Minimum Wage
General
The minimum wage for local hires is 3,010 PLN gross per month, and 19.70 PLN gross per hour for civil contract workers.
Payroll
Payroll Cycle
Salaries are paid on monthly basis and employees must receive their salary no later than the 10th of the following month.
13th Salary
There is no legal requirement for 13th-month payments.
Working Hours
General
The standard working week in Poland can be no longer than 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day.
Overtime
If work time limits are passed, overtime compensation is compulsory. The maximum overtime hours are 48 hours per working week; annual overtime cannot exceed 150 hours.
Overtime is due after working the maximum hours of 45 hours in one week and is paid at the statutory rate of 200.00% of the employees’ regular pay if the overtime is worked at night, on Sundays, or non-working days. Overtime is paid at 150.00% of the employees’ regular income if overtime is performed at any other time. Overtime can also be given as time off in lieu.
Working Week
Monday-Friday
Leave
Paid Time Off
The length of paid annual leave in Poland depends on the employee’s seniority. When an employee starts working under a contract of employment, they acquire the right to 1/12th of the holiday entitlement after completing each month of work in the calendar year in which employment has started. In the following calendar year, the employee will acquire the right to 20 or 26 days of paid annual leave, depending on their working experience:
- employees who have worked less than 10 years are entitled to 20 days of annual leave
- employees who have worked 10 years and more are entitled to 26 days of annual leave
Some occupations, such as teachers or those working in the academic industry may be entitled to a longer length of paid leave, which can extend to 36 days a year. In addition, the calculation of an employee’s seniority includes not only years of employment, but also secondary and higher education.
Unused annual leave days can be transferred to the following year but must be taken by September 30 of the following year. It is forbidden to pay employees for not taking their leave, except upon termination of employment.
Public Holidays
13 public holidays.
Sick Days
All employees are entitled to paid sick leave linked to the number of years completed service and the employee’s age, as specified in the employment contract.
Employees less than 50 years old are entitled to up to 33 days paid sick leave, paid by the employer. Should the sick leave continue past day 33, Social Security (ZUS) will take on the payments from day 34 onwards.
Employees older than 50 years old are entitled to up to 14 days paid sick leave, paid by the employer. Should the sick leave continue past day 14, Social Security (ZUS) will take on the payments from day 15 onwards.
Sick leave is paid at 80.00% of the allowance basis or 100.00% of the allowance basis if the illness occurs during pregnancy or is caused by an accident on the way to or from work. Sick leave caused by an accident at work or due to the employee’s sick child /sick relative is also paid for by Social Security (ZUS).
Maternity Leave
Female employees are entitled to the maternity leave periods linked to the number of children born/adopted as follows:
- 20 weeks for the birth of one child/adoption of one child
- 31 weeks for two children, 33 weeks for three children, 35 weeks for four children
- 37 weeks for five or more children.
The Social Security Institute covers all maternity pay at 100% of the employee’s regular salary rate.
Maternity leave cannot start earlier than six weeks before the due date but can start later or even after birth and continue straight after. Employees should take a minimum of 14 weeks of maternity leave after childbirth before returning to work, and they have the option to transfer any untaken leave beyond 14 weeks to the child’s father.
Adoption leave may be used by both the adoptive father and the adoptive mother. However, under the Labour Code, the leave can’t be taken simultaneously by both parents.
Paternity Leave
Fathers are entitled to two weeks of paid paternity leave within the first 24 months after the child’s birth or from the date of adoption before the child is seven years old. An employee can take the leave in a maximum of two installments of one week each, and Social Security pays the leave at a rate of 100.00% of the employee’s regular salary.
Parental Leave
Employees are entitled to up to 32 weeks of parental leave. Leave can be granted to both male and female employees and adoptive parents after completing maternity leave.
For the first six weeks, the leave is paid at 100.00% of the employee’s salary (eight weeks in case of multiple children and three weeks if adopting an older child). The remaining time is paid at 60.00% of the employees’ salary; Social Security covers this. However, should the employee submit the official written request for parental leave no later than 21 days after the birth, the pay increases to 80.00% of the employee’s salary for the whole period, paid by Social Security.
Other Leave
Depending on the Collective Agreement/Employment Contract terms, an employee may be allowed additional leave types, on approved between the employer and employee, for the following:
- Disability Leave: A person classified as having a severe or moderate degree of disability is entitled to an additional ten days of annual leave. After working one year and after being classified in one of the above degrees of disability, the person acquires the right.
- Military Leave: Employees are entitled to unpaid military leave to perform their duties.
- Childcare Leave: An employee raising at least one child aged up to 14 years is entitled to two paid days off a year, covered in full by the employer. Additionally, employees who have worked for at least six months are entitled to a further three years unpaid childcare leave until the child is five years old (18 years old if the child is disabled).
- Special event leave: Employees are entitled to two paid days off for close family member life events, such as a wedding, a child’s birth, or a funeral.
Termination
Termination Process
The termination process varies according to how the Employment Agreement and Collective Agreement are in place and is based on the type of contract and reason for termination.
Notice Period
In Poland, the notice period for a temporary or permanent employee is dependent on the employee’s length of service as below:
- 0 – 6 months of service 2 weeks’ notice
- 6 months – 3 years of service 1 month notice
- More than 3 years of service 3 months’ notice
Severance Pay
For employers with more than 20 employees or for employees who have been dismissed by fault of the employer, the severance pay is dependent on the employee’s length of service as below:
- 1-month severance pay – less than two years of employment.
- Two months’ severance pay – between 2 and 8 years of employment
- Three months’ severance pay – over eight years of employment
Probation Period
Probation or Trial periods are generally set within the employee’s employment contract; however, standard practice in Poland is three months.
Common Benefits
General
- Health allowance
- Car allowance
- Work from home
- Home office setup
- Phone allowance
VISA
VISA
If you are a non-EU resident who wishes to work in Poland, you must first obtain a work permit. The work permit is only applicable to the job at the time of application; a new application will need to be sought should the employee change job. A work permit is only valid for three years.
Poland has five different types of work visas.
- Type A – If you find employment based on an employment contract or civil law contract with an employer with an office registered in Poland. This is the most popular work permit.
- Type B – This work permit is valid if you are a board member and residing in Poland for a total period that exceeds six months within 12 subsequent months.
- Type C –You can apply for this work permit if you are sent to Poland by a foreign employer for more than 30 days in a calendar year to work for the foreign employer’s subsidiary or branch office in the country.
- Type D – You are eligible for this visa if a foreign employer sends you to work in export services temporarily. The foreign employer must not have a branch or subsidiary of its own in Poland.
- Type E – You can apply for this visa if you take up work-related tasks that do not fall into any of the above four categories.
VAT
General
The standard rate of VAT in Poland is 23.00%.
