Lesser Poland Voivodeship Office cuts bonus fund due to seniority reform — Interia

The Lesser Poland Voivodeship Office has reduced its bonus fund due to increased costs following changes to the rules for determining length of service. The new regulations have also limited the institution’s ability to hire employees and raise salaries, Interia reports, citing Rzeczpospolita.

Which periods are counted toward length of service

For public-sector employees in Poland, the new rules took effect on January 1, 2026, and were extended to the private sector on May 1. Periods that had previously not been taken into account began to be counted toward length of service, including running a business and work under a contract of mandate.

The length of service affects certain employment rights: entitlement to 26 days of annual leave, parental leave, the amount of the seniority allowance, and a jubilee award. Employees may submit an application only electronically through eZUS to obtain an insurance certificate for counting the relevant periods. They have 24 months from the date the new rules took effect to do so.

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Estimated costs for institutions

According to Rzeczpospolita, in some cases the additional costs range from several thousand to several tens of thousands of zlotys per employee. For institutions with large numbers of staff, total expenditures may amount to millions of zlotys.

The estimated cost of the changes for the Masovian Voivodeship Office is about 1.75 million zlotys, and for the Lesser Poland Voivodeship Office, 1.4 million zlotys. The government did not provide additional funding to offset these expenses. Maksymilian Kosowski, spokesperson for the Lesser Poland voivode, said that the lack of additional funds in the 2026 payroll budget had led to a reduction in the bonus fund and restrictions on hiring and salary increases.