Poland Employment Guide: Contracts, Leave and Ending Employment

Summary:

• The employment contract must be in writing before the employee starts, and the employer must give written information on working conditions within 7 days.
• A trial period lasts up to 3 months, and fixed-term contracts are limited to 33 months and three contracts.
• Employees get 20 or 26 days of annual leave, depending on seniority, and 14 public holidays, including Christmas Eve since 2025.
• An employer that gives notice must state a genuine reason in writing. Notice runs from 2 weeks to 3 months.
• A new definition of mobbing applies from 5 November 2026, and employers with 10 or more employees must adopt written anti-mobbing rules by 5 May 2027.

Polish employment law is set mainly by the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy), last consolidated in September 2026, and by separate acts on collective redundancies, whistleblowers and foreign workers. Changes in 2025 and 2026 brought pay transparency in recruitment, new seniority rules, stronger powers for the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) and a new definition of mobbing. This guide follows the employee lifecycle and covers employment law only. Employer costs, social security (ZUS) and income tax are covered on our Poland employer of record and payroll pages.

Hiring in Poland follows five steps: decide who will be the legal employer, confirm the right to work, sign a written contract before the first day, arrange the pre-employment medical exam and health and safety training, and report the employee to social security within 7 days. Candidates from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland also need a work permit or another legal basis to work.

1. Decide who will be the legal employer. A company can employ through its own Polish entity, usually a limited liability company (sp. z o.o.), or hire through an employer of record in Poland, which becomes the legal employer while the client directs the day-to-day work.
2. Confirm the right to work. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work in Poland without a permit. Other candidates need a work permit, a registered declaration or another legal basis (see the section on work permits below), and the employer must see a valid residence document before the work starts.
3. Sign the contract and give the written information. The contract must be in writing before the employee starts work, and details of working time, leave and termination rules must follow within 7 days.
4. Arrange the medical exam and safety training. The employer refers the new hire for a pre-employment medical exam at its own cost and cannot let them start without a certificate confirming they are fit for the job. Initial health and safety (BHP) training must also take place before the first working day. For office roles performed remotely, it can be done entirely online.
5. Report the hire and set up payroll. The employee must be registered with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) within 7 days of starting. Contributions, income tax and the PPK pension scheme are explained on our Poland payroll page.

The employer must also keep a personnel file (akta osobowe) for each employee, in five parts: recruitment and medical documents (A), the course of employment (B), termination (C), disciplinary penalties (D) and sobriety checks (E). It can be kept on paper or electronically, generally for 10 years after the end of the year in which employment ends.

The Labour Code limits the personal data an employer can request from a candidate to name, date of birth, contact details, education, qualifications and work history, and the last three only where the job requires them. Since 24 December 2025, employers must also give candidates the pay or pay range for the role and cannot ask about their current or past pay.

After hiring, the employer can also ask for the employee’s address, PESEL number and bank account. Other data can only be requested where a law requires it, so a criminal record certificate can only be requested for roles where a specific statute calls for one. Consent only justifies processing sensitive data, such as health information, where the candidate offers it on their own initiative.

An employer can introduce sobriety checks where this is necessary to protect people or property. The checks must be set out in the collective agreement, the work regulations or a notice to staff, announced at least 2 weeks in advance and explained to each new hire before their first day. Similar rules apply to drug checks.

Candidates and employees must be treated equally in recruitment, employment conditions, promotion, training and termination, regardless of sex, age, disability, race, religion, nationality, political opinion, trade union membership, ethnic origin, belief, sexual orientation, or whether they work full-time or part-time, on a fixed-term or open-ended contract. From 5 November 2026, the Code also covers discrimination by assumption and by association, and once an employee makes a breach plausible, the employer must prove there was none.

Under the Act of 4 June 2025, in force since 24 December 2025, a candidate must receive the starting pay or pay range for the role, based on objective and gender-neutral criteria, together with any relevant provisions of a collective agreement or pay regulations. The information goes in the job advertisement or, failing that, is given before the interview or before the contract is signed. Employers cannot ask candidates about their pay in current or previous jobs, and job advertisements and job titles must be gender-neutral.

These rules cover only part of Directive (EU) 2023/970. The rest, including pay gap reporting and employees’ right to request pay information, needs further legislation that Poland had not passed at the time of writing (November 2026). Our article on European pay transparency sets out what the Directive requires.

A Polish employment contract must be in writing and state the parties, the type of contract, the type and place of work, pay with its components, working time and the start date. The employer then has 7 days to give written information on working hours, breaks, leave, notice and other conditions. The Labour Code allows three types of contract: trial period, fixed-term and open-ended.

