Problems of the railway giant. Every third employee on parking

PKP Cargo is the largest rail freight carrier in Poland. The latest data (from 2022) show that it employed 22,000 people. Its largest single shareholder is PKP. For years, no information about its problems was heard, so one could get the impression that it was working as intended. However, this is not the case – and this became clear after the new government analyzed the company's activities.

Difficult situation of PKP Cargo

MP Dariusz Joński was recently very critical of the situation in the company. He announced on TVP Info that at the end of last year it had almost PLN 4.6 billion in liabilities. The company's bad situation is no secret to investors who do not want to buy shares. Effect: in 2015, the company's shares fluctuated at over PLN 80, and now it is only PLN 14.

In order to save its finances, last year PKP Cargo announced that it withdrew with immediate effect from the sponsorship agreements concluded with the Widzew Łódź sports club, the Polish Olympic Committee and the Unia Skierniewice club. This will not be enough to put the company back on track. On Monday, the management board announced that as part of the recovery program aimed at rebuilding the company's value and position, on May 27, 2024, it decided to launch a management program up to a maximum of 30%. company employees on the so-called failure to perform work for a period of 12 months.

Employees of all departments, including managerial staff, may be placed on standby.

What does parking benefit mean?

People who are placed on parking are exempt from the obligation to work. They also receive a social benefit of 60%. monthly cash equivalent, which is calculated as remuneration for holiday leave. The amount is reduced by mandatory contributions and tax.

The most important information about the parking benefit:

• In order for an employee to be entitled to receive money, he or she must meet several conditions. During the entire period of layoff, the employee must be ready to start work, i.e., when called upon, he or she must appear at the place and time designated by the employer.

• During downtime, the employer has the right to call selected employees to the workplace and send them home again.

• During the downtime, the employer may also entrust the employee with other appropriate work, for which the employee is entitled to remuneration not lower than the one he or she receives for the downtime;

• the downtime should occur for reasons attributable to the employer. It does not matter whether the downtime is due to reasons beyond the employer's control (e.g. equipment failure) or to reasons attributable to the employer.