The Act of 10 June 2016 on the Posting of Workers in the Framework of the Provision of Services regulates issues related to the posting of workers to Poland, including, inter alia, the obligations of foreign employers.
The obligations of an employer posting a worker to the territory of the Republic of Poland include:
- submission of a declaration to the State Labour Inspection by the employer posting a worker on the territory of the Republic of Poland – at the latest on the day of commencement of service provision.
If any of the details in the declaration change, the posting employer is also required to submit:
- notification of a change in the declaration of the employer posting a worker to the territory of the Republic of Poland – not later than 7 working days from the date of the change.
An employer who posts a worker (who is not a temporary employee) to the territory of the Republic of Poland, for the period of up to 12 months of posting to work in Poland, is obliged to ensure proper employment conditions, guaranteeing minimum protection, resulting from the of the Labour Code and other provisions regulating the rights and obligations of workers – to the extent that they include:
- standards and length of working time and daily and weekly rest periods,
- the length of annual leave,
- remuneration for work (covering all compulsory components of remuneration, including overtime pay),
- health and safety at work,
- protection of pregnant workers and workers on maternity leave,
- employment of juveniles,
- the performance of work or other gainful activity by a child,
- the principle of equal treatment and nondiscrimination in employment,
- dues to cover costs related to business trip from the place of work in the territory of Poland to which the employee has been posted to another place of work in or outside the territory of Poland.
The period during which the above-mentioned employment conditions must be provided to posted workers may be extended to a maximum of 18 months of posting – in the event of the submission of a motivated notification to the State Labour Inspection.
In the event of failure to submit such a notification, at the end of the 12 months of posting, the employer posting a worker to the territory of the Republic of Poland is obliged to provide that worker with employment conditions no less favourable than those resulting from the provisions of the Labour Code and other regulations governing the rights and obligations of workers to the full extent – in the same way as for a worker employed by a Polish employer, with the exclusion of regulations concerning the principles and procedure for the conclusion and termination of employment contracts and the application of non-competition clauses, as well as employee pension schemes and employee capital plans.
If a motivated notification is submitted, the employer posting a worker to the territory of the Republic of Poland shall be obliged to provide that worker with employment conditions no less favourable than those resulting from the provisions of the Labour Code and other regulations governing the rights and obligations of workers to the full extent, with the exceptions indicated above, only upon the expiry of 18 months of posting.
A motivated notification should be submitted to the SLI before the expiry of 12 months of posting.
The declaration on the posting of a worker to the territory of the Republic of Poland, the notification of a change in the data covered by the declaration or the motivated notification should be submitted in Polish or English, in electronic or paper form.
Electronic route (via internet)
If you have a qualified signature or Trusted Profile, you can complete the form online and send it electronically.
Online forms in English:
You do not need to print, hand-sign or scan these forms. Simply fill in the declaration or notification form on your computer and confirm it with a qualified signature or Trusted Profile.
Caution: do not send the forms by e-mail, as the Labour Inspection will not accept them.
Paper route (via post or in person)
Download and fill in the forms and then send them by post or bring them in person to the Chief Labour Inspectorate in Warsaw.
Forms in docx-format – link opens in a new tab:
Address:
Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy – Główny Inspektorat Pracy
ul. Barska 28/30, 02-315 Warszawa, Polska
Details on how to handle these matters can be found here:
Distinctions concerning temporary agency workers
The provisions governing the terms and conditions of employment that the posting employer is obliged to provide to the posted worker during the period of:
- up to 12 months or, in the case of a motivated notification, up to 18 months of posting in Poland and
- more than 12 months or, in the case of a motivated notification, more than 18 months of posting in Poland,
do not apply to an employer who is a temporary work agency or staff leasing agency and who directs a temporary worker:
- to a user undertaking in Poland,
- to a user undertaking in the territory of the same or another Member State, who then temporarily sends that worker to work in the territory of Poland (in the framework of services provided to a Polish entity).
The terms and conditions of employment guaranteed to a temporary worker who is posted to the territory of the Republic of Poland should, from the first day of posting, should be no less favourable than those of temporary workers employed in Poland:
- set out in the Act of 9 July 2003 on the Employment of Temporary Workers and other provisions regulating the rights and obligations of workers,
- stemming from non-universally binding: collective bargaining agreements (company or multi-company), other collective arrangements based on the law, and regulations and statutes defining the rights and obligations of the parties to the employment relationship (this applies, inter alia, to conditions of remuneration and conditions of accommodation if these are provided to workers remaining far from their normal place of work)
– on the same terms as those guaranteed to temporary workers employed in Poland.
An employer who posts a temporary worker to work in the territory of Poland is obliged to submit to the State Labour Inspection a declaration on the posting of a worker to the territory of Poland, also indicating the data of the user undertaking in Poland and, in the event of any change in the data covered by the declaration, a notification of a change in the declaration on the posting of a worker to the territory of Poland.
For detailed information in English on the regulations on the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services, visit the business portal Biznes.gov.pl:
Posting of workers to Poland | Biznes.gov.pl - Information and services website for entrepreneurs
How to post a worker from Poland
If you are an entrepreneur with a registered seat or permanent place of business activity in the territory of Poland and you employ workers, you can temporarily send them to work in the territory of another European Union (EU) country, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland as part of the services provided by your company abroad. This mode is a posting in the framework of the provision of services. You can apply it:
- in connection with the execution of a contract concluded between your company and an operator established in the territory of that other country
- to a branch or to a company belonging to a group of companies to which your company belongs.
