Can you refuse a B2B contract and demand an employment contract instead

Can you refuse a B2B contract and demand an employment contract instead

• Who decides, only PIP, or can a contractor act on their own
• How to file a complaint with PIP, what happens step by step
• How to file a lawsuit yourself, step by step under Art. 189 KPC
• Comparing the two paths
• Protection against contract termination during the process, where the real gap is
• Can you combine both paths at once
• Does the whistleblower protection act cover someone complaining about a fake B2B arrangement
• What risks a contractor takes on by going down this path
• Frequently asked questions
• What to do with this information
• Sources

Who decides, only PIP, or can a contractor act on their own

A contractor can file a lawsuit to establish the existence of an employment relationship on their own, with no involvement from PIP at all. The basis is Art. 189 of the Code of Civil Procedure: “the plaintiff may demand that the court establish the existence or non-existence of a legal relationship or right, if they have a legal interest in doing so”¹. The legal interest in having your B2B contract recognized as an employment relationship is obvious: paid leave, sick pay, protection against contract termination, and contributions to ZUS (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, Poland’s Social Insurance Institution) all depend on it.

This rule existed before the PIP 2026 reform and doesn’t depend on it: Polish courts have spent decades hearing lawsuits from former and current “external contractors” who actually worked like regular employees. The reform added a second, parallel tool, a PIP decision, but didn’t take away the first one. A case to establish the existence of an employment relationship falls under the jurisdiction of the district court (sąd rejonowy) as a labor court, regardless of the amount in dispute⁸.

A contractor doesn’t have to wait for PIP to show up with an inspection: the right to sue for a declaration of employment status exists from the day your actual working conditions started matching the criteria in Art. 22 § 1 of the Labor Code (Kodeks pracy, KP), not from the day an inspection begins.

We’ve put together a detailed checklist of seven practical signs for assessing whether your contract genuinely looks like an employment relationship, before deciding whether this path is worth pursuing, in the series article “Who risks losing B2B status after the PIP 2026 reform“.

How to file a complaint with PIP, what happens step by step

A complaint (Polish skarga) can be filed in person, by mail, or electronically through ePUAP (Elektroniczna Platforma Usług Administracji Publicznej, Poland’s e-government services portal), at any PIP district office, regardless of where the contractor actually works. PIP doesn’t require the complaint to be anonymous or signed in any particular way, but launching an inspection requires a description of a specific situation, not a general suspicion.

After a complaint is filed, the procedure consists of the following steps.

1. Inspection (kontrola). An inspector checks documents, interviews both parties, and analyzes how the work is actually carried out: schedule, subordination, workplace, method of payment⁹.
2. Demand to remedy the violation. If the inspector sees signs of an employment relationship, they first issue the employer a demand to fix the situation, rather than issuing a decision right away. This is an interim step confirmed by how PIP’s new powers are applied in practice, not a separate provision of the law.
3. Proceedings under Art. 33a. If the employer ignores the demand, the district labor inspector opens formal proceedings and notifies both parties⁹.
4. PIP decision or lawsuit. The district inspector either issues an administrative decision on the existence of an employment relationship, or files a lawsuit in court on the contractor’s behalf, seeking a declaration of employment status, with the contractor’s consent¹⁰.
5. Appeal. The employer (or the contractor, if they disagree with the terms of the decision) has one month to appeal the decision to the district court⁸.

The law sets no fixed deadline for the time between a complaint and a decision or lawsuit: an inspection can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on how complex the case is and how busy the particular PIP district office is. This is the main practical difference from filing your own lawsuit, where the deadline for the first court hearing is explicitly set by law.

How to file a lawsuit yourself, step by step under Art. 189 KPC

A lawsuit is filed with the district court (sąd rejonowy) as a labor court, either where the work is performed or where the employer is based, whichever is more convenient for the contractor¹¹. The lawsuit needs to clearly state the claim (a declaration that an employment relationship has existed from a specific date), and describe the actual circumstances: schedule, subordination, method of payment, along with evidence.

