Changes in the employment of foreigners

Reducing Formalities

At the end of February, the Sejm adopted the Act on the Conditions for Permitting Employment of Foreigners. The new regulation, being part of the so-called milestones of the National Recovery Plan, aims to streamline the process of hiring foreign workers in Poland and reduce abuses in the employment of citizens from outside the European Union. After a heated debate (including a motion to reject the bill entirely), the Sejm passed the act and forwarded it to the Senate for further work.
The new law will reduce the formalities related to applying for a work permit for a foreigner. Among other things, the obligation to conduct the so-called labour market test before hiring a foreigner will be abolished — according to the drafters, the current procedure is ineffective and unnecessarily burdens local authorities. Instead, a reverse model has been proposed — the county governor (starosta) will only be able to define a list of occupations and types of work for which work permits will not be issued to foreigners intending to work in a given county. As stated in the justification for the bill, such lists are to be established in the event of significant deterioration in local labour market conditions. The assessment will consider, in particular, the scale of local mass layoffs and the number of registered unemployed job seekers in specific professions relative to the number of job offers reported to county labour offices.

Grounds for Refusing a Work Permit

The draft bill also includes an expanded list of grounds requiring mandatory refusal to issue a work permit. Under the new regulation, the voivode will also be obliged to refuse a work permit if the authority has information suggesting that the probable purpose of obtaining the permit is a fictitious assignment of work to a foreigner or that the foreigner will not actually perform work in Poland under the conditions specified in the permit. Until now, the voivode was not always required to refuse the permit in such cases. Due to the vague concept of “fictitious assignment of work to a foreigner,” the drafters have prepared a set of criteria that the deciding authority should consider when reviewing applications.
Penalties for illegally employing foreigners have also been increased. Under the proposed changes, for example, employing a foreigner who is illegally staying in Poland may result in a fine ranging from PLN 3,000 to PLN 50,000 (currently PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000). As explained in the justification for the bill, the increase in penalties is intended to combat the deliberate decision to employ foreigners in violation of the law while treating such actions as an acceptable financial risk. Time will tell whether higher fines will reduce illegal employment.

Electronic Work Permit Procedure

A fully electronic procedure for issuing work permits to foreigners will be introduced — from submitting the application to receiving the final decision. This is expected to shorten the processing time and streamline the entire procedure. Moreover, appeal proceedings will also be handled electronically. IT systems will also be used to monitor the use of permits and declarations concerning foreign employment. Full digitalisation is expected within two years of the law’s publication.
The new law introduces significant changes to the employment of foreigners, aimed at simplifying procedures, increasing oversight, and reducing abuse. These new regulations may contribute to more effective labour market management while strengthening protection against illegal employment. The bill is now awaiting further debate in the Senate, which will determine its final form.

If you have any questions regarding the employment of non-EU workers, please feel free to contact our Law Firm.