Civil law contracts: specific-task contract – pros & cons

A specific task ought to be palpable and created in a given space and time – this is what makes it the subject of this kind of contract according to the Polish Civil Code. The task is also created only once. When you draw an agreement of this kind, both parties concede to the fact the remuneration will be paid only after the task’s completion.

Unlike contracts of mandate (umowa-zlecenie), specific-task contracts do not fall under the recent amendments regarding minimum wage. Since tasks can be of different types and rather hard to classify (designing a website is different than cleaning an apartment or writing song lyrics), there is no fixed pay or any indication as to how much a contractor should be paid.

A person performing the task is responsible for the result delivery and gives a warranty of that. However, they do not need to work on the task themselves – similarly to contracts of mandate, the task can be delegated to a subcontractor.

It is also important to remember that employers may prefer this type of contracts as they have favourable tax deductible expenses. For an employee, however, this results in the lack of social security, sick leave, accident leaves and pension contributions.

Pros of specific-task contracts:

• Contractors are to free as to the way of performing the task, its place and time;
• Contractors do not need to perform the task themselves (unless stated otherwise in the contract);
• Tasks are performed without supervision.

Cons of specific-task contracts:

• They do not fall under the provisions of the Labour Law;
• All legal claims should be made in a civil court instead of a labour court;
• Contractors are solely responsible for the quality of the result.