The key procedural advantage of filing your own lawsuit: the court is required to schedule the first hearing no later than one month after the lawsuit is filed³. The court can even decide the case at a closed session without a courtroom hearing, if the existence of an employment relationship isn’t in doubt, and issue a preliminary judgment (wyrok wstępny) covering only the fact that an employment relationship exists, leaving the details (type of contract, salary) for further proceedings³.

Alongside the lawsuit, not later, it’s worth immediately filing a motion for interim relief under Art. 7556 of the KPC. This is exactly the tool that provides real, not theoretical, protection during the process, more on it below.

Comparing the two paths

Protection against contract termination during the process, where the real gap is

This is the most important practical distinction, and one that’s rarely explained fully. Protection against contract termination doesn’t arise automatically the moment a complaint is filed, or even when a PIP inspection begins. It arises only at two specific legal points.

Point 1: a court ruling granting interim relief. If the case is already before a court, whether it’s the contractor’s own lawsuit, a lawsuit filed by PIP, or an appeal against a PIP decision, the court can grant interim relief: during the process, the contract can only be modified, terminated, or not renewed under the terms labor law provides for protected employees³. The court decides on a motion for interim relief without delay, within a maximum of 3 days of receiving it³.

Point 2: a PIP decision on the existence of an employment relationship. From the day this decision is issued, terminating the contract “in response” to it is explicitly prohibited by law, and violating this ban is punishable by a fine of 2,000-60,000 zł⁵.

The gap in between: no protection. While the PIP inspection is still ongoing, and neither of these two points has been reached yet, the employer can technically terminate the B2B contract under the terms the contract itself allows. This is exactly the period when a contractor is most vulnerable, which is why filing your own lawsuit with an immediate motion for interim relief is often a smarter tactic than waiting for the outcome of a PIP inspection.

There’s one indirect protection for this gap too: if the employer terminates the civil-law contract during the period between the start of the inspection and the final decision in the case, the employment contract’s start date is deemed to be the date the inspection BEGAN, not the date of the decision, and the usual rules protecting employees against termination of an employment contract apply to both parties, including the limits on fixed-term contracts¹².

Example 1. Andrii files a complaint with PIP about a fake B2B arrangement, but doesn’t file his own lawsuit and doesn’t request interim relief. Two weeks later, while the inspection is still ongoing, the client terminates the contract, citing a clause allowing termination with 14 days’ notice. Is Andrii protected against this termination at the moment it happens? No. No PIP decision has been issued yet, there’s no court case yet, so there’s no interim relief either. But if PIP or a court later recognizes the employment relationship, its start date will be the day the inspection began, not the day of the complaint, and the termination will be assessed under labor law rules, including the possibility of challenging it as an unlawful dismissal¹².

Example 2. Oksana files a lawsuit with the district court on the same day, seeking a declaration of employment status, along with a motion for interim relief. The court grants the motion within 3 days. Is Oksana protected against the client terminating the contract the following week? Yes. From the moment the court issues its ruling on interim relief, the contract can only be terminated under labor law terms, and any attempt by the client to terminate it in violation of those terms gives Oksana grounds to challenge the termination within the same proceedings³.

Can you combine both paths at once

Yes, and in many situations that’s the strongest tactic: a PIP complaint gives you an inspector with the power to demand documents from the employer, while your own lawsuit gives you immediate court protection through interim relief while the PIP inspection is still ongoing. If PIP issues its decision while the contractor’s parallel court case is already underway for the same period, the court suspends its own proceedings so there aren’t two conflicting rulings on the same matter¹³. Duplicating effort isn’t a problem here: the law itself built in a mechanism to coordinate the two parallel paths.

Does the whistleblower protection act cover someone complaining about a fake B2B arrangement

This is a good place to clear up a common but inaccurate piece of information you can find online. The whistleblower protection act of 14 June 2024 (Journal of Laws 2024 item 928) protects people who report violations of the law, including those working under B2B contracts or contracts of mandate. But protection applies only to violations from a closed list of 17 categories: corruption, public procurement, financial services, money laundering, product safety, environmental protection, personal data protection, and a few others⁷. An ordinary labor law violation, by itself, isn’t on that list.

