Attention: translated from Polish
Unemployment is a social phenomenon in which some people who are able to work and want to take up work do not find employment. A more detailed discussion of the subject is regulated in the Act of 20 April 2004 on the promotion of employment and labour market institutions. According to the Act, the state, as an organization, should strive to mitigate the effects of unemployment, and even strive to gradually eliminate it. The tasks of the state are carried out through labour market institutions that try to strengthen social integration and solidarity, as well as mobility in the labour market. In addition to labour market institutions, the state strongly supports local government units, m.in. district governments, which receive an appropriate amount of funds from the Labour Fund from the Minister responsible for labour for the implementation of programmes for the promotion of employment and mitigation of the effects of unemployment. It is worth noting that the total amount of expenditure incurred in the financial year for the implementation of programmes may not exceed 10% of the Fund’s resources.
Undoubtedly, the unemployed can count on benefits in the form of the right to a benefit for each calendar day from the date of registration in the relevant district labour office, provided that the conditions set out in Article 71(2) of the Act are met. Depending on the individual situation, the period of receiving the benefit may be a different number of days:
- 180 days – for the unemployed residing in the area of the district during the period of receiving the benefit, if the unemployment rate in this area on 30 June of the year preceding the date of acquiring the right to the benefit did not exceed 150% of the average unemployment rate in the country;
- 365 days – for the unemployed:
- residing in the area of the district during the period of receiving the benefit, if the unemployment rate in this area on 30 June of the year preceding the date of acquiring the right to the benefit exceeded 150% of the average unemployment rate in the country, or
- over 50 years of age and at the same time having at least 20 years of entitlement to the benefit, or
- who have at least one dependent child up to 15 years of age, and the spouse of the unemployed person is also unemployed and has lost the right to the benefit due to the expiry of the period of its receipt after the date on which the unemployed person acquired the right to the benefit, or
- single parents with at least one child up to the age of 15
It is worth noting that the period of receiving the benefit is not directly proportional to the change of place of residence or place of residence – these are independent mechanisms. Unemployment benefits are their property rights and, more importantly, they are passed on to successors entitled to a survivor’s pension.