On 10 April 2025, the President of the Republic of Poland signed the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for the admissibility of entrusting work to foreigners on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The Act in question introduces significant changes concerning the conditions of employment of the foreigners in Poland.
1. New Act
The issue of organising and adapting the provisions concerning the rules of employing foreigners in Poland to current social and economic conditions has been the subject of political discussion for a long time. In this context, at the beginning of this year, intensive work began on the government’s draft act on the conditions for the admissibility of entrusting work to foreigners in the territory of the Republic of Poland. The Act was finally adopted on 20 March 2025. On the other hand, the President signed it on 10 April 2025. The Act will enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiry of 14 days from the date of promulgation.
2. Purpose of the new provisions
The existing regulation of issues related to the employment of foreigners didn’t take into account the current socioeconomic situation. The new provisions are intended to correspond to the current conditions. The legislator not only rearranged the existing legal institutions, but also modified them accordingly and introduced new solutions. It results from the explanatory memorandum to the draft act that its creators were guided by the intention to limit the abuses that occur, to improve procedures related to entrusting work to foreigners, to reduce the backlog of cases handled by offices and to dematerialize proceedings.
3. Scope of the Act
According to Article 1(1 and 3) of the Act, it specifies the conditions for foreigners’ access to the labour market, the competent authorities and the procedure for dealing with such matters, as well as activities in the field of professional activation and social integration of foreigners financed from the Labour Fund. Thus, the scope of the Act is very broad. However, there are many issues that the new regulation doesn’t concern. These include the rules for the entry and stay of foreigners in Poland in relations to the performance of work, as well as the consequences of entrusting work to a foreigner staying illegally in the territory of the Republic of Poland. The Act only partially regulates penalties for offences related to this. The Act won’t apply to:
- work of a foreigner who is an entrepreneur registered in CEIDG, performed on the basis of a civil-law contract in the framework of his/her economic activity;
- the performance of functions by members of diplomatic missions and consular posts of foreign countries, as well as other persons equal to them on the basis of the Acts, agreements or generally recognised international customs;
- voluntary services performed in accordance with the principles set out in the Act of 24 April 2003 on public benefit activity and voluntary work (i.e. Official Journal of 2024, item 1491, as amended);
- the performance of tasks as part of an internship by a foreigner who stays in the territory of the Republic of Poland on the basis of a visa issued for the purpose of the internship or who holds a temporary residence permit for a trainee;
- occasional, incidental performance of activities unrelated to the labour market and the economy of the Republic of Poland for a foreign entity by a foreigner who stays in Poland for a purpose other than the performance of these activities, in particular if these activities aren’t aimed at providing services by the foreign entity from or in the territory of the Republic of Poland and their performance isn’t organised directly or indirectly by the foreign entity;
- entrusting work to citizens of EU Member States or Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – parties to the agreement on the European Economic Area, as well as to citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and their family members.
4. Legal notice
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