Your employer has not issued your employment certificate. What next?

Who this applies to

People whose employment contract (umowa o pracę) has been terminated or has expired: by notice, by mutual agreement, by the passage of time, by termination without notice. You are not entitled to an employment certificate after a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) or B2B. If you believe it was in fact a job under an employment contract, see The cooperation has already ended. How do you establish that it was an employment contract?.

What to do

1. Check the deadline. The certificate is due on the day the employment relationship ends. If, for objective reasons, it cannot be handed over on that day, the employer sends it through a postal operator or delivers it in another way within the following 7 days (Article 97 § 1 of the Labour Code). Exception: if within 7 days you conclude another employment contract with the same employer, it issues the certificate only at your request, within 7 days of the request being submitted (Article 97 § 1(1) and § 1(2) of the Labour Code).
2. Do not let it be made conditional on "settling up". Issuing the certificate may not depend on you first settling matters with the employer, e.g. returning equipment (Article 97 § 1(3) of the Labour Code).
3. Authorise someone if you cannot collect it in person. You can provide the authorisation to collect it in paper or electronic form (§ 3 of the regulation on the employment certificate).
4. Send a written demand. State the date the contract was terminated, refer to Article 97 § 1 of the Labour Code and give an address for delivery. Keep the proof of posting. The regulations do not require a demand, but it puts the evidence in order.
5. File a complaint with the PIP. Failing to issue an employment certificate on time is a petty offence punishable by a fine of PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000 (Article 282 § 1(3) of the Labour Code). The PIP prosecutes such offences as a public prosecutor, and a labour inspector may impose a fixed penalty notice (mandat) of up to PLN 5,000. You can prepare the complaint in the complaint generator; the rules are described in the guide How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?.
6. Sue the employer to issue the certificate. You have the right to demand before the labour court that the employer be ordered to issue the certificate (Article 97(1) § 1 of the Labour Code). You can do this at any time before the limitation period expires (Article 97(1) § 3 of the Labour Code). Cases concerning the employment certificate belong to the district court (sąd rejonowy) regardless of the value of the dispute (Article 461 § 1(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, KPC). An employee bringing a claim as a rule does not pay court fees (Article 96(1)(4) of the Act on court costs).
7. Claim compensation if the lack of a certificate cost you a job. An employee is entitled to redress for damage caused by the certificate not being issued on time or by an incorrect certificate being issued, in the amount of pay for the period of remaining without work for that reason, for no longer than 6 weeks (Article 99 § 1 and 2 of the Labour Code). You must show that the lack of the certificate was the actual cause, e.g. a new employer did not want to hire you without it.

When the certificate contains an error

1. Request for correction to the employer: within 14 days of receiving the certificate (Article 97 § 2(1) of the Labour Code).
2. Employer's reply: within 7 days of receiving the request, the employer issues a new certificate or notifies you of its refusal (§ 7(1) of the regulation).
3. Labour court: after a refusal, you have 14 days from the notification to demand correction in the labour court. If the employer did not notify you of a refusal at all, you also bring the demand for correction to the labour court (Article 97 § 2(1) of the Labour Code).
4. After the judgment: the employer issues a new certificate within 7 days of the ruling becoming final (§ 7(2) of the regulation).

The certificate must contain information about these deadlines (§ 2(2) of the regulation). At your request, the employer also enters the amount and components of your pay and the qualifications you obtained (Article 97 § 2 of the Labour Code).

Exceptions and caveats

• The company no longer exists. If the employer does not exist, or for other reasons cannot be sued to issue the certificate, you can demand before the labour court a ruling establishing your entitlement to receive an employment certificate (Article 97(1) § 2 of the Labour Code). This is also possible at any time before the limitation period expires. If the company is bankrupt, see also employer bankruptcy.
• Correction and "at any time". Article 97(1) § 4 of the Labour Code requires § 1-3 to be applied accordingly to a demand for correction, while Article 97 § 2(1) of the Labour Code provides 14-day deadlines for correction. How these provisions fit together in a specific case, e.g. when the employer no longer exists, requires legal assessment. Do not wait with your request for correction.
• Disciplinary termination found to be defective. If the labour court finds that termination of the contract without notice through your fault breached the regulations, the employer enters in the certificate that the contract was terminated by notice given by the employer (Article 97 § 3 of the Labour Code).
• A judgment awarding compensation for an incorrect certificate is a basis for amending that certificate (Article 99 § 4 of the Labour Code).
• The PIP and disputes about content. A PIP inspection may concern whether the certificate was issued on time. In a dispute about what the correct content is, the labour court decides.
• Death of the employee. The certificate goes into the personnel file, and the employer issues it to entitled family members or heirs on request, within 7 days (§ 5 of the regulation).

Example

Assumptions: an employment contract ended on 31 August 2026 by mutual agreement. The employee did not receive the certificate either on that day or by post. The employer says it will issue it "after the laptop is returned".

This is contrary to Article 97 § 1(3) of the Labour Code: the certificate may not be made conditional on settling up. The employee sends a written demand with an address for delivery. When that does not help, he files a complaint with the District Labour Inspectorate (OIP) and a claim with the district court (labour court) for an order to issue the certificate. If in the meantime another employer refused to hire him because he had no certificate, he can claim compensation in the same lawsuit, for a maximum of 6 weeks. The dispute about the laptop is a separate matter.

Documents and deadlines

Useful evidence: the employment contract, the agreement or notice of termination, correspondence with the employer, proof of posting of demands, the refusal from the new employer (preferably in writing).

Frequently asked questions

Can the employer send the certificate by post without my consent?

The Code requires the certificate to be issued on the day the employment relationship ends. Sending it by post or delivering it in another way within 7 days is provided for when handing it over on that day is not possible for objective reasons (Article 97 § 1 of the Labour Code).

How much time do I have to sue for the certificate?

The provision says you can bring the claim "at any time before the limitation period expires" (Article 97(1) § 3 of the Labour Code). Do not put the matter off, however, because evidence and contact with the employer are lost over time.

Where do I file the claim?

With the district court (labour court) competent for the defendant employer or for the place where the work was performed. If you do not know whether to go to the PIP or to court, see PIP, ZUS or labour court: who should you turn to with a problem at work?.

Useful tools

• PIP complaint generator

Related guides

• Your employer wants you to sign a termination by mutual agreement. What should you check before signing?
• The company is closing down and your wages have not been paid. What next?
• How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?
• PIP, ZUS or labour court: who should you turn to with a problem at work?
• Payment in lieu of unused leave: when you are entitled to it, how to calculate it and when it must be paid

Sources (documents in Polish)

• Kodeks pracy, t.j. Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245 (art. 97, 97(1), 99, 282, 291)
• Rozporządzenie MRPiPS z 30.12.2016 w sprawie świadectwa pracy, t.j. Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1016
• Metryka ELI rozporządzenia (akty zmieniające, teksty jednolite)
• Kodeks postępowania cywilnego, t.j. Dz.U. 2026 poz. 468 (art. 461)
• Ustawa o kosztach sądowych w sprawach cywilnych, t.j. Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1228 (art. 96 ust. 1 pkt 4)
• Ustawa o PIP, tekst ujednolicony ISAP
• Ustawa z 11.03.2026 o zmianie ustawy o PIP, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 473 (grzywny, mandaty)

Sources checked on 15 October 2026. Law as at 15 October 2026.

Change history

• 15 October 2026: First publication.