Inspection report – what next? Objections, recommendations and deadlines

An inspection report (protokół pokontrolny) is not yet a penalty or a decision – it is a description of findings that you can respond to. You have 7 days to file objections in a PIP inspection and 14 days in a ZUS inspection and a tax inspection; in a Sanepid inspection the act sets no separate deadline, so you enter your remarks in the report and pursue the dispute in an appeal against the decision. As a rule, only after the report does the authority reach for an order, post-inspection recommendations or a decision – and further deadlines run from their service.

What happens after an inspection at your company: deadlines in one table

Legal status as of October 2026. The table contains only the deadlines written expressly into the acts.

Does signing the report mean you agree with the findings?

No. None of these acts contains a provision that would give the inspected party's signature the meaning of consent to the findings. The acts attach legal consequences to something else: filing or not filing objections on time.

• PIP. The report is signed by the inspector and the person representing the company (Article 31(3)). Objections are filed before signing (Article 31(4)), so if you intend to file them, do not sign the report on the spot. A refusal to sign does not in itself prevent the inspector from applying legal measures (Article 31(8)).
• ZUS. The act requires the signature of the ZUS inspector (Article 91(1)(9)). You receive a copy of the report (Article 91(2)) and count 14 days from the day you receive it.
• Tax office. If you do not submit explanations or objections within 14 days, you are deemed not to contest the findings of the inspection (Article 291 § 3 of the Tax Ordinance). What works against you is silence, not a signature.
• Sanepid. Remarks raised by those present are recorded in the report, and a refusal or absence of a signature is discussed in its text (Article 68 § 1 and 2 k.p.a.).

I describe your rights at the inspection stage, including the objection (sprzeciw), in the article Your rights during an inspection.

PIP inspection report: objections, order, post-inspection recommendations

The inspector is obliged to examine the objections and, if they are justified, to amend or supplement the report (Article 31(6)). An order (nakaz) is a decision issued, among others, in matters of occupational health and safety and payment of wages due (Article 11(1)(1)–(7)). Post-inspection recommendations (wystąpienie) and an instruction (polecenie) concern other breaches (Article 11(1)(8)). Orders to stop work or machinery, to prohibit work in a place of danger and to pay wages are immediately enforceable (Article 11(1)(2)–(4) and (7)).

You appeal against a written order within 7 days to the district labour inspector (okręgowy inspektor pracy) (Article 34(5)). For post-inspection recommendations the act provides no appeal – instead, within the set period, not longer than 30 days, you notify PIP of the date and manner of implementing the post-inspection requests (Article 36(2)).

Change from 8 July 2026. Under the Act of 11 March 2026 (Journal of Laws – Dz.U. – of 2026, item 473), where the features of an employment relationship predominate in a civil-law contract, the inspector may issue a written instruction to remove the breaches (Article 11(2), Article 34(1c)). If you do not comply with it, the district labour inspector may, by decision, establish the existence of an employment relationship (Article 11(1)(7a), Article 33a(3)). An appeal against such a decision is filed with the court, through the district labour inspector, within one month of service (Article 34(5a) of the Act on PIP, Article 477⁷ᵇ § 1 k.p.c.). Inspections initiated before 8 July 2026 are governed by the previous provisions (Article 13 of the amending act). I describe the course of an inspection in the guide How to prepare for a PIP inspection.

ZUS inspection report: objections and decision

The ZUS inspector must consider the objections and inform you in writing of how they were dealt with (Article 91(4) of the Act on the Social Insurance System). The report is amended by an annex (Article 91(2a)); no further objections may be filed to an annex drawn up after the objections have been considered (Article 91(4a)).

If the inspection revealed errors in settlement documents, you file correcting monthly personal reports no later than 30 days after receiving the report, the annex or the information on how the objections were dealt with (Article 41(7b)(2)). You file an appeal against a ZUS decision in writing with the ZUS unit that issued it, within one month of service (Article 83(2) and (5) of that act, Article 477⁹ § 1 k.p.c.). On the course of the inspection: ZUS inspection of a contribution payer.

Tax inspection report and the result of a customs and fiscal audit

The inspecting officer has 14 days to consider the objections and notify you which ones were not accepted – with factual and legal grounds (Article 291 § 2 of the Tax Ordinance). After the inspection ends, you regain the right to correct your tax return (Article 81b § 1(2)(a)). If the inspection revealed irregularities and you do not file a correction taking them fully into account, the office initiates tax proceedings – no later than 6 months after the end of the inspection (Article 165b § 1). It does not do so if your objections or explanations were accepted in full (Article 165b § 2). After an inspection with irregularities, notify the office of every change of address for 6 months (Article 291b).

In a customs and fiscal audit you receive an audit result instead of a report and, instead of objections, 14 days for a correction (details in the table). I explain the differences between the procedures in the text on verification activities, tax inspections and customs and fiscal audits.

