Labour law in Poland

Labour law in Poland is based primarily on the Polish Labour Code, which regulates the main rules of employment, including the establishment and termination of an employment relationship, types of employment contracts, working time, annual leave, employee rights, employer liability, remote work, and occupational health and safety. The Labour Code also defines the basic obligations of the employer and the employee, as well as the organisational framework for employment based on an employment contract.

In addition to the Labour Code, foreign employers hiring employees in Poland should also take into account other key regulations, in particular rules on the minimum wage, social security and health insurance, personal income tax, personal data protection, Employee Capital Plans, and implementing regulations concerning employee documentation, working time records, occupational health and safety, and payroll. In practice, employment in Poland requires a consistent legal, HR, payroll and tax approach.

The main legal framework for employment in Poland includes:

• Polish Labour Code - the main act regulating employment contracts, working time, annual leave, remote work, termination of employment, and occupational health and safety obligations.
• Act on the Minimum Wage - regulates the statutory minimum remuneration due to employees in Poland.
• Social Insurance System Act - regulates mandatory social security contributions and the employer obligations towards ZUS.
• Personal Income Tax Act - relevant for payroll, tax advances and employee income taxation.
• Act on Employee Capital Plans - regulates PPK obligations, where applicable.
• GDPR and Polish data protection regulations - relevant when processing employee personal data.
• Regulations on employee documentation - define how employee files, payroll records, working time records and other HR documentation should be maintained.

For foreign companies, Polish employment law is not merely a formal legal matter. It directly affects employment costs, payroll, HR documentation, onboarding, remote work procedures, obligations towards ZUS and the tax office, compliance, and - in some cases - the assessment of permanent establishment risk in Poland.

See our Employment in Poland services

Foreign employers hiring employees in Poland should pay particular attention to the following areas:

A Polish employment contract should clearly define the key employment terms, including the parties, type of contract, position, place of work, remuneration, working time, start date and other important employment conditions.

The most commonly used types of employment contracts in Poland are:

• employment contract for a trial period,
• fixed-term employment contract,
• indefinite-term employment contract.

Foreign companies should not assume that a German, Austrian, British or group employment contract template can be used in Poland without legal review. If an employee performs work in Poland, mandatory provisions of Polish labour law may apply regardless of the employer's registered office.

In practice, foreign employers may also need additional documentation, including:

• information on employment conditions,
• remote work agreement or remote work regulations,
• occupational health and safety documentation,
• GDPR and employee data protection documents,
• confidentiality clauses and intellectual property provisions,
• onboarding documents,
• payroll forms and social security documents.

For foreign companies, the employment contract should be analysed together with payroll, tax and HR administration requirements.

Learn more about our support with employment in Poland for foreign companies

Employees in Poland are entitled to at least the statutory minimum wage. From 1 January 2026, the minimum wage for work in Poland amounts to PLN 4 806 (approx. EUR* 1 118.64) gross per month.

The minimum wage is a national rate. It does not differ depending on region, industry, sector, position or employee qualifications.

When checking whether an employee receives at least the minimum wage, the employer must consider which remuneration components may be included in the minimum wage and which are excluded. For example, certain payments such as overtime pay, night work allowance, seniority allowance or an allowance for special working conditions are not included when calculating the minimum wage.

For foreign employers, this means that payroll configuration should not only show the gross salary, but also correctly classify individual remuneration components under Polish rules.

More information about the minimum wage can be found in our posts

Under Polish employment law, standard working time is generally:

• 8 hours per day,
• an average of 40 hours per week,
• in an average five-day working week,
• within the applicable settlement period.

This is one of the most important areas of labour law in Poland for foreign employers, especially when employees work remotely, report to managers abroad or cooperate with teams in different time zones.

Employers should ensure that:

• working time is properly recorded,
• overtime is monitored,
• rest periods are observed,
• work schedules comply with the regulations,
• payroll correctly reflects overtime and other working time-related payments.

If the company uses global HR or time-tracking systems, they should be reviewed for compliance with Polish working time rules.

Employment law provides that overtime may arise when an employee works beyond the applicable daily or weekly working time standards. In Poland, overtime should not be treated as an informal practice.

The employer should document overtime, settle it correctly and ensure that overtime rules are reflected in payroll. Depending on the circumstances, the employee may be entitled to additional remuneration or time off in lieu of overtime.

