Employers must follow some rules when they hire people. Firstly, they must sign a contract with the person they’re hiring. They must also sign them up for social security and handle the related contribution payments (składki).
Companies can only hire foreigners with work permits. If an employer tricks someone or uses their power to make them work when they shouldn’t, they could be fined anywhere between 3,000 to 30,000 PLN.
They can also get the same fine if they:
- Trick someone into giving a job to a person from another country.
- Ask a foreigner for money in exchange for helping them get a work permit.
- Offer a job to a foreigner but don’t give them the proper pay or conditions they promised.
Simply put, if your boss tries to make you work without proper paperwork, asks you for money for a work permit, or doesn’t give you the job conditions they promised, they’re breaking the law.
Employers have to tell the local authorities:
- If a foreign worker has a different job than their permit says (but only if it’s for more than 30 days in a year).
- If the foreign worker didn’t start working within 3 months of getting their permit.
- If the foreign worker stops working for more than 3 months.
- If the foreign worker quits more than 3 months before their permit ends.
If an employer doesn’t do this, they can be fined between 100 to 5,000 PLN.
Once an employer has permission to hire a foreign worker, they need to tell the local job office:
- When the foreigner starts working.
- If the foreigner doesn’t start on the agreed date.
If an employer doesn’t share this info or lies about it, they can be fined up to 5,000 PLN.
The employer and the foreign worker can (but don’t have to) tell the local job office when the job ends.
If the company keeps hiring foreigners without proper paperwork, they might no longer be allowed to get work permits. They also have to pay for sending the worker back to their country if it comes to that.