Running a staffing or temporary work agency in Poland from outside the EU
Your company is based outside the EU and wants to supply temporary workers to clients in Poland. Since 1 June 2025, every agency must be entered in the KRAZ register before it operates, a business from outside the EU or EEA can be entered only if it works in Poland through a Polish company (spółka), and services for foreign workers open two years after the entry. This guide sets out each rule, who it applies to and the official text behind it.
What a non-EU staffing agency faces in Poland
Nine rules, who they apply to and when.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KRAZ entry | Job placement and temporary work are regulated and need an entry in the register of employment agencies | Every agency, including foreign ones | Since 1 June 2025, before operating | art. 305(2) Labour Market Act |
| Route for a non-EU business | Entry only if it operates in Poland as a spółka, or under a treaty right | Businesses from outside the EU and EEA | Before applying | art. 305(5) Labour Market Act |
| Authority | Register kept by the voivodeship marshal | A foreign business picks the marshal where it provides services | At application | art. 308 Labour Market Act |
| Entry fee | PLN 1,000 | The applicant | With the application | art. 310 Labour Market Act |
| Refusal grounds | Arrears, convictions, liquidation or bankruptcy, earlier removal, a prior inspection finding, no premises | The applicant and its managers | At application; 3-year bar after a removal | art. 307 and 317 Labour Market Act |
| Services for foreign workers | Allowed only with an amended entry | The registered agency | 2 years after the entry | art. 305(3) and (4) Labour Market Act |
| Banned assignments | Particularly dangerous work, replacing strikers, the post of an employee dismissed in the last 3 months | Every assignment | Before each placement | art. 8 Temporary Employment Act |
| Equal treatment | No less favourable than a comparable employee of the user | Every temporary worker | Throughout the assignment | art. 15 Temporary Employment Act |
| Maximum duration | 18 months within 36 months | Each worker with the same user | Over 36 months | art. 20 Temporary Employment Act |
| Fines | PLN 3,000 to 100,000 without an entry or for early services to foreign workers; PLN 3,000 to 30,000 for illegal fees charged to workers | The agency | On enforcement | art. 362 Labour Market Act |
The Labour Market Act is the Act of 20 March 2025 on the labour market and employment services (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 620). The Temporary Employment Act is the Act on the employment of temporary workers (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 236). The rest of this page takes each line in turn, as the texts read on 6 November 2026.
The entry in the KRAZ register
No entry, no agency work. The rule covers job placement and temporary work alike.
Job placement and temporary work are regulated activities in Poland. A business may carry them out only once it is entered in the register of employment agencies, known as KRAZ. The rule comes from the Labour Market Act, in force since 1 June 2025 (art. 305(2), Dz.U. 2025 poz. 620).
The register is kept by the voivodeship marshal (marszałek województwa), at regional level. A foreign business chooses the marshal of the voivodeship where it provides its services (art. 308), so the choice follows where your Polish clients are.
A fee of PLN 1,000
The entry costs PLN 1,000 (art. 310). From outside the EU or EEA, the cost of setting up a Polish company comes on top, because the entry goes through a spółka (next section).
Who can be entered: the spółka rule
For a business from outside the EU or EEA, the entry goes through a Polish company.
The obligation to be entered also reaches foreign applicants. The Labour Market Act names four cases (art. 305(5)):
- a branch (oddział) in Poland;
- a business from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland that is authorised to do this work in its own state;
- a business from outside the EU and EEA, but only if it operates in Poland as a spółka under the Act of 6 March 2018 on foreign entrepreneurs;
- a business with a right that comes from an international agreement.
For a company based in the US, the Gulf, Turkey or Asia, the result is simple. Without a Polish spółka, or a treaty right, it cannot be entered. Without an entry, it cannot place workers in Poland, and any placement it makes anyway falls under the fines above.
A Polish company (spółka)
The non-EU group sets up a spółka under the Act of 6 March 2018 on foreign entrepreneurs, and the agency work runs through it. The refusal grounds in the next section are then tested on that company and its managers (art. 305(5), art. 307).
A business authorised at home
An agency established in another EU or EEA state, or in Switzerland, can be entered if it is authorised to do this work in its own state (art. 305(5)). Sending its workers to Polish users brings in the EU posting rules summarised further down.
Refusal grounds and the two-year wait
What the marshal checks, and what a new agency cannot do yet.
The Labour Market Act lists the grounds for refusing an entry (art. 307 and art. 317). The entry can be refused where:
- the applicant has tax or social security arrears;
- its managers have been convicted of certain offences;
- it is in liquidation or bankruptcy;
- it was removed from the register before, and a removal bars a new entry for 3 years;
- the application comes after the labour inspectorate (PIP) found undeclared agency activity;
- it has no premises for temporary work and for the placement of foreigners.
Two of these weigh more on a non-EU founder. A spółka formed for the project needs premises before it applies. And a group that tested the Polish market with a few placements before registering may see that test counted against its application.
