Minimum Salary Level Increased

At a Glance

Effective November 21, 2019, Poland has increased its minimum salary levels for foreign workers by an average of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter.
Additionally, effective January 1, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for locally hired foreign workers in Poland will increase to PLN 2,600, up 15.6 percent from 2019.
The new thresholds apply to current permit holders, pending applications and new applications. Employers should check foreign workers’ salaries to ensure compliance.

The situation

Minimum monthly salary levels for foreign workers in Poland are as follows:

Permit type	Prior salary level	Current / new salary level	Effective date	Percentage increase
Local Hire	PLN 2,250 gross/month	PLN 2,600 gross/month	January 1, 2020	15.6
Intracompany Transfer (both national and EU ICT)	Warsaw (Mazowsze / Mazovia region) – PLN 3,653.37 gross/month Kraków (Malopolskie / Lesser Poland region) – PLN 2,868.15 gross/month Wrocław (Dolnoslaskie / Lower Silesia region) – PLN 3,080.10 gross/month	Warsaw – PLN 3,921 gross/month Kraków – PLN 3,092.64 gross/month Wrocław – PLN 3,280.10 gross/month	November 21, 2019	Warsaw: 7.3 Kraków: 7.8 Wrocław: 6.5
EU Blue Card	PLN 6,877.55 gross/month	Unchanged. Publication of the new threshold is expected by end of February 2020	Ongoing	n/a
Civil contract (e.g., for temporary projects)	PLN 14.70 gross/hour	PLN 17 gross/hour	January 1, 2020	15.6

The exchange rate at the time of publication of this alert is 1 PLN to 0.26 USD.

A closer look

Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule.
Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew work authorization must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending work authorization applications must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.

Reminders on other requirements

Topic	Local hires	Intracompany Transfers	EU Blue Cards
Quarterly changes	n/a	Employers should maintain a safe margin above the salary requirements in anticipation of quarterly increases.
Benefits and allowances	Cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.	May only be included in the minimum salary calculation if they are fixed, paid monthly, and paid directly to the foreign worker's bank account.	Cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.
Currency	Foreign workers must be on local payroll and paid in PLN.	Employers must guarantee the salary in PLN regardless of payroll location and/or exchange rate fluctuations. Salary amounts must be declared in PLN in the work permit application.	Foreign workers must be on local payroll and paid in PLN.
Market salary rate	Salaries must be similar to that of other employees performing similar jobs at the sponsoring employer.
Support dependents	Salaries must be sufficient to support the foreign national and any dependents during their stay in Poland.

Background

European countries typically increase minimum salary requirements for foreign workers by 1-5 percent as of January 1, to account for cost of living increases. The larger increases in Poland reflect a booming economy, since Polish salary requirements for foreign workers are typically calculated based on average national or regional salary levels for local workers.

Looking ahead

Fragomen expects many more countries to publish updated salary figures in the upcoming weeks.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].

We have dedicated extensive resources to monitoring immigration regulatory developments and policy changes as they evolve worldwide.