Under Article 29, if the contract was not signed in writing, the employer must confirm its terms in writing before the employee starts work. Trial and fixed-term contracts must also state their length. Within 7 days of the start date, the employer must inform the employee, on paper or electronically, about:

• Daily and weekly working time and working hours
• Breaks and daily and weekly rest
• Overtime rules and how overtime is compensated
• Pay components and benefits not set out in the contract
• Paid leave entitlement
• Termination rules, including notice periods and the deadline to appeal to the labour court
• Training, if the employer provides it, and any collective agreement that applies

Within 30 days, the employer must also name the social security institution that receives contributions. The information can refer to the relevant legal provisions and can be sent electronically if the employer keeps proof of delivery. Any later change to the contract terms must be in writing.

A trial contract ends automatically when its term expires, unless the parties sign a further contract. Where the type of work justifies it, the parties can extend the 1-month and 2-month limits once, by up to 1 month. They can also agree that the trial is extended by any leave or other justified absence. A new trial contract with the same employee is only allowed for a different type of work.

Fixed-term employment between the same parties cannot exceed 33 months in total or three contracts. From the day after the 33 months end, or from the signing of a fourth contract, the employee is treated as employed on an open-ended contract. Agreeing to extend a fixed-term contract counts as signing a new one.

The limits do not apply to contracts to replace an absent employee, for casual or seasonal work, for a term of office, or where the employer has objective reasons for a genuine temporary need. The contract must state the purpose or reason, and in the last case the employer must notify the district labour inspector within 5 working days. Fixed-term contracts have the same notice periods as open-ended ones, and the employer must give a reason when it ends one with notice. A fixed-term or trial contract of more than one month that would end after the third month of pregnancy is extended until the birth, unless it was signed to replace an absent employee.

Under Article 22, work done under the employer’s direction, at a place and time the employer sets, for pay, is employment whatever the contract is called, and a civil-law contract cannot replace an employment contract in those conditions. Since 8 July 2026, a labour inspector can order an employer to correct a civil-law or B2B arrangement that has the features of employment and, if the order is ignored, declare by decision that an employment relationship exists, subject to appeal to the labour court. Our article on employment contracts versus B2B in Poland compares the options.

A non-compete during employment needs a separate agreement. A non-compete after employment ends is only allowed with an employee who has had access to particularly important information. The agreement must be in writing and set the length of the ban and the compensation, which cannot be less than 25% of the pay the employee received before leaving, for a period equal to the ban.

Working time is limited to 8 hours a day and an average of 40 hours a week in a five-day week, averaged over a settlement period of up to 4 months, or 12 months in justified cases. Overtime is capped at 150 hours a year unless internal rules set another limit. Remote work must be agreed, and the employer covers its costs.

Working time, including overtime, cannot exceed an average of 48 hours a week in the settlement period. The employer must give each employee their schedule at least one week before the period it covers. Every public holiday that falls on a day other than Sunday reduces working time by 8 hours, so a holiday on a Saturday gives employees another day off in the same settlement period.

Overtime is only allowed for rescue work or emergency repairs, or for the employer’s particular needs. Overtime for particular needs is limited to 150 hours per employee in a calendar year, although the collective agreement, the work regulations or the employment contract can set a different limit. Managers who run the workplace on the employer’s behalf work beyond normal hours when needed without overtime pay.

• At least 11 consecutive hours of rest in every 24 hours
• At least 35 consecutive hours of rest each week, normally including Sunday
• Night time covers 8 hours between 9pm and 7am, set by the employer
• A night worker on particularly dangerous or strenuous work cannot work more than 8 hours a day

The employer must keep a working time record for each employee so that pay and other benefits are calculated correctly, and must show it to the employee on request. Hours are not recorded for employees on task-based working time, managers who run the workplace or employees paid a flat rate for overtime or night work.

Remote work can be full or partial, at a place the employee proposes and the employer agrees, and can be agreed when the contract is signed or later. An employer can only order it during a state of emergency or epidemic, or when force majeure prevents safe conditions at the usual workplace.

• Requests the employer must grant: from pregnant employees, parents of children up to 4 years old and employees caring for a family member with a disability, unless the work organisation or type of work makes remote work impossible. A refusal must be explained in writing within 7 working days.
• Return to the office: if remote work was agreed during employment, either side can request a return to the previous arrangement, which takes effect within 30 days.
• Costs and equipment: the employer provides the equipment, covers installation, maintenance, electricity and telecoms costs, and provides training and technical support. A lump sum can replace these costs.
• Health and safety: the employer prepares a risk assessment and safety information, and the employee confirms in writing that their remote workstation is safe before starting.
• Occasional remote work: an employee can ask to work remotely up to 24 days a year without a full remote work arrangement.

An employee raising a child under 8 can request a flexible working arrangement, such as remote work, a flexible schedule, a different working time system or reduced hours, at least 21 days in advance. The employer must reply in writing within 7 days. A request cannot be a reason for dismissal.

