Conditions of legal work in Poland

The conditions of foreigners’ work in Poland are regulated by the Act of 20 April 2004 on employment promotion and labour market institutions. Polish law does not explicitly define what it means to employ a foreigner legally, but it distinguishes between illegal performance of work by a foreigner and entrusting performance of work to a foreigner without a work permit:

illegal work performance by a foreigner

entrusting work performance to a foreigner without a work permit

refers to performance of work by a foreigner who is not authorized to perform work
according to article 87 section 1
or who does not have a work permit and is not exempt from an obligation to obtain such a permit pursuant to special regulations,
or whose grounds for legal residence do not authorise him to undertake work, or who performs work on different terms or on a different position than specified in his work permit, with the exception of article 88f section 1a-1c,
or who performs work on different terms or on a different position than specified in his temporary residence permit, as referred to in article 114, article 126, article 127 or article 142 section 3, with the exception of article 119 and article 135 section 3 of the Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners (article 2 section 14 of the Act of 20 April 2004 on employment promotion and labour market institutions)

refers to work performed by a foreigner who is not authorized to perform work according to article 87 section 1 or who does not have a work permit and is not exempt from the obligation to obtain such a permit pursuant to special regulations, or whose grounds for legal residence do not authorise him to undertake work, or who performs work on different terms or on a different position than specified in his work permit, with the exception of article 88f section 1a-1c, or who performs work on different terms or on a different position than specified in his temporary residence permit, as referred to in article 114, article 126, article 127 or article 142 section 3, with the exception of article 119 and article 135 section 3 of the Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners, or without executing a contract of employment or a civil-law agreement in the required form (article 2 section 22a of the Act of 20 April 2004 on employment promotion and labour market institutions)

In this article we will discuss the most popular ways of legalising foreigners’ work in Poland. Meeting the conditions of legal employment is necessary when entering into a contract both with a natural and a legal person.

It should be remembered that, just like the nature of performed work, also a foreigner’s status may determine the amount of operations necessary to undertake legal employment. However, performing work legally by a foreigner within the territory of Poland depends on three things:

having a proper basis for legal residence – e.g. a visa, a temporary residence card or a stamp in the passport confirming that an application for a temporary residence permit, a long-term EU residence permit or a permanent residence permit has been submitted;
having a proper basis for performance of legal work– e.g. a work permit, a common residence and work permit, or a document which attests the possibility of performing work without a permit;
executing a contract – irrespectively of it being an employment contract or a civil-law agreement, in case of foreigners it has to be concluded in writing; the circumstances of performing work, included in the contract, have to be in agreement with the foreigner’s basis for legal work (e.g. a work permit or a declaration of the intention to entrust work to a foreigner).