FAQ

A labor market test is the starost’s information about the employer’s inability to meet its labour force needs based on the registers of unemployed people and job seekers or about the negative outcome of the recruitment process organized for the employer. In order to obtain it, the employer submits a job offer for the position at which a foreigner will be employed to the district labour office appropriate to the main place of work of the foreigner. The information from the starost is one of the documents required when applying for a work permit and temporary residence.

You must apply when you intend to hire a foreigner who is not exempt from having a work permit.

In certain cases, a foreigner does not have to apply for a work permit. Employment is permitted here due to the person’s status or country of origin.

You can work provided that the foreigner is entitled to work immediately before submitting the application – i.e. holds a temporary residence and work permit or just a work permit, and after submitting the application will work under the conditions indicated in the permit held.

Yes. A party (i.e. the employer) may request a certified copy of the permit.

A residence card issued by another Schengen member country entitles you to stay for tourism purposes in other Schengen member states (including Poland) for a period not exceeding 90 days within each 180-day period.

No longer than 6 months within the next 12 months.

Submit an application for a work permit for a foreigner on the territory of the Republic of Poland along with the appropriate attachments. If you want to employ a Ukrainian citizen for a short period of time, you can do it on the basis of a statement of employment, which is registered by district labor offices.

The waiting time depends primarily on the number of incoming applications for work permits and whether a complete set of required documents has been submitted. Work permits are issued as quickly as possible.

Once a foreign worker has been hired and has undergone the appropriate OSH training, the employer must maintain the foreign worker’s personnel file. In addition to basic documents, such as the employment contract, there should also be personnel documents or a confirmation that the employee has undergone OSH training. Often the documents in the employee’s personal file are available in two languages: Polish and the language spoken by the employee. The employee’s file should also contain documents confirming the employee’s education and periods of employment with employers in their home country or in another country outside Poland, i.e. certificates of employment abroad. All these documents must be translated into Polish by a sworn translator.

An employer who hires a foreigner for whom a work permit is required must, before signing the contract, provide a translation of the contract into a language understood by the new employee. Interestingly, this does not have to be the employee’s native language, but any other language that the employee will understand. The employee must have the opportunity to learn all the details and rules of the job. The employee must have the opportunity to read all provisions of the employment contract. Failure to comply with this obligation and concluding the employment contract only in Polish may result in withdrawal of the work permit for the foreigner and problems for the employer in obtaining the permit for its employees in the future. It is worth noting, however, that the provisions requiring the translation of the employment contract into a language understood by the employee apply only if the employee needs a work permit. Otherwise, translation of the employment contract is not warranted by law. In particular, a work permit is not required for citizens of Schengen countries, holders of the Card of the Pole and persons with a permanent residence permit. However, on June 1, 2017, amendments to the Law on Employment Promotion and Labor Market Institutions came into force. They introduce an obligation to provide foreigners posted for work with a written translation of the employment contract in a language they understand, as well as an obligation for employment agencies to fulfill various information obligations in the language spoken by the employees. Failure to comply with this obligation is punishable by a fine of over PLN 4,000. In addition, the employment agency, which fails to provide a translation of the agreement to the foreigner sent to work, is threatened with deletion from the register kept by the marshal of the province.

When employing a foreigner, the employer has the same obligations towards him as towards the Polish employee. This also includes the need to train the foreign worker in occupational health and safety. An important rule that employers should remember is to conduct training in a language that the employees understand, e.g. Ukrainian or English. However, there are no official regulations as to what language the OSH training should be conducted in. However, the training must end with a knowledge test and a confirmation that the employee has read and understood the OSH rules, which means that the rules must be understood by the employee. By conducting OSH training in a foreign language for a foreigner, the employer does not meet the condition that the employee has sufficient knowledge of OSH regulations and principles, and thus violates the law. The employer may even be held criminally liable if, for example, an accident occurs at work that is caused by an employee’s lack of proper training and understanding of OSH regulations.

Contact

Phone: +48 661 472 604
e-mail: biuro@jobadmin.pl

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