The Government has adopted a bill on the conditions for allowing foreigners to work in Poland

Time for change

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the current Act on Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions, which has hitherto regulated the employment of foreign workers in Poland. These regulations have been amended and supplemented several times during this period, which has resulted in individual regulations becoming unreadable and difficult to apply.

At the same time, the number of foreigners on the Polish labour market has increased significantly over the past 20 years. Foreign workers often fill staff shortages in many industries and regions. Therefore, a comprehensive and tailor-made revision of the legislation is needed to ensure a fair and secure labour market. Both for Polish employees and entrepreneurs and for foreigners working in Poland.

Improving safety

The Act will comprehensively regulate issues concerning the employment of foreigners in Poland. The new regulations aim to reduce the cases of fraudulent work permits used to enter the Schengen area, thereby enhancing security in the labour market.

Increasing the speed and efficiency of administrative proceedings for the employment of foreigners will be assisted by the 'digitalisation' of proceedings proposed in the Act and the introduction of new functionalities in IT systems for verifying the issuance of work permits. This change will be supported by the creation of a register of employment contracts. After the introduction of the Act, the employer will be obliged to send a copy of the contract concluded with the foreigner to the office issuing the work permit.

A fair labour market

The bill increases the protection of Polish workers and entrepreneurs. It also protects foreign workers from dishonest employers. The new regulations are aimed at counteracting the creation of a 'parallel' labour market for foreigners, in the hardest and worst-paid sectors of the Polish economy, where labour laws are not properly enforced. The regulations will limit abuses accompanying the employment of foreigners, such as underpayment or exploitation, which often have a negative impact not only on foreign workers, but also push Polish workers out of the labour market.

Integration of foreigners

The law also aims at greater integration of foreigners working in Poland. Stable and secure employment conditions will enable newcomers to integrate into Poland's socio-economic system. Thus, they will make it possible, among other things, to increase tax and social security revenues.

The bill includes provisions on integration programmes for foreigners, such as assistance with learning Polish, and gives Labour Offices the competence to establish specialised centres to support foreign workers in the labour market.

Main assumptions of the bill

The most important new regulations introduced by the bill are:

• full electronic processing of work permits and declarations to reduce case processing times;
• clarification and expansion of the criteria for refusing work permits for foreigners - once the Act comes into effect, a district governor can deny a work permit to an employer who, for instance, does not engage in activities justifying engagement of a particular foreigner during a specified period or their primary goal is to facilitate the entry of foreigners into Poland;
• stricter penalties for the illegal employment of foreigners, with fines ranging from PLN 3,000 to PLN 50,000 for each instance of such employment;
• solutions for the effective integration of foreigners in Poland.