Your employer changes your rota from one day to the next. What should you check?

Who this applies to

• Employees on an employment contract (umowa o pracę) who work according to a rota (schedule), e.g. in retail, catering, security, care, shift production.
• Employers and people who draw up rotas.

This guide does not cover a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) or B2B, because the Labour Code provisions on working time apply to employees. If a contract of mandate looks like a regular job, see Contract of mandate or employment contract? How to check what really binds the parties.

What to do

1. Check where your working time system and schedule were set. Systems, schedules and settlement periods are set in a collective agreement, the work rules or an announcement (Article 150 § 1 of the Labour Code). The work rules should specify them (Article 104(1) § 1(2) of the Labour Code). The work rules enter into force 2 weeks after being brought to the employees' attention (Article 104(3) § 1 of the Labour Code), and this provision applies accordingly to an announcement (Article 150 § 7 of the Labour Code).
2. Check whether you received the rota on time. A working time schedule may cover a period shorter than the settlement period, but at least 1 month. The employer hands it over on paper or electronically at least 1 week before work in that period begins (Article 129 § 3 of the Labour Code). A rota does not have to be drawn up, among other cases, when the schedule results from the law, an announcement or the employment contract, with task-based working time, or with an individual schedule at your request (Article 129 § 4 of the Labour Code).
3. Check whether the work rules describe rota changes. The one-week deadline in Article 129 § 3 of the Labour Code concerns handing over the rota, not changing it. This was explained by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy in its reply to parliamentary question no. 16875 (2026). According to the ministry, changes during the settlement period are allowed only in exceptional circumstances that could not be foreseen when the rota was drawn up, specified for example in the work rules. Examples are another employee's illness, childcare or leave on demand when cover has to be arranged. The PIP writes similarly on its website and recommends that the work rules specify the cases justifying a change and the notice period.
4. Check how much notice you were given. The law does not set a deadline. The ministry and the PIP refer to the view in legal literature that information about the change should reach you no later than the end of your last working day before the change. This is not a provision, only interpretative guidance. The ministry stresses that the employer may not announce a change so late that it is impossible to adjust to it.
5. Count your daily rest. In every working day you are entitled to at least 11 hours of uninterrupted rest (Article 132 § 1 of the Labour Code). A change after which you finish work at 22:00 and are to start at 6:00 violates this provision, apart from the exceptions described below.
6. Count your weekly rest. In every week you are entitled to at least 35 hours of uninterrupted rest, including 11 hours of daily rest (Article 133 § 1 of the Labour Code). When moving to another shift in line with the set schedule, it may be shorter, but not shorter than 24 hours (Article 133 § 2 of the Labour Code). A week is counted as 7 consecutive days from the first day of the settlement period (Article 128 § 3(2) of the Labour Code). An employee who works on Sundays should have at least one Sunday off every 4 weeks (Article 151(12) of the Labour Code).
7. Check the working day. The working day is 24 consecutive hours from the hour at which you start work according to your schedule (Article 128 § 3(1) of the Labour Code). Work beyond the daily standard is overtime (Article 151 § 1 of the Labour Code). If, after a rota change, you start work earlier than you did the day before, some hours may fall within the same working day. In our view, such hours are then work beyond the daily standard, that is overtime. This follows from these provisions read together. The Code makes an exception only for the schedules in Article 140(1) of the Labour Code (different start times, or a time window within which you decide yourself when to start work). There, working again within the same working day is not overtime (Article 140(1) § 4 of the Labour Code).
8. Check your working time and days off. A rota change may not lead to you working more than your working time in the settlement period without overtime being settled. In the settlement period you are entitled to at least as many days off as there are Sundays, public holidays and days off in an average five-day working week (Article 147 of the Labour Code).
9. Record the rotas and your actual hours. Take a photo of the original rota and keep the message about the change with its date and time. Write down when you actually started and finished work. The working hours table will help. The employer keeps working time records and makes them available at your request (Article 149 § 1 of the Labour Code).
10. Respond. Ask in writing (e.g. by email) on what basis the rota was changed and how the hours will be settled. If changes recur or violate your rest, use How do you get free legal advice from the PIP? or file a complaint to the PIP. The PIP inspects compliance with the provisions on working time (Article 10(1)(1) of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate) and does not reveal to the employer that the inspection results from a complaint without your written consent (Article 44(3)). You can also claim payment for overtime in the labour court. See Overtime: when is it allowed, how much does the employer pay for it and how do you document it?

