Academic staff may take one of the following positions:

• Professor (profesor),
• University Professor (profesor uczelni),
• Assistant Professor (adiunkt),
• Assistant (asystent).

The legislation lays down the following requirements for each position:

• Professor: the academic title of professor (profesor).
• University Professor: at least a doctoral degree (doktor) and:
  1. for teaching staff: significant teaching or professional achievements;
  2. for research staff: significant research or artistic achievements;
  3. for research-and-teaching staff: significant research, artistic or teaching achievements.
• Assistant Professor: at least a doctoral degree (doktor).
• Assistant: a Master’s degree (magister or magister inżynier) or an equivalent degree.

The statutes of an HEI may specify other positions for academic staff and related additional qualification requirements; these may not include a requirement to hold or obtain a doctoral or post-doctoral degree or the title of professor. A detailed job description for an academic teacher is provided by the rector of an HEI.

Planning policy

The responsibility for teaching staff policies in the higher education sector rests with the Minister of Education and Science, appointed on 19 October 2020, who supervises the Ministry of Education and Science established on 1 January 2021 (following the merger of the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education).

The Minister of Education and Science is responsible for matters related to:

• supervision of HEIs with regard to the compliance of their activities with the national legislation and the requirements for providing programmes;
• labour regulations for academic staff, and awards for academic staff for outstanding research, teaching and organisational achievements and lifetime achievements;
• doctoral and postdoctoral degrees (doktor and doktor habilitowany, respectively) the title of professor (profesor) in the areas of science and fine arts;
• disciplinary liability of academic staff.

Statistical data for academic staff for 31 December 2020 are provided in the tables below.

Employment structure by position, type of HEI and sex

* Two posts existing on the basis of previous legislation, persons holding these positions still remain in employment.

Source: Central Statistical Office (2021), Higher education and its finances in 2020; Gdańsk, Warsaw.

Information on academic and non-academic staff in higher education is provided by the POL-on system: an integrated science and higher education information system which supports the Ministry of Education and Science, the Central Statistical Office and the Council for Research Excellence. It aims to serve as a global database on research institutions, HEIs and research in Poland. Data gathered in the system supports the Ministry of Education and Science in decisions relating to Polish HEIs and research institutions. POL-on facilitates decisions on where funding for education should be targeted and on financial support for students.

One of the POL-on thematic sections is the register of research staff in research institutions other than HEIs and academic staff in HEIs. Data in the register is used to verify whether institutions comply with the minimum staff requirements for individual fields of study, and to monitor multiple job holding by academic staff and the authorisations held by HEIs to award doctoral and post-doctoral degrees and professorial titles. HEIs and other research institutions are required to input, update, archive and remove data on dates specified in the legislation to ensure that institutions and units responsible for higher education have access on an ongoing basis to up-to-date data on academic staff and HEIs’ compliance with related criteria.

The POL-on system also includes information on disciplinary penalties discussed below.

Entry to the profession

Academic teachers are divided into the following groups:

• teaching staff,
• research staff, and
• research-and-teaching staff.

Academic teachers should fulfil the following general requirements:

• have qualifications set out in the Law on Higher Education and Science and the statutes of an HEI;
• have not been punished with a disciplinary penalty;
• have full legal capacity;
• have full civic rights;
• have not been convicted of an intentional offence or international tax offence by a valid court judgement.

The legislation lays down the following requirements for each position which may be taken up by academic staff:

• Professor: the title of professor (profesor) (a person holding the title of professor may be employed only in the position of Professor);
• University Professor: at least a doctoral degree (doktor) and:
  1. for teaching staff: significant teaching or professional achievements;
  2. for research staff: significant research or artistic achievements;
  3. for research-and-teaching staff: significant research, artistic or teaching achievements.
• Assistant Professor: at least a doctoral degree (doktor).
• Assistant: a Master’s degree (magister or magister inżynier) or an equivalent degree.

The statutes of a higher education institution (HEI) may specify other positions for academic staff and related additional qualification requirements. The latter may not relate to the fact of holding or the requirement to obtain a doctoral or postdoctoral degree or the professorial title.

