Glossary of terms

The steps show what to do and when. The "i" icons open an explanation of why it works this way and where the traps hide — written in the language of a business owner, not a lawyer.

Choose at the top whom you are hiring: the path and the deadlines differ depending on the basis for labour-market access.

The document decides the procedure, not the passport. A foreigner has free access (zero permits) if they hold, among others: permanent residence or EU-resident status, a Pole's Card, a residence card annotated "labour-market access", or is the spouse of a Polish citizen or a graduate of full-time Polish studies.

That is why a Belarusian with a Pole's Card needs no oświadczenie — while a citizen of the same country without the Card goes through the full procedure.

If a foreigner has applied in Poland for international protection (asylum), their right to work depends on the stage of the case, not on the application itself.

1. The procedure has run less than 6 months. Work is not yet allowed. The temporary foreigner identity certificate (TZTC) confirms residence but does not grant the right to work.

2. The procedure has run more than 6 months and the delay is not the applicant's fault. The Office for Foreigners issues a certificate (art. 35) — this is what grants free labour-market access. Without it the employer has no basis to hire legally.

3. Protection has been granted (refugee status or subsidiary protection). The foreigner has free access to work like a citizen — no oświadczenie or permit.

KZiS is the official classification of ~2500 occupations; the six-digit code goes into the oświadczenie, the contract and reports. The authority compares the code and pay from the oświadczenie with the contract: the contract pay may not be lower than in the oświadczenie; higher is fine.

A recently arrived foreigner often does not yet have a PESEL — the commune assigns it at registration or on request. The contract can be signed without a PESEL (passport identification); the ZUS registration also goes through with a passport.

A PESEL will be needed for tax settlements — make sure the employee obtains it in the first weeks. It is the employee's task, but you will feel the consequences of its absence at PIT-11.

Simplified legalisation for citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine (Georgia removed as of 01.12.2025). Since June 2025: electronically only via praca.gov.pl, a 400 zł fee, the entry usually within ~7 business days, maximum work period on an oświadczenie: 24 months.

New obligations that are easy to forget: the signed contract copy to the authority before start, notification of the work start within 7 days, of non-start — within 14 days.

A pay raise during the oświadczenie period does not require repeating the legalisation procedure — what matters is the threshold, not the exact amount. A change in pay does require a contract annex (labour law).

Initial, periodic and follow-up exams are performed by an occupational-health provider with which the employer has a contract — this cannot be done "in-house". The employer bears the cost; the exam is, where possible, during working hours.

Without a valid certificate you must not allow work — neither on day 1 nor after the previous certificate expires. After an illness longer than 30 days — a mandatory follow-up exam before returning.

The law requires separate documents from the employer for: employment terms (7 days from start), RODO, equal treatment, familiarisation with the rules, taxes (PIT-2), PPK, questionnaires… Most of them repeat the same data: name, PESEL, address, position, pay.

By hand = a dozen chances for a typo in the passport number. From one profile = zero re-typing. This is exactly the work that DoPusk automates.

A popular myth: "BHP training must be done by an external firm". The truth is more favourable for small office businesses:

1. When employing up to 10 people (and at a low risk category — up to 50), the employer may perform the BHP-service duties themselves — after completing a one-time course (valid 5 years). They then run the general instruction themselves.

2. The workstation instruction is run by the employee's manager — if they have current training for supervisors.

3. Administrative/office workers at a low risk category (typical IT/office) are exempt from periodic training — only the initial one at hiring.

4. For remote workers in office roles, the initial instruction may be conducted entirely electronically.

The ZUS ZUA registration (social + health insurance) must reach ZUS within 7 days of the work starting. Technically it is usually the accounting office that does it — but the responsibility and the deadline are yours: hand over the data right away, not "along with the invoices".

Family members of the employee without their own insurance title (spouse, children) — the ZCNA form, so they have access to the NFZ. Applies only to family living in Poland.

After the start you watch at least: the residence document's validity (and the 24-month oświadczenie limit), periodic medicals, the end of a fixed-term contract, carried-over leave until 30.09 (unused = an employer offence), PPK re-enrolment every 4 years (the nearest: early 2027 — opt-out declarations must be collected anew), and when the employee's child turns 18/26 — deregistration from ZCNA.

This is not a job for memory or a spreadsheet. It is a job for a system with alerts.