Minimum wage in Poland: net take-home pay in 2026 and 2027

The minimum wage in Poland in 2026 is PLN 4,806 gross, and the take-home pay of a full-time worker on an umowa o pracę (employment contract) is PLN 3,605.85. From 1 January 2027 the minimum wage rises to PLN 4,950 gross, and under the current tax rules take-home pay will be PLN 3,703.93. These amounts apply to a worker over 26 who has filed a PIT-2 form and is not in PPK.

Gross and net: what is deducted from your pay

Gross (brutto) is the amount in your contract. Net (netto), or take-home pay, is what reaches your account after deductions:

• ZUS social insurance contributions (ZUS is the Polish social security institution): pension (emerytalna) 9.76%, disability (rentowa) 1.5% and sickness (chorobowa) 2.45% – 13.71% of gross in total;
• health contribution (składka zdrowotna): 9% of gross after ZUS contributions have been deducted;
• income tax advance (zaliczka na podatek): 12% of the tax base minus PLN 300 if you have filed PIT-2. The tax base is gross pay minus ZUS contributions and the standard PLN 250 of work-related costs (koszty uzyskania przychodu), rounded to the nearest złoty.

Your employer pays its own contributions on top of your gross pay, and they are not deducted from your wages.

Take-home pay on the minimum wage in 2026 and 2027

How the tax is calculated in 2026: 4,806 − 658.91 − 250 = 3,897.09, which rounds to a tax base of PLN 3,897; 12% of that is PLN 467.64, minus PLN 300 gives 167.64, so the tax advance is PLN 168. The 2027 figures are calculated under the current tax rules. The tax scale changes the government announced in August 2026, in their proposed form, only affect annual incomes above PLN 120,000, so they would not change take-home pay on the minimum wage.

What your take-home pay depends on

• PIT-2. Once you hand in this form, your employer reduces your tax advance by PLN 300 every month. Without it you get PLN 300 less, and the tax reduction is only taken into account in your annual tax return. If you have several payers, the PLN 300 can be split between them, but no more than PLN 300 a month in total.
• Being under 26. The relief for young people (ulga dla młodych) exempts income from an umowa o pracę and umowa zlecenia up to PLN 85,528 a year from tax. Your employer applies it automatically, without any form. ZUS and health contributions are still deducted.
• PPK. If you take part in Pracownicze Plany Kapitałowe (Employee Capital Plans), another 2% of your gross pay goes to your PPK account, and the employer’s 1.5% contribution increases your tax base. On the 2026 minimum wage take-home pay comes to about PLN 3,501.73, but this money builds up in your account.
• Part-time work. The minimum wage is calculated pro rata: on a half-time contract it is at least PLN 2,403 gross in 2026 and PLN 2,475 in 2027.
• An incomplete month. If you started work after the first of the month, were ill or took unpaid leave, the amount will be different.

Minimum wage on an umowa zlecenia

An umowa zlecenia (civil-law contract of mandate) has no monthly minimum wage but a minimum hourly rate: PLN 31.40 gross in 2026 and PLN 32.30 from 1 January 2027. It must be paid for every hour of work under the contract. The hourly rate does not apply to an umowa o pracę: what matters there is that a full month of full-time work pays at least the minimum wage.

Net pay on a zlecenie is calculated differently from an employment contract:

• the sickness contribution is voluntary: it is paid only if you ask for it, and then after 90 days of insurance you become entitled to sick pay;
• work-related costs are calculated differently, so the tax advance is different too;
• pupils of secondary schools and students under 26 pay no ZUS or health contributions and, thanks to the relief for young people, no tax either, so they usually get the full gross amount.

For students, the condition is having pupil or student status for the whole term of the contract; citizenship does not matter. Whether studying at a foreign university counts is best checked with ZUS. Which to choose, an employment contract or a zlecenie, is explained in our article Umowa o pracę or umowa zlecenia, and the rules for students are explained by Zielona Linia.

What does not count towards the minimum wage

The minimum wage is the lowest pay for a full month of full-time work, but some payments do not count towards it. These must be paid on top of the minimum wage:

• overtime pay;
• the night work allowance;
• the seniority allowance;
• the allowance for special working conditions;
• a long-service award and severance pay on retirement.

Bonuses and awards, on the other hand, do count, so your base pay can be lower than PLN 4,806 as long as it reaches at least the minimum wage for the month together with the bonus. If you work nights or overtime, these allowances are added on top of the minimum amount. Exactly how much is explained in our article Overtime and night work, and official explanations are on the Ministerstwo Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej (Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy) website.

How to check your pay: a checklist

• Take your payslip (pasek wynagrodzeń) and find the gross amount, contributions, tax advance and net amount.
• Check whether you have filed PIT-2: if you have, your tax advance is PLN 300 lower.
• If you are under 26, your tax advance should be zero until your income for the year exceeds PLN 85,528.
• Check whether you are in PPK: if you are, the payslip will show a 2% contribution.
• Compare the hours in your schedule with the hours on your payslip, especially night and overtime hours.
• If something doesn’t add up, ask your employer’s payroll department in writing.

How STARKO helps

STARKO employs people under a legal contract under Polish law, with insurance, and pays wages into your bank account every month on a fixed day. If you live in our accommodation, its cost (from PLN 500 a month) is deducted from your wages, so you don’t pay anything upfront – keep this in mind when you compare take-home pay. See our jobs with accommodation.