The whistleblower act protects reports concerning a specific closed list of 17 categories of violations, not just any dissatisfaction with the terms of a working relationship, and a fake B2B arrangement by itself isn’t on that list.

Example 3. Pavlo reports to PIP only that his client requires a fixed schedule and daily reporting from him, typical signs of a disguised employment relationship, with no additional circumstances. Does the whistleblower act protect him as such? Mostly no. This is a classic PIP complaint, which provides protection only within the PIP procedure itself (points 1 and 2 above), not additional protection against retaliation under the whistleblower act, because the subject of the complaint isn’t on the closed list.

A contrasting example. Marta reports not just a fake B2B arrangement, but also that her client systematically fails to declare part of the payments and avoids paying ZUS contributions and taxes, concealing the true scope of the cooperation. Does that change anything? Partially. If the report actually concerns tax evasion or the state’s financial interests, elements of the case may fall under categories 15-16 of the closed list, and in that case additional whistleblower protection is theoretically applicable, though this depends on the specific facts rather than being an automatic rule.

This is exactly the kind of detail worth checking with a lawyer before filing a complaint, if your situation includes elements that go beyond “just a fake B2B arrangement”.

What risks a contractor takes on by going down this path

Being assertive costs real money and time, and it’s more important to be honest about that than to promise a painless process.

Losing the client or the contract. Even with the formal protection described above, a client can simply choose not to continue the cooperation once the current project or contract term ends, if the contract allows it. The protection covers termination “in response” to a complaint, not a guarantee of endless continued cooperation.

Reputation in a small industry. In tight professional circles (parts of IT, consulting), the fact of a legal dispute with a client can become known to other potential clients, even when the complaint is anonymous to the employer within the PIP procedure itself⁶.

Back payments for the past period. If the employment relationship is recognized, it works both ways: the contractor gains rights they currently lack under the B2B contract, we’ve covered these same missing rights (paid leave, sick pay, overtime) in more detail in the series article “Paid leave, sick pay, overtime: what a B2B contractor doesn’t have”, and the specific payment procedure and documents after an employment relationship is recognized in the series article “What happens if your B2B contract gets reclassified as employment: rights and payments“. But at the same time, back payments of ZUS contributions and tax for a period of up to 3 years arise, potentially affecting the net income the contractor actually received during that time¹⁴.

Impact on your residence card, if it’s based on a JDG. If your basis for staying in Poland is tied to your own JDG (Jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, the Polish sole proprietorship), recognition of an employment relationship changes the legal basis of your employment, and it’s worth working that out in advance, not after the decision.

The right to demand recognition of an employment contract is real, and it works. But it’s not a button that “fixes everything at once”: it’s a process with its own deadlines, evidence, and risk to your current relationship with the client, one worth going through deliberately, not impulsively.

If your goal isn’t a legal dispute but reducing future risk without confronting the client, a less confrontational alternative is fixing the contract yourself using the twelve points we’ve laid out in the series article “How to fix your B2B contract for PIP 2026: a 12-point checklist”.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to go to PIP first, before filing a lawsuit? No. The right to sue under Art. 189 KPC doesn’t depend on whether the contractor has already gone to PIP. These are two independent, equal paths, and the law explicitly provides for their parallel existence¹¹.

How much does it cost to file a PIP complaint or a lawsuit? Both are free for the contractor. A PIP complaint requires no payment whatsoever. A lawsuit seeking a declaration of employment status is exempt from court costs, because it’s classified as a labor law case regardless of how the process itself ends².

Will the client find out that I’m the one who filed the PIP complaint? PIP is required not to disclose to the client that an inspection began because of a specific person’s complaint, unless that person gave written consent to the disclosure⁶. But in a small team, the mere fact of an inspection is often hard to hide, regardless of the formal anonymity of the source.

Which is faster: a PIP complaint or your own lawsuit? Your own lawsuit is formally faster: the law requires the first court hearing to be scheduled no later than one month after filing³. A PIP inspection has no such fixed deadline.

