The Home defence Act introduced many fresh solutions. Therefore, the Ministry of National Defence conducted a series of cascade training in units so that all soldiers had full cognition of the revised regulations. On our website, we regularly print the responses of experts from MON to the most frequently asked questions.
During my service as an officer, I received a housing equivalent paid under the Government Protection Office Act. At the military recruitment center, I was informed (information is besides on the website) that after 10 years of service in the army, I could receive a benefit for deficiency of a premises granted in the military. What is the legal basis for paying out the benefit after 10 years of military service to officers who have moved to the army? The Military Property Agency denies that it is possible to pay specified a benefit.
The negative message of the realization of the right to accommodation of a professional soldier who received the cash equivalent in exchange for his resignation from the accommodation is contained in Article 21(6)(1) of the Act of 22 June 1995 on the accommodation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (Journal of Laws of 2022 item 1623 and 2023 item 1872). In accordance with that provision, the right to accommodation, including the payment of housing benefits as well as housing checks, is not granted if the soldier or his spouse:
- received a cash equivalent in exchange for the withdrawal from accommodation paid under the provisions of the Act in force until 30 June 2004;
- received housing clearance paid or made in kind under the provisions of the Act in force from 1 July 2004;
- acquires a residential establishment from the Treasury, the Agency or local government units with a discount or with a simplification in the acquisition price;
- received financial assistance paid in advance or non-refundable form until 31 December 1995 under the provisions of the Act of 20 May 1976 on the accommodation of armed forces;
- acquired a property cooperative right to housing from the Agency.
On the basis of the information contained in the question, it should be concluded that the housing equivalent received by the reader is not a cash equivalent in exchange for the cancellation of accommodation paid under the provisions of the Housing Act applicable until 30 June 2004. Therefore, unless another circumstances are established in this case, the soldier should receive a housing benefit and after 10 years of service in the military (concerning professional soldiers appointed after 22 April 2022) should be entitled to housing clearance.
The question of the 10 years of service is based on Article 23(9)(4) of the Act on the accommodation of armed forces. According to that provision, housing clearance shall not be granted to a professional soldier if he has been released from active military service within 10 years of his appointment to that service in the event that the appointment to an active military service has taken place after a period of service in the Police, Border Guard, Government Protection Office, State safety Service, State Fire Service, Prison Service, interior safety Agency, Intelligence Agency, Central Anti-corruption Office, Customs and taxation Service, Customs Service, Military Intelligence Service, Military Counterintelligence Service or State Protection Office. In view of the availability of Article 816 Act of 11 March 2022 on the Defence of the Motherland (Journal of Laws of 2024 item 248), this provision applies to soldiers who have been called up for professional military service after the date of the entry into force of the Law on Defence of Homeland, that is after 22 April 2022.
This means that an officer, e.g. called up for military service in January 2024, should be in military service until February 2034, or for at least 10 years, to receive housing checks. An officer, who was appointed to serve, for example, in January 2022 to receive housing checks, does not gotta comply with this condition.
Regardless of the information provided, in order to be able to clearly identify a case concerning the housing benefit or housing check-in, a professional soldier should make an appropriate application. The application is available on the Military Property Agency website under ‘Forms’.
Payment of the benefit means a affirmative consideration of the application for housing. If, on the another hand, the competent manager of the regional branch of the Military Property Agency issues a negative decision, it shall be subject to appeal. In the case of housing clearance, both a negative and a affirmative settlement takes the form of a decision by the competent manager of the regional branch of the Military Property Agency which is subject to appeal.
Is a professional soldier allowed to decision to another uniform service on the basis of a request? Is it essential for him to resign from his service and to join his recruitment as a civilian?
Each uniform service has appropriate pragmatic laws and recruitment regulations. The Ministry of National Defence is not competent to analyse these provisions and requirements for candidates for these services. However, it is possible to transfer a professional soldier on his own request to service in the Prison Service if he shows peculiar predispositions to execute it and obtains the approval of the Minister of National Defence for this transfer.
I am registered for a permanent stay in a village 10 km from where my military unit is located. Do I have the right to pay for the transfer?
The facts set out in the question make it impossible to address the issue fully. However, it should be pointed out that the entitlement to the housing allowance depends on the transfer of a service soldier, i.e. the appointment to a service post outside the locality of the military unit or a separate division in which the soldier has previously held a service post. The fact that these towns are alienated remains irrelevant in this matter. However, it should be pointed out that the housing allowance and the reimbursement of the costs of transporting home appliances are not granted to a professional soldier designated as a post in a locality where a soldier or his spouse owns a home or a self-contained dwelling or is registered for permanent residence.
How can a soldier’s vacation be calculated proportionally? Should the standards set out in Articles 155[2] and 155[3] be utilized for the calculation The Labour Code, i.e. rounding up the incomplete period of service up and rounding up the incomplete day of leave up? The Law on Defence of the Motherland does not mention in this respect to the Labour Code, but besides does not state the method of calculation.
In consequence to the question presented in relation to the calculation of the proportional remainder leave of a soldier, it should be clarified that regardless of the circumstances whether the author of the question is simply a vacation leave of a professional soldier or a vacation leave of a soldier performing an unprofessional form of active military service, the provisions of the Law of 11 March 2022 on the defence of his homeland do not explicitly supply for the anticipation of proportional calculation of leave of remainder on the principles set out in the Labour Code.
In any event, it should be clarified that, in accordance with Article 280(1) and (2) of the Law on the Defence of the Homeland, professional soldiers receive a 26-day leave of absence each year. A professional soldier in the calendar year in which he was recruited for professional military service shall be granted leave proportionate to the period remaining until the end of that calendar year.
Given that the distribution of 26 days of vacation leave by the number of calendar months gives a fractional result, the usage of more favourable solutions for soldiers, consisting in rounding up the partial day up to the full day of vacation leave, is accepted in specified situations. The same rules shall apply erstwhile a soldier is appointed for professional military service during the calendar month. Then the incomplete calendar period of service is rounded up to the full month.
The basic rule for the explanation and applicable application of Article 280(2) of the Law on the Defence of the Motherland is to act in favour of a professional soldier in respect of the size of his holiday.
As regards soldiers who carry out unprofessional forms of military service, the issue of proportional remainder leave does not arise. According to Article 331(1)(1) and (2) and (3) of the Law on the Defence of the Motherland, the provisions indicate a circumstantial dimension of leave without charge or proportional treatment.
Last December, as part of the KPKR (reserve staff training course), I attended a three-month officer course. After finishing the course I passed the officer's exam with affirmative results and presently waiting for appointment for the first officer's degree. By the time I'm appointed Lieutenant, can I take up the service as an active reserve soldier? Won't it interfere with the procedure in place to appoint me as an officer?
At the time of the application for first-rank appointment, an officer's passive reserve soldier shall not service in the active reserve. The transition to an active reserve involves a change in the position of soldier and the transition to active military service, which results in the rejection of the application for appointment.
