Hire Employees in Poland From Switzerland

Switzerland’s Code of Obligations is one of the more employer-friendly employment frameworks in Europe, closer in spirit to a flexible, negotiated relationship than to the fixed statutory entitlements common elsewhere in the EU. Poland sits at the other end of that spectrum. This is one of the bigger gaps in this series.

Poland requires a valid reason to terminate, Switzerland generally doesn’t. Ordinary dismissal under Swiss law doesn’t require the employer to justify the decision, only certain bad-faith reasons, discrimination or retaliation for example, or dismissal during a protected period such as illness or pregnancy, are restricted. Poland works the opposite way, an indefinite employment contract can only be ended with a valid, stated reason, from the first day of the contract. This is the single biggest adjustment for a Swiss employer used to ending a contract without having to build a documented case for it.

There’s no broad statutory severance requirement in either country, but for different reasons. Switzerland has essentially no general severance obligation for standard dismissals, only a narrow entitlement for long-serving older employees in specific circumstances. Poland also has no general individual severance requirement, its statutory severance sits within group layoff legislation once redundancies reach a certain scale. The absence looks similar on the surface, but the underlying legal reasoning, and what triggers an exception, is different in each country.

Statutory leave is more generous in Poland. Switzerland’s statutory minimum is 4 weeks a year, 5 weeks for employees under 20. Poland’s statutory minimum starts at 20 days, rising to 26 after 10 years of combined work history, on top of 13 separate public holidays rather than counted within the leave allowance.

Public holidays are nationally fixed in Poland, not canton by canton. Only Switzerland’s national day, 1 August, is fixed at federal level, the rest are set by each of the 26 cantons, which means the actual number and dates vary depending on where in Switzerland the comparison is drawn from. Poland runs the same 13 public holidays everywhere, no regional variation to account for.

Occupational pension contributions work on a different logic. Switzerland’s mandatory occupational pension, BVG, scales contribution rates by age bracket, older employees carry a higher contribution rate than younger ones, split between employer and employee. Poland’s system doesn’t scale by age, employer ZUS contributions sit at a flat rate of roughly 20.48% of gross salary regardless of the employee’s age, with a separate auto-enrolment pension scheme, PPK, running alongside it.

Non-compete compensation isn’t mandatory in Switzerland the way it is in Poland. Swiss law reviews a non-compete clause for reasonable scope, duration and geography, but doesn’t generally require the employer to pay ongoing compensation for it to be enforceable. Poland does, typically at least 25% of the employee’s prior pay for the restricted period. A non-compete clause drafted the Swiss way won’t automatically hold up in a Polish contract.

If disguised self-employment is a concept you already manage, Poland’s version will be familiar. Swiss social insurance authorities already assess whether a nominally self-employed contractor is functioning as an employee for AHV purposes. 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.