Pre-retirement Protection Calculator

Pre-retirement protection (ochrona przedemerytalna) is a statutory prohibition on employers terminating employment contracts of employees who are no more than 4 years away from statutory retirement age. It is governed by Article 39 of the Polish Labour Code.

Protection begins 4 years before the statutory retirement age. For women that means reaching age 56 (retirement at 60), and for men reaching age 61 (retirement at 65).

As a rule, no. Exceptions include dismissal for serious misconduct (disciplinary termination), redundancy in a group dismissal process, or the employer being declared insolvent.

Art. 39 protection applies primarily to open-ended employment contracts. Fixed-term contracts expiring naturally are generally not covered by this prohibition.

The employee may appeal to a labour court and claim reinstatement or compensation. The court may award pay for the entire period of unemployment.

No. Art. 39 protection applies exclusively to the employment relationship (umowa o prace). Persons working under civil-law contracts (mandate, work contract) are not covered.

A change notice (wypowiedzenie zmieniajace) modifying working conditions or pay is also restricted for protected employees. It may only be used in specific cases provided by law.

Pre-retirement protection does not apply when the employer is declared bankrupt or is being liquidated. The employer may then terminate employment, but severance pay entitlements still apply.

Yes. If the legislature changes the retirement age, the start of pre-retirement protection shifts accordingly. Current statutory ages are 60 (women) and 65 (men).

Enter your birth year and sex in the calculator above. It calculates the year your Art. 39 protection begins and shows whether you are already protected in 2026.