A new agency cannot serve foreign workers for two years
Services for foreign workers are open to an agency only 2 years after its entry, and only with an amended entry (art. 305(3) and (4)). Providing them earlier carries the same fine as working without an entry, PLN 3,000 to 100,000 (art. 362). A spółka formed today to supply foreign workers cannot do so during its first two years on the register. Plan that gap into the business case before you sign a client who expects foreign staff.
Rules that apply to every placement
Set by the Temporary Employment Act, with one fine from the Labour Market Act.
Posts a temporary worker cannot fill
A temporary worker cannot be assigned to particularly dangerous work, to replace workers on strike, or to the post of an employee dismissed in the last 3 months (art. 8, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 236). Ask the client about recent dismissals before you accept the order.
No less favourable terms
A temporary worker may not be treated less favourably than a comparable employee of the user company (art. 15). Get the user's terms for the same post in writing before you set the worker's pay.
18 months in 36 with one user
The same temporary worker can work for the same user for at most 18 months within 36 months (art. 20). Track the dates per worker and per user from the first day.
No illegal fees charged to workers
An agency that charges workers fees the law does not allow faces a fine of PLN 3,000 to 30,000 (art. 362, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 620). Check any cost you pass on to workers against the Act first.
What EU law adds
EU law sets the base under these Polish rules. During an assignment, temporary workers get at least the essential working and employment conditions they would have if the user had hired them directly (Directive 2008/104/EC, art. 5), and the Services Directive does not apply to temporary work agencies, which is why Poland keeps its own register (Directive 2006/123/EC, art. 2(2)(e)). A business from a non-member state cannot get more favourable treatment than one established in a member state when it posts workers (Directive 96/71/EC, art. 1(4)), and an EU agency must place a significant part of its workers with users established and operating in its own state to obtain A1 certificates; registration alone is not enough (CJEU, C-784/19 Team Power Europe). Our comparison of staffing rules across Europe sets these out country by country.
From first plan to first placement
In the order a newcomer meets them. Time limits shown are those set in the Acts.
Decide which entity will be entered
From outside the EU or EEA, that means a spółka under the Act of 6 March 2018, unless a treaty right applies. An agency authorised in another EU or EEA state, or in Switzerland, is the other route.
Clear the refusal grounds
No tax or social security arrears, no disqualifying convictions among the managers, premises in place. A removal from the register bars a new entry for 3 years.
Apply to the voivodeship marshal
File with the marshal of the voivodeship where you will provide services and pay the PLN 1,000 fee. Placing workers before the entry is fined PLN 3,000 to 100,000.
Check the assignment limits
No particularly dangerous work, no replacement of strikers, no post of an employee dismissed in the last 3 months, equal treatment, and at most 18 months within 36 with the same user.
Apply for the amended entry
Only with it can the agency provide services for foreign workers.
What the official sources do not settle
We have not read the article that sets how quickly the marshal must make the entry (art. 312) in the official text, so this page gives no time frame for it. The sources we read also do not list which international agreements give a non-EU business its own right to be entered, or which offences bar a manager. Confirm these points with the voivodeship marshal's office or a licensed adviser in Poland before you fix a launch date.
What Balt Partners coordinates
We map the Polish obligations and deadlines, and bring in a licensed adviser in Poland for the filings.
Poland obligation map
Which route fits your group, the refusal tests, the two-year wait for foreign workers and the assignment limits, set against your launch plan.
Spółka and KRAZ filings
We bring in a licensed adviser in Poland for the company set-up and the KRAZ application, and keep the documents and dates in one file.
A Latvian SIA if an EU base fits
We form Latvian companies (SIA) with their bank account and accounting set-up, for groups that want an EU company in their structure.
Other countries on the same plan
Access rules differ from one country to the next. We line up the obligations and dates of every country you target on one calendar.
If an EU company is part of your plans, our page on setting up a Latvian subsidiary of a foreign company explains that route. For the licence and registration rules elsewhere, start from our guide to running a staffing agency in Europe.
Questions about running a staffing agency in Poland
Yes, but not directly. A business from outside the EU or EEA can be entered in the KRAZ register only if it operates in Poland as a spółka under the Act of 6 March 2018 on foreign entrepreneurs, unless an international agreement gives it a right of its own. Without an entry it cannot place workers.
It is the register of employment agencies. Since 1 June 2025, job placement and temporary work in Poland require an entry in it. The register is kept by the voivodeship marshal, and a foreign business applies to the marshal of the voivodeship where it provides its services.
The entry fee is PLN 1,000. We have not read the time limit for making the entry in the official text, so confirm it with the marshal's office.
Not at first. Services for foreign workers are allowed only 2 years after the entry in the register, with an amended entry. Providing them earlier is fined PLN 3,000 to 100,000.
PLN 3,000 to 100,000. Charging workers illegal fees is fined PLN 3,000 to 30,000. An application made after the labour inspectorate has found undeclared agency activity is also a ground for refusing the entry.
At most 18 months within 36 months with the same user company.
Particularly dangerous work, the replacement of workers on strike, and the post of an employee dismissed in the last 3 months. Temporary workers must also not be treated less favourably than a comparable employee of the user company.