Employing in Poland.

Minimum wage

The statutory minimum wage is PLN 4,806 gross a month for a full-time employee from 1 January 2026, pro rata for part-time; it rises to PLN 4,950 on 1 January 2027.

PLN 4,806 per month · from 1 January 2026per month, gross, full-time employees; one rate for all ages

• Minimum hourly rate PLN 31.40 from 1 January 2026: applies to mandate and service contracts (civil-law contracts), not to employees
• Part-time employees: minimum set in proportion to the hours they work in the month (Act art. 8(1))
• The Act sets no age-based or first-year rate; it applies to every full-time employee (art. 6(1))
• Not counted towards the minimum: jubilee award, retirement or disability severance, overtime pay, night-work allowance, seniority allowance, special-conditions allowance (art. 6(5))
• From 1 January 2027: PLN 4,950 a month and PLN 32.30 an hour (regulation published 15 September 2026)

Changes on 1 January 2027: PLN 4,950 a month (PLN 32.30 an hour for civil-law contracts). Published Source: Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 14 września 2026 r. w sprawie wysokości minimalnego wynagrodzenia za pracę oraz wysokości minimalnej stawki godzinowej w 2027 r.

Employer social security contributions

Employers pay about 20.48% on top of gross pay: pension 9.76%, disability 6.50%, accident 1.67% (small payers), labour funds 2.45% and wage guarantee fund 0.10%; pension and disability are capped at PLN 282,600 yearly.

20.48% of gross pay (with the 1.67% accident rate); pension and disability base capped at PLN 282,600 a year · from 1 January 2026employer share, per cent of gross pay (contribution base), 2026

• Pension (emerytalne) 19.52% in total: employer 9.76%, employee 9.76%
• Disability (rentowe) 8.00% in total: employer 6.50%, employee 1.50%
• Sickness (chorobowe) 2.45%: paid entirely by the employee
• Accident (wypadkowe): employer only; 1.67% for payers reporting up to 9 insured persons; payers with 10 or more use their activity-group rate (set by ZUS for payers who filed ZUS IWA for three years); rate year runs 1 April to 31 March
• Labour Fund (FP) 1.00% plus Solidarity Fund (FS) 1.45%, paid together as 2.45%: employer only; not due where the monthly base is below the minimum wage; no annual cap
• Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (FGSP) 0.10%: employer only; no annual cap
• Bridging Pension Fund (FEP) 1.5%: employer only, only for work in special conditions or of a special nature
• Annual cap on the pension and disability (and FEP) base: PLN 282,600 in 2026; PLN 300,990 in 2027

Our sum of the published rates: pension 9.76%, disability 6.50%, accident 1.67% (payers with up to 9 insured), Labour Fund and Solidarity Fund 2.45% and Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund 0.10% make 20.48%.

Changes on 1 January 2027: Annual pension and disability ceiling PLN 300,990. Published Source: Obwieszczenie Ministra Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej z dnia 3 listopada 2026 r. w sprawie kwoty ograniczenia rocznej podstawy wymiaru składek na ubezpieczenia emerytalne i rentowe w roku 2027 oraz przyjętej do jej ustalenia kwoty prognozowanego przeciętnego wynagrodzenia (M.P. 2026 poz. 1098)

Payroll tax withholding and filing

The employer withholds monthly income tax advances and pays them to the tax office by the 20th of the following month, filing annual PIT-4R and PIT-11 by end-January; ZUS contributions are declared and paid monthly.

Employer, monthly: PIT advances by the 20th of the following month; ZUS declaration and payment by the 15th (companies) or 20th · from 1 January 2026withholding agent, frequency and deadline

• The employer (zakład pracy) is the withholding agent (płatnik) for PIT advances on employment income (PIT Act art. 32(1)); advances are 12%, or 32% on income above PLN 120,000 from that employer in the year (art. 32(2))
• Withheld advances are paid by the 20th of the month after withholding (PIT Act art. 38(1)), to the payer's tax microaccount (mikrorachunek podatkowy)
• Annual PIT-4R (advances withheld) to the tax office by the end of January; PIT-11 to the tax office by the end of January and to the employee by the end of February; all filed electronically
• ZUS: monthly settlement declaration (ZUS DRA with personal reports) and payment by the 15th of the following month for legal persons such as companies; by the 20th for payers without legal personality such as sole traders and partnerships; by the 5th for budget units
• Authorities: National Revenue Administration (KAS) tax offices, podatki.gov.pl; Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), zus.pl

Salary payments a year and holiday allowance

Wages must be paid at least monthly (12 payments a year); the statutory 13th salary of 8.5% of annual pay covers only public-sector budget units, not private employers.

12 (monthly); no statutory 13th month in the private sector · from 1 January 2026salary payments a year

• Labour Code art. 85(1): pay at least once a month, on a fixed date; monthly pay is paid in arrears, by the 10th of the following month at the latest (art. 85(2))
• Statutory 13th salary (dodatkowe wynagrodzenie roczne) = 8.5% of the year's pay, only for employees of public budget-sphere units listed in the 1997 Act (art. 1(2) and art. 4(1))
• Private employers may grant a 13th or other bonus by collective agreement or pay rules; there is no statutory duty

Paid annual leave

Employees get 20 working days' paid leave a year, or 26 after 10 years' service; education and, since 2026, mandate or self-employed work count towards the 10 years.

