Employer of Record in Poland: 2026 Cost and Compliance Guide

Poland is Central Europe's largest tech and shared-services hub, with strong engineering talent in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Poznań at costs well below Western Europe. Employer social contributions (ZUS) and related funds add roughly 20–22% to gross salary, and the largest elements stop at an annual cap.

Many Polish tech professionals work on B2B contracts as self-employed contractors, which is legal but carries reclassification risk when the relationship looks like employment. An Employer of Record (EOR) offers a compliant employment contract (umowa o pracę) without you opening a Polish company.

This guide covers costs, the temporary-work rules that can limit EOR arrangements, key employment rules, provider comparison and when to set up a Polish sp. z o.o. Figures link to official sources. We do not test or use the providers listed; see our methodology.

An Employer of Record is a company with a Polish entity that employs staff on behalf of foreign businesses. It signs the Polish employment contract, registers the employee with ZUS, withholds income tax (PIT) and employee contributions, pays employer contributions, enrols the employee in the employee capital plan (PPK) unless they opt out, and handles leave, sick pay and terminations under the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy).

Where a provider places an employee to work under your direction, the arrangement can fall under Poland's Act on the Employment of Temporary Workers. Temporary work agencies must be registered (KRAZ), and a temporary worker can generally work for the same user employer for at most 18 months within 36 months.

EOR providers handle this differently. Some operate as registered temporary work agencies; others structure services to fall outside the act. Ask each provider how its Polish model works and what happens at the 18-month mark.

Polish employment cost has three layers: gross salary (12 monthly payments), employer contributions (ZUS, the Labour and Solidarity Funds, the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund and PPK) and the EOR fee.

Pension and disability contributions, the two largest items, stop once annual earnings pass PLN 282,600 (the '30× rule'). The tables and estimator apply that limit.

Annual cost at example salaries

What these figures include and exclude

• Pension and disability contributions stop once cumulative annual earnings reach PLN 282,600 (2026), so the employer percentage falls for senior salaries.
• Employee ZUS (about 13.7%), health insurance (9%) and PIT are deducted from gross pay and are not employer costs.
• Creative-work arrangements (50% tax-deductible costs for qualifying roles such as software development) reduce the employee's income tax, not employer costs.
• The employer pays sick pay (80% of salary) for the first 33 days of illness each year (14 days for employees aged over 50); ZUS pays after that.

Estimate your own cost

Enter a salary to see the estimated annual cost, including mandatory employer contributions and an EOR fee. Change the fee to match the quotes you receive.

Polish employment is governed by the Labour Code. Rules below apply to employment contracts (umowa o pracę); civil-law and B2B contracts are outside the Code.

Temporary work (EOR relevance)

Temporary workers can generally work for the same user employer for at most 18 months within 36 months, and agencies must be registered.[5]Verify

Employment contracts

Contracts must be in writing. Fixed-term contracts are limited to 33 months in total and three contracts with the same employer.[4]Verify

Probation period

A probationary contract of up to 3 months (shorter where a fixed-term contract will follow).[4]Verify

Working time

8 hours a day and an average of 40 hours a week in a five-day week, with overtime limits and premiums.[4]Verify

Annual leave

20 days a year for employees with less than 10 years of service (including qualifying education), 26 days after that.[4]Verify

Public holidays

13–14 statutory public holidays a year.Verify

Notice periods

For open-ended contracts: 2 weeks (under 6 months' service), 1 month (6 months to 3 years) or 3 months (3+ years).[4]Verify

Termination

Terminating an open-ended contract requires a stated, valid reason and, where relevant, trade union consultation. Severance applies to redundancies at employers with 20+ staff (1–3 months' pay).[4]Verify

These EOR providers publish information about employing in Poland. Prices are their own published starting rates in USD. Quote-only providers are marked.

In Poland, ask whether the provider is a registered temporary work agency (KRAZ) or uses another structure, how it handles the 18-in-36-months limit, and whether it can also support B2B contractors if you need both.

For each provider's products, pricing model and fit signals, see the EOR provider directory.

The standard vehicle is the spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością (sp. z o.o.), a limited liability company with minimum share capital of PLN 5,000. It can be registered online in days using the S24 system, or through a notary for custom articles.

Running costs are modest by EU standards: an accounting office (biuro rachunkowe), payroll, annual financial statements, corporate income tax (19%, or 9% for small taxpayers) and a registered address.

For a step-by-step version of this calculation, see EOR vs local entity: a break-even framework.

1. 1

   Define the role and salaryDay 0

   Agree a monthly gross salary and decide between an employment contract via EOR and a B2B contract, based on how the role will actually work.

2. 2

   Compare itemised quotes1–3 days

   Request Poland quotes covering the fee, deposit, PPK, medical packages and offboarding, and ask about the 18-month rule. Use the estimator to sanity-check totals.

3. 3

   Sign the service agreement

   Review liability for termination costs, IP assignment (important for creative-work tax treatment) and GDPR terms.

4. 4

   Contract and onboarding3–7 days

   The EOR issues a written Polish contract. The employee provides their PESEL number, ID and bank details and completes the pre-employment medical exam.

5. 5

   Registration with ZUS

   The EOR registers the employee with ZUS within 7 days of the start date and sets up PPK enrolment.

6. 6

   Ongoing administrationMonthly

   Monthly payroll, ZUS and PIT filings, leave records and annual health and safety training.

Rates and rules on this page are based on the following official sources. Numbers in brackets in the tables above link to these entries.

1. 1
   Contribution rates and limits

   Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych (ZUS)

   Employer contribution rates and the annual pension base limit.

2. 2
   Employee Capital Plans (PPK)

   mojePPK (PFR Portal PPK)

   Employer and employee PPK contribution rules.

3. 3
   Minimum wage 2026

   Gov.pl (Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy)

   The minimum monthly wage and hourly rate.

4. 4
   Labour Code (Kodeks pracy)

   Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych (ISAP)

   Contracts, working time, leave, notice and termination.

5. 5
   Act on the Employment of Temporary Workers

   Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych (ISAP)

   Rules for temporary work agencies, including the 18-in-36-months limit.

Poland offers strong talent at moderate cost: plan for roughly 1.25–1.5× gross salary in total through an EOR, with the flat fee weighing more on junior salaries.

Confirm how each provider handles the temporary-work rules before relying on a long-term arrangement, and weigh the EOR route against B2B contracts on risk, not just price.

For a growing engineering hub, compare against your own sp. z o.o. using our EOR vs local entity guide, and see Germany for a neighbouring market.