Employees in Poland get 20 days of paid annual leave, or 26 days once their seniority reaches 10 years, and 14 public holidays. Seniority includes education and, since 2026, periods of self-employment and civil-law contract work. Family leave is set by statute and includes 20 weeks of maternity leave, 2 weeks of paternity leave and 41 weeks of shared parental leave.

Seniority for annual leave counts all previous employment, not only time with the current employer, and completed education counts too: up to 8 years for a university degree, 4 for a general secondary school and up to 5 for a vocational secondary school, without adding them together. Under the Act of 26 September 2025, periods of self-employment for which contributions were paid, work under mandate or agency contracts, and documented work abroad also count. The change applies to private employers from 1 May 2026, and employees have 24 months to document earlier periods with a ZUS certificate.

In their first job, employees earn 1/12 of the annual entitlement for each month worked in the first calendar year. Leave should be taken in the year it is earned, and any unused leave must be granted by 30 September of the following year. At the employee’s request, leave can be split, but one part must last at least 14 consecutive calendar days. Employees can take up to 4 days a year on demand, notifying the employer at the latest on the day itself.

Poland has 14 public holidays. Christmas Eve was added from 2025. In 2027, Labour Day (1 May) and Christmas Day (25 December) fall on a Saturday, so employees on a Monday to Friday schedule get another day off for each of them.

Sickness is a justified absence. The employer pays sick pay for the first period of sickness in a calendar year, and ZUS pays sickness benefit after that; both are covered on our Poland payroll page.

Polish employers can only apply the penalties listed in the Labour Code: a warning, a reprimand and, for certain breaches, a fine. A penalty must follow a hearing with the employee and be imposed within 2 weeks of learning of the breach. Serious breaches can justify dismissal without notice. From 5 November 2026, employers also face a new definition of mobbing and new duties to prevent it.

Article 108 allows a warning or a reprimand for breaches of work organisation and order, health and safety or fire rules, or the rules on confirming attendance and justifying absence. A fine is also allowed for breaches of health and safety or fire rules, leaving work without justification, coming to work under the influence of alcohol or drinking at work, and unjustified absence. The Code sets limits:

• A fine for one breach, or for each day of unjustified absence, cannot exceed one day’s pay.
• Total fines cannot exceed one-tenth of the pay due after deductions, and the money goes to health and safety improvements.
• A penalty cannot be imposed more than 2 weeks after the employer learned of the breach or more than 3 months after it happened, and only after hearing the employee.
• The employee can object within 7 days. If the employer does not reject the objection within 14 days, it is accepted, and a rejected objection can go to the labour court within 14 days.
• A penalty is treated as never imposed, and removed from the file, after a year of good conduct.

The Act of 19 June 2026 replaces the definition of mobbing. Mobbing now means persistent harassment of an employee, which is harassment that is repeated, recurring or constant. Examples include humiliation, intimidation, unjustified criticism, undermining the employee’s professional standing, obstructing their work and isolating them from the team. Incidental behaviour is not mobbing, and neither is justified criticism of work expressed in an appropriate way. Behaviour counts as mobbing even if harassment was not its purpose, whoever it comes from. An employee who suffered mobbing can claim compensation of at least six times the monthly minimum wage.

Employers must prevent mobbing and discrimination systematically, through prevention, detection, response and support for those affected. Employers with at least 10 employees must set rules, procedures and the frequency of these actions in the work regulations or in separate regulations agreed with the trade unions or, where there are none, with employee representatives. Existing employers have 6 months, until 5 May 2027, to adopt them.

Employers with at least 50 employees must issue work regulations (regulamin pracy) unless a collective agreement covers the same ground, and employers with 20 to 49 employees must do so if a trade union asks.

Under the Act of 14 June 2024, organisations with at least 50 people doing paid work for them on 1 January or 1 July must have an internal whistleblowing procedure. People on civil-law contracts count towards the threshold, and the procedure is adopted after consulting the trade unions or employee representatives. It must confirm receipt of a report within 7 days and give feedback within 3 months. Candidates must be told about the procedure when recruitment starts.

Polish law has no separate procedure for underperformance. Poor performance can justify termination with notice if the reason is real and specific, and the employer must state it in the notice. Written goals and documented reviews help if the dismissal is challenged. Dismissal without notice is only available for a serious breach of basic duties, not for poor results alone.

An employment contract in Poland ends by agreement, by notice, without notice or when a fixed term expires. When the employer gives notice on an open-ended or fixed-term contract, it must state a genuine reason in writing, tell the employee about their right to appeal and consult any trade union that represents them. Notice runs from 2 weeks to 3 months, depending on length of service.