Sanepid report and decision

The Act on the State Sanitary Inspection has no provisions of its own on objections to the report – it refers to the k.p.a. (Article 37(1)). In food inspections, the internal procedure of the Chief Sanitary Inspector (Główny Inspektor Sanitarny; PK/BŻ/01) provides 7 days from service of the report for objections to the findings of fact – this is not a statutory provision, so check the instruction in the report you receive. The inspector enters post-inspection recommendations in the inspection log book (książka kontroli) (Article 31(1)). If they find a breach of hygiene and health requirements, they order by decision the removal of irregularities within a set period (Article 27(1)). In the event of a direct threat to life or health, they order, among other things, the shutdown of the establishment or part of it – with immediate effect (Article 27(2)).

You file an appeal within 14 days of service of the decision, through the inspector who issued it (Article 129 § 1 and 2 k.p.a.). For decisions of a county (powiat) inspector, the higher-level authority is the state voivodeship sanitary inspector (Article 12(2)(1) of the act). If breaches were found, you also pay for laboratory tests and other inspection activities (Article 36(1) and (2)). More in the guide Sanepid inspection at your company.

How to write objections to an inspection report

• Count the deadline from the right event: at PIP from the presentation of the report, at ZUS from its receipt, at the tax office from service.
• Refer to specific findings: page and point of the report, a quotation, and next to it your version of the facts.
• Attach evidence. ZUS requires you to indicate the evidence, the Tax Ordinance – motions for evidence, and the Act on PIP speaks of “reasoned” objections.
• Separate facts from legal assessment: errors in the findings separately, a wrongly applied provision separately.
• Write to the point, without judging the inspector. Admit what is correct and describe what has already been corrected – with proof.
• Secure proof of the filing date: an acknowledgement on a copy of the letter or proof of posting.

Post-inspection recommendations: how to implement and report them

1. Break down every point of the order, recommendations or decision: what has to be done, who is responsible, by when.
2. Mark the obligations that are immediately enforceable – an appeal alone does not suspend them (Article 130 § 3 k.p.a.).
3. Collect proof of implementation: photos, measurement reports, transfer confirmations, updated documents.
4. PIP: inform in writing of the implementation of the decision once the deadlines set in it have passed or once it has become final (Article 35(1)), and respond to the post-inspection recommendations within the set period.
5. ZUS and the tax office: file correcting reports or – if you agree with the findings – a correction of your tax return.
6. Sanepid: if the company has received a notice of material irregularities, within 30 days of receiving it notify the inspector of the actions taken and completed (Article 30(3) of the Act on the State Sanitary Inspection).
7. Keep the reports together with the inspection log book (Article 57(1) of the Entrepreneurs' Law – Prawo przedsiębiorców) and expect a follow-up inspection – checking the implementation of recommendations or a decision is an exception to the ban on repeat inspections (Article 58(2)(5)).

What you risk for failing to comply with an order or decision

• PIP order. Failure to comply, within the set period, with an enforceable order of a PIP authority is an offence punishable by a fine from PLN 2000 to PLN 60 000 (Article 283 § 2(7) in conjunction with § 1 of the Labour Code – Kodeks pracy). The rates were doubled on 8 July 2026 – previously the range was from PLN 1000 to PLN 30 000.
• Administrative enforcement. Non-monetary obligations within the competence of government administration authorities, as well as PIP orders concerning occupational health and safety and payment of wages, are subject to administrative enforcement (Article 2 § 1(10) and (11) of the Act on Enforcement Proceedings in Administration – ustawa o postępowaniu egzekucyjnym w administracji). A coercive fine may be imposed several times: each time up to PLN 10 000 on a natural person and up to PLN 50 000 on a legal person or an entity without legal personality, up to a total of PLN 50 000 and PLN 200 000 respectively (Article 121 § 1–3).
• ZUS. Contributions not paid on time bear default interest (Article 23(1) of the Act on the Social Insurance System), and ZUS may impose an additional charge of up to 100% of the unpaid contributions (Article 24(1a)).
• Tax office. As a rule, a non-final decision is not enforceable unless it has been given an order of immediate enforceability (Article 239a of the Tax Ordinance).

When a case goes to court

An administrative court hears cases concerning PIP orders, tax decisions and Sanepid decisions – only after the appeal has been exhausted (Article 52 § 1 of the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts – Prawo o postępowaniu przed sądami administracyjnymi). You file the complaint within 30 days of service of the second-instance authority's ruling (Article 53 § 1), through that authority (Article 54 § 1).

A common court hears appeals against ZUS decisions and against decisions of the district labour inspector establishing the existence of an employment relationship – in both cases the deadline is one month from service. If ZUS considers the appeal justified, it amends or revokes the decision; otherwise it refers the case to the court no later than 30 days after the appeal was filed (Article 83(6) and (7) of the Act on the Social Insurance System).

How I can help

As part of the post-inspection package, I analyse the report, help prepare objections with evidence and draw up a schedule for implementing the recommendations together with the letters reporting their implementation; in tax matters, the substantive content of objections and corrections remains with your accountant or tax adviser. If a case is heading to court, I say so openly and point out the moment when it is worth bringing in a professional litigation representative. You will find the scope of the packages on the services page.