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Employers Call for Streamlining Work Permit Issuance for Foreigners. New Regulations Will Only Partially Help

CAREERSEmployers Call for Streamlining Work Permit Issuance for Foreigners. New Regulations Will Only Partially Help

The draft bill on the conditions for allowing foreign workers to work in Poland was adopted by the government in December and has already been sent to the Sejm. The new regulations introduce full electronic procedures for applying for and issuing work permits, while eliminating the labor market test. However, this does not necessarily mean a greater openness to foreign workers. “This is not a qualitative change but at best an attempt to fix an overloaded system,” says Dr. MichaƂ Szypniewski from the BKB Baran KsiÄ…ĆŒek Bigaj law firm.

The current system has been criticized for its complex procedures, delays in processing applications, and inadequate control over employment conditions. According to the justification for the new regulations, which were sent to the Sejm in recent weeks, the proposed bill addresses these challenges—aiming to make it easier to hire foreigners and reduce bureaucracy.

“The government’s draft bill on assigning work to foreigners introduces several changes to the employment of foreigners, for which employers should prepare. The most important of these is the abolition of the labor market test. It was often a formality anyway, so removing this requirement seems to be a good move. However, it is not a game-changer, as in many cases, the law already provided exemptions from this obligation,” Dr. MichaƂ Szypniewski explains in an interview with Newseria.

Currently, obtaining a work permit typically requires conducting a so-called labor market test to verify if there are no suitable candidates among the unemployed registered at the labor office for the position. Exemptions from this requirement apply to individuals who are to work in occupations considered to be in shortage. The recently adopted government amendment eliminates this obligation as unnecessary given the low unemployment rate. This is expected to speed up the work permit process.

“Another important change is the full electronicization of the procedures related to foreign access to the Polish labor market. It seems that this will shorten and simplify the procedures for issuing work permits. There is a chance that it will operate more efficiently,” the lawyer comments.

The proposed law’s electronicization and the introduction of new functionalities in the systems used to verify work permit issuance are intended to increase the speed and effectiveness of administrative procedures. These changes will be supported by the creation of an employment contract register. After the law comes into effect, employers will need to send a copy of the contract with the foreigner to the authority issuing the work permit. This will help regional offices conduct administrative procedures regarding the legalization of foreigners’ stay in Poland.

According to the Supreme Audit Office, in some regional offices, the average processing time for a temporary residence permit application between 2018 and 2022 exceeded one year, with the record-holder waiting over seven years.

“There is a chance that full electronicization of the work permit procedure—from submitting applications to receiving decisions—will shorten timelines and streamline the process. Even possible appeal procedures will be handled electronically. Of course, the systems are not yet fully ready, but the ministries assure that work is ongoing,” Dr. MichaƂ Szypniewski adds. “Full digitalization could allow for better resource management at labor offices, which has often been highlighted as a key issue in hiring foreigners.”

The proposed regulations also introduce conveniences for foreigners, such as the possibility of implementing integration programs, including help with learning the Polish language. District labor offices will create specialized points to support foreigners in the labor market.

“We can consider whether and how the proposed regulations will impact companies’ openness to foreign workers. In my opinion, it won’t make much of a difference because the proposed changes are not qualitative changes, like having new modes or new countries added to the simplified procedure, where there are currently only five countries, or work permits for special categories. In my opinion, this is at most an attempt to fix a system that has simply existed and is at risk of remaining overloaded. I would compare it to sending lifeboats to a sinking ship, rather than actually fixing the ship,” explains the expert from BKB Baran KsiÄ…ĆŒek Bigaj.

As he points out, the most important issue for employers is to streamline procedures so that they don’t last several or many months. The system’s design itself is not problematic; it’s the system’s inefficiency.

“The biggest problems arise, particularly when an employee changes employers. This requires a change in the work permit, as it is issued for a specific employer and a specific foreigner. This often means a need to obtain a new work permit, and there are also issues with legalizing the stay,” Dr. MichaƂ Szypniewski explains. “Similarly, when some employment conditions change, in some cases, it is still necessary to obtain a new document legalizing the work.”

At the request of the Ministry of Development and Technology, the draft was amended to remove provisions criticized by entrepreneurs regarding the mandatory employment of foreigners under employment contracts. The Ministry of Labor justified this by the need to protect foreigners from exploitation by dishonest employers. However, business organizations pointed out that the issue of the basis of cooperation should not be decided by law because it does not reflect the realities of the market—many industries justify civil law contracts due to the type of services provided and the way they are performed. According to Dr. MichaƂ Szypniewski, the proposed bill protects the Polish labor market more than it does foreign workers.

“An example of regulations that would confirm this thesis are those that introduce grounds for refusing to issue a work permit when it is found that the entity was established or operates mainly to facilitate foreigners’ entry into Poland. This regulation is aimed at curbing certain practices,” says the labor law expert. “Another mandatory ground for refusing to issue a work permit is when the employer does not pay contributions to mandatory social insurance or advance income tax payments. Importantly, until now, this ground was discretionary, which also shows the tendency for change, as we now have more protection for the national interest than for the foreigners themselves.”

The expert also points out new regulations concerning fines for the illegal employment of foreigners.

“The amount of the fine will be determined by the court, proportional to the number of illegally employed workers. Currently, the number of individuals the employer has illegally assigned to work does not affect the amount of the fine, so this is an important change, and employers need to be prepared to hire foreigners legally,” emphasizes Dr. MichaƂ Szypniewski.

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