New regulations on internship agreements in Poland – draft law
Work on the new draft law on internships in Poland is gaining momentum. The main objective of the legislator is to organise the internship market and ensure real legal protection for individuals entering the labour market.
In this article:
Who will be covered by the law?
The proposed regulations are intended to cover Polish citizens as well as certain categories of foreigners benefiting from the freedom of movement of persons, including EU citizens.
An internship has been defined as the performance of tasks for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, practical skills and professional experience on the basis of an internship agreement – not constituting employment within the meaning of the Polish Labour Code.
However, the draft includes a long list of internships and placements to which the new Polish regulations will not apply. These include, among others: internships or placements required to practise a regulated profession or to undertake or perform a regulated activity, school internships, vocational placements or professional traineeships.
In practice, this means that the regulation will apply exclusively to the so-called “open internship market” in Poland, offered by businesses outside the education system and outside regulated professions.
Internship similar to an employment relationship
The draft clearly draws on solutions provided for in the Polish Labour Code.
Internship agreement:
- should be concluded in writing, for a period not exceeding 6 months;
- may be terminated by either party, subject to a notice period of 7 or 14 days depending on the duration of the internship.
Remuneration – the end of the unpaid model
A key change under the proposed Polish regulations is the obligation to pay the intern a monetary benefit of no less than 35% of the average salary and no more than the average salary.
Additionally, the period of receiving this benefit is to be included in the period of employment required to acquire or retain employee rights, as well as in contribution periods for the purposes of determining a pension or disability benefit from the Social Insurance Fund in Poland.
Internship duration
The draft precisely defines time limits, aligning them with the standards of the Polish Labour Code:
- Working time: an intern will not be allowed to work more than 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.
- Right to rest: an intern will be entitled to one day off for every 30 days of internship during the first 90 days, and 2 days off for each subsequent 30 calendar days beyond 90 days of internship.
Organisational limitations
The draft provides that the number of interns in Poland should remain in an appropriate proportion to the number of employees employed under employment contracts. This is intended to prevent business models largely based on internship staff.
Additionally, the internship organiser:
- may not require prior professional experience in the field in which the internship is to take place,
- will be obliged to prepare an internship programme and appoint a supervisor responsible for overseeing its implementation and supporting the intern,
- will be obliged to issue a certificate confirming completion of the internship.
Penal provisions
For violations of the above-described Polish regulations, the internship organiser will be subject to a fine ranging from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000.
Does the regulation address a real problem?
The justification of the draft refers, among other things, to a 2023 study indicating that some employers offered unpaid internships and that remuneration was sometimes low.
At the same time, labour market data for 2025 shows that:
- internship offers accounted for approximately 1% of job offers,
- most postings concerned paid internships,
- the average offered remuneration for an internship was approximately PLN 3,000 gross per month.
This raises the question of whether the draft addresses the current scale of the phenomenon in Poland or rather historical labour market pathologies.
Summary
The draft law on internships in Poland aims to civilise the market and eliminate unpaid internships. At the same time, it introduces a model of internship clearly resembling an employment relationship, while maintaining its formal distinctiveness.
From the perspective of internship organisers, this means increased formalisation, higher costs and greater regulatory risk. In its current form, the draft may have the strongest impact on smaller entities and sectors that intensively rely on short-term internship programmes.
Entry into force
The draft is currently at the consultation stage, and the entry into force of the law in Poland is planned after 6 months from its publication. Graduate internship agreements concluded before the entry into force of the law will continue to be performed under the existing regulations, but no longer than for a period of 6 months from the date the law enters into force.
Source: The article was created in collaboration with our cooperation partner – sdzlegal Schindhelm Law Office
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