Hire Employees in Poland From The Netherlands

The Netherlands runs one of the more protective employment systems in the EU, so this isn’t a rigid-versus-flexible gap. Where Dutch employers get caught out is that several of the Netherlands’ distinctive protections, ones that feel like a fixed cost of doing business at home, simply don’t have an equivalent in Poland, and some things Poland requires don’t have a Dutch equivalent either.

Poland doesn’t require prior permission to terminate. Dutch law generally requires either UWV approval or a cantonal court ruling before an employer can end an indefinite contract, unless it’s done by mutual settlement agreement, and termination without one of those routes is void. Poland doesn’t run a prior-approval system, an employer can terminate an indefinite contract directly with a valid, stated reason and the correct notice period, the employee’s route to challenge it is afterward, through the labour court, not before.

There’s no direct equivalent to the transition payment. Dutch employees are generally entitled to a transitievergoeding, a statutory severance payment, when their contract ends at the employer’s initiative, calculated from day one of employment. Poland doesn’t run an equivalent standard severance entitlement for individual terminations, statutory severance in Poland is tied to group layoff legislation once redundancies reach a certain scale, not to every individual dismissal.

Employer-paid sick leave is dramatically shorter in Poland. Dutch law requires the employer to continue paying at least 70% of salary for up to 2 years of illness. In Poland, the employer pays sick leave, generally at 80% of average salary, for only the first 33 days, before ZUS, the state social security body, takes over. This is one of the largest practical differences on this list, and worth factoring into any cost comparison, not just the headline salary.

The 8% holiday allowance doesn’t carry over. Dutch law requires a statutory holiday allowance, vakantiegeld, of at least 8% of annual salary, paid on top of regular pay, typically in May. Poland has no equivalent mandatory holiday bonus, annual leave in Poland is paid at normal salary, without an additional statutory allowance layered on top.

Fixed-term contract limits use different numbers. Dutch law, under the ketenregeling, converts a fixed-term contract to indefinite after 3 contracts or 3 years, whichever comes first. Poland uses a similar structure, up to 3 fixed-term contracts within a maximum of 33 months, before automatic conversion to indefinite. The principle is the same, don’t assume the specific limits match.

Non-compete compensation rules aren’t identical. Poland requires an employer to pay compensation, generally at least 25% of prior pay, for a post-termination non-compete to be enforceable. Dutch practice around compensation for non-competes has historically been less strict for indefinite contracts, don’t assume a non-compete clause drafted for a Dutch contract will hold up unpaid in Poland.

IP transfer needs explicit handling. Poland requires IP created by an employee to be assigned to the employer through a properly drafted clause under the Polish Copyright Act, it needs to be built into the Polish contract correctly, not assumed to transfer the way it might under a Dutch contract.

If schijnzelfstandigheid and Wet DBA are familiar, Poland’s version will make sense quickly. Dutch employers already deal with the zzp false self-employment question and the ongoing DBA enforcement framework for contractors who function like employees. Poland has its own version of the same underlying problem, and since a 2026 reform, a Polish labour inspector can now make that reclassification decision administratively, with immediate effect. If you’re currently paying a Poland-based worker as a contractor rather than an employee, see our guide on B2B contract reclassification in Poland.