The first employment contract with an academic teacher at a given HEI is concluded for an indefinite term or a fixed term of 4 years. When the outcome of a periodic performance appraisal is positive, an employment contract with an academic teacher may be concluded for an indefinite term without holding a competition. This means that a competition should be held only for the recruitment of a new academic teacher.

An open competition is held in case the first employment relationship with an academic teacher in a given public HEI is established for an indefinite term or for fixed term longer than 3 months, and for the workload which exceeds 50% of full-time employment. The procedure and conditions for competitions are laid down in the statutes of an HEI.

Information about the competition and its outcome, together with substantiation, is published in the Public Information Bulletin on the websites of the HEI concerned, the minister responsible for higher education (and, in the case of HEIs supervised by other ministers, the minister supervising the HEI) 30 days, respectively, before the competition and after its end. Information is also published in the English language on the websites of the European Commission, in the European EURAXESS portal for mobile researchers, 30 days before the competition.

The national regulations on competitions are not applicable in case an HEI employs for a fixed term an academic teacher who:

• has been seconded to work in the HEI on the basis of an agreement concluded with the Łukasiewicz Centre, an institute of the Łukasiewicz Research Network or a foreign research institution;
• is a beneficiary of a project, programme or grant under a Call published by the National Agency for Academic Exchange (Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej, NAWA), the National Centre for Research and Development (Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju, NCBR), the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki, NCN) or under an international Call for research proposals;
• is hired for the implementation period of a research or education project funded by the European Union or another grant-awarding body.

The employment contract with an academic teacher indicates whether a given HEI is the place of his / her primary employment. An HEI may be the place of primary employment only if a teacher is employed in it on a full-time basis. There can be only one place of primary employment for an academic teacher.

Academic teachers employed in a public HEI which is the place of their primary employment may, with the consent of its rector, take or keep another job with only one employing organisation which conducts teaching or research activities. The rector approves or refuses to approve a teacher’s request for such a consent within 2 months of the date of submission of the request. Refusal to give consent should be substantiated. The rector’s consent is not required if a teacher has or takes up a job in an entity with which the HEI collaborates on the basis of a contract or agreement or for which the HEI is the administering body, the founder or a shareholder; or in a government agency, cultural institution or institution or unit of the school education system as specified in the Law on School Education (Prawo oświatowe) (Art. 2). An academic teacher who carries out economic activity informs thereof the rector of the HEI that is the place of his / her primary employment. The rector of an HEI is required to obtain the consent of the HEI council to conduct any additional paid professional activity.

It is not allowed by the legislation to terminate an employment contract concluded with, or change employment conditions for, an academic teacher who is a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court.

Within an HEI, there should be no direct reporting relationship between spouses and individuals who maintain a common household (the provision is not applicable to rectors of HEIs), are related by consanguinity or affinity up to the second degree, or are in a relationship of adoption, care or custody.

Recruitment rules and procedures in non-public HEIs are laid down in their statutes. If the statutes of a non-public HEI do not include relevant regulations, the provisions of the Law on Higher Education and Science are applied.

The rector of an HEI provides an academic staff identity card at the request of an academic teacher. The validity period of an identity card is extended:

• on an annual basis in the case of academic teachers employed for an indefinite period;
• on a semester basis in the case of academic teachers employed for a fixed period.

The validity of an identity card is confirmed by the updating of data in the electronic system and a hologram inserted in the consecutively marked fields of the card.

Professional status

Professional duties and social responsibility

Academic staff are an intellectual and scientific elite; they enjoy the freedom to conduct scientific research, freedom of artistic creation and freedom of teaching. Therefore, every scholar takes responsibility for the quality and reliability of the research conducted and for the education of the young generation. As the preamble to the Law on Higher Education and Science (ustawa Prawo  o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce) states, HEIs and other research institutions carry out a mission of particular importance to the state and the nation. It is through their activities, that is, work of academics and research staff, that the economy becomes more innovative and culture develops. Being an intellectual and scientific elite imposes a responsibility on HEIs and their staff to contribute to the shaping of the moral standards of public life.

