Jobs for refugees from Ukraine – minimum of formalities

It will be easier to employ Ukrainian citizens escaping the war. The Sejm has adopted a special Act simplifying the procedures for employing refugees and granting them the right to work and professional career counselling.

Employment of Ukrainian citizens – notification is enough

The new regulations are intended to help Polish employers hire Ukrainian refugees escaping the war, who are staying in Poland legally. The most important solutions include:

• Legal employment of Ukrainian citizens on the basis of a notification of a poviat labour office – the notification is sent by an employing entity via the ICT system praca.gov.pl within 14 days from taking up employment by a refugee who legally resides within the territory of Poland.

The notification of job assignment should include:

• the type of contract concluded between an employing entity and a citizen of Ukraine,
• personal data of a citizen of Ukraine, including full name, date of birth, sex, citizenship, type, number and series of an ID card, travel document or any other document proving identity and nationality,
• data on an employing entity including the name, registered office address, contact details, NIP and REGON, the symbol of PKD and a description of the activities performed related to the work of Ukrainian citizens, and, if the employment is conducted by an employment agency, also the number of its entry in the register of entities running employment agencies.

The abovementioned data, after being sent to the poviat labour office, will be made available to institutions such as ZUS, KRUS, PIP and Border Guard.

Access to the labour market and trainings

Apart from the provisions facilitating the employment of refugees, what matters are the solutions allowing Ukrainian citizens to:

• register at the poviat labour office in order to look for a job and acquire the status of an unemployed person,
• benefit from career counselling and trainings offered by labour offices on the same basis as Polish citizens.

Moreover, Ukrainian citizens escaping the war who came directly from Ukraine and declared an intention to stay in Poland are entitled to legal residence for a period of 18 months, with the possibility of a subsequent extension for another 3 years on the basis of a decision issued individually.

The solutions adopted by the government are to enter into force on the date of their announcement in the Official Journal and will apply retroactively with effect from 24 February 2022.

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