Poland's Act on Employing Foreigners: What the 2026 Amendment Changes for Employers

Poland rewrote the rulebook for hiring non-EU nationals when its Act on Employing Foreigners came into force on 1 June 2025. The law consolidated the country's work authorisation regime, pushed the entire application process online, and gave labour inspectors sharper tools to police illegal employment. For HR and global mobility teams, it turned a paper-heavy, office-by-office process into a digital one with tighter deadlines and less room for error.

A year on, the framework is still moving. An amendment effective 8 July 2026 eases one of the most common friction points employers hit after a hire is already in place: what happens when a foreign worker's contract type changes. The short version is that a switch from a civil-law arrangement to a regular employment contract no longer automatically triggers a fresh permit application. That is a meaningful simplification, but only if you understand exactly where it applies.

This is what changed, what stayed the same, and where employers still carry risk.

What the Act on Employing Foreigners actually did

The Act replaced a patchwork of older provisions with a single statute governing how non-EU nationals are authorised to work in Poland. Its headline effects fall into three areas.

First, it moved procedures online. Applications for work permits and employer declarations are now filed electronically through the government's dedicated platform rather than in person at provincial offices. The intent is faster processing and a clearer audit trail, with a single digital record of who is authorised to do what.

Second, it strengthened compliance and enforcement. The law expanded the grounds on which authorities can refuse or withdraw permits, and it reinforced the powers of the National Labour Inspectorate to check that the work actually being performed matches the terms declared. Employers who engage foreign nationals illegally face increased administrative penalties.

Third, it tightened the link between the permit and the real employment relationship. Authorisation is tied to specific conditions, and material changes to those conditions can require action from the employer. This is exactly the area the 2026 amendment addresses.

The 8 July 2026 amendment: contract changes without a new permit

Under the amendment, when a foreign worker moves from a civil-law contract, such as a zlecenie (a mandate or commission contract), to a regular employment contract, the employer generally does not need to obtain a new work permit or register a new employment declaration for that worker.

Previously, a change in the legal basis of the working relationship could be read as a new set of employment conditions, prompting employers to re-file to stay compliant. That created administrative work and, worse, uncertainty during the gap between the contract change and the paperwork catching up. The amendment removes that step for this specific transition, on the logic that moving a worker onto a more protective employment contract should not be penalised with additional bureaucracy.

The same treatment applies when the National Labour Inspectorate formally determines that a relationship presented as civil-law is, in substance, employment. In that situation the reclassification into an employment contract does not, by itself, require a new permit or declaration for the worker concerned.

The practical effect is that employers can regularise or upgrade a worker's contract without interrupting their authorisation to work, provided the other conditions of the original permit still hold.

Where employers still need to act

The amendment is a targeted simplification, not a blanket exemption. Several obligations remain firmly in place.

• The relief applies to the change in contract type. If other permit conditions change at the same time, such as the position, the employer entity, or the agreed remuneration falling below the declared level, a new or updated authorisation may still be required.
• The worker must already hold valid authorisation and a legal basis to stay in Poland. The amendment addresses the work permit and declaration, not residence rights, which follow their own rules and deadlines.
• Employers should keep documentary evidence of the contract change and the continuity of the role, so they can demonstrate to inspectors that the transition falls within the amendment.
• Reclassification by the Labour Inspectorate is not something to plan around. If inspectors find that a civil-law contract was really employment, that finding can carry its own consequences for back-dated obligations, even where no new permit is needed going forward.

The safest reading is that the amendment reduces paperwork for a genuine, clean upgrade to an employment contract, while leaving the underlying compliance duties intact.

Why this matters beyond Poland

Poland is one of the largest destinations for non-EU labour in Central Europe, and its direction of travel mirrors a wider regional pattern. Governments across the CEE region are digitising work authorisation, linking permits more tightly to the real employment relationship, and increasing penalties for misclassification and illegal employment. Romania's own overhaul under recent emergency ordinances follows the same logic of online filing and stricter employer accountability.

For multinationals running mobility programmes across several countries, the lesson is consistency. A contract change that is routine in one jurisdiction can trigger a re-filing obligation in another. Tracking which transitions require action, and in which country, is now a core part of staying compliant rather than an afterthought.

How Nestlers Group supports employers hiring across borders

Nestlers Group's Immigration Advisory team helps international employers map work authorisation obligations across the countries where they operate, including which contract or role changes trigger a new filing and which do not. For companies moving staff into or between CEE markets, that upfront clarity prevents the gap periods and re-filing scrambles that the Polish amendment is designed to reduce.

Our Work Permit and Visa Support team manages permit and declaration filings end to end, from eligibility assessment through submission and follow-up with the relevant authorities, and keeps documentation aligned with what inspectors expect to see. Where a client needs to employ someone without a local entity, our Employer of Record service acts as the legal employer, taking on payroll, contracts, and the statutory notifications that accompany each hire.

The common thread is turning shifting national rules into a clear set of actions for HR teams, so that a change like Poland's becomes an opportunity to simplify rather than a compliance question mark.

Sources: Poland Act on Employing Foreigners (ustawa o warunkach dopuszczalnosci powierzania pracy cudzoziemcom), in force 1 June 2025; 2026 amendment effective 8 July 2026; Polish Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy guidance, 2025-2026; National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) enforcement guidance, 2026.