TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

Procedure for termination of the employment relationship – the employment relationship with an academic teacher is terminated by the Rector according to the procedure and rules laid down in the Act – the Law on Higher Education and Science and the Statute of the University of Warsaw.

The termination or expiry of an employment contract with an academic teacher shall follow the rules set out in the Act of 26 June 1974 – the Labour Code, except that termination of the employment contract by notice shall take place at the end of a semester (31 March or 30 September).

Termination of the employment relationship with an appointed academic teacher

1. by mutual agreement of the parties
2. by notice – the Rector may terminate the employment relationship with an appointed academic teacher by notice in the case of:

• • temporary incapacity for work due to illness if the period of such incapacity exceeds the allowance period, and in the case of an authorised doctor’s confirmation of an improvement in the state of health and the possibility to return to work, if this period exceeds two years;
  • the initiation of proceedings for the liquidation of the higher education institution;
  • a negative evaluation result of an academic teacher as referred to in Article 128, section 1 of the Act – Law on Higher Education (optional);
  • an academic teacher receiving two consecutive negative evaluation results referred to in Article 128, section 1 (obligatory);
  • an academic teacher undertaking or performing additional employment without the Rector’s consent as referred to in Article 125, section 1 of the Act – Law on Higher Education;
  • for other important reasons, after consultation with the council of the faculty in which the academic teacher is employed or, in the case of persons employed in other organisational units, after consultation with the council of the organisational unit concerned or the Senate if there is no council in the unit concerned.

3. without notice – the Rector may terminate the employment relationship with an appointed academic teacher without notice in the case of:

• • permanent loss of capacity to work in the position held, as confirmed by a certificate from a certifying doctor within the meaning of regulations on retirement and disability pension from the Social Insurance Fund, if it is not possible to employ the employee in another position, appropriate to their state of health and professional qualifications, or if the academic teacher refuses to move to such a position;
  • failure to provide, within the prescribed time limit, a certificate confirming the ability to work in the occupied position issued by the doctor conducting periodic or control examinations;
  • committing:
    • an act specified in Article 115 of the Act of 4 February 1994 on copyright and related rights, confirmed by a final and binding court judgement,
    • confirmed by a final and binding ruling of a disciplinary committee:
    • plagiarism or misrepresenting the authorship of the whole or part of another person’s work or artistic performance,
    • distributing, without the name or pseudonym of the author, another person’s work in the original version or as an adaptation,
    • distributing, without the name or pseudonym of the author, another person’s artistic performance or publicly distorting such a work, artistic performance, phonogram, video or broadcast,
    • any other manner of infringing another’s copyright or related rights,
    • falsification of research or scientific results, or other scientific fraud,
    • other scientific fraud;
  • conviction by final judgment for an intentional offence.

Expiry of the appointment (expiry of the appointment is determined by the rector):

The employment relationship of an appointed academic teacher shall expire by operation of law in the following circumstances:

• appointment is found to have been made on the basis of false or invalid documents;
• valid court judgment on the loss of public rights;
• a valid disciplinary penalty depriving an academic teacher of the right to practise their profession either permanently or for a specified period;
• a valid sentence of a penal measure prohibiting an academic teacher from holding a specific position if the sentence concerns the performance of duties and responsibilities of an academic teacher;
• the expiry of a three-month period of absence from work due to preventive detention;
• serving a sentence of imprisonment or restricted liberty;
• the expiry of an appointment;
• the death of the academic teacher.

An employment contract with an employee who is not an academic shall be terminated by

1. the Rector at the request of the Chancellor – with respect to employees employed in managerial or independent positions within the meaning of the Organisational Rules and Regulations referred to in §136 of the Statute of the University of Warsaw; however, if the employee performs their  work at a faculty or inter-faculty or university-wide organisational unit, the Rector shall act at the request of the dean or the head of the relevant unit;
2. the Rector, at the request of the dean or the head of another organisational unit in which the employee is employed – with respect to scientific and technical employees within the meaning of the organisational regulations referred to in § 136 of the Statute of the University, as well as library employees as well as scientific documentation and information employees;
3. the Rector, upon the request of the Director of BUW, with reference to the library, documentation and scientific information staff employed at BUW;
4. the Rector, upon the request of a Dean – with respect to employees other than those mentioned in points 1-3, working at the faculty;
   • the Chancellor – for other employees.