In view of the key role of higher education and the expectations set for academic staff, including the implementation of activities of creative nature and requiring a high level of expertise, they are granted the rights of creators in respect of copyright protection. 

Academic staff have the following main responsibilities:

• teaching staff: teach and educate students or participate in the training of doctoral students;
• research staff: conduct research activities or participate in the training of doctoral students;
• research-and-teaching staff: conduct research activities, teach and educate students or participate in the training of doctoral students.

A detailed job description for an academic teacher is provided by the rector of a higher education institution (HEI).

Disciplinary liability

Academic staff are liable to disciplinary measures for conduct contrary to the duties of an academic teacher or for detracting from the dignity of the profession of academic teacher. It is not a disciplinary offence to express religious, ideological or philosophical beliefs.

Disciplinary penalties include:

1. caution;
2. reprimand;
3. reprimand combined with a 10% to 25% reduction in the basic salary for a period of 1 month to 2 years;
4. ineligibility to perform the role of a supervisor, reviewer or board member in proceedings leading to the award of a doctoral degree, a postdoctoral degree and the professorial title for a period of 1 to 5 years;
5. ineligibility to perform a management function in HEIs for a period of 6 months to 5 years;
6. expulsion from the home HEI;
7. expulsion from the home HEI combined with a ban on working in HEIs for a period of 6 months to 5 years;
8. a ban on practising the profession of academic teacher for a period of 10 years.

One disciplinary penalty is prescribed for one disciplinary offence, and one and more severe penalty is prescribed for several offences.

The employment contract of an academic teacher expires in the following cases:

• the teacher no longer fulfils the recruitment requirements (see: Entry to the Profession);
• it is established that the employment contract is based on false or invalid documents;
• a disciplinary penalty of expulsion from the home HEI (see point 6 above) has been imposed on the teacher;
• a penal measure imposed prohibits the teacher from holding a specific position if the decision imposing the measure concerns the performance of duties of an academic teacher;
• the teacher has received a sentence of imprisonment.

The tasks related to the disciplinary liability of academic staff in an HEI are assigned to disciplinary prosecutors, appointed by the rector from among academic staff holding at least a doctoral degree. The minister responsible for higher education appoints a disciplinary committee for rectors, chairs of institutional disciplinary committee, the chair and members of the disciplinary committee at the General Council for Higher Education and Science, and the chair and members of the disciplinary committee at the minister.

Performance appraisal

Academic teachers, except for the rector of a higher education institution (HEI), undergo periodic performance appraisal. It covers, in particular, the performance of their statutory duties, and the observance of intellectual property rights, related rights and industrial property rights. A periodic appraisal is conducted at least every 4 years or at the request of the rector. The timespan for periodic appraisal is extended by the period of absence for a teacher who has taken maternity leave, leave based on the same conditions as maternity leave, paternal leave, parental leave, child-raising leave or health leave, or have performed military or alternative service.

The outcome of a periodic appraisal can be positive or negative.

Periodic appraisal criteria for individual groups of employees and positions, and the procedure and the body conducting periodic appraisals, are specified by the rector, after consultation with the HEI senate, trade unions, and student self-government and doctoral student self-government bodies. These bodies provide their opinions within a timeframe specified in the request for an opinion, which may not be shorter than 30 days. Where no opinion is provided, the requirement to seek an opinion is considered to have been fulfilled.

Appraisal criteria may not cover a requirement to obtain a doctoral or postdoctoral degree, or a professorial title. Criteria are provided to an academic teacher before the beginning of a period covered by appraisal.

HEIs should enable students and doctoral students to evaluate the performance of teaching duties by the teacher at least once in an academic year. The rules for such student course evaluations are set out by the rector of an HEI. Findings from course evaluations are taken into account in a periodic teacher performance appraisal.

Academic staff may appeal against the outcome of a periodic appraisal to the rector.

