Hire in Poland: A Comprehensive Guide for 2026

Introduction

Hiring a remote team in Poland means working within the Kodeks pracy, Poland's Labour Code, which requires a written employment contract, in Polish, and registration of each employee with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).

Foreign companies cannot run local payroll directly, so they must hire through a registered entity such as a spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością (Sp. z o.o.) or an employer of record (EOR) that holds the legal employment relationship. Employer contributions to ZUS add roughly 20% to gross salary, covering pension, disability, accident insurance, and the Labour Fund.

Setting up a Sp. z o.o. means registering with the National Court Register, providing share capital, and opening a local bank account, which usually takes two to four months.

In this guide, we cover the three ways to hire a remote team in Poland, what each option costs, the employment laws that shape every hire, and the challenges to plan for.

How to hire remote employees in Poland?

Hiring employees from Poland can be a complicated affair if you don’t know the right strategies. 

To help you with this, the three most effective ways to hire in Poland are mentioned below. 

• Setting up a local entity
• Hiring employees via EOR
• Hiring contractors via AOR. 

Setting Up A Local Entity

The traditional way to hire in Poland is to set up a formal business entity. It allows you to operate legally in the country and directly manage the employment lifecycle. However, it is an extensive process that involves various components, including legal expenses, compliance with labor laws, and other logistical hassles.

How to Hire Employees via EOR

Partnering with an Employer of Record is a cost-effective way of hiring Polish employees. They assume the responsibility of a legal employer, managing employment contracts, onboarding, compliance, payroll, benefits, and more.

This allows for flexibility and scalability of a business, as you can quickly enter a new country and start hiring right away.

Setting up a spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością (Sp. z o.o.) in Poland means registering with the National Court Register, providing share capital, opening a local bank account, and completing ZUS (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych translates to Social Insurance Institution) registration, a process that can take two to four months before your first hire is on payroll.

Skuad helps remove that dependency. Skuad acts as the legal employer in Poland, so your company can hire, onboard, and pay employees without entity setup, local legal counsel, or in-house Polish payroll infrastructure.

Here is what Skuad helps with:

• Employment contract generation across 160+ countries, aligned with local labor laws and statutory requirements
• Statutory contribution workflows across supported markets, covering applicable social insurance and pension obligations
• Payroll processing in 70+ currencies with accurate tax withholding and statutory deductions
• Statutory benefit administration, including paid leave and parental entitlements in line with local requirements
• Termination and offboarding support aligned with local labor requirements across supported markets

For a full breakdown of local rules before you hire, see Skuad's Poland hiring guide.

How to Hire Contractors via AOR

One of the best ways to hire contractors in Poland is to seek the services of an AOR or Agent-of-Record. Although not a legal employer, an AOR will assist you with local compliance and administrative tasks.

This is especially suitable for businesses that require legal expertise while retaining complete HR control.

Hiring contractors in Poland carries growing classification risk. Under Article 22 of the Kodeks pracy, a civil-law contract (umowa zlecenie) or B2B arrangement that functions like employment can be reclassified, and the National Labour Inspectorate is stepping up enforcement in 2026, which exposes you to back-dated ZUS contributions, unpaid entitlements, and penalties.

Through Skuad's AOR and contractor management solution, you can engage contractors in Poland on compliant terms, or move them onto employment where the relationship requires it, without carrying the classification risk yourself.

Here is what Skuad helps with:

• Locally compliant contractor agreements that reduce misclassification exposure across supported markets
• Worker classification checks that flag risk before a contract is signed
• Invoice generation, approval workflows, and payment processing in local currency
• Multi-currency contractor payouts across 70+ currencies with no manual reconciliation
• Contractor records, contracts, and payment history in a single dashboard alongside full-time employees
• Support for converting a contractor to full-time employment through Skuad's EOR when the relationship changes

Compare AOR and contractor pricing for your Poland hires

What is the cost of hiring employees in Poland?