Under Article 30, a notice of termination must be in writing. The employer’s notice must state the reason and tell the employee that they can appeal to the labour court. Before giving notice, the employer informs any trade union that represents the employee, on paper or electronically, and the union has 5 days to raise reasoned objections. The employer then decides.

The minimum notice period depends on the employee’s service with the employer. A notice period counted in weeks ends on a Saturday, and one counted in months ends on the last day of a month.

Where the reason is bankruptcy, liquidation or another reason not related to the employee, the employer can shorten a 3-month notice period to 1 month and pay compensation for the rest. Changing the contract terms without the employee’s agreement requires a notice of change, and the contract ends if the employee refuses the new terms.

• Pregnancy and family leave: during pregnancy and maternity leave, and from the request for paternity or parental leave until it ends, the employer cannot prepare or carry out a dismissal. The only exceptions are bankruptcy or liquidation, or dismissal for serious fault with the agreement of the trade union.
• Before retirement: an employer cannot give notice to an employee who is no more than 4 years from retirement age if their service will entitle them to a pension.
• During absence: notice cannot be given during annual leave or another justified absence.

Under Article 52, an employer can end the contract immediately for a serious breach of basic duties, an obvious or proven crime that makes continued employment impossible, or the loss of a licence needed for the job through the employee’s fault. This must happen within 1 month of the employer learning of the circumstances, after informing the trade union, which has 3 days to give its opinion. The employer can also end it without notice after a long sickness absence. An employee can end the contract without notice if the employer seriously breaches its basic duties towards them, and is then entitled to compensation equal to pay for the notice period.

The Act of 13 March 2003 applies to employers with at least 20 employees. A collective redundancy covers at least 10 employees at an employer with fewer than 100, 10% of the workforce at an employer with 100 to 299, or 30 employees at an employer with 300 or more, within 30 days.

• The employer consults the trade unions, giving written information on the reasons, the numbers, the selection criteria and the timing.
• An agreement must be reached within 20 days, or the employer sets the rules itself.
• The employer notifies the county labour office, and contracts can end no earlier than 30 days after that notification.
• Each employee receives severance of 1 month’s pay with less than 2 years of service, 2 months’ pay with 2 to 8 years, and 3 months’ pay with more than 8 years, capped at 15 times the minimum wage.

The same severance applies when an employer with at least 20 employees dismisses fewer people than the collective thresholds, if reasons not related to the employee are the only reason for the dismissal.

An employee who resigns gives the same notice as the employer, and the parties can end the contract by mutual agreement at any time. On the last day of employment, the employer must give the employee an employment certificate (świadectwo pracy) recording the periods and type of work and how the employment ended. The employee can ask for a correction within 14 days.

An employee has 21 days from receiving the notice or the termination to appeal to the labour court. If notice was unjustified or breached the rules, the court can declare it ineffective, order reinstatement or award compensation of 2 weeks’ to 3 months’ pay, and never less than pay for the notice period. A reinstated employee receives up to 2 months’ pay for the time out of work, or full pay if protected. For an unlawful dismissal without notice, the employee can claim reinstatement or compensation equal to pay for the notice period.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work in Poland without a permit. Most other nationals need a work permit issued by the voivode, a temporary residence and work permit, or an EU Blue Card. Citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine can instead work on a declaration registered with the county labour office for up to 24 months.

The Act of 20 March 2025, in force since 1 June 2025, replaced the previous rules on employing foreigners. Applications for a work permit and declarations can only be filed online. Since 22 August 2026, citizens of Colombia, Georgia and Venezuela cannot work on a work permit while staying in Poland without a visa. Our article on Schengen work permits for non-EU hires explains how permits compare across Europe.

Before the work starts, the employer must sign a written contract with the foreign employee. If the contract is in Polish and the employee does not speak Polish, the employer must give them a written version in a language they understand before they sign. The employer must also check a valid residence document and keep a copy for the whole period of employment.

A work permit holder’s contract must match the permit, and a copy in Polish must be sent to the issuing authority before the work starts. The employer must also notify the authority if the employee does not start within 2 months of the permit’s start date, stops working for more than 2 months, or finishes more than 2 months before the permit expires.

Sources

• Labour Code, consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245
• Act of 19 June 2026 amending the Labour Code (mobbing and equal treatment), Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1046
• Act of 11 March 2026 amending the National Labour Inspectorate Act, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 473
• Act of 26 September 2025 amending the Labour Code (periods counted as employment), Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1423
• Act of 4 June 2025 amending the Labour Code (pay information in recruitment), Dz.U. 2025 poz. 807
• Act of 13 March 2003 on terminating employment for reasons not related to employees, consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1195
• Act on public holidays, consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 296
• Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers, Dz.U. 2024 poz. 928
• Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for employing foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621
• Regulation of 21 November 2025 on the countries covered by work declarations, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1617
• Act on Foreigners, consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1079
• Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency