Higher fines for illegal employment of foreign nationals and new petty offences
In the June issue of The Right Focus, we wrote about the new rules for employing foreign nationals, which came into force on 1 June 2025.
These changes also affect foreign nationals posted to work in Poland by foreign employers, i.e. employers based outside of Poland.
Furthermore, fines for illegally employing foreigners are increasing, and fines for new petty offences are being introduced. In this article, we analyse what the other amendments contained in the act entail.
The circumstances where a work permit is issued for the purpose of posting
A work permit in connection with the posting of a foreign national is issued by the provincial governor (wojewoda) if:
- The foreigner was employed by the foreign entity prior to being posted to Poland
In practice, it will be necessary to present e.g. a letter of posting confirming employment prior to the date of posting.
- The posting is to a branch, establishment, or representative office of the foreign entity, or to an entity to which the foreign entity is the parent company or subsidiary
In other words, the foreign company and the host company in Poland must have vertical capital ties, i.e. one must directly or indirectly own shares in the other, or at least 50% of their management board members must be shared.
This change limits the number of companies to which foreign workers can be posted. From 1 June 2025, it will no longer be possible to post workers between ‘sister’ companies for intra-group postings.
- The posting is made for the purpose of providing an export service by a foreign entity
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- a service will be considered an export service if the foreign entity has a written agreement with a Polish company. This also means that the service is performed temporarily and occasionally by a foreign entity that does not conduct business activities in Poland.
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- The posting is made for a purpose other than those listed above
The competence of the provincial governor issuing the permit
If the posting is made:
- To a branch, establishment or representative office of a foreign entity – the permit will be issued by the provincial governor competent for the registered office of the entity to which the foreigner is posted
- For the purpose of providing export services – the permit will be issued by the provincial governor competent for the registered office or place of permanent residence of the entity for the benefit of whom the services will be provided
- For other purposes – the permit will be issued by the provincial governor competent for the principal place of work.
How to submit an application, which documents to attach, and the fee amount
As administrative procedures for obtaining work permits are now fully electronic, applications for work permits to post employees to Poland must be submitted via the praca.gov.pl portal.
The foreign entity that employs the foreign national is a party to the procedure. This means that the employer must create an account on the praca.gov.pl website and provide their identification number (e.g. their number in the local register). Having a Polish NIP (tax ID number) or REGON (statistical number) is not necessary.
The list of required documents and the fee amount will be specified in a regulation issued by the Minister responsible for labour, which is still pending.
Until these new regulations are issued, the current fee and list of documents will remain in force.
New obligation for foreign entities after obtaining a work permit
After obtaining a permit, the employing entity must submit a Polish copy of the employment contract to the provincial governor via the praca.gov.pl portal before allowing the foreign national to start work.
Fines for illegal employment and more
On 1 June, fines were also increased. Employing a foreign national illegally (i.e. without the appropriate documents legalising their stay and work in Poland) is now punishable by a fine ranging from PLN 3,000 to PLN 50,000 for each instance of such employment (i.e. for each person employed illegally).
The employee will now also be subject to a fine. Anyone performing work illegally is subject to a fine of at least PLN 100.
A fine will also be imposed on employers for the following:
- Failure to inform a foreign worker in writing of their right to join a trade union
- Failure to provide the authority issuing the work permit/registering the statement on entrusting work with a copy of the contract on the basis of which the work was entrusted
– a fine ranging from PLN 1,000 to PLN 3,000
- failure to comply with the obligation to provide information to the authority granting the permit, including in the following areas: change of registered office, name or legal form of the entity entrusting work, transfer of the workplace, change of job title without a change in the scope of duties, failure of a foreign worker to take up employment,
– a fine of not less than PLN 500.
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