Posting workers from third countries to Poland

 If you are an employer with a registered office in a third country (outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland) and you want to post your employees to work temporarily in Poland, you are surely wondering what the Polish legal regulations regarding the legality of foreigners' work look like. In this article, we will discuss the most important issues regarding this topic: what are the obligations of the employer when posting an employee from a third country to Poland, what work permit a foreigner should obtain, when a permit isn’t needed, and how much should the posted employee's remuneration be.

 The foreign employer is obliged to comply with all legal provisions in force in the territory of Poland. One of the main obligations is to indicate a person residing in Poland, having all documents confirming the fulfillment of obligations imposed on the foreign employer, acting on behalf of the employer and authorized to represent the employer before state authorities, including the National Labor Inspectorate. The indicated person should stay in Poland and their data should be included in the declaration on posting an employee to the territory of Poland, which is submitted to the National Labor Inspectorate.

Legal provisions also define the amount of remuneration that is due to a foreigner posted by a foreign employer. The salary may not be more than 30% lower than the average monthly salary in a voivodship, announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office, valid on the day of submitting the application for a work permit. In the case of a foreigner delegated as part of an intra-corporate transfer as an employee of the management staff, specialist or intern, who resides in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit granted for the purpose of performing work in the host unit, with its registered office in the territory of the Republic of Poland, must be:

• higher than the income entitling to cash benefits from social assistance, specified in relation to the foreigner and each family member dependent on him,
• not lower than the remuneration of employees working on the territory of the Republic of Poland for the same working time of comparable type or in a comparable position,
• not lower than 70% of the average gross monthly remuneration in the national economy in the voivodship where the host unit is located, announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office, in the year preceding the submission of the application for issuing a permit.

A foreigner posted to work should obtain a type C, D or E work permit. On the basis of these permits, a foreigner may work in Poland for the period for which the permit was granted, for a maximum of 3 years. How are these permits different?

Type C work permit - it is appropriate if the foreigner will work for a foreign employer and will be delegated to work temporarily in Poland for a period of more than 30 days in a calendar year to a branch or plant of a foreign entity or an entity related to the foreign employer.

Type D work permit - it is appropriate if the foreigner will work for a foreign employer without a branch, establishment or other form of organized activity in Poland and will be posted to the territory of Poland for the purpose of providing a temporary and occasional service (export service).

Type E work permit - it is appropriate if the foreigner will work for a foreign employer and is posted to the territory of Poland for a period of more than 30 days within the next 6 months for a purpose other than that indicated in the type C and D permits.

The permit isn’t needed if the foreigner has permanent residence abroad and is posted to Poland for a period not exceeding 3 months in a calendar year, in order to:

• performing assembly, maintenance or repair works of delivered devices, structures, machines or other equipment, if the foreign employer posting is their producer;
• collecting the ordered devices, machines, structures or other equipment made by the Polish entrepreneur;
• training of employees of the Polish employer who is the recipient of devices, structures, machines or other equipment in the scope of its operation or use;
• assembly and disassembly of exhibition stands, care for them, if the exhibitor is a foreign employer posting a foreigner to the territory of Poland for this purpose.

We hope you found our article helpful. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@consultinvest.pl