Poland is a country in central Europe, bordered by Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Germany. The country has very high standards of living, safety, labor laws, and economic freedom, as well as free university education and a universal health care system.

Poland's diverse territory extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudeten and Carpathian Mountains in the south.

Types of Contracts

Contracts can be part-time or full-time.

• Fixed term (with a maximum of 33 months over 3 contracts, which including probation totals 36 months)
• Indefinite term

Working Hours

A standard workweek in Poland is 40 hours at 8 hours per day. Overtime rules depend on the employee's profession, but are usually a maximum of 150 hours per year (paid at 150%-200% of the regular rate).

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Poland is PLN 4,806/month (January 2026).

Probation Period

In Poland, probation periods are managed using a separate contract and can be a maximum of 3 months in length.

The 3-month maximum applies to indefinite contracts. For fixed-term contracts, the 2023 Labour Code reform introduced scaled limits:

• Fixed-term contracts under 6 months: maximum 1 month probation
• Fixed-term contracts under 12 months: maximum 2 months probation
• Fixed-term contracts of 12 months or more: maximum 3 months probation

Probation contracts tend to have the same terms as indefinite or fixed term contracts.

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Medical Check

To start work, employees in Poland must complete a medical check, with a process as follows:

• Employer provides medical check form
• The doctor performs a test (the minimum test for office employees is normally an eye test)
• Medical certificate is issued
• Employee is reimbursed the cost of the medical check by their employer

Health and Occupation Training

Employees must complete Health and Occupation training within the first 3 months of employment, organized by the employer - this is normally first aid training or similar.

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Taxes & Local Employment Costs

Employee Taxes

Poland uses a progressive income tax system with three effective bands (from July 2022 Polish Deal reform):

• 0% on annual income up to PLN 30,000 (tax-free allowance — kwota wolna od podatku)
• 12% on annual income from PLN 30,001 to PLN 120,000
• 32% on annual income above PLN 120,000

The tax-free allowance of PLN 30,000 means most employees earning below PLN 5,000/month pay minimal or no income tax. The 12% rate replaced the previous 17% rate following the 2022 reform.

Employer Taxes & Contributions

Employers contribute 21.5% of the employee's gross salary for social security (Pension, disability, etc).

Additionally, before employment starts, the following one-off costs apply.

• Medical check, usually at a local medical facility, for approximately PLN 200 (typically organized by the employee and paid back to them in their first paycheck)
• Health and Safety training - performed by an external company, for approximately PLN 250

Annual Leave (Vacation)

Employees in Poland are entitled to a minimum of 20 working days of annual leave per year. After accumulating 10 years of total employment history (including all prior employers), this increases to 26 working days. Annual leave accrues pro-rata in the first year of employment. The 10-year threshold counts all employment history, not just tenure with the current employer.

After completing 10 years of service, employees are entitled to a minimum of 26 days. Annual leave entitlements are calculated pro-rata for the first year of employment.

Sick Leave

Sick leave pay in Poland has two stages:

Employer-paid period (full salary):

• Employees under 50 years old: employer pays 100% of salary for the first 33 days of sick leave per year
• Employees aged 50 and over: employer pays 100% for the first 14 days per year

ZUS-paid period (zasiłek chorobowy):After the employer-paid period, ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) pays 80% of the assessment base for up to 182 days total sick leave per year. The rate is 70% if the employee is hospitalised. Full 100% pay applies only in specific circumstances: accident at work, occupational disease, or pregnancy.

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Maternity Leave

An employee is entitled to maternity leave for:

• 20 weeks - in case of the birth of one child in one birth;
• 31 weeks - in the event of the birth of two children in one birth;
• 33 weeks - in case of giving birth to three children in one birth;
• 35 weeks - in case of giving birth to four children in one birth;
• 37 weeks - in the case of giving birth to five and more children in one birth.

The leave is paid by social security at 100% of the salary, and employees need to take at least 14 weeks of leave after the birth.

Parental Leave (Urlop Rodzicielski): Following the 20-week maternity leave, either parent may take up to 41 weeks of parental leave (43 weeks for multiple births), paid by ZUS at 81.5% of the assessment base. This can be taken by either parent or split between both. The total paid leave available to a mother following a single birth is therefore up to 61 weeks (20 weeks maternity + 41 weeks parental).

From 2023, 9 weeks of the parental leave are reserved exclusively for the father and cannot be transferred to the mother — in line with the EU Work-Life Balance Directive. If the father does not use these 9 weeks, they are forfeited.

Paternity Leave

Fathers have the right to 2 weeks of paternity leave that can be taken before their child reaches the age of 24 months. It may be taken all at once or in two parts; each period must be a minimum of 1 week in duration.

Paternity leave is paid at 100% of the assessment base, funded by ZUS (not the employer).

Public Holidays

• New Year’s Day - January 1
• Epiphany - January 6
• Easter Sunday - Moveable date
• Easter Monday - Day after Easter Sunday
• International Workers' Day/May Day - May 1
• Constitution Day - May 3
• Pentecost Sunday - 7th Sunday after Easter
• Corpus Christi - 9th Thursday after Easter
• Assumption Day - August 15
• All Saints' Day - November 1
• Independence Day - November 11
• Christmas Day - December 25
• Second Day of Christmas - December 26

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Benefits

Summary

Medical insurance is not usually provided by employers in Poland - employees are covered by the state insurance.

Employees can choose to opt-out from pension contributions.

Termination Process

The termination process depends on the employment contract or Collective Agreement in place, and the reason for termination.

Notice Period

The notice period for termination depends on the employee’s length of service at the company:

• 0 – 6 months = 2 weeks notice
• 6 months-3 years = 1 month notice
• 3+ years = 3 months notice

Employers may terminate an employment contract with no notice in the event of:

• a serious breach of the employee’s basic employment duties;
• the employee committing an offense which results in the employee being unable to continue occupying their position (e.g. fraud)
• the employee losing the entitlements necessary to perform in their position (e.g. disbarring)

Severance Pay

Severance payments are also dependent on the employee’s length of service at the company.

Important: the severance scale below applies only to collective redundancies — defined as employers with 20 or more employees making group redundancies within 30 days. For individual termination without just cause at companies below this threshold, there is no statutory severance formula — the employer's liability is limited to the notice period pay and potential unfair dismissal compensation awarded by a labour court.

• 0-2 years = 1 month of pay
• 2-8 years = 2 months of pay
• 8+ years = 3 months of pay

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