Every third employer in Poland does not pay their employees a salary and every forth pays with delay, shows a new report released by the National Labour Inspectorate.

The Inspectorate vetted 1,563 companies and found that the amount of salaries that were not handed out to employees increased by 30 percent in 2010, and was worth 180.6 million zloty (45 million euro).

Almost 40 percent of Polish companies did not pay their employees equivalents for overtime, night shifts and holiday on time or at all.

Employees, on the other hand, often agree to receive a base salary without bonuses, or to receive their salaries in installments in fear of losing their job, shows the report by the National Labour Inspectorate.

Last year, the Inspectorate imposed one-million zloty (250,000 euro) fines on 657 companies and, according to the latest report, with some of these companies are likely to be fined this year.

“Some companies find it hard to come out of recession and their debt is getting bigger. In the western city of Wroclaw just one colliery failed to pay out 3.5 million zloty (870,000 million euro),” says Agata Kostyk-Lewandowska from the District Labour Inspectorate in Wroclaw.

“It’s a vicious circle. Companies often do not pay their employees because they do not get money from their contractors and they have problems taking loans to pay back salaries because banks are less willing to give them,” says Danuta Rutkowska from the National Labour Inspectorate.

“Seizing employees’ salaries is the ‘cheapest loan’ in case an employer has an empty bank account,” adds Wieslawa Tarnowska from the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions. (mg/jb)

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna