Hire in Poland in 3 easy steps
Poland is known for its delicious pierogi, spectacular mountains and ancient forests. But it’s also home to an increasing number of qualified working professionals open to global and remote work. Let us show you how to hire employees in Poland in a compliant and cost-effective way.
Onboard your talent in Poland in 10 minutes
If you’re considering hiring your next candidate in Poland, you’re in the right place. At WorkMotion, we have helped scores of businesses onboard their remote hires, and we have achieved excellent expertise in the country. Our tech solutions and team of experts will make this incredibly easy for you.
Guidance & payroll management
Receive process support by an experienced team of experts & pay your talent on time and in their local currency.
Equipment management
Send laptops and other devices to your remote employees in Poland through our platform with just a few clicks.
Net salary calculator
Calculate net salary in Poland post deductions and compare it with the salary in other countries instantly.
Accelerated onboarding
Fast-track your talent onboarding while ensuring 100% compliance with local regulations.
Hire in Poland through an EOR
Easily onboard your remote talent in Poland through our Employer of Record (EOR) solution. Our subsidiaries and network partners make this process fast and 100% compliant.
A quick overview of Poland
UTC+1
20 days
PLN 3,490 monthly
Polish Złoty (PLN)
13 days
Monthly
What makes Poland's talent great?
With about 500,000 IT workers, Poland is one of the biggest producers of tech talent. Around 20% of all European IT specialists are Polish. Hiring in Poland means saving as much as 77% on the cost of talent while getting access to IT knowledge and experience. A huge number of Polish citizens have now returned to their home country following the pandemic, further increasing the growing pool of talent that’s open to remote work.
Polish people are motivated by unique and challenging projects. Hire in Poland to tap into a market that’s bursting with skills.
High number of IT professionals
Poland has the biggest number of IT professionals in Central and Eastern Europe. The country produces 71,000 IT students and 11,000 IT graduates every year. It also sees a 10% annual increase in software developers.
Education & technical skills
About 99% of IT specialists in Poland are degree-educated, which is significantly higher than the EU average of 81%. The Polish workforce is one of the best educated and most skilled in Europe.
English proficiency
With an English Proficiency Index (EPI) score of 600 compared to the world average of 500, Polish workers have one of the highest rates of English as a second language in the world. This makes them effective communicators—at work and beyond.
Basic facts
The Republic of Poland is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces, covering an area of 312,679 square kilometers with a largely temperate climate. Poland borders Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia (the Kaliningrad exclave). Its northern border (440 km long) runs along the Baltic Sea coast. *Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Poland.
Warsaw
38.24 M
23%
Statutory holidays
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2023. Work on Sundays and public holidays is allowed in situations listed exhaustively in the Labor Code, e.g. in the case of shift work, in transport, and during work which is necessary due to its social utility and the daily needs of the population.
| Date | Holiday Name |
|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day |
| January 6 | Three Kings' Day (Epiphany) |
| April 9 | Easter |
| April 10 | Easter Monday |
| May 1 | Labor Day |
| May 3 | Constitution Day |
| May 28 | Pentecost Sunday (Whit Sunday) |
| June 8 | Corpus Christi |
| August 15 | Assumption Day |
| November 1 | All Saints Day |
| November 11 | Independence Day |
| December 25th | Christmas Day |
| December 26th | St Stephen's Day |
Contract sharing time
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Poland ranges from a few minutes to 1 day assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal or external review, directly leading to a time delay. If all talent data is available, the contract can be generated immediately.
What you need to know
- All employees are required to take a preventative medical examination prior to commencing work to ensure that they are well enough to perform their duties, paid by the employee.
- The conditions of an employer applying telework must be defined in an agreement between the employer and an enterprise trade union. The employer is obliged to:
provide a teleworker with the equipment necessary to perform telework
- insure the equipment
- cover the costs of installing, servicing, operating, and maintaining the equipment, and
- provide the teleworker with appropriate technical support facility and necessary training targeted at the service of the equipment.
Labour conditions
is the maximum working time per week
is the rest period between two working days
are the weekly hours of rest between work weeks
is the break needed after six hours of work
is the maximum no. of hours workers under the age of 18 may work
is the maximum weekly working time including overtime during the assumed settlement period and 150 hours during the calendar year. Overtime is paid at the statutory rate of 200% of the employees’ regular pay if the work is performed at night, on Sundays, or non-working days. The pay rate is 150% of the employees’ regular income if work is performed at any other time. Overtime work is also compensated through paid time off.
The employment contract for a probation period (umowa o pracę na okres próbny), should not exceed three months. The duration of the probationary period is conditional on the duration of the successive fixed-term employment contractas follows:
One month when the planned period of employment is up to 6 months; Two months when the period of employment is from six to 12 months; Three months when the period of employment is more than 12 months.
