Employer of record services are offered by Globalization Partners to clients that need to recruit workers and process payroll in Poland but don't want to set up a physical presence there. In conformity with Polish labor regulations, your applicant will be employed via Globalization Partners' Poland PEO and may be onboarded in a matter of days, not months. The person is tasked with fulfilling your in-country needs and will operate alongside your team as if they were an employee of your business.

With our all-inclusive solution and Global PEO service, clients may outsource their payroll processing to us in Poland while we handle related HR, tax, and compliance management duties. We oversee best practices in employment contracts, statutory and market norm benefits, employee costs, and severance and termination if necessary in our role as a Global PEO specialist. Also, we update you on any new or revised Polish regulations affecting your right to work in the country.

New hires have a shorter learning curve, more positive impressions of the recruiting process, and are more likely to commit fully to your team. You may relax knowing that skilled employment professionals are helping you with every hiring. Through Globalization Partners, you can easily and efficiently tap into the expertise of the best and brightest from over 185 nations.
Poland Job Openings

As compared to the rest of the European Union, the recruiting and onboarding procedure in Poland is quite standard, with a few notable differences. Although Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004, it has yet to join the EU's Monetary Union. For this reason, the Polish Zloty continues to be used as the official currency (PLN).

Consider the following when you discuss and negotiate the following items with a potential Polish employee:
Legal Issues Regarding Employment Agreements in Poland

A minimum of 7 days prior to the start of employment, both parties must sign an employment contract and file it with the Social Security Administration. Official registration requires not only a signed employment contract but also a number of other declarations and paperwork. An acceptable contract will have the following provisions and be written in either Polish or English:

The Parties to the Agreement (i.e. an employer and an employee)
Period of Employment (see below for Contract Types)
The execution date is: (i.e. when it was signed)
Details of the Employment Agreement:

Job Description (i.e. duties to be performed)
Organization's Headquarters (i.e. work office or home office)
Particulars on pay (including any bonuses or other forms of variable compensation, which are added to your paycheck and taxed similarly to your regular wage).
Category of Employees (if the work is to be performed on a full-time or a part-time basis)
Start Date: The Day You Want to Get Started (i.e. start date)

The Many Forms of Contracts (Length of Service)

In terms of duration, there are three distinct forms of employment agreements:

Trial period alone or shorter terms (sometimes known as "contracts for trial") (up to 3 months)
Contracts with an initial length of up to 33 months (renewable up to 3 times)
Open-ended (or, simply, "indefinite")

(Probationary periods are possible in both the fixed-term and indefinite contracts.)

The following information (if not already included in the contract) must also be communicated to the employee in writing by the employer within 7 days of the date of contract execution:

Time spent at work
How often you'll be paid
Paid time off throughout the year
Termination Notification Period

In Poland, working hours are

The standard work week consists of 40 hours (eight hours each day). Overtime is labor that is done in addition to a worker's regular shift and requires special permission from their employer. Legally, an employee is only allowed to accrue 150 hours of overtime in a calendar year. Allowances (ranging from 50 to 100 percent of gross pay in addition to normal compensation, depending on when the overtime occurred) or extra time off may be given in exchange for working overtime (1:1).
Poland Vacation

There are 13 officially recognized Polish holidays:

Day One of the New Year
Epiphany
Holy Saturday
It's Easter Monday
Celebration of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, May 1, 1848
Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day Easter Sunday All Saints' Day
Celebration of Freedom
Holiday Season
Christmas Day

Poland's Holidays

Moreover, workers get 20-26 days of paid vacation every year (depending on tenure). Every work and school experience is used into tenure calculations (not just current employer). For every year of service, workers get one additional day of paid time off, up to a maximum of 26 days.

Unused vacation days may be carried over to the next year (there is a carryover period of up to 3 years). This time off includes four sick days that may be used whenever necessary.
Illness Absence in Poland

For chronic conditions, workers are also eligible for extra "certified" paid sick time off with a doctor's note (i.e. it requires a formal statement from a doctor). Up to 33 sick days are covered by the company in this scenario (anything additional is paid for by the Social Security Bureau).
Paid time off for new parents in Poland

The Social Security Bureau (ZUS) in Poland covers both parental leaves:

The number of children born to a woman affects how long she gets off work to care for her newborns. When having five or more children, the maximum duration is 37 weeks, whereas while having just one kid, it is only 20 weeks. If a woman has taken at least 14 weeks of maternity leave after the birth of her child, she is eligible to forego the remainder of her leave. In this situation, the father of the kid must take advantage of the remaining maternity leave.

A father is entitled to two weeks of paternity leave, which must be taken during the first two years of the child's life. All of it may be taken at once, or split up into two doses (each of the part must be at least a week).

After using up her maternity leave, an employee is entitled to parental leave for either 32 (in the case of a single kid) or 34 (in the case of multiple children) (in the event of giving two or more children). The parental leave is shared between both parents and may be taken simultaneously. The sum of these leaves cannot be longer than the maximums shown above (32 or 34 weeks).

An employee with 6 months of service is eligible for a maximum of 36 months of unpaid absence for childcare purposes. The time off is offered before the kid turns 6.
Resignation/Severance in Poland

By agreement of the employer and employee, employment may be ended at any time without cause.

