Extending the time of employing foreigners in Poland without the need to obtain a work permit, introducing a new type of document allowing for simplified access of foreigners to the Polish labour market for up to three years, accelerating all legalisation procedures and eliminating abuse in the employment of foreigners – these are the proposals of the government Iwona Michałek, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and Technology, informed about in an interview for the daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
According to Iwona Michałek, the planned changes will simplify the current procedure related to employment of immigrants. Moreover, the government wants all the necessary formalities to be accessed in one office, which would not only reduce the number of required documents, but also make the process significantly faster.
Facilitations for Polish employers
According to labour market experts, the government’s announcement is good news for employers in Poland as Polish companies need employees who will stay with them for longer.
‘Current procedures for employing foreigners in Poland are simple only at the first stage. However, when it comes to renewing residence permits and employment permits for foreigners who have already started working in Poland, employers face a number of difficulties’,
says Michał Wierzchowski, Sales Director at the EWL Group employment agency.
According to the expert, staff rotation is a big problem for Polish companies.
‘The process of introducing a new employee to the company often takes 2-3 months, sometimes even half a year. Unfortunately, after this period the employee, for example from Ukraine, often has to return to their country or apply for a residence card, which in turn is connected with a long waiting period’
emphasises the representative of the employment agency.
According to Michał Wierzchowski, the Polish government’s announcement concerning the introduction of a uniform simplified solution that would allow foreigners to stay and work in Poland for up to three years without the need to apply for a permit is a very good sign for Polish business.
‘This would allow for the reduction in staff rotation, as well as a decrease in the costs of running the business. We are glad that the postulates of Polish companies have been heard, because the demand for foreign employees in our country will continue to grow and the process is inevitable if we care about the development of the Polish economy’,
says the expert.
Iwona Michałek, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and Technology, stressed that the changes, which are the government’s response to the appeals of employers, would be introduced at the beginning of 2022. She added that despite the pandemic the number of foreign employees in our country remains annually at an average of about 1 million people.
