Hire in Poland

Typical time to hire

1-3 weeks for contractor, 3-5 weeks for full-time

Entity requirement

Polish sp. z o.o. (limited liability) or branch. Registration at KRS (National Court Register).

EOR available

Yes — from $399/employee/month through a Corpshore entity

Contractor of record

Yes — from $39/worker/month

Standard workweek

40 hours (8 hours/day, 5 days/week)

Maximum weekly hours

48 hours

Minimum annual leave

20 days (under 10 years experience) or 26 days (10+ years, including education)

Public holidays

13 per year

Maternity leave

20 weeks (first child; 31-37 weeks for multiples), fully paid

Paternity leave

14 days, fully paid (within 24 months of birth)

Notice period

2 weeks to 3 months depending on tenure and contract type

Severance

Not mandatory for individual termination. For collective redundancy: 1-3 months salary depending on tenure.

Probation

Up to 3 months

Overtime rules

50% premium (weekday overtime), 100% premium (night, Sunday, holiday overtime). 150 overtime hour annual limit by default.

Income tax range

12% (up to PLN 120,000) and 32% above

Corporate tax

19% (standard); 9% for small taxpayers

Social contributions

Employer: ~20% (pension, disability, accident, Labour Fund). Employee: ~14% (pension, disability, sickness, health).

VAT / GST

23% (standard); 8% reduced; 5% super-reduced; 0% on exports

Tax year

Calendar year (Jan-Dec)

Treaty network

Over 85 tax treaties

Worker classification

Umowa o prace (employment contract) vs. umowa zlecenie (civil mandate) vs. umowa o dzielo (contract for specific work). ZUS (social insurance institution) and PIP (labour inspectorate) investigate misuse of civil contracts.

Data protection

GDPR + Ustawa o ochronie danych osobowych (2018). UODO (Urzad Ochrony Danych Osobowych) enforces.

Right to work

EU nationals: free movement. Non-EU: work permit or seasonal work permit. Simplified procedure for Ukrainian citizens (since 2022). Poland is the EU's largest recipient of Ukrainian workers.

Non-compete

Enforceable if in writing and compensated (minimum 25% of salary). Maximum duration is not statutory but courts assess reasonableness.

Collective bargaining

Covered by the Labour Code. Union density low (~12%) but growing in some sectors. Company-level agreements more common than sector-wide.

Poland uses both SEPA and the domestic Elixir system for interbank transfers. Blik (mobile payments) is extremely popular. PLN payouts via Stripe Connect and Wise.

• Poland is the largest economy in Central Europe and a major nearshore destination for Western European companies
• B2B contracting (samozatrudnienie) is extremely common in IT, offering tax advantages but carrying classification risk
• Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw, and Gdansk are all significant tech hubs
• Poland's IT workforce is estimated at 500,000+, making it one of Europe's largest tech talent pools