All EU citizens, including members of their family, are exempt from the obligation to obtain a work permit to be employed in Poland.

If the assignment in Poland is expected to last for more than three months, an EU citizen is obliged to register the residence address, as mentioned above in the "Business travel" section.

As long as EU citizens are in paid employment (or perform work in Poland as an independent service provider or on another basis), they are generally subject to the same legislation for social contributions and benefit from the same advantages as national employees. Exceptions may apply if the EU citizens perform work in more than one country or an EU citizen is temporarily seconded to Poland.

Every EU citizen may use public employment services.

According to Polish law, a foreign national wanting to work legally in Poland must obtain the right to work in Poland. The right to work may result from a foreigner's specific status (e.g., a spouse of a Polish citizen; please see below). As a rule, a foreigner must have either of the following:

• A work permit (zezwolenie na prace), issued by one of the Polish voivodeship offices
• A statement on entrusting work (oświadczenie o powierzeniu wykonywania pracy), which may be applied temporarily in limited cases

Additionally, a foreigner must be authorized to reside in Poland during the term of work. In most cases, this means that, in addition to the work authorization document (please see above), a foreigner must additionally have the following:

• A visa (wiza) (except certain categories of visas, e.g., for the purposes of tourism) issued by a Polish Consulate
• A temporary residence permit in Poland (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy) issued by the Department of Citizen's Affairs at the voivodeship office

By way of exception, a foreigner's right to reside and work in Poland may result from the same permit, such as an integrated temporary stay and work permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę) or a temporary residence permit granted due to an intragroup company transfer (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy w celu wykonywania pracy w ramach przeniesienia wewnątrz przedsiębiorstwa), issued by the Department of Citizen's Affairs at the voivodeship office. A choice of an applicable permit is limited by the circumstances of the case.

There are several categories of non-EU citizens who are exempt from the obligation to obtain a work permit, including the following:

• Foreign nationals with a permanent residence permit
• Foreign nationals granted long-term European Community (EC) resident status in Poland
• Foreign nationals granted a long-term EC resident status in another EU country with a temporary residence permit in Poland, issued based on the declared intention to start a business or study in Poland
• Refugees, people granted temporary protection and people granted tolerated stay status
• Foreign nationals holding a valid Pole's Card
• Foreign nationals who are allowed to perform work in Poland without having to obtain a work permit according to international contracts and agreements binding the Republic of Poland and the country of their citizenship
• Members of international military forces stationed in Poland
• Journalists and other foreign mass media correspondents fulfilling specific criteria
• Artists (individual or in groups) participating in different kinds of artistic events (not exceeding 30 days per calendar year)
• Athletes performing work for institutions registered in Poland in relation to sports events
• People delegated by their foreign employers (provided that they have permanent residence abroad), for a period not exceeding three months, for the following purposes:
  • Assembling, maintaining or repairing delivered devices, structures, machinery or other equipment, if the foreign employer is a manufacturer of these
  • Training the employees of the Polish employer, being the recipient of the devices, structures, machinery or other equipment referred to above, on its operation or use
  • Accepting devices, machinery, other equipment or parts produced by a Polish company
  • Assembling and disassembling exhibition stands, if the exhibitor is a foreign employer who delegates them for this purpose
• People entitled to reside and work in an EU or EEA member state or Switzerland who are temporarily delegated by their EU employer to provide services in Poland
• Management board members of legal entities that have been registered under the respective provisions in Poland, if they enter Poland based on an appropriate visa/residence permit and their stay in Poland does not exceed six months within a 12-month period

A work permit is a specific type of authorization issued following an investigation by labor authorities into the reasons for employing foreign nationals in Poland.

There are several types of work permits, depending on the position the employee would take or the employer's location (in Poland or abroad).

As a rule, a work permit is issued if no Polish candidates suitable for the given work post can be found in the domestic market (in the case of a type A work permit), which is called the "labor market test" (test rynku pracy).

However, the local labor market test requirement is not necessary in the case of all work permits (e.g., in the case of a work permit granted due to secondment to an affiliated entity, type C, there is no need to go through the labor market test).

Commencing work in Poland without a work permit is strictly prohibited and may result in financial sanctions imposed on the individual concerned and the hosting entity employing the individual.

A work permit is applied for and issued to an employer as permission to employ a specific, named, non-EU citizen, for a specific job and for a specific period of time. Moreover, if a foreign national performs work in various positions at the same employer, a work permit for each position is needed.

In the case of a type A work permit, the employer who wants to employ a non-EU citizen must attempt to fill the vacancy with a Polish national. To do so, the employer is obliged to make an announcement on the free vacancy with the labor agency, i.e., the district labor office responsible for the place in which the work is to be performed.

If there are no available Polish citizens suitable for the position, the labor office issues an appropriate confirmation to the employer in writing (the labor market test).

