Сalculating the foreigner’s 6-month working period based on the declaration of intention to entrust work

In the Act of 20 April 2004 on employment promotion and labor market institutions, the Polish legislator provided for a simplified procedure for employing foreigners from beyond the eastern border of Poland, i.e. people who are citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation or Ukraine. Instead of the time-consuming and more expensive procedure of obtaining a work permit for these foreigners, it is possible to register the employer’s declaration of intention to entrust work to a foreigner at the poviat labor office much faster and cheaper.

Registration of such a declaration allows the foreigner to perform work without a work permit for a period of 6 months within the next 12 months.

The term determined in this way often raises many questions on the part of the employer, because the law does not define the exact rules for calculating it. In connection with the above, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Company Policy in December 2018 prepared guidelines for poviat labor offices specifying the rules for calculating the 6-month period of work based on the statement:

1. The period of work performed by a foreigner without a work permit in connection with a declaration entered in the register (or several such declarations) may not exceed 6 months in the next 12 months. This period can be used continuously (full 6 months) or in several shorter periods. The total period of work (summed up periods of work) may not exceed 6 months in the next 12 months.

2. The method of determining how long the period of work may be indicated in the declaration entered in the records is as follows:

1. the settlement period for the next 12 months is determined, counting backwards from the end date of the work indicated in the declaration submitted to the poviat labor office in order to enter it in the records;
2. It is checked whether the 6-month period of permissible work without a work permit has been used in the agreed settlement period and in what part;
3. if part of the 6-month period has been used, the records may include a declaration for the unused part of this period (e.g. in the case of work for 5 months, a declaration on entrusting work for 1 month may be entered);
4. the poviat labor office may, with the consent of the employer, change the period of work performance in the declaration entered in the register accordingly;
5. if the employer does not agree to change the period of work, the poviat labor office refuses to enter the declaration into the register.

3.If the foreigner has performed work in connection with the registered declaration for a full, continuous period of 6 months, another declaration may be entered in the records, if the deadline for taking up work by the foreigner specified in this declaration is not earlier than after the next 6 months.

4. The period of 6 months is converted into 180 days, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. Continuous performance of work is not required, which means that this period can be divided into shorter periods totaling no more than 180 days within 12 months. On the other hand, the period of 12 months is always continuous.

The above-mentioned rules will certainly help employers to determine the exact period for which they can entrust work to foreigners and speed up the procedure for registering statements.

Feel free to contact the lawyers of our Law Firm in matters of legalization of foreigners’ stay or work in Poland. All applications should be sent to the following address: [email protected]