Global mobility – relocating employees to Poland

A Warsaw-based technology company wins a contract in Germany and immediately needs to send three engineers abroad – while simultaneously onboarding a Ukrainian specialist at its Polish headquarters. Two movements, two legal regimes, and a compliance clock ticking in both directions. Global mobility from Poland is rarely one-dimensional.

Relocating employees to or from Poland triggers obligations under Polish labour law, immigration law, and social security regulations. The key instruments are the work permit system administered by regional governors (wojewodowie), the EU Blue Card issued by the Office for Foreigners (Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców, UdSC), and the A1 certificate framework managed by the Social Insurance Institution (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, ZUS). Processing times range from 30 days for simplified declarations to over 90 days for full work permit procedures, making early planning non-negotiable.

This guide covers the four core stages of a Polish global mobility programme: permit and certificate selection, procedural steps with timelines, the three most common business scenarios, and the mistakes that cost employers the most. Each section opens with a direct answer, so you can locate the relevant rule without reading the entire article.

Which permits and certificates apply to your situation?

The answer depends on nationality, duration, and direction of movement. EU nationals working in Poland need no permit. Third-country nationals require either a work permit (zezwolenie na pracę) or a temporary residence and work permit (zezwolenie na pobyt czasowy i pracę), depending on stay length. The EU Blue Card targets highly qualified roles paying at least 150 percent of the average gross salary published by the Central Statistical Office (GUS). For outbound postings, an A1 certificate confirms which country's social security applies – and must be obtained before the employee crosses the border.

Permit categories matter. Type A covers standard employment with a Polish employer. Type B applies to board members of Polish companies staying longer than six months in a 12-month period. Type D covers secondments within multinational groups. Choosing the wrong type delays the procedure and may require a fresh application, costing four to eight weeks.

Type A – employment contract with a Polish entity, standard roles
Type B – management board members, stays over six months
Type D – intra-group secondment, parent company abroad
EU Blue Card – highly qualified third-country nationals, salary threshold applies
A1 certificate – outbound postings, confirms Polish social security coverage

The National Court Register (KRS) extract is needed for Type B and D applications. For EU Blue Card applications, the UdSC requires proof of recognised qualifications and a binding job offer. Employers who skip the qualification verification stage frequently receive requests for supplementary documents, adding 30 days to the procedure.

For outbound postings from Poland to EU member states, our guide on A1 certificates for workers posted to France explains the ZUS application process in detail. The same framework applies when posting from Poland to Luxembourg – see our Luxembourg posting guide for country-specific rules.

What is the step-by-step procedure and timeline?

The procedure has five stages. Stage one is eligibility screening: confirm nationality, role classification, and salary against applicable thresholds. Stage two is document collection: gather the employment contract or offer, company KRS extract, accommodation confirmation, and qualification certificates. Stage three is submission: file with the regional governor's office (urząd wojewódzki) for work permits, or with the UdSC for EU Blue Cards and temporary residence permits. Stage four is processing: standard work permit decisions take up to 60 days; complex cases reach 90 days. Stage five is registration: the employee must register their place of residence with the local municipality within 30 days of arrival.

The A1 certificate for outbound postings follows a parallel track. The employer submits form US-36 to ZUS. Standard processing takes 30 days. The certificate is issued retroactively if the application is filed before the posting begins – but a gap between the start date and the issue date creates a period of unconfirmed social security status, which host-country inspectors flag immediately.

Timeline summary for common procedures:

Declaration of entrusting work (oświadczenie) – up to 24 hours, valid 24 months, EEA states excluded
Type A work permit – 30 to 60 days, valid up to 3 years
EU Blue Card – 60 to 90 days, valid up to 4 years
Temporary residence and work permit – 60 to 90 days, valid up to 3 years
A1 certificate (outbound) – up to 30 days, valid for posting duration

We obtained a Type D intra-group work permit for a Ukrainian IT specialist transferred to a client's Warsaw headquarters in under 45 days – Mazowieckie region, winter 2025. The key was submitting a complete document set at first filing, avoiding the supplementary-document trap that adds weeks to most applications.

Fees are modest relative to the risk of non-compliance. The work permit application fee is PLN 100 for permits up to three months and PLN 200 for longer periods. The EU Blue Card application costs PLN 440. Fines for employing a person without a valid permit reach PLN 30,000 per employee per incident – a figure that concentrates minds quickly.

How do the three main business scenarios differ?

Scenario one: a manufacturing company in Silesia brings in a Ukrainian engineer under a secondment from a Kyiv-based parent. This is a Type D situation. The Polish entity must hold a valid secondment agreement, the engineer needs a temporary residence and work permit (not a standard Type A), and the salary must meet Polish minimum wage requirements regardless of what the Ukrainian parent pays. Processing takes 60 to 90 days, so production schedules must account for the gap.

Scenario two: a Warsaw IT company posts a Polish national to its German subsidiary for eight months. The employer applies for an A1 certificate before departure. German labour law imposes minimum wage obligations from day one of the posting. The Polish entity must notify the German customs authority (Zollamt) before work begins – failure to notify triggers fines under German law, not Polish law, but the Polish employer bears the administrative burden. The posting duration of eight months keeps the employee within the 12-month threshold for standard A1 coverage without requiring a bilateral agreement extension.

