Amount exempt from wage deductions in 2027. How much of your salary a bailiff can take

Where the new amount comes from

The Council of Ministers regulation of 14 September 2026 on the minimum wage and the minimum hourly rate in 2027 (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1213) sets the minimum wage at PLN 4,950 gross and the minimum hourly rate at PLN 32.30. The regulation enters into force on 1 January 2027.

The Labour Code does not state the protected amount directly. Art. 87¹ § 1 links it to the minimum wage after deducting social security contributions, the income tax advance and PPK (employee capital plan) contributions, unless the employee opted out. This is why the protected amount changes every year together with the minimum wage.

Protected amounts from 1 January 2027

For a full-time employee with standard tax-deductible costs, the tax-reducing amount applied and no PPK contributions, the net minimum wage will be PLN 3,703.93. That is PLN 98.08 more than in 2026 (PLN 3,605.85).

Bailiff enforcement of debts other than child support or maintenance (loans, bills, fines): PLN 3,703.93 net is protected — art. 87¹ § 1 pkt 1 of the Labour Code.

Cash advances given to the employee: 75% of that amount is protected, i.e. PLN 2,777.95 — art. 87¹ § 1 pkt 2.

Disciplinary fines under art. 108 of the Labour Code: 90% of that amount is protected, i.e. PLN 3,333.54 — art. 87¹ § 1 pkt 3.

If the employee participates in PPK or uses other reliefs and costs, their net minimum wage — and so the protected amount — will differ slightly. The employer calculates it individually for each person.

The maximum a bailiff can take

The protected amount is one limit. The second is the percentage cap in art. 87 § 3 of the Labour Code: for debts other than maintenance, at most half of the net salary may be deducted; for maintenance, at most three-fifths. Both rules apply together, and the employee always keeps the amount more favourable to them.

Example: a full-time employee earns PLN 6,000 net and has a loan debt. Half of the salary is PLN 3,000, but after such a deduction less than PLN 3,703.93 would remain. The bailiff may therefore seize at most PLN 2,296.07.

If the employee earns the minimum wage, the bailiff cannot seize anything from the salary for debts other than maintenance.

Maintenance — the protected amount does not apply

Art. 87¹ § 1 pkt 1 protects wages only in enforcement of debts other than maintenance. For maintenance, the bailiff may seize up to three-fifths of the net salary, even if the employee earns the minimum wage.

Maintenance has priority over other deductions (art. 87 § 2). In total, all enforcement deductions and advances may not exceed three-fifths of the salary (art. 87 § 4). Awards from the company award fund and the annual additional salary are subject to maintenance enforcement in full (art. 87 § 5).

Part-time work

For part-time work, the protected amounts are reduced in proportion to working time (art. 87¹ § 2). For a half-time job, PLN 1,851.97 net will be protected against debts other than maintenance.

Money in a bank account

Funds in a bank account have separate protection. Under art. 54 ust. 1 of the Banking Law (Prawo bankowe), 75% of the minimum wage is exempt from seizure each month. From 1 January 2027 this will be PLN 3,712.50 — in total across all accounts of one person in a given bank, regardless of the number of contracts.

This is a different amount from the wage protection: it is calculated from the gross, not the net, minimum wage.

Foreigners and their employers

The wage protection rules do not distinguish employees by citizenship. A foreigner employed in Poland under an employment contract has the same protected amount as a Polish citizen.

For the employer, receiving a bailiff's seizure is an obligation, not a choice. From 1 January 2027 deductions must be recalculated for all employees subject to seizure — including those whose pay has not changed, because the protected amount itself changes.