The employment procedure in Poland may seem very complicated for people from abroad. In this article we briefly describe the most important aspects of legal employment of migrants in Poland.
Right to employment
Access to the job market in Poland is dependent on the foreigner’s legal status. It’s important to note that some residence statuses carry with them certain employment limitations.
Legal employment in Poland is allowed for every foreigner who’s received permanent residence permission or a title of a long term EU resident. Access to the job market is also guaranteed to those who’ve received international protection in Poland, tolerated or humanitarian residence, temporary residence permit with a “job market access” annotation, and those with a humanitarian wiza. People who’ve spent over 6 months in an international protection procedure, are allowed to get employed in Poland legally as well.
If working in Poland is a primary motivation of your residence here, then you can receive a job wiza or a combined permission for residence and work. These residence statuses are dependent upon employment (you lose the residence status of this kind 30 days after terminating your employment).
Work permission
In order to work legally in Poland, most foreigners would need a work permission. Citizens of certain countries can use a simplified permission option – the employer just needs to file a form about their intention to hire a foreigner (oświadczenie o zamiarze powierzenia pracy cudzoziemcowi) to the Regional Administration (Urząd Miasta). Then the migrant can work without the actual work permission for up to 6 month.
Some groups of foreign citizens are relieved from the job permit requirement. These categories include:
- persons with international protection and humanitarian or tolerated residence;
- those staying in Poland on the basis of permanent residence;
- those who’ve received a long-term EU resident status;
- citizens of other EU countries or countries of the European Economic Area;
- persons who have a Pole’s Card (Karta Polaka);
- whose who have graduated from a Polish school (above middle school) or university;
- day-time students of Polish universities on faculties tough in Polish.
The complete list of situations when a job permit isn’t required can be found here.
Searching for a job
There are several ways one can look for a job. First and the most typical way is to open a job search portal and look through the offers. When you find offers that seem appropriate for you, you need to follow the instructions presented in the post – usually it’s sending a CV to a provided email address.
Another way to look for a job is to decide, what kind of branches you would like to work in. Then you’d need to find several companies that work in the branch, and look for a “job offers” section on their website. If you find an offer, you’d need to proceed the same way as described above – follow the offer’s instructions.
If you want to offer some sort of service (eg. language classes, babysitting, household help), then you can post an offer online on any job searching or freelance website. Then you just need to wait for potential clients to contact you.
Employment help
Some types of legal statuses – eg. permanent residence, temporary residence with labour market access, international protection – entitle you to the Labour Office’s services. They offer assistance in looking for a job, different courses, financial aid and health insurance for the unemployed persons.
Those migrants who aren’t entitled to the Labour Office’s services can look for assistance at the non government organizations. Work Information Point for Foreigners, for example, offers employment consultant’s support.
Recently the Help Center for Foreigners started providing similar services. We hired an employment consultant, who can help create a CV, find an employer or provide information about employment opportunities and conditions.
Potrzebujesz pomocy w znalezieniu pracy? Masz wątpliwości, czy potrzebujesz zezwolenia? Zgłoś się do CPC.
Get it done with us!
Do you need help finding a job? Are you questioning whether you need a job permit? Would you like to use the employment consultant’s services? Contact CPC!
In the time of coronavirus, our Help Center for Foreigners will help you remotely! Send an e-mail to: [email protected] and briefly describe your problem. If you want us to contact you quickly, you can also send us your phone number – it will make communication easier and shorten the waiting time for our response.
The assistance we provide is free of charge. However, please note that we do not provide technical support for websites and services nor do we mediate contact with administrative organs.
Click HERE for more guidance on living in Poland and forms of help available in the Help Center for Foreigners.
