Migrancki Portal Wiedzy

A work permit might be issued to an alien who intends to work for Polish employers (type A), only after conducting a "labour market test”. The labour market test signifies the procedure of acquiring information about the situation on the local labour market; such procedure should confirm the lack of eligible persons who are either unemployed or are seeking work or, in case of the recruitment organized for the employer, that there are no suitable candidates for the job vacancy in Poland.

This means that an alien may be granted a work permit in Poland only under the condition that among the job seekers registered at the labour office there are no such would-be workers who would meet the job requirements. In such a case, the procedure is as follows:

1. an employer submits to the District Labour Office (Powiatowy Urząd Pracy) a notification of a vacancy. Codes and names of occupations;
2. labour office analyses the records of  the unemployed and job seekers;
3. if the analysis reveals an adequate number of persons meeting the requirements arising from a job description, the Labour Office organises the recruitment among the unemployed and job seekers;
4. labour office compares the amount of remuneration proposed by the employer to a remuneration that can be obtained at the same, or similar occupation or type of work - these rates should be similar;
5. if there is no person who can be recruited  from among the unemployed and job seekers, such information is issued by the district governor (starosta) within 7 days from the date of  placing the offer at the labour office. If recruitment is possible, this period amounts to 14 days;
6. such information is issued by the  district governor and passed to an employer who attaches it to an application for a work permit.

Please note: understated or overstated job requirements are not taken into account.

The labour market test is not required when the following cases are concerned^*:

1. work that is to be done is enumerated in the list of occupations  which are in great demand, set out by the province governor (wojewoda) regulation (currently: steel fixer, carpenter, fitter building structures, tiler, plasterer, manual gas welder, tinsmith building, excavators and dumping conveyor operators, bus and tractor drivers); the validity of the work permit is to be extended for the same alien for the same job; if, within 3 years preceding the application for the  work permit, the alien graduated from HEI (Higher Education Institution) in Poland or another EEA country or Switzerland; an alien is entitled to represent a foreign employer in its branch or/  subsidiary located in Poland;
2. an alien is a citizen of the country bordering Poland or a country with which Poland cooperates on labour migration and who intends to work as a domestic worker or a care-giver;
3. an alien is a citizen of the country bordering Poland or a country with which  Poland cooperates  on labour migration and who, in the period immediately preceding the  application, for at least 3 months performed work for the same entity on the basis of the declaration of intention to entrust a job to a foreigner / the declaration of intention to entrust a job to a foreigner - provided  that documents confirming such situation shall be presented;
4. for 3 years preceding the application for a residence permit an alien has resided legally on the territory of Poland, with some exceptions; other cases (coach, athlete, trainee doctor and dentist).

A work permit is issued upon an employer’s written request, prepared according to the established form. The application is to be submitted to the voivodeship office (Urząd Wojewódzki). The exception is Mazowieckie voivodeship where the request is submitted to the Voivodeship Labour Office or its subsidiaries.

The work permit states the position at which the alien will be employed, name of the employer entrusting work and  the validity period. The permit is issued by the province governor  (wojewoda).  The work permit is issued in triplicate: one remains at the office; two are transmitted to the employer, who in turn passes one to the employee.

A work permit must be obtained for the work performed under a contract of employment, but also on the basis of civil contracts (work contract, commission contract).