{"id":1753,"date":"2025-03-28T12:46:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T11:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2025-02-23T13:31:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T12:31:29","slug":"seasonal-employment-in-poland-how-to-legally-employ-foreigners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/seasonal-employment-in-poland-how-to-legally-employ-foreigners\/","title":{"rendered":"Seasonal work in Poland - how to legally employ foreigners?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seasonal work in Poland - how to legally employ foreigners?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seasonal work in Poland is of great interest to both employers and foreigners. Sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, catering or tourism regularly use foreign workers, especially during periods of increased demand for labour. However, certain formal requirements must be met in order for employment to be legal under Polish law. Below you will find a detailed guide to the legalisation of seasonal work of foreigners in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is seasonal work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seasonal work includes activities that depend on the seasons or weather conditions. In Poland, this most often applies to industries such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Agriculture<\/strong> - e.g. fruit and vegetable harvesting, field work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Horticulture<\/strong> - plant care, nursery work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tourism and catering<\/strong> - working in hotels, restaurants or guesthouses in tourist destinations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seasonal work may be performed for a period not exceeding <strong>9 months per calendar year<\/strong> and requires an appropriate work permit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seasonal work permit (type \"S\")<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to legally employ a foreigner for seasonal work, it is necessary to obtain a seasonal work permit, the so-called 'S' permit. This is a special type of permit issued by the starost competent for the employer's place of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who needs a permit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A seasonal work permit is required for foreigners from outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland. This includes citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova or Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What documents are needed to obtain a permit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The employer must file with the district employment office:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Application for a seasonal work permit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A copy of the foreign national's valid residence permit (e.g. passport).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Information on the address of the foreigner's accommodation during his\/her stay in Poland.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Documents confirming the salary offered (not less than the national minimum wage).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cost and waiting time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fee for issuing the permit is PLN 30. The district governor is obliged to consider the application within 7 working days from the submission of complete documentation. In cases requiring additional clarification, this time may be extended to 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legal work before authorisation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A foreigner can start working even before receiving the final seasonal work permit. This is possible provided that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Submission of a complete permit application by the employer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Presenting a copy of the foreigner's valid residence permit to the starost.<br>In this case, the work is considered legal from the moment the application is entered in the register by the head of state until the date of delivery of the decision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Forms of employment and remuneration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The employer must conclude a contract (e.g. an employment contract or contract of mandate) with the foreigner, which specifies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Type of work performed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Salary (not less than the national minimum wage).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Working hours and place of work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is important that all terms and conditions of employment comply with labour laws and regulations on the employment of foreigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Accommodation for seasonal workers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The employer is obliged to provide the foreigner with adequate accommodation during his\/her stay in Poland. The address of the accommodation must be notified to the starost as part of the process of obtaining a seasonal work permit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Most common mistakes when employing foreigners for seasonal work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of appropriate authorisation<\/strong> - Employment without a valid 'S' permit is illegal and risks heavy financial penalties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Incomplete documentation<\/strong> - Lack of the required documents can significantly delay the authorisation process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inadequate accommodation<\/strong> - Employers often forget to declare the foreigner's residential address or to provide adequate housing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employing foreigners for seasonal work in Poland requires compliance with certain legal procedures, such as obtaining an 'S' work permit. Although the process may seem complicated, proper preparation of the documentation and knowledge of the regulations allow to avoid problems and ensure legal employment of foreign workers. As a result, both employers and foreigners can benefit from safe and lawful cooperation conditions.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seasonal work in Poland - how to legally employ foreigners? Seasonal work in Poland is of great interest to both employers and foreigners. Sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, catering or tourism regularly use foreign labour, especially during periods of increased demand for labour. However, in order for employment to comply with Polish law, it is necessary [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dla-pracodawcy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1756,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions\/1756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idpolska.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}