You will also be posting workers in the provision of services if your company:
- is a temporary work agency and sends temporary workers to a user undertaking established in another country of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland
- is a temporary work agency and sends temporary workers to a user undertaking established in the territory of Poland or another country of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, which then temporarily sends that temporary worker to work in the territory of another country of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland.
If you are a user undertaking and you wish to post a temporary worker to work in the territory of another EU country, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you must inform the temporary employment agency of your intention of posting before the it takes place.
A worker posted to work abroad is a person employed and permanently performing work in the territory of Poland, who is temporarily sent to perform work in the territory of another EU, EEA country or Switzerland by an employer posting the worker from the territory of the Republic of Poland as part of the services provided by the employer.
The concept of a worker is defined in the legislation of the host country. Work on the basis of a contract of mandate in other EU, EEA countries or Switzerland will be treated as work that is not fully independent, co-organised by the posting company and partly subordinated. Therefore, in practice, a posted worker may also be a person entrusted with work under a contract of mandate in Poland.
Basic principles relating to posting
Posting is characterised by temporariness – by definition, it should last for a certain period of time and cannot be a permanent state of affairs.
Although the legislation does not indicate a strict timeframe for the posting, it does distinguish two basic periods of posting:
- not exceeding 12 months (short-term posting)
- exceeding 12 months (long-term posting).
Whether the posting is short-term or long-term depends on what working conditions must be provided to the posted worker.
An employer who posts a worker on a short-term basis may extend the posting period up to a maximum of 18 months by submitting a motivated notification to extend the posting of the worker. The motivated notification must be submitted before the expiry of the 12-month posting period.
If a motivated notification is submitted, the posting employer is obliged to provide the working conditions specified for short-term posting up to the end of the 18-month posting period.
Short-term posting
If you are posting a worker for a period not exceeding 12 months (or 18 months – upon submitting a motivated notification in the host country), you must guarantee the worker the same terms and conditions of employment as those in force by law or generally applicable collective agreements in the host country in terms of:
- minimum rest periods and maximum working time;
- minimum paid annual holidays;
- remuneration (including all its compulsory elements) as set out in national law or universally applicable collective agreements;
- health and safety at work;
- protective measures for pregnant women, women immediately after childbirth and young people (under 18 years of age);
- equal treatment of women and men;
- accommodation conditions for workers in the host country, if to be provided by the employer;
- allowances or reimbursement of travel, board and lodging expenses when these are required during the posting.
If the above terms and conditions of employment in Poland are more favourable to the worker than those in the host country, you must ensure. Polish working conditions for the duration of the posting.
You are not obliged to comply with the salary and annual leave requirements if:
- the initial installation or pre-assembly of certain products by qualified workers is an integral part of your contract with the recipient of the services in the host country, and
- the workers are posted to that country for a period not exceeding 8 days per year.
The above rule does not apply to works related to the construction or maintenance of a building, in particular: excavation, earthworks, assembling and dismantling of prefabricated elements, equipping or installing, renovation, dismantling, demolition, maintenance, painting and cleaning works.
Long-term posting
If you are posting a worker for a period of more than 12 months (or 18 months – upon motivated notification in the host country), you must provide the posted worker with all the terms and conditions of employment in force by law or generally applicable collective agreements in the host country, except:
- provisions concerning the procedure and conditions for the conclusion and termination of an employment contract;
- the provisions concerning non-competition clauses;
- provisions on supplementary employee capital plans.
Posting conditions for temporary workers
If you act as a temporary work agency and post temporary workers abroad, you must guarantee them at least the employment conditions that apply to temporary workers in the host country. You must also comply with Polish regulations governing the provision of temporary employment services and the assignment of work to temporary workers.
Temporary workers may be entitled to more favourable conditions of employment than those generally applicable to employees. Such more favourable conditions may be specified by:
- the law of the host country;
- universally applicable collective agreements;
- collective agreements which are exclusively applicable to the user undertaking to which the worker is posted.
Notwithstanding this, the user undertaking is obliged to inform the temporary employment agency of the terms and conditions of employment applicable in his company before the posting starts.
Where to obtain detailed information on the conditions of posting
Host countries are required to set up and keep updated a single national website with comprehensive, transparent and free information on the terms and conditions of employment and posting obligations applicable to workers posted on their territory.
Find the contact point in the EU, EEA country of your choice or in Switzerland:
Posted workers abroad on short assignments - Your Europe (europa.eu)
Obligations of an employer posting a worker from the territory of the Republic of Poland
An employer who posts a worker from the territory of the Republic of Poland for a period exceeding 4 consecutive weeks, before posting such a worker to work in another Member State, shall update the information on the terms and conditions of employment accordingly and shall additionally inform such a worker, in paper or electronic form, of the following:
- the remuneration to be paid in accordance with the law of the Member State in whose territory the worker is posted;
- the posting allowance and/or provisions concerning the reimbursement of travel, board and lodging expenses, where such benefits are provided for under employment legislation, regulations, statutes, collective agreements or other collective arrangements, and/or entitlements to expenses connected with the business trip;
- a link to the official website run by the Member State to whose territory the worker has been posted, which contains information on the terms and conditions of employment which must be applied to posted workers.