Where the outcome of an appraisal is negative, the next periodic appraisal is conducted at least 12 months after the end of the previous appraisal.

Salaries

The salary of an employee of a public higher education institution (HEI) consists of fixed and variable components. The fixed components include:

• the basic salary, and
• a length-of-service allowance.

An employee of a public HEI may also receive variable components which include:

• a function-related allowance;
• a task-related allowance;
• overtime pay;
• a hardship allowance for work in hazardous or difficult conditions;
• a bonus in the case of non-academic staff;
• other allowances if provided for in the collective labour agreement or the remuneration regulations of a given HEI. 

The length-of-service allowance amounts to 1% of the basic salary for each year of employment. It is paid on a monthly basis, from the fourth year of employment, but its amount may not exceed 20% of the basic salary.

The function-related allowance is granted for managing a team composed of at least 5 members, including the team leader. The amount of the allowance may not exceed 67% of the salary of a professor and depends on the number of team members and the complexity of tasks.

The task-related allowance may be granted for a temporarily extended scope of responsibilities or additional tasks performed on a temporary basis, or as based on the nature or conditions of work. The level of the allowance may not exceed 80% of the total amount of the basic salary and the function-related allowance.

Academic staff receive the function-related and task-related allowances during an authorised absence at work, but not longer than for 3 months. 

The monthly basic salary of an academic teacher in a public HEI may not be lower than 50% of the salary of a professor. However, the basic salary:

• for a university professor may not be lower than 83% of the salary of a professor;
• for an assistant professor may not be lower than 73% of the salary of a professor.

The Minister of Science and Higher Education (currently, the Minister of Education and Science) has established, by regulation, the amount of the basic salary of a professor. The minimum monthly basic salary for a professor in a public HEI is PLN 6,410.

Since 2019, the minimum salaries have been as follows:

• PLN 6,410 for a professor (full professor);
• PLN 5,320 for university professor;
• PLN 4,680 for an assistant professor;
• PLN 3,205 for an assistant;
• PLN 3,205 for a lecturer, foreign language teacher and instructor.

Employees of public HEIs are entitled to anniversary awards for a long period of service:

• 75% of the monthly salary for 20 years of service;
• 100% of the monthly salary for 25 years of service;
• 150% of the monthly salary for 30 years of service;
• 200% of the monthly salary for 35 years of service;
• 300% of the monthly salary for 40 years of service;
• 400% of the monthly salary for 45 years of service.

An employee gains the right to receive an anniversary award in the HEI where he / she is employed on the end date of the period giving the entitlement to the award. If he / she has more than one employment relationship, the entitlement to an award is determined separately by each employer.

In case the employment relationship is terminated when employees retire at the statutory pension age or earlier due to ill health / incapacity for work, they are entitled to receive an award if less than 12 months are left to the date when they would be eligible to receive it.

An employee of a public HEI is entitled to an additional end-of-year remuneration in accordance with the rules laid down in the legislation on additional end-of-year remuneration for state-budget units.

Provisions of the Labour Code (ustawa – Kodeks Pracy) apply to employment relationship matters which are not regulated by the Law on Higher Education and Science (ustawa – Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce).

Academic and non-academic staff may receive awards for professional achievements from the rector. Additionally, academic staff may receive awards for significant achievements in research, teaching, the implementation of research and development results or significant organisational achievements or for lifetime achievements which are granted by the Prime Minister and the ministers whose remit covers a given scientific discipline. Detailed requirements and conditions for granting awards are laid down in Regulations of the individual ministers and the Prime Minister.

Working time and holidays

Academic staff work in a task-based working time system which specifies the teaching load, including the number of hours for teaching duties.

The duration of one class / teaching hour is 45 minutes.

The annual teaching load is:

• up to 240 class hours for research-and-teaching staff;
• up to 180 class hours for research-and-teaching staff holding the position of Professor;
• up to 360 class hours for teaching staff;
• up to 540 class hours for teaching staff holding the position of Foreign Language Teacher or Instructor if such a position is provided for in the statutes of an HEI.

