A contract of employment (Polish: umowa o pracę) is possibly the most desired form of employment among Polish nationals and there are a few reasons for that. This, however, does not mean that it is the best form of employment for a foreigner in Poland. Read our description of it and decide if it is right for you.

A contract of employment is a mutual agreement of cooperation. On employee’s part, it is an agreement to perform work for an employer in a continuous and uninterrupted manner and in a specific time and place, while an employer is obliged to pay remuneration to an employee. The contract needs to be prepared and signed on paper and all doubts should be clarified in compliance with the Labour Code.

There is some freedom in preparing a contract of employment, but some rules need to be remembered. Every contract should contain a description of both parties (employer and employee), type and place of work, salary, start date and a number of working hours (8 hours per 5 days a week are most common).

How much time should you spend at full-time work?
Read about working hours in Poland.

There are a few types of contracts of employment, which may differ in the number of rights delegated to employees through them. We have indefinite employment contracts, fixed-term employment contracts, probation period contracts, replacement employment contracts, an employment contract for a specified task, employment contract for vocational training. The first two or three naturally make up the biggest number of employment contracts in Poland.

Why do people in Poland want to work on the grounds of an employment contract? There are a few pros to this kind of agreement…

• Employees are entitled to some benefits described in the Labour Code (e.g. paid holidays)
• The employer is obliged to pay your social contributions
• Protection in case of contract termination
• Minimum wage guarantee

There are also, however, some cons to contracts of employment:

• Reduced flexibility (specific time and place of performing work)
• Impossible to delegate your work to subcontractors

Let us know if you have ever had an employment contract in Poland and what is your experience with that, good or bad!