When you decide to hire in Poland, a detailed understanding of the costs involved is crucial. 

There are two main types of costs. They are namely, 

• Direct Costs: Salary, wages, employee benefits, and onboarding and training expenses. 
• Indirect Costs: Administrative fees, legal and compliance, and workplace safety costs.

In Poland, gross salary is only part of the cost. Employer ZUS and related contributions add roughly 20% on top, covering pension, disability, accident insurance, the Labour Fund, and FGŚP (Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych translates to Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund), and that sits alongside the employee-side ZUS, the National Health Fund, and progressive income tax.

Skuad's employee cost calculator helps you estimate the full cost of employing someone in Poland up front, so you can budget against total cost of employment rather than base salary.

Estimate the total cost of your Poland hire

Moving on, the expenses related to the above-mentioned hiring methods will also differ based on the hiring method you deploy. Let’s take a look:

What are the employment laws in Poland?

Employment in Poland is governed mainly by the Kodeks pracy, or Labour Code, the Act of 26 June 1974, supported by separate statutes covering social insurance, collective labour relations, and employment services. The rules that matter most to an employer are as follows:

• The Labour Code (Kodeks pracy): This is the primary statute. It sets the rights and duties of employers and employees and regulates employment contracts, working time, pay, leave, and termination. Normal working time for full-time employees is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, and a written employment contract, in Polish, is required.
• Social insurance (ZUS): Employers must register each employee with the Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych (ZUS), the Social Insurance Institution, and pay contributions covering pension, disability, accident insurance, and the Labour Fund, which together add roughly 20% to gross salary. Employees also contribute, and filings are made monthly.
• Minimum wage: The national minimum wage is set each year by the Council of Ministers. From 1 January 2026, the gross minimum is PLN 4,806 per month, with a minimum hourly rate of PLN 31.40 for civil-law contracts.
• Trade unions and collective disputes: The Trade Unions Act, the Act of 23 May 1991, governs the formation, registration, and rights of trade unions. Collective disputes and strikes are governed by a separate statute, the Act of 23 May 1991 on Resolving Collective Disputes, which sets out negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and strike as the stages of a dispute.
• Employment services: The Act of 20 March 2025 on the Labour Market and Employment Services, in force since 1 June 2025, governs employment promotion, vocational counselling, and training for jobseekers. It replaced the earlier Act of 20 April 2004 on the Promotion of Employment and Labour Market Institutions.
• Contractor classification: Under Article 22 of the Kodeks pracy, an engagement that functions like employment can be treated as an employment relationship regardless of the contract label. Civil-law contracts (umowa zlecenie) and B2B arrangements that resemble employment carry reclassification risk, and enforcement is tightening.

What are the challenges of hiring in Poland?

Although international business in Poland is hugely advantageous, it is not exempt from challenges and obstacles. A powerful global management team is of the utmost importance for tackling these.

1. Employment Laws

Poland has some stringent labor laws to guide various aspects of the employment relationship. These include wages, overtime compensation, employee benefits, and leave policies. Some of the most common provisions include,

• Under the labor laws, the probationary period in Poland is limited to 90 days.
• In the event of termination, a notice period ranging from two weeks to three months is necessary.
• In Poland, employees can take 20-26 days of annual paid leave, depending on their tenure. 

Understanding the employment laws while maintaining compliance is often quite challenging for most enterprises. This is especially true when you lack the required legal support and expertise to guide you through this international hiring journey.

2. Payroll

The payroll system in Poland comprises various stringent policies and intricacies that can often be difficult for employers to understand. 

• The income tax rate for individuals in Poland differs from 12%-32%, depending on the income. 
• The employer cost comprises 22.48% for an annual salary of USD 60,000.
• Additionally, both employers and employees are mandatorily required to contribute to the Polish social security system, which includes pension and disability insurance.

You need a powerful payroll solution to ensure accuracy and compliance with Poland's payroll laws. However, to achieve this, you must spend a lot of money and energy, which is not always possible, especially for small to medium enterprises. 

