Changes in the employment of refugees in Poland: the Senate approved a high-profile bill

In recent years, Poland has become one of the main destinations for Ukrainians looking for work abroad. This process intensified especially rapidly after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of our fellow citizens left for Poland not only in search of safety, but also in search of an opportunity to earn money, feed their families and help relatives who remained at home. According to Polish statistical services, Ukrainians are the largest group among foreign workers in this country. However, with the increase in the number of migrant workers, another problem arose – how to regulate their employment in such a way as to avoid abuses, illegal schemes and protect the rights of the workers themselves?

That is why the Polish government has developed a high-profile bill on changes in the employment of foreigners, which was supported by the Polish Senate. These are systemic innovations that will change not only the procedure for obtaining work permits, but also strengthen control over employers, complicate the work of dubious firms, and completely transfer the procedure of employment of foreigners to a digital format.

56 senators voted for the bill, 29 voted against it, none abstained. This result demonstrates that Poland is determined to seriously tackle the regulation of the labor market, where more than a million foreigners currently work, of whom about 67% are citizens of Ukraine.

One of the key innovations concerns employment agencies. From now on, they will be able to hire foreigners not only under classic employment contracts (terms of employment), but also under civil law agreements. This expands the possibilities of legal employment and gives more flexibility to both employees and employers. At the same time, it will enable the state to better control the employment of foreigners even in the case of atypical forms of cooperation.

The second important change is the introduction of the obligation to provide a criminal record certificate when applying for a work permit. Such a step is aimed at increasing security and aims to prevent the legalization of persons with a criminal past or those who may pose a threat to society.

The law also gives the right to starosts — local administrative heads — to form a list of professions and types of work for which permits will not be issued to foreigners in a certain region. This will allow taking into account the regional features of the labor market and protect local workers where competition for jobs is particularly acute.

A separate important innovation is the abolition of the so-called “labor market analysis” — the procedure by which, before employing a foreigner, the employer had to prove that he could not find a local employee for this vacancy. Now this stage is removed, which will speed up the process of registration for work.

The draft law pays special attention to the fight against intermediary firms that make money exclusively on the preparation of documents for foreigners, but do not engage in real economic activity. Voivodeships will have the right to refuse work permits to such companies if they prove that their only “business” is the legalization of foreigners to gain access to the Schengen zone.

Another important change is the creation of special support points for foreigners at regional labor offices. There, people will be able to receive consultations, help with the preparation of documents and protection of their rights.

All this should work through complete electronicization of the process — from submitting documents to receiving a decision. The authorities are convinced that this will not only simplify the procedure, but also minimize corruption and abuse.

According to the official data of the Main Statistical Office of Poland (GUS), as of the end of September 2024, more than one million foreigners worked in the country — that is less than 7% of all employees in Poland. Citizens of more than 150 countries are already part of the Polish labor market. However, Ukrainians remain the largest group — almost 708,000 people.

The Polish government openly admits that these people have become a serious support for the Polish economy. But at the same time, it is important to bring order to this market in order to avoid mass abuses and to protect both the foreign workers themselves and local ones.

As a result of the reform, it is planned to reduce the number of unresolved cases in departments, improve the work of employment services and ensure transparency of all procedures. Poland bets on systematicity and predictability — and this is an important signal for everyone who plans to work here legally.

For Ukrainians, these changes open up new opportunities, but at the same time require greater attention to the legality of their employment. Those who are looking for a job in Poland or already work there should take into account the new rules, because control will become stricter, and the possibility of working “gray” or through intermediary companies will be much less.

If there are questions about new rules, the procedure for processing documents or working conditions, professional lawyers advise to seek advice in order to avoid mistakes and problems with the law. After all, not knowing the new rules will not protect you from liability, and it will be very easy to lose your job or even the opportunity to stay in the country.

In general, the adopted changes show that Poland wants to see only legal workers on its market who really work, pay taxes and integrate into the country’s economy. And for Ukrainians, this is a chance to get a stable job, and not to be a hostage of dubious intermediaries or gray schemes.