Exceptions and caveats

• Rescue operation and breakdown. The right to 11 hours of rest does not apply where a rescue operation is necessary to protect life or health, property or the environment, or to repair a breakdown, nor to employees managing the workplace. In that case you are entitled to an equivalent rest period within the settlement period (Article 132 § 2-3 of the Labour Code). Weekly rest may then drop to 24 hours (Article 133 § 2 of the Labour Code).
• Equivalent working time. Daily working time may be extended to 12 hours (Article 135 of the Labour Code), to 16 hours for supervising equipment or partial on-call readiness for work (Article 136 of the Labour Code), or to 24 hours for guarding property, protecting persons, and in company fire and rescue services (Article 137 of the Labour Code). With 16 and 24 hours, after each such period of work you are entitled to rest at least equal to the number of hours worked (Article 136 § 2, Article 137 of the Labour Code).
• Other systems. Continuous operations (Article 138 of the Labour Code), interrupted working time (Article 139 of the Labour Code), a shortened working week and weekend work at your request (Articles 143-144 of the Labour Code) have their own rules. In the task-based system, working time is set in agreement with the employee and no rota is drawn up (Article 140, Article 129 § 4(2) of the Labour Code).
• Restrictions for certain people. In the systems under Articles 135-138, 143 and 144 of the Labour Code, the working time of pregnant employees, employees caring for a child up to 4 years old (without their consent), and those working where the standards for harmful factors are exceeded may not exceed 8 hours (Article 148 of the Labour Code).
• Schedule written into the employment contract. If your working hours result from the contract, changing them is a change to the terms of the contract. It requires an agreement or a notice of change of terms (wypowiedzenie zmieniające) (Article 42 § 1 of the Labour Code).
• Individual schedule at your request. The employer may set an individual schedule within your system (Article 142 of the Labour Code). Some parents and carers have the right to have such a request granted, unless the organisation or type of work does not allow it (Article 142(1) of the Labour Code).
• Employers: violating the provisions on working time is a petty offence under Article 281 § 1(5) of the Labour Code (fine of PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000 from 8 July 2026). Describe in the work rules in which situations and with how much notice you change the rota, and with every change check the rest periods, the working day and working time.
• Refusing to work after a change. An employee must follow instructions concerning work if they are not contrary to the law or the contract (Article 100 § 1 of the Labour Code). Whether a particular change was lawful depends on the circumstances. Before you refuse, ask the PIP for advice.

Example

Assumptions: a shop employee works in the basic working time system, with a 1-month settlement period. They received the October rota 3 weeks before the start of the month. On Wednesday, according to the rota, they work from 14:00 to 22:00, and on Thursday they are off. On Wednesday at 21:00 they receive a text message from the manager: they are to come in on Thursday because another person is ill. The work rules provide for a rota change when another employee is suddenly absent.

Variant A: Thursday from 6:00 to 14:00. Between 22:00 and 6:00 there is only an 8-hour break. This violates the right to 11 hours of rest (Article 132 § 1 of the Labour Code), because this is not a rescue operation or a breakdown. The working day that began on Wednesday lasts until 14:00 on Thursday, so in our view the whole Thursday shift falls within the same working day and is work beyond the daily standard.

Variant B: Thursday from 10:00 to 18:00. The rest is 12 hours, so it is respected. However, the hours from 10:00 to 14:00 still fall within the working day that began on Wednesday at 14:00. In our view, these 4 hours are overtime with a supplement.

In both variants, the extra working day also affects working time in the settlement period. The employee should record the hours, keep the text message and check how the employer settles that day.

Documents and deadlines

Frequently asked questions

Can the employer change the rota just because "it suits them"?

The Code does not expressly regulate this. According to the ministry and the PIP, a change during the settlement period should be an exception, justified by circumstances that could not be foreseen. Frequent changes without such a reason are worth describing in a complaint to the PIP.

Is swapping shifts with a colleague at my request allowed?

The law does not prohibit changing the rota at an employee's request, but the employer must still respect rest periods, the working day and working time. It is best if the request and the consent are recorded in writing.

The employer changed the rota after the fact so that there would be no overtime. What should I do?

The records should show the actual hours worked (Article 149 § 1 of the Labour Code). Keep the original rota, the messages and your own notes. Describe the situation in a complaint to the PIP or in a claim for overtime pay.

Useful tools

• Personal record of working hours
• PIP complaint generator

Related guides

• Overtime: when is it allowed, how much does the employer pay for it and how do you document it?
• How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?
• How do you get free legal advice from the PIP?
• PIP, ZUS or labour court: who should you turn to with a problem at work?

Sources (documents in Polish)

• Kodeks pracy, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245 (art. 42, 100, 104(1), 104(3), 128, 129, 132, 133, 135-140(1), 142, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 151(12), 281)
• Odpowiedź Ministry Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej na interpelację nr 16875 w sprawie uprzedzania pracownika o zmianie grafiku (2026)
• PIP, Czy pracodawca może zmienić mi rozkład czasu pracy z dnia na dzień?
• Ustawa o Państwowej Inspekcji Pracy, tekst ujednolicony ISAP (art. 10, 44)

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

Change history

• 15 October 2026: First publication.