Posting of workers from third countries

Obligations of employers posting workers from non-EU countries

Employers posting workers established in third countries must comply with:

• all provisions on the posting of workers to the territory of Poland
• provisions on the legality of employment of foreigners in Poland.

A third country is a country other than a Member State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

Due to the termination of UK membership in the European Union (Brexit), Great Britain has become a third country as of 1 January 2021.

See:

• what rules are applicable to the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services
• what work permit a posted foreigner should have.

A foreign employer established in a third country posting a worker to the territory of Poland must designate a person residing in the territory of Poland who holds documents confirming that the obligations imposed on the entity posting the worker have been fulfilled and who acts on the employer’s behalf and is authorised to represent that employer before, inter alia, the State Labour Inspection authorities.

Such a person should reside in Poland and his or her details should be included in a declaration on the posting of a worker to the territory of Poland submitted to the State Labour Inspection.

Important! A foreign employer established in a third country does not need to designate a person responsible for contacts between that employer and the State Labour Inspection authorities.

Work permits for foreigners posted to the territory of Poland

Foreigners from outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland posted to Poland must have a type C, D or E work permit.

A type C work permit should have a third-country national temporarily posted to the territory of Poland by an undertaking established in a country other than a Member State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area and Switzerland for a period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year to a branch or establishment of the foreign undertaking or an entity affiliated with the foreign employer

A type D work permit should be obtained by a third-country national posted to the territory of Poland to perform services on a temporary and occasional basis, i.e. export services.

A type E work permit should be obtained by a third-country national posted to the territory of Poland for a period exceeding 30 days during a consecutive period of 6 months, for a purpose other than those indicated for type C and D permits.

When a work permit is not needed

An employer posting a worker does not need to apply for a work permit for a foreigner who has a permanent place of residence abroad and is posted to Poland for a period not exceeding 3 months in a calendar year to:

• assemble, maintain or repair devices, structures, machinery or other equipment delivered if they have been manufactured by the foreign employer posting the worker
• accept ordered devices, machinery, structures or other equipment manufactured by a Polish undertaking
• train workers employed by a Polish employer who is the recipient of devices, structures, machinery or other equipment on maintenance or use
• assemble and dismantle fair stands and take care of them if the exhibitor is a foreign employer posting a foreigner to the territory of Poland for these purposes.

Remuneration for foreigners posted from third countries

The amount of remuneration due to a foreigner posted to the territory of Poland for work cannot be lower by more than 30% from the average monthly remuneration in the province published by the President of Statistics Poland (Główny Urząd Statystyczny) applicable on the date of the submission of an application for a work permit.

The remuneration for a foreigner who is posted in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer as a manager, specialist or trainee employee and resides in Poland on the basis of a temporary residence permit granted for the purpose of carrying out work in the host entity established in the territory of Poland must:

• be higher than the income threshold for cash social assistance determined for a foreigner and every dependent family member
• not be lower than the remuneration for workers who carry out similar work or work in a similar position for the same number of working hours in the territory of Poland
• not be lower than 70% of the average gross monthly remuneration in the national economy in the province in which the host entity is established, in the year preceding the submission of an application for a permit, published by the President of Statistics Poland.

Posting of workers by temporary employment agencies from third countries

Temporary employment agencies or placement agencies established in third countries cannot post temporary agency workers to Poland.

If a foreigner is to carry out work to perform a contract for the provision or hiring-out of workers by an agency established in a country other than a Member State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation, the provincial governor issues a work permit if the entity assigning work to the foreigner carries out business activities in the territory of Poland through a branch that has been entered in the register of entities running employment agencies.

Therefore, the employer of the third-country national assigned to a Polish user employer will be the Polish branch of the foreign employment agency. In this situation, we are not dealing with the posting of a worker in the framework of the provision of services.

In order for a foreigner to legally work in the territory of Poland, including in the framework of posting, that foreigner must legally cross the Polish border and legally reside in Poland. In order to meet this condition, that person must have a relevant residence title (e.g. a visa). The residence title must authorise the foreigner to work in the territory of Poland (a visa from a negative list of visas, e.g. a tourist visa, does not authorise foreigners to do this).