Can you withdraw a complaint or lawsuit if the situation with the client improves? A PIP complaint can’t be withdrawn in the classic sense: once an inspection begins, the inspector continues it on their own initiative if they see violations. A lawsuit can be withdrawn before the hearing begins without the defendant’s consent.

What happens if the court or PIP doesn’t recognize an employment relationship? The contract remains B2B, unchanged, and there are no fines or consequences for the contractor. Only the client bears financial risk, if PIP decides the complaint was unfounded, and even then, no liability is provided for the contractor simply for filing the complaint.

What to do with this information

This article isn’t telling you that you have to file a complaint or a lawsuit, it’s giving you the facts so your decision is an informed one. Before filing a complaint or lawsuit, it’s worth honestly assessing how strong your case is: four or more signs from the checklist in the series article “Who risks losing B2B status after the PIP 2026 reform” mean serious chances of having the employment relationship recognized, while one or two signs mean the legal path could turn out long and uncertain.

If you work through your own JDG. The basic format, the online B2B audit: you fill out a questionnaire about the actual conditions of your cooperation, and within 48 hours you get a report assessing the strength of your potential case, along with a recommendation on which path (complaint, lawsuit, both, or fixing the contract without confrontation) fits your situation.

If you’re the owner or HR lead at a company, and you’ve already received a complaint or lawsuit from a contractor. You need a bigger format, the B2B operating model audit, which assesses the company’s position in the specific dispute and across all active contracts at once, not just one contract.

Sources

1. Kodeks postępowania cywilnego (Polish Code of Civil Procedure), Journal of Laws 1964 no. 43 item 296, Art. 189 (declaratory action on the existence or non-existence of a legal relationship or right)
2. Act of 28 July 2005 on court costs in civil cases, Art. 96 sec. 1 pt. 4 and pt. 8
3. Act of 11 March 2026 amending the Act on the State Labor Inspectorate and certain other acts, Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 2 pt. 8 (new Art. 7556 of the Code of Civil Procedure, interim relief); Art. 2 pt. 7 (new Art. 4771c and 4771d KPC, hearing deadline)
4. Act of 13 April 2007 on the State Labor Inspectorate, Art. 34 sec. 2l (added by Journal of Laws 2026 item 473)
5. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 3 pt. 1 lit. a (new Art. 281 § 1 pt. 1b of the Labor Code, fine of 2,000-60,000 zł for violating the ban on unfavorable treatment after a PIP decision)
6. Act on the State Labor Inspectorate, Art. 44 sec. 3
7. Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers, Journal of Laws 2024 item 928, Art. 3 sec. 1 pts. 1-17 (closed catalog of violation areas)
8. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 2 pt. 4 (new Art. 461 § 11 and § 23 KPC, district court jurisdiction and 1-month appeal deadline)
9. Act on the State Labor Inspectorate, Art. 33a sec. 1 and 3 (added by Journal of Laws 2026 item 473)
10. Act on the State Labor Inspectorate, Art. 33a sec. 3 and 6; Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 631-632 (lawsuit filed by the district labor inspector on the citizen’s behalf)
11. Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 189 and Art. 461 § 11
12. Act on the State Labor Inspectorate, Art. 34 sec. 2g-2h (added by Journal of Laws 2026 item 473)
13. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 2 pt. 7 (new Art. 4777e § 2 KPC, suspension of court proceedings if a PIP decision is issued)
14. Labor Code, Art. 291 § 1 (3-year limitation period); Act on the State Labor Inspectorate, Art. 33a sec. 8 (interruption of the limitation period)
15. PIP inspections have already begun. 70 complaints in three days, and companies are changing contracts on their own before the inspection, GazetaPrawna.pl, 11 July 2026, data from Chief Labor Inspector Janusz Krasoń for the period 8-10 July 2026

Legal status as of: August 28, 2026.

This article is not legal advice. Every situation is individual and depends on the specific contract and circumstances. Author: Valerii Kushnirskyi, in-house legal practitioner at MojaFirma.