According to the latest version of the bill on the employment of foreigners, starting from 2025, foreigners will only be able to work in Poland based on an employment contract. While the idea behind this is to eliminate bad market practices, it is in fact a blow to entrepreneurs.
Foreigners to be Employed Full-Time
It’s likely that in just over a month, foreigners undertaking work in Poland will only be able to work based on an employment contract. The new version of the bill on the employment of foreigners, prepared by the Ministry of Family, Labor, and Social Policy, includes a provision that allows the employment of foreigners exclusively on the basis of an employment contract. The change is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2025.
Important to note, the procedure for issuing work permits for foreigners will be digitized, covering the entire process from application to receipt of decision, including the possibility of electronically appealing negative decisions. Entrepreneurs will be required to create an account on the praca.gov.pl website in order to communicate with authorities. The new IT system will be connected to the salary database, which will enable an evaluation of whether the offered salary corresponds to market standards. The system integrated with other institutions (including ZUS, KAS, PIP) will also collect data on work permits and monitor the actual assignment of work to a foreigner, taking into account information on entries, exits and social insurance contributions.
Entrepreneurs Overlooked in Establishing New Employment Rules for Foreigners
The proposed changes are not pleasing to everyone. Entrepreneurs accuse the ministry that the new provisions in the bill on the employment of foreigners will significantly limit their business activities. Objections to the provision allowing employment of foreigners solely on the basis of employment contracts were already raised in early autumn by the spokesperson for SMEs, Agnieszka Majewska. In a letter sent to Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, it was pointed out that the new provisions were introduced to the project after the completion of public consultations. Therefore: entrepreneurs did not have the opportunity to comment on a solution that interferes so heavily with the labour market.
Proposed changes by the Ministry of Labour to limit the possibility of employing foreigners under a work permit or declaration of entrustment of work to foreigners only for employment contracts also met with criticism from the Confederation Lewiatan. Nadia Winiarska, an expert in the Confederation Lewiatan’s Labour Department, comments: “This solution limits the flexibility of both parties – both foreigners and entities planning to entrust them with work, and as a result, it may lead to an increase in the number of abuses or reduce the attractiveness of our market for economic immigrants.”
Ministries Disagree
The regulations proposed by the Labour Ministry are critically assessed by both the Ministry of Development and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Both departments oppose the limits on work permits for foreigners proposed by the Family and Labour Ministry. In the opinion of one of the departments, this is “evidence of a centrally planned economy”.
Will There be More Time to Adjust?
There are many indications that the new rules for employing foreigners will not come into force on January 1, 2025, as initially announced. As reported in mid-November by gazetaprawna.pl, Ewa Flaszyńska, director of the Labour Market Department of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, at a meeting of the parliamentary standing sub-committee for entrepreneurship, informed that the changes would not occur with the beginning of the new year. “We expected the changes to be implemented in the first quarter of 2025, but there will be some delay,” said Ewa Flaszyńska.
Entrepreneurs trying to operate within the law, while avoiding penalties, will have to incur costs. For those companies that have signed contracts to commission many businesses, changing the nature of the contracts to jobs might be unacceptable. The introduction of the new regulations on the employment of foreigners means huge costs for employers, which they hadn’t previously considered. As a solution to this problem, supporting themselves with financial instruments, like factoring, could be considered. Especially as there is little time to adapt to these changes.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/polacy-na-smieciowkach-cudzoziemcy-na-umowach-o-prace-kontrowersyjne-zapisy-juz-wkrotce-wejda-w-zycie-61350
