Employing foreigners is associated with many obligations. Fulfilling them is a crucial part of the regulations on work permits.
The employer intending to entrust work to a foreigner is obliged to:
- verify (before entrusting work!) if the foreigner holds a valid document entitling them to stay in Poland, make a copy of the said document and keep it throughout the entire period of the foreigner's employment. The document authorising to stay in Poland can be a valid visa (e.g. a national visa (D) or a Schengen visa (C) or a residence permit (and the residence card issued based thereon)). Employers entrusting work to a foreigner staying in Poland without valid documents are subject to severe sanctions.
- ensure the foreigner's residence title entitles to commence work in Poland. Such documents as e.g. a tourist visa, a transit visa, a visa issued in connection with a temporary protection and a visa issued in connection with transit for humanitarian reasons, state interest or international obligations are not appropriate grounds for commencing work in Poland.
- Execute a written agreement with the foreigner (regardless of the agreement type), and present its translation into a language understandable for them before that. The agreement type should match the work nature. Note! Execution of a contract for specific work cannot be a way to circumvent the Labour Law provisions or reduce the costs of the foreigner's employment. Execution of a civil law agreement when the contract of employment should be signed constitutes a violation of the Labour Law provisions and is subject to a fine.
The employer employing a foreigner has obligations towards them as they have towards a Polish national with respect to:
- ensuring the minimum remuneration, as stipulated by the applicable regulations — if the work is entrusted under the contract of employment or a contract of mandate (for the contract of employment, the minimum monthly remuneration for full-time work is PLN 2,100.00 gross, for the contract of mandate it is PLN 13.70 gross per hour);
- register, within 7 days after the work commencement date for the social and health insurance and pay monthly contributions in the appropriate sum to the Social Insurance Institution in a timely fashion;
- comply with the fiscal law, e.g. calculating, collecting and paying income tax advances;
- comply with the Labour Law provisions — no employee, irrespective of their nationality, can be discriminated in the workplace!
Employing a foreigner based on a declaration of entrusting work to a foreigner which was entered in the register of declarations, the employer is obliged to notify the Poviat Labour Office in writing of work commencement (no later than on the day of starting work) or the failure to commence work (within 7 days after the work commencement date named in the statement) by the foreigner.
Note! The foreigner can work solely for the entity mentioned in the permit / declaration!