20 working days (26 after 10 years' service) · from 1 May 2026days a year, counted on the employee's working days; one day of leave = 8 hours

• Labour Code art. 154(1): 20 days with less than 10 years' service; 26 days with at least 10 years
• Leave is granted on the employee's working days; one day of leave equals 8 hours (art. 154(2))
• Part-time: pro rata, part days rounded up (art. 154(2))
• Education counts towards the 10 years, e.g. 8 years for a university degree, 4 for general secondary school (art. 155(1)); periods are not added together
• Since the 2025 amendment, periods of self-employment, mandate and agency contracts (with pension insurance) also count as service (art. 302(1)), proved by a ZUS certificate; in force 1 January 2026 for public-sector employers and from 1 May 2026 for all other employers

Sick pay

The employer pays at least 80% of pay for the first 33 days of sickness a year (14 days for employees aged 50 and over); ZUS sickness benefit follows, up to 182 days in total.

Employer 80% for up to 33 days a year (14 days from age 50); then ZUS sickness benefit up to 182 days · from 1 January 2026who pays and for how long

• Labour Code art. 92(1): 80% of pay (more if internal rules say so) for up to 33 days in a calendar year, 14 days for employees aged 50 and over; 100% for illness in pregnancy or an accident on the way to or from work
• The 14-day limit applies from the calendar year after the employee turns 50 (art. 92(5))
• From day 34 (or day 15) of incapacity in the year, ZUS sickness benefit is paid from the Social Insurance Fund
• Benefit period: up to 182 days, or 270 days for tuberculosis or incapacity during pregnancy; employer-paid days count towards it
• Waiting period: 30 days of uninterrupted compulsory sickness insurance

Running payroll without a local entity

A foreign employer without a Polish establishment obtains a tax number (NIP) and registers with ZUS as contribution payer within seven days of the first hire; employees pay their own income tax advances.

Possible without a local entity: tax number (NIP) from the Second Tax Office Warsaw-Śródmieście, then ZUS payer registration (ZUS ZPA, or ZUS ZFA for an individual); no PIT withholding · from 1 January 2026registration needed by a foreign employer without a Polish establishment

• Step 1: NIP from the head of the Second Tax Office Warsaw-Śródmieście (Drugi Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Śródmieście): form NIP-2 for a company, NIP-7 for an individual, with sworn translations
• Step 2: register as contribution payer on ZUS ZPA (legal person or unit without legal personality) or ZUS ZFA (individual), with a copy of the NIP decision, at ZUS I Oddział in Warsaw, within 7 days of the first person becoming insured
• Then register each employee and file and pay monthly: by the 15th of the following month for a legal person, by the 20th for an individual
• An employer based in the EU, EEA or Switzerland may agree with the employee that the employee pays the contributions on its behalf; the employee then registers as payer
• Income tax: a foreign employer without an establishment in Poland does not withhold PIT advances; the employee calculates and pays them through their own tax microaccount and files PIT-36 (podatki.gov.pl; PIT Act art. 44(1a)(1))

Pension

Employers fund 9.76% of pay towards the ZUS state pension and must offer Employee Capital Plans (PPK): staff aged 18 to 54 are auto-enrolled, employer pays 1.5%, employee 2%, opt-out allowed.

ZUS state pension 19.52% (employer 9.76%) plus PPK auto-enrolment: employer 1.5% basic, employee 2% · from 1 January 2026state scheme and workplace scheme

• ZUS pension insurance 19.52% of the base, split 9.76% employer and 9.76% employee, capped at PLN 282,600 in 2026
• PPK (pracownicze plany kapitałowe): the employer must sign a PPK management contract if it employs at least one person it must enrol (PPK Act art. 7(1))
• Enrolment: not earlier than after 14 days and by the 10th of the month after the month in which 3 months of employment end, unless the person opts out in writing (art. 16(1)); prior 12 months with the same employer count
• Ages: under 55 auto-enrolled; 55 to 69 only on request; 70 and over not enrolled (art. 15)
• Contributions: employer basic 1.5% plus optional up to 2.5%; employee basic 2% (can be 0.5% to 2% if pay is at most 1.2 times the minimum wage) plus optional up to 2%; state PLN 250 welcome and PLN 240 a year (mojeppk.pl)
• Opt-out by written declaration; every 4 years the employer re-enrols those who opted out (next: employer informs by the end of February 2027, contributions from 1 April 2027)
• Exemptions: micro-entrepreneur where all staff opt out; employer running an employee pension programme (PPE) with at least 25% participation and a basic contribution of at least 3.5% (art. 13, art. 133)
• Employer PPK contributions are not included in the pension and disability contribution base (art. 26(5))

Changes coming, by 28 February 2027: Employers tell staff who opted out of Employee Capital Plans (PPK) that contributions resume on 1 April 2027, under the re-enrolment every four years. Published Source: Autozapis 2027 w PPK

Probation and notice

Probation is capped at three months, and shorter before short fixed-term contracts; statutory notice is two weeks, rising to one month after six months' service and three months after three years.

Probation up to 3 months; notice 2 weeks, 1 month after 6 months' service, 3 months after 3 years · from 1 January 2026maximum probation and statutory notice by length of service with the employer

• Probation contract up to 3 months (Labour Code art. 25(2))
• Before a fixed-term contract: up to 1 month if the intended contract is under 6 months; up to 2 months if 6 to under 12 months; the parties may extend these once by up to 1 month where the work justifies it (art. 25(2)(2)-(2)(3))
• Notice of a probation contract: 3 working days (probation up to 2 weeks), 1 week (over 2 weeks), 2 weeks (3 months) (art. 34)
• Notice for open-ended and fixed-term contracts, by length of employment with that employer: 2 weeks (under 6 months), 1 month (at least 6 months), 3 months (at least 3 years) (art. 36(1))
• The same periods apply to both sides; the parties may agree an earlier end date after notice is given (art. 36(6))