Dependent Self-Employment in the Light of the Constitutional Principle of Work Protection

A major problem pertaining to the operation of dependent self-employed entrepreneurs on the labour market in Poland is determination of the scope of legal protection granted to them. Under the Polish law, dependent self-employed persons do not enjoy any special legal protection, unlike employees who are bound by an employment relationship. The question therefore arises what – in the light of constitutional principle of work protection – the model of such protection should be, and in particular, whether the character of such work relationship makes it necessary to create of a separate legal category encompassing dependent self-employment and to provide this group with legal protection similar to the protection already enjoyed by employees bound by employment relationship.