Employment Overview
Navigating Polish employment legislation can be complex without local legal specialists.
At N2S, we simplify compliance, making it clear and straightforward for our clients and customers to grow and excel in Poland.
Poland Country Guide
N2S provide expert solutions for businesses looking to expand or grow into Poland, including compliance, payroll management and employment support. Request our Services to find out more about how we can help you.
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Onboarding
Onboarding in Poland can be straightforward for providers, like N2S, that have standard templates and processes.
Engagement Types
There are two core engagement types in Poland:
1. Employment – which can permanent or fixed term
a. Providers, like N2S, must hold an employment agency licence.
b. N2S holds this licence.
2. Independent contractor engagements – which should be project or time limited
Customers should consider carefully how they wish to engage their workforce and N2S can support customers in implementing compliant and scalable solutions.
IC Compliance
Customers should ensure that Independent Contractors (ICs) that they use are appropriately vetted and classified. This will help protect the business from misclassification claims.
Key considerations include the below, if you require further information or support, please contact us.
- Contractors should be distinct from employees and be in business on their own account
- The following elements should be considered when making a classification determination:
o Control
o Subcontracting
o Equipment
o Financial risk
o Management
o Contracts
o Opportunity for profit
Social Security/Taxes
Employer’s social security contribution in Poland ranges from 9.72% - 12.38%.
Employer pension contribution is 9.76%.
Minimum Wages
Poland does have a minimum wage which varies each year.
Working Hours
Standard working hours in Poland are 40 hours per week.
The standard workweek is Monday to Friday, eight hours a day.
Any working time in excess of daily working hours is considered overtime. Maximum working hours is 48 hours per working week, and overtime cannot exceed 150 hours per year.
Overtime is regulated, and requires an additional payment at 200% of pay if at night, Sundays or non-working days – otherwise it is 150% of pay. Overtime can also instead be given as time off in lieu.
Statutory Leaves
In Poland, annual leave is 20 to 26 days, starting at 20 which increases with length of service. Workers also receive paid public holidays.
Workers with children under 14 are entitled to two additional days of leave.
Sick leave paid by the employer varies according to age – starting at 33 days paid by the employer for employees under 50, and up to 14 days paid by the employer for employees over 50. Thereafter the state takes on payments. Sick leave pay is at 80% of salary, but can increase to 100% in some circumstances (pregnancy illness, or accident at work).
Maternity leave in Poland varies depending on amount of children, ranging from 20 weeks for one child, to 37 weeks for five or more children. The state pays for this at 100% of salary.
Paternity leave in Poland is up to 14 days.
Parental leave ranges from 41 weeks to 43 weeks (depending on total children born at once), and is available to both parents to divide. For the first six weeks, this is paid by the employer (but it is possible for the state to pay for the entire duration if appropriate forms completed), thereafter by state at a lower rate.
Termination
The termination process in Poland is relatively straightforward – terminations must have a substantial reason for dismissal to be valid. This would usually include a hearing process.
Notice periods are stipulated in the employment contract (or any collective agreement) and is usually linked to the length of service.
The total employer notice period varies according to length of service, starting at 2 weeks of notice, and increasing to 3 months of notice after 3 years of service.
Employees can be terminated during the probationary period more easily, and with less notice (ranging from 3 working days to 2 weeks – depending on the length of the contract).
Employees are entitled to statutory severance pay which starts at 1 month salary and increases to three months of salary for employees over 8 years of employment. These amounts are linked to the national minimum wage (15x).