The annual teaching load includes the time allocated to the training of doctoral students.

In specific cases, where this is justified by the need to implement a curriculum in an HEI, academic staff may be required to teach classes as overtime hours. The additional teaching load may not exceed:

• ¼ of the annual teaching load for research-and-teaching staff;
• ½ of the annual teaching load for teaching staff.

With their consent, academic staff may teach classes for a number of overtime hours that does not exceed the double annual teaching load.

Academic staff may not be assigned overtime duties without their prior consent during pregnancy or when they take care of a child of up to 4 years of age.

The statutes of a non-public HEI may define a different teaching load and a different number of working hours for its employees.

Holidays

Academic staff are entitled to holiday leave of 36 working days per year.

Detailed rules and procedures for granting holiday leave and other types of leave are laid down in the work regulations of an HEI.

During their holiday leave, academic staff are entitled to receive the same salary as they would receive if they were working. This includes variable components of the salary, calculated on the basis of the average salary for the last 12 months or, if the employment period is shorter, for the entire period.  

In case holiday leave is not used due to the termination or expiry of the employment relationship, academic staff are entitled to a cash equivalent for the period of unused leave.

Days free of duty which are provided for in a timetable for a five-day working week are not included in holiday leave.

The rector may grant the following types of paid research or study leave to academic staff:

• paid sabbatical leaves to conduct research, with their total duration of up to 1 year during 7 years of work at a given HEI, for staff holding at least a doctoral degree;
• paid sabbatical leave of up to 3 months for staff preparing a doctoral dissertation;
• paid leave to undertake a training period, research or teaching placement abroad, or participate in a conference abroad, or participate in joint research conducted together with a foreign institution based on an agreement on research cooperation;
• paid leave to participate in joint research conducted with the Łukasiewicz Centre or an institute of the Łukasiewicz Research Network.

After at least 10 years of work in an HEI, a full-time academic teacher who has not reached the age of 65 is entitled to paid health leave. Another health leave may not be granted earlier than 3 years after the end of the previous leave. The total duration of health leave during the entire employment period may not exceed 1 year. Health leave is granted based on a medical certificate which states that the teacher should refrain from work due to his / her health condition and prescribes a recommended treatment and the time required to undergo it. A doctor conducts a medical examination based on a referral issued by the rector of the HEI at the request of the teacher. The costs of medical examination are covered by the HEI (not more often than once every 3 years).

Teachers are not allowed to do paid work during their health leave.

Arrangements for medical examination and certificates are laid down in a Regulation by the minister responsible for health in consultation with the minister responsible for higher education and science.

Promotion, advancement

The academic and professional careerof academic staff makes a distinction between:

• degrees, referred to as professional titles;
• academic / research degrees and the academic / research title;
• positions held in a higher education institution.

Degrees / Professional titles

Degrees / professional titles are Bachelor's degrees (licencjat or inżynier oran equivalent degree for first-cycle programmes) and Master's degrees (magister or magister inżynier or an equivalent degree for second-cycle or long-cycle programmes). Such degrees are awarded by an administrative decision of the rector of an HEI.

Academic / research degrees and the academic / research title

The following academic / research qualifications are awarded within the higher education and science system:

• academic / research degrees in the areas of science and fine arts:

1. a doctoral degree (doktor);
2. a postdoctoral degree / doctor habilitatus (doktor habilitowany)

• the title of professor (profesor).

Positions

Research-and-teaching positions and teaching positions:

• Professor (profesor),
• University Professor (profesor uczelni),
• Assistant Professor (adiunkt),
• Assistant (asystent),
• any other position as specified in the statutes of an HEI (e.g. Instructor, Foreign Language Teacher).

Academic teachers may also perform management functions:

• the functions of rector, vice-rector, chancellor  (if such functions are provided for in the statutes of an HEI);
• functions in collective bodies such as the senate of an HEI, the council for a given scientific discipline;
• the function of head and deputy head of an HEI’s organisational unit:
  • dean and vice-dean of a faculty if the faculty is the basic organisational unit;
  • head of a department, institute, centre or college if such functions are provided for in the statutes of an HEI.

