you are a job seeker, you have the right to take advantage of:

• Work exchange service – conducted in a form of individual meetings of the employment agent and the job seekers; job fairs, that are collectively presenting job offers containing the contact details of the employer, as well as in the form of job exchanges, that allow direct contact between the employers  and the candidates, matched by an employment agent.
• Vocational counselling and guidance is provided in the form of:
• • individual counselling – a process during which a vocational counsellor, in an aware and purposeful way, motivates the client to actively co-operate in solving his problems by using special procedures and techniques,
  • group counselling – a process during which a group of clients work together as a team in an open and accepting atmosphere to explore and define their vocational problems, assess and improve their skills, and making decisions connected with planning one’s vocational career.
  • guidance consists in providing information about occupations, labour market and training and educational opportunities in a form of paper, audiovisual, computer or Internet database, that are available for the job seekers individually or during group meetings
  • assistance in active job seeking consists of participation of the job seekers in training on job seeking skills, participation in activation classes, as well as access to information and electronic databases to obtain job seeking skills and self-employment.

A job seeker who:

• is during the notice period for the employment relationship or service relationship for reasons related to the employer,
• is employed by an employer who has been declared bankrupt or entered into liquidation, with the exception of liquidation for the purpose of privatisation,
• receives social benefit conferred on mining leave or mining social allowance, as defined in separate regulations,
• participates in activities at the centre of social integration or in an individual integration programme referred to in the provisions on social assistance,
• is a reserve soldier,
• takes training pension,
• takes training allowance,
• is subject to social insurance for farmers in full extent, pursuant to the provisions on social insurance for farmers as a member of the household or a spouse of a farmer, if he or she intends to take up employment, other gainful work or economic activity outside agriculture

may:

• take part in courses,
• apply for financing the cost of exams to obtain certificates, diplomas, attestations of certain vocational qualifications or professional titles, as well as the costs of obtaining licenses necessary to perform the occupation,
• apply for the loan to finance the cost of training in order to enable taking up or maintaining employment or other gainful work,
• apply for financing  the cost of postgraduate studies.

During training and postgraduate studies a job seeker is not entitled to a scholarship.

As a job seeker listed above you may also apply for a refund of the costs of travelling to a medical or psychological examination from his place of residence, if the job seeker is referred to such examination by a district labour office and the job seeker has to travel to the place of that examination.

If you are a job seeker who:

• receives social benefit conferred on mining leave or mining social allowance, as defined in separate regulations,
• participates in activities at the centre of social integration or in an individual integration programme referred to in the provisions on social assistance,
• is a reserve soldier,
• takes training pension,
• takes training allowance,

you may take part in vocational training at the workplace, in order to gain qualifications and vocational skills, that are confirmed by:

• a certificate – if you take part in vocational training
• a certificate confirming the qualifications in the profession – if you take part in job-specific apprenticeship.

Legal basis

Act of 20 April 2004 on Employment Promotion and Labour Market Institutions (art.33 clause 4a-4b, art. 43)

Development: Editorial team of Zielona Linia