Skuad helps with this through its global payroll infrastructure. Skuad supports payroll processing in Poland without a local finance team, so contributions, withholding, and filings stay accurate as rates change.

Here is what Skuad helps with:

• Payroll processing in 70+ currencies with accurate tax withholding and statutory deductions
• Statutory contribution workflows across supported markets, covering applicable social insurance and pension obligations
• Payslip generation and distribution in line with local requirements
• Year-end reconciliation and statutory reporting across supported markets
• Off-cycle payments, adjustments, and corrections handled within the same platform

3. Competitive Talent Landscape

• The talent shortage has been a prevalent issue in Poland for a long time. This is significantly more prominent in healthcare, ICT, and engineering. 
• Companies are struggling to find suitable candidates, which has resulted in multiple job vacancies. 
• Some main reasons include the lack of necessary training programs, the difference in salaries between Poland and other Western European countries, and an aging population.

Talent shortages and skill gaps are some of the most common business problems you will likely encounter when considering international hiring. To address these dilemmas, you need a robust global hiring strategy. When implemented correctly, it will enable you to reach a much larger pool of eligible candidates and can lead to higher savings.

4. Language Barrier

• The lack of knowledge of the Polish language is one of the biggest challenges you will likely encounter when employing in Poland.
• Polish is a complex language, and not everyone can learn it quickly.
• As a result of this, foreigners often find it difficult to interact and establish contact with Poles.

Simplify remote hiring in Poland with Skuad

Hiring a remote team in Poland gives you access to one of Central and Eastern Europe's deepest talent pools, especially in tech, engineering, and finance, but the operational challenges are complicated to handle in-house.

Contracts must be in Polish, employees have to be registered with ZUS, payroll runs through monthly filings with the tax office, and the labour inspectorate is tightening its checks on contractor misclassification under the Kodeks pracy.

An employer of record gives you a way into the market without registering a Sp. z o.o. or building Polish payroll and HR from scratch. Skuad acts as the legal employer in Poland, so you can hire, onboard, and pay your team while staying aligned with the Labour Code as it changes.

Whether you are making your first hire or growing an existing one, Skuad supports the contracts, payroll, and compliance work behind every Poland hire.

Book a demo to see how quickly Skuad can onboard your first Poland hire

FAQs

1. What is an employer of record in Poland?

An employer of record in Poland is a licensed local company that acts as the legal employer of your workers, drafting the Polish employment contract, registering them with ZUS, and running payroll and tax filings, so you can hire without setting up a Sp. z o.o.

2. How much does an employer of record in Poland cost?

EOR service fees in Poland generally run a few hundred euros per employee each month, depending on the provider. On top of that, employer ZUS and related contributions add roughly 20% to gross salary, covering pension, disability, accident, and the Labour Fund.

3. Can a foreign company hire in Poland without a local entity?

Foreign companies can typically hire in Poland through an EOR without registering a Sp. z o.o. with the National Court Register, since the EOR holds the legal employment relationship and completes ZUS registration. Setting up your own entity usually takes two to four months by comparison.

4. What are the misclassification risks when hiring in Poland?

Poland is tightening enforcement on contractor misclassification. Under Article 22 of the Kodeks pracy, a civil-law contract or B2B arrangement that looks like employment can be reclassified by the labour inspectorate, exposing you to back-dated ZUS contributions, unpaid entitlements, and penalties.

5. Is an EOR or a Sp. z o.o. better for hiring in Poland?

It usually depends on scale and timeline. An EOR generally suits smaller or early-stage teams, since it avoids the two to four-month setup of a Sp. z o.o. and ZUS registration. Setting up your own entity tends to make sense once headcount is high enough to justify it.

6. How long does it take to onboard an employee in Poland through an EOR?

Onboarding through an EOR in Poland generally takes about one to two weeks, or five to ten business days, once the Polish contract is signed and ZUS registration is complete. Setting up your own entity to hire directly usually takes two to four months by comparison.