Fines for illegal employment of foreigners in Poland 2026

Since 1 June 2025, an employer in Poland who employs a foreigner illegally faces a fine of PLN 3,000 to 50,000, with a minimum of PLN 3,000 per person. The rules are set by the ustawa z dnia 20 marca 2025 r. o warunkach dopuszczalności powierzania pracy cudzoziemcom na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (the Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners in Poland, “the Foreigners’ Employment Act”). Below we cover what exactly is fined, who is liable when people work through an agency, and what to check before the first shift.

What counts as illegal employment of a foreigner

Illegal entrusting of work (nielegalne powierzenie pracy) is not just working “without papers”. Under the Foreigners’ Employment Act it covers situations where:

• the foreigner is staying in Poland illegally;
• the basis of their stay does not allow them to work, e.g. a tourist visa;
• the required work permit (zezwolenie na pracę) or a registered oświadczenie (declaration on entrusting work to a foreigner) is missing;
• the person works on different terms or in a different position than stated in the permit or oświadczenie, unless the law allows such a change;
• there is no written contract signed before work starts.

In practice, employers most often fall foul of the last two. The person has a document, but the pay rate, hours or position differ from the permit, or the contract was signed after the first shift.

Table of fines since 1 June 2025

All the amounts below come from art. 84 of the Foreigners’ Employment Act.

The minimum fine is multiplied by the number of people. If an inspection finds five foreigners without permits, the court cannot impose less than PLN 15,000.

Who inspects and how fines are imposed

The legality of foreigners’ employment is checked by the Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy (PIP, the National Labour Inspectorate) and the Straż Graniczna (Border Guard). Since 1 June 2025 a PIP inspector can impose an on-the-spot fine (mandat karny) of up to PLN 10,000 for offences under art. 84 without referring the case to court. Fines of up to PLN 50,000 are imposed by a court. PIP summarises the new penalties in its announcement.

The consequences don’t end with the fine. The voivode refuses a work permit if, in the 24 months before the application, the company obstructed an inspection of the legality of employment. So obstructing an inspection can make hiring foreigners harder for two years.

When the foreigner is in Poland illegally

If the foreigner has no legal basis for staying in Poland, a second act also applies: the ustawa z dnia 15 czerwca 2012 r. o skutkach powierzania wykonywania pracy cudzoziemcom przebywającym wbrew przepisom na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (the Act of 15 June 2012 on the consequences of entrusting work to foreigners staying in Poland illegally). It provides for:

• an obligation to pay the outstanding wages; unless the employer or the worker proves otherwise, the employment is presumed to have lasted 3 months;
• a fine or restriction of liberty if several such foreigners work at the same time or one of them is a minor;
• up to 3 years’ imprisonment for work in particularly exploitative conditions;
• a possible court ban on access to public funds for 1 to 5 years.

A contractor that engaged a subcontractor is in certain cases liable for such debts of the subcontractor unless it proves due diligence. At the same time, an employer is not punishable under this act if, before work started, it asked for a valid residence document, kept a copy and, where required, registered the employee with ZUS (social security). The exception is when it knew the document was forged. So a copy of the residence card or visa in the employee’s file is your protection, not a formality.

Who is liable when foreigners work through an agency

Liability depends on the model of cooperation.

• Staff leasing through a temporary work agency. The foreigner’s employer is the agency: it obtains the permit or registers the oświadczenie, signs the contract and is responsible for the documents. How the duties are divided is explained in our article on how staff leasing works.
• “Outsourcing” where the client actually manages the people. If a company that is not a temporary work agency sends a foreigner to work for a client and under the client’s direction, the voivode will refuse it a work permit. The sending alone carries a fine of at least PLN 3,000.
• An intermediary without agency status. If the people were brought in by an entity that is not an employment agency (agencja zatrudnienia), whoever gives them work faces a fine of at least PLN 6,000 per foreigner. So the risk may also fall on the company where these people actually work.

We compare the models in the article outsourcing vs staff leasing. Before taking people from a contractor, check it in the register of employment agencies (KRAZ) and ask for confirmation of the legal basis on which the foreigners work.

Checklist before a foreigner’s first shift

1. Check the nationality and the basis of stay: a visa and the purpose it was issued for, a residence card (karta pobytu), visa-free travel.
2. Make sure there is a document that allows work for your company specifically: a work permit, an oświadczenie in the register, a temporary residence and work permit naming your company – or that the foreigner is exempt from the permit requirement.
3. Ask for a valid residence document and make a copy. Keep it for the whole time the person works and for 2 years after the end of the calendar year in which the work ended.
4. Sign a written contract before the first shift. If the contract is in Polish and the foreigner does not know Polish, give them the text in a language they understand before signing and keep that text.
5. Check the position, pay rate and hours against the document.
6. Before work starts, send a copy of the contract in Polish via praca.gov.pl to the authority that issued the permit or registered the oświadczenie.
7. Register the employee with ZUS.
8. Note the deadlines: the starosta must be told within 7 days that work under an oświadczenie has started, and, if the person did not start, within 14 days of the start date given in the register of oświadczenia.
9. Put the expiry dates of the visa, residence card and permit in your calendar.

How STARKO helps

STARKO is an employment agency in Warsaw registered in KRAZ. We legalise foreigners’ employment and keep workers’ documents in order in case of a PIP inspection. In staff leasing, people are formally employed by STARKO: contracts, pay, ZUS and paperwork are handled by us, and you receive one invoice. See how we work with companies on our for employers page.