Foreigner on a civil contract or B2B — what happens to the permit after the contract changes

Two new provisions

Art. 33 ust. 2 of the Act of 20 March 2025 lists the situations in which amending or issuing a new work permit for a Polish entity entrusting work is not required. The Act of 11 March 2026 added point 3 to it: where the Polish entity entrusting work to a foreigner and the foreigner have concluded an employment contract instead of a civil-law contract, or where the existence of an employment relationship has been established in the decision referred to in art. 11 ust. 1 pkt 7a of the Act of 13 April 2007 on the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy).

An analogous rule applies to statements. Art. 69 of the same Act lists the cases in which entering a new statement on entrusting work into the register of statements is not required. The added point 5 has identical wording.

What this means in practice

The provisions cover two different situations: a voluntary change, in which the parties themselves conclude an employment contract instead of a mandate contract (umowa zlecenia) or another civil-law contract, and a forced change, in which the existence of an employment relationship is established by a decision under art. 11 ust. 1 pkt 7a of the PIP Act.

In both cases, the existing work permit or the statement entered in the register remains the basis for entrusting work. An employer that complies with the inspector's order under art. 11 ust. 2 of the PIP Act and concludes an employment contract therefore does not simultaneously fall into the allegation of entrusting work without the required legalising document.

The order matters: a decision under art. 11 ust. 1 pkt 7a may be issued only if the order under art. 11 ust. 2 pkt 2 has not been complied with.

What these provisions do not settle

This is a narrow exemption and it should not be stretched. It does not cover a change of employer — a new entity entrusting work needs its own title to entrust work. It also does not cover a change of position or type of work going beyond the previous scope of duties, nor a reduction of pay below the level indicated in the document legalising work.

The new provisions do not touch the residence title. A change of the employment basis neither creates nor extends the right of residence — the legality of residence and the legality of work are two independent tracks.

It is worth remembering that art. 69 pkt 3 of the Act already allowed increasing working time or the number of working hours up to full-time without a new statement, and pkt 4 allowed changing the job title without changing the foreigner's scope of duties.

Watch out for the single permit for residence and work

The new provisions concern the work permit (art. 33 of the Act of 20 March 2025) and the statement on entrusting work (art. 69 of that Act). They do not settle the situation of a foreigner who works on the basis of a temporary residence and work permit issued by the voivode (wojewoda).

Under art. 118 ust. 1 of the Act on Foreigners, the decision granting a temporary residence and work permit indicates, among other things, the entity entrusting work, the position or type of work, the minimum remuneration, working time and the type of contract on the basis of which the foreigner is to perform work (pkt 5). Art. 120 ust. 1 pkt 3 provides for an amendment of the permit at the foreigner's request if the foreigner intends to perform work on conditions other than those specified in art. 118 ust. 1 pkt 2–5.

So if the single permit indicated a civil-law contract, switching to an employment contract changes one of the elements of the decision. The path then is an amendment of the permit under art. 120 of the Act on Foreigners, and the only party to those proceedings is the foreigner.

Risk on the B2B cooperation side

A National Labour Inspectorate inspection today also covers entities for which work is performed by persons conducting business activity on their own account — art. 13 pkt 1 of the PIP Act as worded by the reform, covering the period of one year preceding the day the inspection begins, regardless of the basis on which work is performed.

If B2B cooperation with a foreigner in reality has the features of art. 22 § 1 of the Labour Code — subordination, a designated place and time, no business risk on the contractor's side — the legal form alone does not protect. Art. 22 § 1(1) of the Labour Code settles that employment in such conditions is employment under an employment relationship regardless of the contract's name, and § 1(2) prohibits replacing an employment contract with a civil-law contract while keeping those conditions.

On top of that comes the question whether the foreigner could perform work on this basis at all. Conducting business activity by a foreigner is subject to separate restrictions, and the residence title is sometimes tied to a specific form of activity.

Legal basis

Act of 11 March 2026 amending the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate and certain other acts (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 473, promulgated on 7 April 2026, principal part in force from 8 July 2026). Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions of admissibility of entrusting work to foreigners in the territory of the Republic of Poland (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621 ze zm.) — art. 33 ust. 2 pkt 3, art. 69 pkt 3–5. Act of 13 April 2007 on the National Labour Inspectorate — art. 11 ust. 1 pkt 7a, art. 11 ust. 2, art. 13 pkt 1. Act of 12 December 2013 on Foreigners — art. 118 ust. 1, art. 120. Labour Code — art. 22 § 1.