The termination notice for employment contracts for a probation period depends on the length of the probation period:
| Duration of Probation period | Notice Period |
| Less than 2 weeks | 3 working days |
| 2 weeks to 3 months | 1 week |
| More than 3 months | 2 weeks |
The period of termination notice for employment contracts for indefinite and fixed periods of time depends on the duration of employment with a given employer:
| Duration of employment | Notice Period |
| Less than 6 months | 2 weeks |
| 6 months – 3 years | 1 month |
| More than 3 years | 3 months |
Leave / time off
Workers acquire the right to their first annual leave (equivalent to 1/12 of the annual leave available after completing one year of work) upon completing one month of work. The amount of annual leave is:
- 20 days – for workers who have been employed for less than 10 years, and
- 26 days – for workers who have been employed for at least 10 years.
All workers are covered by compulsory sickness insurance. Sick pay is financed by the employer. It is payable to the employee for the first 33 days of incapacity to work in a calendar year (for the first 14 days, if the employee is aged 50). The right to sick pay is acquired by employees only after 30 days of uninterrupted insurance (the qualifying period).
The total duration of parental leave for both parents is 41 weeks (in the case of giving birth to one child at one birth) or up to 43 weeks (in the case of multiple births). Within its framework, the non-transferable part was defined as nine weeks for each parent. For the entire period of parental leave, 70% of the allowance base is granted as parental leave allowance.
Maternity Leave
Female workers have the right to a maternity leave of 20 weeks for a child, increasing progressively up to 37 weeks for five or more children in a delivery.
The amount of the maternity allowance is 100% of the calculation basis for the period corresponding to the period of maternity leave. The payments are funded through employee contributions to the Social Security System (ZUS).
Paternity Leave
The length of paternity leave is equal to two weeks and the worker receives 100% payment of the average. It is funded through employee contributions to the Social Security System. It is also paid to foster and adoptive fathers.
Paid leave is provided for the following reasons:
| Leave | Days |
| Personal reasons like marriage, the birth of a child, and the funeral of a family member. | 2 days |
| Wedding of a child or the death and funeral of a sibling, in-laws, grandparents, or a person dependent on the worker or under their direct care. | 1 day |
| Training leave to improve qualifications on the initiative of the employer or with the employer’s consent. | 6 to 21 days as per the qualifying exam. |
Unpaid leave is granted at the worker’s written request (the leave is not included in the employment period which is the basis for employee benefits). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the employer may, at the worker’s written consent, grant them unpaid leave.
Childcare leave
The amount of childcare leave is up to 36 months before the child has reached the age of six years. In order to use the leave, a worker must have an employment duration of at least six months. While on childcare leave, workers are not entitled to any wages or benefits but are covered by retirement and health insurance which is paid by the employer.
Statutory benefits
The Social Insurance Institute (ZUS) collects all the social insurance contributions and forwards them to the appropriate institutions. Employer contributions to government funds cover retirement, disability, accident, and sickness insurance. *Up to the cap of PLN 177, 660.
| Benefits | Employer Contribution | Employee Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Pension | 9.76%* | 9.76%* |
| Disability | 6.5%* | 1.5%* |
| Accident Insurance | 1.67% for employers with up to 9 employees, 0.67% to 3.33% for employers with more than 9 employees & 1.67% flat rate for foreign employers | - |
| Labor Fund | 2.45% | - |
| Sickness Insurance | - | 2.45% |
| Employee Guaranteed Benefits Fund | 0.10% | - |
| Employee Capital Plans (PPK)** | 1.5% (If the employee wishes to participate in PPK) | 2% (If the employee wishes to participate in PPK |
Health insurance
The health insurance contribution percentage is 9% and it is paid only by the employees. There are exceptions regarding the contributions for disabled, annuitants, and pensioners. The National Health Fund regulates health benefits. Poland has a mixed system for public and private health care financing.
Accident insurance
The accident insurance benefits described are the Employment injury pension or the occupational disease pension and a One-off payment (jednorazowe odszkodowanie).
Disability insurance
Contributions to disability insurance are financed by both the employer and employee
Employee Guaranteed Benefits Fund
In the case of an employer’s insolvency, all claims of workers, previous workers, and their surviving dependents are guaranteed by the employee benefits fund (Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych – FGSP).
Unemployment insurance
Employees who have worked at least 365 days in the last 18 months and have been paid the minimum wage may be entitled to an unemployment allowance.
Public pension
Contributions to pension insurance are financed in equal parts between the employer and the employee (9.76% of the contribution base each). Retirement schemes are mandatory in Poland for all workers.
Other statutory benefits
Employee Capital Plans (Pracownicze Play Kapitałowe, PPK) are a long-term savings scheme in which the employee’s private savings are contributed to by the employee, employer and the state. The main objective of PPK is to provide its participants with funds for when they stop being professionally active. Funds accumulated in a PPK account can be withdrawn at any time. An employer is obliged to enroll its employees for the PPK according to the following rules: Employees aged 18-55: automatic enrollment; Employees aged 55-70: upon an employee’s individual request, provided that their length of service with a given employer is a minimum of three months over the last 12 months; Employees over 70 years of age: cannot be enrolled. The employer is mandated to contribute 1.5% of the salary plus 2.5% voluntarily towards PPK.