Posting of workers from Ukraine to Poland

by Agnieszka Boncławek

2 March 2022

People from Ukraine can work in Poland if their stay is legal and if they hold a relevant work permit. Facing the ongoing war in Ukraine and the influx of Ukrainian workers to Poland, below you will find some solutions that may be considered by Ukrainian employers so that their employees can work for them from Poland.

Foreign employers may post their employees to Poland. To do this, it is necessary to obtain one of the three types of work permit:

• Type C for a foreigner who works for a foreign employer and is posted to Poland for more than 30 days in a calendar year to a branch office or an establishment a foreign entity or an associated enterprise;
• Type D for a foreigner who works for a foreign employer that does not have a branch office, an establishment or another organised form of business in Poland, and is posted to Poland to perform temporary and occasional services;
• Type E for a foreigner who works for a foreign employer and is posted to Poland for more than 30 days in a calendar year within 6 consecutive months for purposes other than specified in types C and D.

All applications have the following in common:

• they are submitted to the Provincial Office competent for the place of work of a foreigner;
• application is submitted by the employer posting the worker to Poland;
• it is issued for the period of posting, however for no longer than 3 years (it may be extended);
• the application can be submitted online via the praca.gov.pl portal, on paper or in person.

In any case, the application must be accompanied by:

• a statement of clean criminal record of the posting employer or a person acting on its behalf;
• a document from a relevant register confirming the legal status and form or nature of business conducted by the posting employer;
• copies of all non-empty pages of a valid travel document of a foreigner;
• proof of payment of the application fee;
• documents confirming corporate links between the posting employer and the entity in Poland, to which the foreigner is posted;
• a posting letter confirming the fact of posting, period, remuneration and position;
• documents confirming the fulfilment of qualification requirements and other conditions if the foreigner is to work in a regulated profession.

The application must be accompanied by documents confirming corporate links between the posting employer and the hosting entity in Poland.

Costs of permits:
PLN 50 – permit for maximum 3 months
PLN 100 – permit for more than 3 months

PLN 200 – fee for a work permit

PLN 50 – permit for maximum 3 months
PLN 100 – permit for more than 3 months
 

An application for a type E work permit does not need to be submitted if the foreigner is posted to Poland for no more than 3 months during a calendar year for one or more of the following purposes:

• assembly, maintenance or repair of supplied devices, structures, machines or other equipment, if manufactured by the posting employer;
• acceptance of ordered devices, machines, structures or other equipment manufactured by a Polish enterprise;
• training of employees of a Polish company which is the recipient of the devices, structures, machines or other equipment, with respect to their operation or use;
• assembly and disassembly of exhibition stands, caring for them if the exhibitor is a posting foreign employer.

The usual waiting time for a work permit is from 30 to 60 days, but it may be longer in some Provincial Offices.

Please note that the above note is informative only and valid as of 1 March 2022. Work is underway to regulate the situation of tens of thousands of refugees and to facilitate their lawful work in Poland by means of systemic measures.