Each employee, before the date of termination of the employment relationship, is obliged to settle the accounts with the University of Warsaw (confirmation of settlement – a circulation card) and to return the employee card to the BSP.

In the case of not using all or part of the holiday leave due to the termination or expiry of the employment relationship, an employee is entitled to a cash equivalent.

In connection with the termination or expiry of the employment relationship, the employer is obliged to immediately issue an employment certificate to the employee if they do not intend to enter into another employment relationship with the employee within 7 days from the date of termination or expiry of the previous employment relationship. The employer shall issue an employment certificate immediately – on the day on which the employment relationship is terminated or expires. If, for objective reasons, it is not possible to issue an employment certificate to the employee or to a person authorised by the employee within this period of time, the employer shall, within 7 days of the expiry of this period of time, send an employment certificate to the employee or to that person via a postal operator or deliver it in another way. The employer shall issue an employment certificate directly to the employee or to a person authorised by the employee. The employee may apply to the employer to rectify the certificate within 7 days of receiving an employment certificate.

Employment certificates are issued by BSP UW.

Employees who intend to terminate their employment relationship due to retirement or disability pension can visit the Section for Retirement and Disability Pensions of the University’s Human Resources Office, where they will receive advice and assistance in collecting the documentation required for filing with the Social Insurance Institution. In view of the need to collect employment certificates and certificates covering the entire period of an employee’s employment, this meeting should take place approximately two months before the planned termination of employment at the University of Warsaw in connection with planned retirement.

Persons who do not have their initial capital established with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) are obliged to collect originals of documents confirming contributory periods of employment (employment certificates or other evidence of contributory periods before 1999, e.g. military books, insurance cards, and the ZUS Rp-7 form) and non-contributory periods of employment (e.g. a certificate of master’s studies, a certificate of doctoral studies, a certificate of assistant preparatory studies, birth certificates of children in the case of periods of being out of work).

Persons to whom the Social Insurance Institution has determined initial capital are obliged to document only those contribution and non-contribution periods which occurred after 31 December 1998. No obligation to obtain and submit the ZUS Rp-7 form to the Social Insurance Institution is then required.

The Section draws up an application on the basis of the above documents. The employee is obliged to submit the application for the retirement/disability pension in person to the Social Insurance Institution branch competent for the employee’s place of residence.

An employee (obtaining a retirement or disability pension) has the right to recalculate the pension base, which is done only at the request of the employee concerned. The procedure for requesting a recalculation of the base depends on the legal basis for granting the pension:

• pension granted according to the “old rules” – after the end of each quarter or upon the termination of employment at the University of Warsaw, the employee may report to the Section for Retirement and Disability Pension at the UW Human Resources Office, which will issue an employment certificate,
• pension granted under the “new rules” – once a year, the employee may request a recalculation of the retirement pension base; the request must be submitted by the employee in person directly to the Social Insurance Institution branch that pays the benefit.

Employees of the University of Warsaw who retire or obtain a disability pension are entitled to a single severance payment equal to three times their basic remuneration received for the last month of employment.

If an employee dies during an employment relationship or while collecting benefits due to an incapacity to work in respect of illness after the termination of the employment relationship, the family shall be entitled to the bereavement support payment from the employer. The amount of the severance payment shall depend on the employment period at the University of Warsaw and shall be as follows:

• one month’s remuneration if the employee has been employed for less than 10 years
• three months’ remuneration if the employee was employed for at least 10 years
• six months’ remuneration if the employee was employed for at least 15 years.

The bereavement support payment is due to the following members of the employee’s family:

• spouse;
• other family members fulfilling the conditions required for granting family pension in accordance with the provisions on retirement and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund.

The bereavement support payment shall be divided in equal shares among all entitled members of the employee’s family. If there is only one member of the family entitled to the bereavement support payment after the death of an employee, they shall be entitled to the bereavement payment amounting to half of the amount determined on the basis of the employment period at the University of Warsaw.