Join us
We are an organization of private entrepreneurs comprising over 3000 companies. We struggle efficiently for improvement of business-related regulation. We advocate for Polish entrepreneurs and represent their interests on the forum of the European Union. We monitor barriers to entrepreneurship and prepare our own macroeconomic analyses. What are the benefits of becoming our member and why should Polish entrepreneurs’ speak with single voice – see the following arguments:
Benefits of being a member of PKPP Lewiatan?
What are our objectives?
PKPP Lewiatan’s most important demands:
- Lower and simpler taxes
- Lower labour costs
- Liberalisation of labour law
- Reduction of bureaucracy
- Better economic law
- Business-friendly climate
- Cheaper and more efficient state
- Development of social dialogue
How do we act?
Law
Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan makes a good use of the powers it is has granted by the Polish law. So far, PKPP Lewiatan members and experts has issued over a thousand opinions on draft laws and regulations concerning various aspects of economy, taxation, finance, labour relations, insurance and sectoral law with a view to ensuring that entrepreneurs’ demands are taken into account on all stages of the legislation process.
Tripartite Commission
PKPP Lewiatan, as a member of the Tripartite Commission for Social and Economic Matters, issues its opinions on crucial economic regulation in the area of budget, labour law and economic law. It also puts into the Commission meeting agenda issues that mater most for its members. PKPP Lewiatan prepares its own legislative proposals and is the only Polish entrepreneurs’ organization with permanent representation in Brussels.
Expert analyses
Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan ensures high quality of its legal and economic analyses. They are developed by experts from the PKPP Lewiatan office supported by specialists from member companies and a number of acknowledged economists, sociologists, lawyers and politologists. Our expert team takes effort to ensure that actions planned in the framework of our projects are performed efficiently.
Lewiatan in Brussels
PKPP Lewiatan is the only Polish employers’ organization to run a permanent office in Brussels. The main task of the Brussels office, operational since 2002, is to shape opinions and positions of the European Parliament members and European Commission officials in such a way as to make their decisions beneficial for enterprises associated in Lewiatan and for the development of the economy in general.
Significant platform to affect Brussels decisions is BUSINESSEUROPE, which encompasses employers’ organizations from 33 countries from the EU and beyond, being the strongest entrepreneurs’ organization in Brussels. Lewiatan’s activity in Brussels is also supported by its representatives taking part in the work of numerous committees and advisory groups to the European Commission and by its two representatives in the European Social and Economic Committee. In 2010 Jacek Krawczyk Lewiatan's Vicepresident became Vicepresident of EESC.
Benefits for PKPP Lewiatan members
- We lobby for better sectoral and economic law (horizontal projects) in the Polish Parliament and Government. PKPP experts and trade union representatives participate in the legislative works of parliamentary commissions both in the lower and upper chamber of the Parliament.
- We initiate revisions of the applicable legal acts of significance to the economy and private employers in the areas of taxation, labour law, sectoral law (Code of Commercial Companies, revision of the VAT Act).
- We issue opinions on legal acts adjusting provisions of the Polish law to the Community law and strive for solutions beneficial to Polish business (e.g. transition periods for adjustment of production to the EU requirements).
- In the framework of the Tripartite Commission we negotiate with trade unions business-friendly solutions in sectoral, labour and economic law.
- We take unconstitutional regulations to the Constitutional Court either on our own initiative or on members’ request.
- We develop macroeconomic analyses which help our entrepreneurs forecast market changes (PKPP Lewiatan Business Index).
- We monitor barriers to entrepreneurship so as to prompt specific proposals of changes in the economic law (Economic Freedom Act).
- We are represented in Brussels. As a member of BUSINESSEUROPE, along with other European confederations, we influence the law proposed by the European Commission to make it more beneficial to business.
- We arrange meetings with trade union representatives and key representatives of the political scene and state administration (Prime Minister, Vice Prime Minister, ministers) in order to present problems and propose our solutions.
- Together with representatives of trade unions we take actions aimed at improvement of the sectoral law. We support the trade unions projects and actions by means of media campaigns and press conferences organized by the PKPP Lewiatan office.
- We delegate PKPP representatives to supervisory boards and committees supervising state and government institutions.
How to become a member?
Our Confederation is made up of employers’ associations (representing trades or regions), federations of employers’ associations and other organizations operating on the territory of the Republic of Poland, as well as employers of a particular significance in terms of economic position or labour relations.
Up-dated list of members may be found HERE.
How to join us?
Private employer (company) may become a PKPP Lewiatan member by joining an employers’ association belonging to the Confederation. The first step is to select a right trade or/and regional association (a company may at the same time be a member of a trade and regional association), then the selected employers’ association has to be contacted.
Each association has its statute that specifies its admission procedure and terms of membership. Association authorities fix the amount of a membership fee. A private employer submits a declaration of accession to a given association. Association authorities decide whether to accept the applicant or not.
In the case of employers’ associations (or a private employer with a status of an individual member) the body to be contacted to discuss terms of membership is PKPP Lewiatan Organization Development Department. The next step is to submit required documentation (including declaration of accession). The final decision in this case is made by the Confederation Management within one month since the submission of the application.
Costs of membership
Trade and regional associations grouped in the Confederation are separate entities with their own statutes functioning by virtue of their managements’ provisions and decisions. The decision to admit a company to an association and terms of membership (including amount of the membership fee) is taken by the management of the association that the company wishes to join. Although there is no single method to calculate the membership fee, the most frequent way is to fix it as a percentage of a company’s annual remuneration fund, not higher than 0.2 per cent.
Membership fees differ across associations. In the case of the smallest enterprises grouped in regional associations the annual contribution does not exceed a few hundred zloty. The biggest employers belonging to strong trade associations pay up to PLN 150 000 a year.