It's more challenging to get out of an indefinite contract since you usually need a good reason (these reasons may be challenged by the employee in labor court, if the employee does not agree with them)
A legal notification is all that's needed for short-term and permanent contracts (reason and justification are not required)
The duration of employment is a factor in the notice period (see below for Notice Periods)

Any contracts may be canceled with the right kind of notice:

Notice for contracts with terms of up to three months:

In the case of a 2-week trial term, the notice time is reduced to 3 business days.
When the trial period lasts more than 2 weeks, the employee is given a week off.
If the trial period lasts three months, the time will be reduced to two weeks.

Contracts with both set terms and open ends need advance notification.

Minimum of 2 weeks if employee has been with the company for less than 6 months
After an employee has been with the company for 6 months, they will get 1 month.
Three months if the employee has been with the company for three years or more

The only way the employer may fire you is if they give you notice, so keep that in mind. Indemnification in lieu of notice is prohibited.

Note

Only in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation will an employer be permitted to reduce the required 3-month notice period to no less than 1 month. If this happens, the worker is still entitled to payment for the unused portion of their notice period (termed "garden leave" in this context).

It's also worth noting that if an employee challenges their termination (which normally only happens with an indefinite contract), the issue would be decided by a labor court (possibly nullifying the termination and reinstating employment, or granting additional settlements).
Polish Tax Procedures

Each new hire has 7 days prior to their first day of work to complete their Social Security registration. The following are components of Poland's social security system:

Pension coverage
Healthcare coverage in case of illness
disability insurance health insurance maternity/paternity insurance
the safety net of a company's workers' compensation program
insurance for new parents and the deceased

At least 21% of your pay will go into the employer's social contribution. An estimated 13.71% of the employee's gross pay each month goes toward social contributions.

The total amount of pension and disability contributions is also capped each year (by the employer and employee collectively). The 208 050 PLN sum is what has been budgeted for 2022.

Every month, 2.45% of the employee's gross salary goes into the "Labor Fund," and an extra 0.1% goes into the "Guaranteed Benefits Fund," both of which are required by law. Both have to do with unemployment insurance, but operate independently of the Social Security Administration.

Note

Private health insurance plans that provide additional coverage in the event of illness or injury are not mandated by law but have grown in popularity in recent years (particularly for senior personnel in larger cities). In the event that an employee requests such benefits and the company decides to provide them, they can be provided in one of two ways: either the company will contract with an Occupational Medical Center of choice to provide both the supplementary insurance policy and the (required) preventative medical examination (see below for Preventative Medical Examinations), or the company will provide the employee with a monetary allowance to use toward the purchase of a private insurance policy (250 – 500 PLN per month is recommended, depending on the medical center).

Extra medical coverage is income and must be reported and taxed like any other kind of cash income.

Checkups for disease prevention (REQUIRED)

Before starting work, all workers must get a routine medical checkup to verify they are in good enough health to accomplish the job (a certificate will be issued by the doctor). Employers are responsible for arranging and funding this examination via a formal "referral" procedure. Professional medical practitioners conduct these examinations with a focus on the needs of a certain industry. Top medical facilities include 1) Medicover, 2) Lux Med, and 3) Enel-Med. Yet, these evaluations may also be performed by qualified occupational medicine physicians in conventional medical facilities located around the nation. It is advised that businesses with intentions to recruit more than 10 workers get into a contract with one of these occupational medical clinics (often a more cost-effective and efficient approach). Nonetheless, a contract between the employer and the medical facility is often not required.

There is a range of 120-500 PLN (per employee) for a preventive medical checkup, depending on the number of tests ordered and the number of experts needed to perform them (e.g an eye specialist for an employee who works with a computer).

Curriculum Development for Workplace Safety and Health (REQUIRED)

Before starting work, all workers must complete occupational safety and health training to 1) learn about basic workplace safety regulations and norms and 2) get company- and task-specific safety instructions (i.e. work health conditions, risks and safety requirements). There are two main parts to every comprehensive "occupational safety training" program, and they go by the names "general training" and "toolbox talk."

As part of the broader Polish labor legislation, "general training" must be provided by a specialist firm that has been certified in basic standards of workplace health and safety.
An approved corporate (internal) person who is well-versed in the nature of the work, the tools necessary to accomplish it safely, the potential hazards of the working environment, and the preventative measures that may be taken to lessen those dangers can give the "Toolbox talk."

Total program costs are projected at between 90 and 120 PLN (per participant) and no agreement is required with the service provider.

Every worker has to sign a document stating that they understand the importance of adhering to workplace health and safety regulations.
How Collaboration in Globalization Benefits Everyone

It's time-consuming, costly, and complicated to set up a subsidiary or branch office in Poland in order to hire a modest staff. Strong worker safeguards may be found in Polish labor legislation, but complying with them requires careful attention to detail and familiarity with local best practices. When you work with Globalization Partners, setting up business in Poland is a breeze. Without the hassle of establishing a foreign branch office or subsidiary, we can assist you in finding and hiring your ideal individual, managing human resources and payroll, and ensuring compliance with local legislation. So that you may concentrate on operating your business, our Poland PEO and Global Employer of Record service is available to you.

We encourage you to get in touch with Globalization Partners if you're interested in learning more about our PEO and employee leasing services in Poland.