Once the employer obtains confirmation from the district labor office, it submits an application for a work permit for a foreign national, attaching the received confirmation to the local immigration authority (the immigration section of the voivodeship office).

In the work permit application, the employer is obliged to provide documentation regarding its entity, the foreign national's personal details, the details of the passport document and, if needed, information on the foreign national's qualifications and professional experience.

Furthermore, the employer must specify the proposed post in Poland, the intended period of employment and the legal basis of employment (e.g., employment agreement, service agreement). All documents submitted to the Polish immigration authorities must be in Polish. Documents such as the foreign national's certificates and diplomas will have to be translated into Polish by a sworn translator.

After submitting the application form, the voivode examines the application in view of the local labor market situation, taking into consideration the confirmation from the district labor office.

If the confirmation from the district labor office shows that there are no Polish candidates on the local labor market that fulfill the employer's criteria and the application fulfills all the formal requirements, the voivode will issue the work permit.

According to the legal rules, the work permit may be granted for a period not exceeding three years. However, in practice, the voivode issues the first work permit for a maximum period of one year, after which it may be extended multiple times for longer periods.

The work permit document is issued in triplicate, one copy for the employer, one for the employee and one for the voivode office.

After obtaining the work permit, the employer must deliver it to the non-EU citizen so that they may submit it when applying for the work visa. Based on the work permit, the consulate authorities may issue the work visa (i.e., a visa granted for the purposes of performing work).

A national visa for the purposes of performing work may be issued to a non-EU citizen who presents a permit to work in Poland or a statement on entrusting work, where possible. This type of visa is issued by the consul responsible for the foreign national's place of permanent residence. It can be issued for the period of stay corresponding to the period indicated on the work permit or a statement on entrusting work.

Where a non-EU citizen intends to stay in Poland for longer than the period of stay provided by the visa, it is possible to apply for a temporary residence permit in Poland. That document can be issued for a maximum period of three years but no longer than the validity period of the work permit. When staying abroad, an application for a temporary residence permit should be filed via the consular office. If the foreign national is in Poland, the application for that permit is filed with the Department of Citizen's Affairs at the voivodeship office.

In May 2014, new provisions came into force that allow foreign nationals to apply for an integrated permit for residence and work. This new procedure includes the requirements of the separate work and residence permit procedures, with the difference being that it is mainly conducted by the foreign national (in cooperation with the employer). Previously, it was the employer's sole responsibility to obtain the work permit, which is issued in one document.

After completing all of the formalities, the employer signs an agreement with the non-EU citizen for the time specified in the work permit (or the integrated permit for residence and work). The contract should strictly reflect the conditions in the permit in regard to time, place of work and position. Change of workplace requires immediate notification to the voivode.

If a citizen of Ukraine arrived legally from Ukraine to Poland after 24 February 2022 in connection with war hostilities taking place in Ukraine and declares the intention to stay in Poland, their residence is considered legal until 30 June 2024 under the Act of 12 March 2022 on supporting Ukrainian citizens due to war in Ukraine. The same rule applies to a spouse of a Ukrainian citizen if they do not have a Polish or other EU member state citizenship.

All citizens of Ukraine whose stay in Poland is legal are entitled to legally work in Poland.

In the case of Ukrainian citizens benefiting from the special status under the Act of 12 March 2022 on supporting Ukrainian citizens due to war in Ukraine, the condition for legal work is the employer notifying this fact to the district labor office responsible for its registered office within 14 days from the date that the foreigner commences work. The obligation to notify the district labor office does not apply to the employment of a Ukrainian citizen who legally performs work in Poland on a different basis, e.g., based on a work permit or an appropriate temporary residence permit, or they have the right to work in Poland due to their residence status (e.g., they have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection, or have received permanent residence, long-term residence, a residence permit for humanitarian reasons or a tolerated residence permit).

According to Polish law, there are four kinds of social security contributions that an employer and employee are obliged to pay in connection with an employment agreement. Furthermore, depending on the employer's headcount, an employee may fall by default under the PPK (Employee Capital Plan — a pension program) unless they opted out within a specific time frame.

With regard to the payment of social contributions for non-EU citizens, Polish law generally states that the duty arises in the country in which the person is employed and where the work is being performed (the lex loci laboris principle).

This means that the employer employing a foreign worker (as an employee or a service provider) in Poland is subject to Polish social security laws and not the social security laws of the country in which the employing entity might be located or of which the foreign worker is a citizen. The effect of this is that a foreign employer that does not have its place of business in Poland is, in principle, obliged to register with the Social Security Agency and pay all the required social security contributions for any worker employed in Poland. There are several exceptions to the above rule, such as employees who were seconded by their employers (provided they have permanent residence abroad) to perform work in Poland for a specified period of time or nationals of countries that are parties to international agreements, recommendations, conventions and provisions binding on Poland in the scope of social contributions regulations.

EU law also stipulates that social security contributions are paid in principle in the country where work is performed.