Foreign employers should be particularly careful when managers located outside Poland instruct employees working in Poland to work outside standard hours. Even if the instruction comes from abroad, Polish working time and overtime rules may still apply.

Employees in Poland are entitled to paid annual leave. The standard annual leave entitlement under Polish labour law is:

• 20 days - if the employee has less than 10 years of total employment seniority,
• 26 days - if the employee has at least 10 years of total employment seniority.

For part-time employees, annual leave is calculated proportionally to their working time basis.

Importantly, previous periods of employment are included in total employment seniority. Certain completed education periods are also taken into account when calculating annual leave entitlement. For example, higher education may count as 8 years of seniority for annual leave purposes.

Foreign employers should ask the employee for documents confirming previous employment and education to correctly determine whether the employee is entitled to 20 or 26 days of annual leave.

Annual leave should be properly recorded and coordinated with payroll. Unused leave may create additional settlement obligations when employment ends.

See our Employment in Poland services

A summary of the key labour law changes in 2026 can be found in the PDF:

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Employment in Poland creates an obligation to pay social security and health insurance contributions. Contributions are generally calculated on the employee's remuneration and financed partly by the employee and partly by the employer.

The main social insurance contributions include:

In addition, employers may be obliged to finance other employment-related funds, such as:

• Labour Fund,
• Solidarity Fund,
• Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund,
• Employee Capital Plans, where applicable.

The health insurance contribution is generally withheld from the employee's remuneration through payroll. In practice, payroll in Poland must correctly calculate gross salary, employee social security contributions, health insurance contribution, personal income tax advances and the employer's employment costs.

For foreign employers, payroll and employment law should be analysed together. A contract may be legally correct but may still create compliance issues if the remuneration structure, working time, benefits or remote work costs are not correctly reflected in payroll.

See our payroll services in Poland for foreign employers

Social Insurance System in Poland 2026

More information can also be found in the brochure: Social Insurance System in Poland 2026

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The total cost of employment in Poland is higher than the employee's gross salary because the employer finances its own part of social security contributions and selected employment-related funds.

In practice, the total employer cost is usually around 20-22% higher than the employee's gross salary. This means that with a gross salary of PLN 10 000 (approx. EUR* 2 327.58) per month, the estimated employer cost may amount to approximately PLN 12 000 (approx. EUR* 2 793.10)-PLN 12 200 (approx. EUR* 2 839.65), before additional administrative costs, benefits or individual arrangements are taken into account.

In practice, foreign companies should not calculate the cost of employment in Poland solely on the basis of gross salary. They should also take into account:

• employer-financed pension contribution,
• employer-financed disability pension contribution,
• accident insurance contribution,
• Labour Fund and related funds, where applicable,
• employer contribution to PPK, where applicable,
• payroll administration cost,
• HR documentation and compliance cost,
• costs related to remote work.

This is particularly important when foreign companies compare employment costs in Poland with a B2B model, an employer of record model or employment in other jurisdictions.

Remote work in Poland has been regulated in employment law and is a commonly used employment model. It may be performed fully or partially at a place indicated by the employee and agreed with the employer, including the employee's place of residence.

For foreign companies employing staff working remotely from Poland, well-prepared documentation helps organise cooperation, clearly define the obligations of the parties and reduce the risk of misunderstandings in the future. Depending on the employer's structure and the work model, it is worth considering documents such as:

• remote work agreement,
• remote work regulations,
• employee statements,
• occupational health and safety information,
• data protection rules,
• equipment rules,
• cost reimbursement rules,
• procedures for changing or ending remote work.

The employer should also consider practical aspects of organising remote work, such as:

• how working time is recorded,
• how work equipment is provided or settled,
• rules for reimbursing work-related costs,
• data security and confidentiality,
• fulfilment of occupational health and safety obligations,
• the impact of the employee's duties on tax matters, including potential permanent establishment risk in Poland.

For foreign employers, remote work from Poland may be an effective and flexible solution, especially when hiring specialists in IT, finance, analytics, administration or sales. It is important, however, to ensure that the remote work model is consistent with the employment contract, HR documentation, payroll and - where necessary - tax analysis.

getsix® supports foreign companies in preparing remote work documentation, adapting employment contracts to Polish requirements, and coordinating HR, payroll and tax matters related to hiring employees working from Poland

Employers in Poland have occupational health and safety obligations towards employees. These obligations may apply not only to office-based employees, but also to employees performing remote work.

