In Brief: Preferential mortgages; Changes to Labor Code; Two shift courts

The government has launched preferential fixed-rate mortgages which will allow the less well off to buy their own flat. So far only two banks, Bank Zachodni WBK and PBH-PBK accept these mortgage applications, but other banks will soon follow suit. (Rzeczpospolita, p. C1) ... The Private Employers Confederation (KPP) is anxious about the government's planned amendment to the Labor Code under which employers would have to pay for every day their employees are on sick leave (Parkiet, p. 6) ... Warsaw courts have begun working a two shift system, extending their office hours from 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., a move which is hoped will allow the backlog of cases to be cleared. (Rzeczpospolita, p. C1) J.K.