The rapidly expanding job market as well as the need to hire specialists or people with the right qualifications often requires hiring foreigners. If you want to employ a foreigner, it is necessary to meet a number of requirements specified in the Act of on employment promotion and labor market institutions from April 20, 2004 and the Act on the consequences of entrusting work to foreigners residing in the territory of the Republic of Poland in violation of the law from June 15, 2012.
So what conditions must be met to legally employ a foreigner?
First of all, the employer must determine the nationality of the foreigner and consider on what basis he would like to hire the employee.
For citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia, the procedure is fairly simplified. All that needs to be done before the employment is to apply for a document, roughly translated as “Statement on entrusting work to the District Labor Office”. This statement entitles the foreigner to work legally for a period of 24 months.
In the case of citizens of countries other than those mentioned above, the employer must apply for the appropriate work permit, or the so-called unified temporary residence and work permit (for those wishing to stay in Poland for more than 3 months). Most importantly, the work permit only entitles you to work on the territory of the Republic of Poland, but on no account is this a document confirming your legal stay in the country.
Therefore, if we want to apply for a permit, we must also check the legality of the foreigner’s stay – whether an appropriate visa was issued (note: a tourist visa or a visa issued due to temporary protection does not entitle the foreigner to perform work on the territory of the Republic of Poland ) or whether foreigner has a residence card. . If the foreigner stays based on a visa-free movement, at most on the last day of his legal stay, must apply for a temporary residence.
It is also possible to employ citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, who stay in Poland on the basis of visa-free movement. If an employee plans to stay in Poland for more than 90 days, an application for registration of residence to the provincial office competent for the place of residence should be submitted. Most importantly – citizens of countries belonging to the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland are exempt from applying for a work permit.
Other foreigners who do not need to apply for a work permit include;
– long-term residents,
– persons with permanent residence permits,
– persons with refugee status,
– holders of a Pole’s Card,
– full-time students or university graduates.
In addition, under the Law on Assistance to Citizens of Ukraine in Connection with the Armed Conflict Taking Place on the Territory of Ukraine, all citizens of Ukraine (regardless of whether their entry into Poland occurred before or after 24.02.2022), legally residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland, may work without a work permit. However, the employer is obliged to notify the competent labor office of the employee’s commencement of work. The notification should be submitted by the employer via the praca.gov.pl portal within 14 days of the foreigner taking up employment.
The employer is also required to conclude a civil law contract, an employment contract or a work contract in writing. It must be signed before the work begins. In addition, if the situation requires it, the employer must provide a translation of the contract to the foreigner, so that there is no unclear clauses in the contract. The contract must include information on salary and the salary must not be lower than those specified in the work permit. The employer is also required to report the foreigner for social security and health insurance, and hence pay insurance premiums.
The employer faces a fine of up to PLN 30,000 for failing to comply with the above requirements set forth in the Laws.
