Hire Employees in Poland From The UK

The UK and Poland both offer real employment protection, so this isn’t the same gap as with a fully at-will system. Where UK employers get caught out is in the detail, several protections that are conditional or informal in the UK are fixed and immediate in Poland.

There’s no two-year qualifying period. In the UK, unfair dismissal protection generally only kicks in after two years of continuous service, before that, dismissal is comparatively straightforward. In Poland, an indefinite employment contract requires a valid, stated reason for termination from day one, there’s no equivalent early window where dismissal is simple.

Notice periods work on a different scale. UK statutory minimum notice runs from one week up to twelve weeks, based on length of service, and many contracts specify longer. Poland uses fixed statutory tiers instead, 2 weeks, 1 month or 3 months, set by how long the employee has worked for that specific employer, with no equivalent to a contractually extended notice period beyond what the law sets.

Annual leave and public holidays are counted separately. UK statutory leave is 28 days a year, and that figure includes bank holidays, most UK employers build their holiday allowance around that combined number. In Poland, 20 to 26 days of paid annual leave sits on top of 13 separate public holidays, they’re not the same bucket, so the real total time off is higher than the headline leave figure suggests.

Non-competes aren’t free. A non-compete clause in a UK contract is generally enforceable without any ongoing payment to the employee. In Poland, a post-termination non-compete only holds up if the employer pays compensation for the restricted period, typically at least 25% of the employee’s prior pay. A UK-style unpaid non-compete clause won’t be enforceable as written.

Probation is a defined contract type, not just a clause. UK probation periods are informal and set by whatever the contract says. Poland has a distinct probation contract category, capped at 3 months, that sits before the indefinite contract begins, it isn’t just a clause inside the main contract.

Redundancy and mass layoffs are handled differently. UK employees get statutory redundancy pay after two years’ service, calculated on an age-banded formula. Poland doesn’t run an identical individual redundancy scheme, but has separate group layoff legislation that applies once redundancies reach a certain scale, with its own consultation and severance requirements. The two systems don’t map onto each other directly.

If IR35 taught you anything, this will feel familiar. UK companies already understand the idea of a contractor whose actual working pattern looks like employment being reclassified for tax purposes. Poland has its own version, and since a 2026 reform, a labour inspector can now make that reclassification decision administratively, with immediate effect, rather than through a tribunal-style process. 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.