Depending on the position and work model, the employer may need to consider:

• initial occupational health and safety training,
• occupational risk assessment,
• occupational medicine requirements,
• safe work organisation,
• accident reporting,
• occupational health and safety information for remote work,
• employee statements related to working from home.

Foreign employers often underestimate Polish occupational health and safety obligations because they manage employees remotely or do not have a physical office in Poland. However, the absence of an office in Poland does not automatically remove the employer's obligations towards employees working from Poland.

Employers in Poland must maintain appropriate employee documentation. This usually includes employment contract documentation, onboarding documents, payroll documents, working time records, leave records and other HR files required by Polish regulations.

For foreign companies, a practical solution is to cooperate with an experienced payroll and HR office in Poland.

The right partner helps ensure that:

• employee documents are complete,
• employee files are properly organised,
• working time and absences are recorded,
• annual leave entitlement is calculated correctly,
• payroll documents are consistent with employment terms,
• remote work documents are stored and updated,
• documentation can be prepared efficiently for the purposes of a PIP inspection.

This is particularly important when HR documentation is managed abroad or through global HR systems that do not always take into account Polish employment law requirements. Support from a local partner allows a foreign employer to reduce the risk of administrative errors and maintain employee documentation in line with Polish standards.

Termination of an employment contract in Poland should be carefully planned. The applicable rules depend on the type of employment contract, length of service, reason for termination and employee status.

Before terminating an employment contract in Poland, the employer should check:

• the type of contract,
• the applicable notice period,
• whether a reason for termination must be provided,
• whether the employee is subject to special protection against termination,
• whether consultation obligations apply,
• how the termination document should be delivered,
• final payroll settlement,
• unused annual leave,
• return of equipment and documents.

Contracts terminated contrary to the requirements of employment law may lead to employee claims, settlement costs or proceedings before a Polish labour court.

Foreign employers should not automatically apply termination rules from their home jurisdiction to employees performing work in Poland.

Employers in Poland may be inspected by the Polish State Labour Inspection. A PIP inspection may cover employment contracts, working time, remuneration, annual leave, occupational health and safety, remote work documentation, employee files and other employer obligations. Inspections are regulated by separate labour law provisions.

Foreign employers should be prepared to present clear and complete documentation, especially if they employ remote workers in Poland or manage employees through a foreign HR system.

Typical inspection areas may include:

• whether employment contracts are properly documented,
• whether working time is recorded correctly,
• whether annual leave is calculated and recorded correctly,
• whether remote work has been properly implemented,
• whether occupational health and safety obligations are fulfilled,
• whether employees receive the required information,
• whether payroll documentation is consistent with employment documentation,
• whether civil law or B2B contracts are used correctly.

A PIP inspection should not be the first moment when a foreign employer checks the completeness of Polish employee documentation.

Employing an employee in Poland may, in some cases, raise tax questions for a foreign company. The risk depends on what the employee does in Poland, whether they represent the company, negotiate or conclude contracts, and whether they perform key business functions.

For example, a remote IT specialist performing internal technical tasks may have a different risk profile than a sales manager negotiating with clients in Poland.

Therefore, employment in Poland should be analysed not only from the perspective of labour law, but also from the perspective of payroll, accounting and taxation.

Learn more about permanent establishment risk in Poland for foreign companies

Foreign companies employing staff in Poland often make similar mistakes resulting from insufficient knowledge of labour law in Poland, including:

• using a foreign employment contract without Polish legal review,
• lack of remote work documentation,
• incorrect calculation of annual leave entitlement,
• lack of proper working time records,
• ignoring overtime rules,
• treating employees as contractors despite an employment-like relationship,
• lack of consistency between payroll and employment documentation,
• underestimating occupational health and safety obligations,
• applying foreign termination rules to Polish employees,
• ignoring permanent establishment risk.

Such mistakes may lead to employment disputes, PIP inspection findings, payroll corrections, tax exposure and reputational damage.

That is why we always encourage companies to review their situation with a lawyer experienced in Polish employment law: Contact Form