Legal employment of foreigners – what you need to know before and after the authorities knock on your door!

On March 12, 2024, almost 50 AmCham members took part in our HR Committee’s meeting entitled Legal employment of foreigners – what you need to know before and after the authorities knock on your door!

The current political situation and workforce shortages made it standard for companies to employ foreign nationals. Diversifying the workplace or gaining unique knowledge and experience can add innumerable benefits for companies; however, frequently changing laws and regulations may also create some challenges. 

Our speakers were Marcin Sanetra and Tomasz Rogala, partners from PCS/Littler, an AmCham member company. We discussed what employers should know about legally hiring foreigners in Poland and what happens if checks conducted by the authorities reveal illegal employment. 

Generally, the employment of foreigners is illegal if a person does not have a valid visa or other document entitling to legal stay and work in Poland. The sanctions for illegal employment amount accordingly for the employee up to PLN 5000 and the obligation to leave the country with a re-entry ban for up to 3 years. The employer’s fine is up to PLN 30.000, and in case of repeated offense within 2 years, it may result in a temporary ban on obtaining work permits and obligation to cover costs of deportation (in case of failure to leave voluntarily). Speaking about some tools that might help avoid penalties for illegal employment of foreigners, our speakers mentioned monitoring the employee’s right to stay in Poland at the start and during employment; taking the active (supporting) role in the employee residence permit proceedings; obligating employee to report relevant developments in immigration status (divorce, etc.) and of course, promptly eliminating any irregularities. Creating a multi-step checkout covering all levels of the process is valuable and highly recommended. The employers also need to be aware that the interpretation of regulations concerning the employment of foreigners is not always uniform in different locations in Poland, meaning that local authorities may interpret the same provisions differently. Based on the experience from central Poland, an employer may face negative consequences of the same issues in the south of the country.