At a Glance

  • Effective November 21, 2019, Poland has increased its minimum salary levels for foreign workers by an average of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter.
  • Additionally, effective January 1, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for locally hired foreign workers in Poland will increase to PLN 2,600, up 15.6 percent from 2019.
  • The new thresholds apply to current permit holders, pending applications and new applications. Employers should check foreign workers' salaries to ensure compliance.

The situation

Minimum monthly salary levels for foreign workers in Poland are as follows:

Permit type Prior salary level Current / new salary level Effective date Percentage increase

Local Hire

PLN 2,250 gross/month

PLN 2,600 gross/month

January 1, 2020

15.6

Intracompany Transfer

(both national and EU ICT)

  • Warsaw (Mazowsze / Mazovia region) – PLN 3,653.37 gross/month

  • Kraków (Malopolskie / Lesser Poland region) – PLN 2,868.15 gross/month

  • Wrocław (Dolnoslaskie / Lower Silesia region) – PLN 3,080.10 gross/month

  • Warsaw – PLN 3,921 gross/month

  • Kraków – PLN 3,092.64 gross/month

  • Wrocław – PLN 3,280.10 gross/month

November 21, 2019

Warsaw: 7.3

Kraków: 7.8

Wrocław: 6.5

EU Blue Card

PLN 6,877.55 gross/month

Unchanged. Publication of the new threshold is expected by end of February 2020

Ongoing

n/a

Civil contract (e.g., for temporary projects)

PLN 14.70 gross/hour

PLN 17 gross/hour

January 1, 2020

15.6

The exchange rate at the time of publication of this alert is 1 PLN to 0.26 USD.

A closer look

  • Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals must increase foreign nationals' salaries to comply with the new rule.
  • Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew work authorization must increase foreign nationals' salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
  • Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending work authorization applications must increase foreign nationals' salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.

Reminders on other requirements

Topic Local hires Intracompany Transfers EU Blue Cards

Quarterly changes

n/a

Employers should maintain a safe margin above the salary requirements in anticipation of quarterly increases.

Benefits and allowances

Cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.

May only be included in the minimum salary calculation if they are fixed, paid monthly, and paid directly to the foreign worker's bank account.

Cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.

Currency

Foreign workers must be on local payroll and paid in PLN.

Employers must guarantee the salary in PLN regardless of payroll location and/or exchange rate fluctuations. Salary amounts must be declared in PLN in the work permit application.

Foreign workers must be on local payroll and paid in PLN.

Market salary rate

Salaries must be similar to that of other employees performing similar jobs at the sponsoring employer.

Support dependents

Salaries must be sufficient to support the foreign national and any dependents during their stay in Poland.

Background

European countries typically increase minimum salary requirements for foreign workers by 1-5 percent as of January 1, to account for cost of living increases. The larger increases in Poland reflect a booming economy, since Polish salary requirements for foreign workers are typically calculated based on average national or regional salary levels for local workers.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.