The NIK audit (covering the period 2009-2010 and the first half of 2011) showed that the employers often withdraw from hiring persons in conflict with the law. Most employers consider the convicts as unskilled and non-disciplined workers, being and organisational and financial burden for their institutions. According to the work organisers, the losses and problems related to hiring convicts far more outweigh potential advantages.
The audit findings reveal that convicted persons often did their job with little precision or efficiency. Only one fourth of the audited employers confirmed that the community service brought measurable benefits. The convicts have disrespectful attitude to their duties: in the audited period nearly 30 percent of them did not come to work at all or did it with a big delay (e.g. in the Housing and Communal Services Company in Koronowo the convict came to work after more than 2 years of receiving the referral from the court). The instances of giving up work were frequent, too.
The contact with the convicts requires enormous mental resistance and civil courage. The persons serving their punishment frequently threaten their supervisors, they happen to come to work under the influence of alcohol. The work organisers are helpless against such behaviours since they do not have any tools for disciplining the convicts.
As of 8 June 2010, the entities hiring the convicts were exempted from the costs of medical examinations and casualty insurance for such persons. The change was expected to bring about an increased interest in employing individuals in conflict with the law. It was not the case, though.
The work organisers also made some mistakes. The working conditions prepared for convicts were far from perfect. As many as 35 percent institutions did not appoint an employee responsible for the convicts’ work organisation and supervision or did it against the law. Nearly a half of the enterprises lacked the work schedule. In six of them there was no work log or it was kept in a sloppy way. Only two (out of 20 audited) employers provided protective clothing and working shoes to the convicts.
The community service is to bring measurable benefits to the community and represent a form of rehabilitation for convicts. In order for this to happen, it is essential to create an effective system of motivation and supervision of the persons serving their sentence. According to NIK, what needs to be changed in the first place is the attitude of self-governments and the entities organising work for the convicts (pointed by the local governments). The NIK audit revealed that until then the local government representatives limited themselves to formal fulfilment of basic duties, as for instance assigning works to convicts. They were not interested in the educational or rehabilitative role of their work, or resulting potential benefits for the community.
It is also critical to change the approach of the work organisers who consider the community service as necessary evil. They should do their best to make the works motivate convicts to improve their conduct and at the same time - as much as possible - raise qualifications of those persons. It is also recommended to strengthen cooperation between local governments and representatives of the judiciary. It should not be the case that the probation officers are not informed that a convict did not turn up at work. On the other hand, the courts are expected to get more involved in specifying works entrusted to the convicts.
As an example of effective cooperation of local governments and the judiciary representatives NIK mentions the City Social Welfare Centres in Bydgoszcz and Lubartów. Those institutions closely cooperated with the probation officers. They carried out effective social and occupational activation, at the same time offering legal, psychological and material support to the convicts.
