POLISH UNION’S ATTITUDES TOWARDS FLEXIBILITY IN VIEW OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND LOW EMPLOYMENT RATES OF WOMEN AND SENIORS

This paper, based on interviews with trade-union spokespersons, aims to explore the attitudes of Poland’s organised labour towards flexibility in the context of work–life balance (WLB) and low employment rates of women and seniors. It transpires, among other things, that they are cautiously in favour of flexible working practices and recognise the significance of WLB policies. Still, they come out against any major labour-code changes facilitating the propagation of far-reaching flexibility-underpinned WLB measures. While declaring their commitment to fighting age/gender discrimination and improving the position of women/seniors in the labour market, they opt for anti-discriminatory regulation and employability enhancement through training rather than such supply-side measures as employment protection legislation (EPL) and payroll taxes reduction.