Scenario three: a foreign investor establishes a new Polish subsidiary and wants to transfer a non-EU board member from its London headquarters. This combines a Type B work permit (board member, stay over six months) with a temporary residence permit. The KRS registration of the subsidiary must be complete before the work permit application is filed. KRS registration currently takes three to seven business days for online filings. The total timeline from company formation to valid permit is therefore 75 to 110 days in practice.

Each scenario involves a different combination of institutions: the regional governor's office, the UdSC, ZUS, and – for outbound postings – the host country's labour inspectorate. Mapping the institutional chain before starting saves at least two rounds of document requests.

What mistakes cost employers the most?

The most expensive mistake is allowing work to begin before the permit is valid. Polish labour law is explicit: employment of a third-country national without a valid permit or declaration exposes the employer to a fine of up to PLN 30,000 per person per offence. The National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) conducts unannounced audits, particularly in construction, manufacturing, and IT services. A single inspection finding can trigger follow-up audits covering the preceding two years.

The second mistake is treating the declaration of entrusting work as a universal solution. The declaration (oświadczenie o powierzeniu wykonywania pracy) is fast – registered within 24 hours at the district labour office (powiatowy urząd pracy) – but it applies only to nationals of six specific countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Armenia. Using it for other nationalities is unlawful. It is also limited to 24 months of work in any 36-month period, so serial renewals eventually hit a ceiling.

The third mistake involves whistleblower compliance. Companies with 50 or more employees in Poland must operate an internal reporting channel under the Whistleblower Protection Act (ustawa o ochronie sygnalistów). Employers who expand headcount through mobility programmes – crossing the 50-employee threshold – often miss the compliance trigger. Our whistleblower policy drafting guide sets out what the channel must include and the 14-day deadline for acknowledging reports.

A fourth, underappreciated risk is the social security gap on outbound postings. If the A1 certificate is not in place on day one, the employee may be subject to host-country social security contributions for the uncovered period. Retroactive regularisation is possible in some EU states but not all – and where it is available, it involves double contributions until the home-country certificate is accepted. That outcome is both costly and entirely avoidable.

We helped a manufacturing client in Małopolska reverse a PIP fine of over PLN 50,000 issued after an audit revealed three employees working on expired declarations – spring 2026. The declarations had lapsed because no one had set renewal reminders. A calendar-based compliance system, not legal arguments, was the fix.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can a Ukrainian national start work in Poland immediately after arriving, without a permit?

A: Under the special protection regime introduced after February 2022, Ukrainian nationals holding a PESEL number assigned under the special act may take up employment with any Polish employer without a separate work permit, provided the employer notifies the district labour office within 14 days of starting work. This regime is subject to periodic review and extensions, so employers should verify the current status before relying on it. Failure to notify within 14 days converts a compliant employment into an unlawful one.

Q: How long does the full EU Blue Card procedure take, and what does it cost?

A: The EU Blue Card procedure at the UdSC takes between 60 and 90 days from submission of a complete application. The application fee is PLN 440. The employer must demonstrate that the offered salary meets the statutory threshold – currently 150 percent of the average gross salary published by GUS. A common misconception is that the Blue Card is faster than a standard work permit. In practice, document requirements are heavier, and processing times are comparable or longer for first-time applicants.

Q: Does a work permit automatically cover social security registration?

A: No. A work permit authorises employment but does not register the employee with ZUS. The employer must register the employee with ZUS within seven days of the employment start date. For posted workers going abroad, a separate A1 certificate application is required to confirm Polish social security coverage in the host country. These are independent procedures with independent deadlines, and missing the ZUS registration deadline triggers a separate set of penalties unrelated to the permit itself.

What to prepare before starting a mobility procedure

Getting documents right before filing eliminates the most common source of delay. Regional governor offices return incomplete files without processing them, restarting the clock entirely.

Current KRS extract of the Polish employing entity (not older than three months)
Signed employment contract or binding offer letter with salary stated in PLN
Proof of accommodation in Poland (lease agreement or employer-provided housing confirmation)
Copies of the employee's qualification certificates, translated by a sworn translator if issued outside the EU
For Type D and Blue Card applications: the secondment agreement or group structure chart showing the employment relationship

Specific situations require your company's compliance programme to account for headcount thresholds. Crossing 50 employees activates whistleblower channel obligations. Crossing 20 employees triggers obligations under the Act on Informing Employees and Conducting Consultations. Both thresholds are counted at the entity level, not the group level.

The mobility programme that runs without incident is the one where every deadline is calendared, every document set is complete at first filing, and every threshold is monitored proactively. The procedures themselves are manageable. The cost of ignoring them is not.

For a tailored strategy on relocating employees to or from Poland, reach out to info@kordeckipartners.com. Our employment team in Warsaw processes work permit and A1 certificate applications across all permit types and can advise on the intersection with whistleblower, labour inspection, and social security compliance.

KORDECKI & Partners is a law firm based in Warsaw and Krakow, advising business clients across 30 jurisdictions. Our team combines expertise in Polish and international law with a practical approach to employment law and global mobility. We work with Polish entrepreneurs, foreign investors, and in-house legal teams. To discuss your situation, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.