For further information, see Chapter 10 ‘Management and Other Education Staff’.

Staff can be elected or appointed to management functions.  

Other functions which can be considered as a form of promotion are a member of the Research Excellence Council, the Polish Accreditation Committee, the General Council for Higher Education and Science, the Research Evaluation Committee, and a Full Member and a Corresponding Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Retirement and pensions

Academic teachers and members of their families are entitled to benefits based on the Act on Retirement Pensions and Disability Pensions from the Social Security Fund (ustawa o rentach i emeryturach z Funduszu Ubezpieczeń Społecznych).

Currently, the national legislation does not address the issue of the retirement / pension age for employees of higher education institutions (HEIs). Thus, general regulations, which specify the state pension age, apply. Academic teachers may retire in accordance with the general rules laid down in the legislation on retirement: at the age of 60 for women and 65 for men. However, academic teachers normally work much longer. The fact of reaching the state pension age may not in itself be the reason for terminating an employment contract.

The basis for the calculation of a retirement or disability pension is determined according to the general rules laid down in the legislation on the retirement pensions and disability pensions from the Social Security Fund. The basis also includes overtime pay, allowances and all awards for professional achievements received during the years that are the reference period for a retirement or disability pension.

Academic teachers who retire at the state pension age or due to ill health / incapacity for work are entitled to receive a one-off retirement gratuity from the HEI that is the place of their primary employment. The gratuity is equivalent to 300% of the basic salary paid for the full final month of employment.

Continuing Professional Development for Academic Staff Working in Higher Education

Academic staff are required to improve continuously their professional skills. Achievements of academic teachers are assessed as part of a periodic performance appraisal and procedures leading to the award of doctoral and post-doctoral degrees and a professorial title. Conditions for the award of doctoral and postdoctoral degrees and a professorial title are precisely defined in the Law on Higher Education and Science (ustawa Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce). They include requirements regarding research achievements and research or artistic activity and, for the title of professor, the participation in research teams, research internships or scientific research or development activity conducted in HEIs or other research institutions, or outstanding artistic achievements.

All academic teachers may take, although under different conditions, research or study leave (see the section “Holidays”). Study or research leave is granted to enhance teaching or research skills of staff and facilitate their research development, including in pursuit of a doctoral or postdoctoral degree.

Academic teachers may be sent abroad to:

• conduct joint research with a foreign institution if they are involved in research in Poland;
• participate in conferences;
• carry out teaching assignments;
• follow a postgraduate programme, or doctoral programme / studies if they have adequate research achievements and at least one-year work experience in a given specialisation area; undertake research, artistic or specialist placements; take a foreign language or another course upgrading their professional skills; or undertake a practical placement.

In such cases, related costs can be covered by:

• the teacher concerned;
• an institution other than the one sending a teacher abroad;
• the sending institution which awards a grant for subsistence and accommodation costs.

The sending institution may also grant other benefits; in particular, it may reimburse costs of travel, insurance, research materials / resources, and visa charges.

Academic teachers can participate in various activities improving their teaching or research methods and skills, for example, new teaching (including remote education) methods, interpersonal skills, language competences, academic or research writing skills or grant writing skills. The range of staff development opportunities available depends on the capacity of an HEI and its responsiveness to the needs of staff; arrangements for participation and cost reimbursement are laid down in internal regulations of an HEI. The responsibility for professional development, including planning and participation in such courses and other training events, workshops and conferences, rests with academic teachers themselves. Some HEIs disseminate information about professional development opportunities to their staff, raise funding for such activities or provide development opportunities, for example, in collaboration with other entities. Other HEIs, however, delegate all tasks related to professional development to academic teachers who, therefore, take the sole responsibility for enhancing their own skills. Informal professional development methods include, for example:

• membership of academic and scientific societies and other organisations;
• teaching observation;
• seminars run by organisational units of the HEI;
• knowledge sharing among academic teachers.