The Act of 20 July 2018, The Law on Higher Education and Science, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 20 lipca 2018 r. – Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce, z późn. zm.) distinguishes between two categories of staff in higher education institutions (HEIs):

• academic staff (see Chapters 9.4-9.6) and

• non-academic staff.

The legislation does not specify groups of, or positions for non-academic staff, nor does it refer to staff responsible for quality monitoring, career guidance or counselling. 

There are no national regulations setting specific qualification requirements or conditions of service for quality monitoring or career guidance staff. HEI independently regulate aspects such as the organisation of administrative services, grade structures, qualification requirements and recruitment arrangements for non-academic staff.

Staff involved in the monitoring of educational quality

HEIs are largely independent in developing internal quality monitoring approaches. The legislation identifies only in general terms the senate as the body responsible for evaluation of the HEI’s performance and outlines general arrangements for quality assurance (QA) of programmes and periodic appraisal of academic staff. See Chapter 10.2, ‘Quality assurance in higher education’.

HEIs normally appoint individuals (for example, the rector’s representative for QA) and/or establish QA committees and/or units, and set qualification requirements for those involved. QA committees are normally composed of academic and administrative staff, students and doctoral students. Most of those employed on a regular basis in QA units are administrative staff. Staff responsible for quality monitoring are usually responsible for the development, implementation, monitoring and enhancement of an internal QA system and processes, including monitoring, review and improvement of programmes.

Staff responsible for guidance and counselling

In accordance with the Law on Higher Education and Science, HEIs can establish so-called academic career offices (careers services), but the legislation does not specify responsibilities or qualification requirements for staff providing career guidance. 

Their responsibilities stem from the following tasks that are set for careers offices in the Law on Higher Education and Science: 

• provide students and graduates with information about labour market and opportunities for upgrading professional qualifications and skills; 

• collect, analyse and make available job, internship and practical placement offers; 

• manage a database of students and graduates seeking employment; 

• support employers in finding suitable candidates for job vacancies and professional internships or placements; 

• provide support in active job search. 

HEIs independently set qualification requirements for careers office staff. Careers offices usually have both qualified careers advisers and other administrative staff. A formal qualification of a careers adviser can be obtained upon completion of a degree or non-degree postgraduate programme in career guidance. 

The legislation on higher education does not refer explicitly to psychological counselling. HEIs provide such support in accordance with their internal regulations. They have established psychological counselling services (referred to as psychological support services) as institutional or inter-institutional units and hire psychologists and psychotherapists. The qualification requirements for such specialists are set in the legislation on the profession of psychologist and mental healthcare services. Such specialists provide advice or counselling services and psychotherapy sessions to interested students and staff.

Conditions of service for non-academic staff

In accordance with the Law on Higher Education and Science, non-academic staff – like academic staff – are hired based on an employment contract.

In accordance with the generally applicable Act of 26 June 1974, The Labour Code, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 26 czerwca 1974 r., Kodeks Pracy, z późn. zm.), the working time for non-academic staff is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

The Law on Higher Education and Science lays down general remuneration arrangements for employees of a public HEI. These include, for example:

• the requirement to establish remuneration conditions in a collective agreement or remuneration regulations;

• components of the salary; these include fixed components: basic salary and a length-of-service allowance; and variable components: function-related and task-related allowances; overtime pay; an allowance for work in health-harming or adverse conditions; bonuses and other financial benefits if included in a collective agreement or remuneration regulations; and anniversary awards for a long period of service.

However, there are no specific national regulations on salaries for non-academic staff. The minimum salary for this group of staff is set by generally applicable legislation, and HEIs establish pay scales for individual positions in their internal regulations.

As mentioned earlier, the higher education legislation does not set a retirement age for employees of an HEI or lay down specific retirement arrangements for non-academic staff. Like other employees of an HEI, non-academic staff are subject to the generally applicable regulations on retirement and pension where the state pension age is at least 60 years for women and at least 65 years for men (Act of 17 December 1998 on Retirement Pensions and Disability Pensions from the Social Security Fund, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 17 grudnia 1998 r. o emeryturach i rentach z Funduszu Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, z późn. zm.).