Working in EU/EEA and Switzerland - Wortal Publicznych Służb Zatrudnienia

Working in the European Union

The free movement for workers, besides the free movement of goods and capital and the freedom to provide services, is a foundation of the EU "internal market".

Pursuant to Article 45 of TFEU, the free movement for workers is based on equal treatment of EU nationals with respect to remuneration as well as other terms and conditions of work and employment. The free movement for workers comprises also family members of migrants.

The regulations on the free movement for workers authorise to:

• look for a job in another member state,
• commence work in another member state without the need to obtain a work permit,
• reside in another member state because of work,
• stay in another member state even after the employment relationship is terminated, provided the conditions stipulated in the EU legislation are met,
• being treated on a par with the nationals of a given member state with respect to access to employment, labour conditions as well as social and fiscal privileges.

At present the Polish nationals can work in EU states without the need to obtain a work permit.

Working in the European Economic Area

Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein which are not EU member states but belong to the European Free Trade Association create the European Economic Area (EEA) together with the EU.

EFTA states belonging to EEA are covered by the free movement for workers, meaning the nationals of EU member states and EFTA states can work in another EEA state based on the same terms and conditions as the nationals of that state.

Polish nationals do not require work permits in the EEA.

Working in Switzerland

Switzerland, being an EFTA state, does not belong to the EEA. However, Switzerland executed an agreement on the free movement for workers with the EU, being grounds for the EU nationals' work, including Polish ones, in that state.

Pursuant to the said agreement, Switzerland is, in specific circumstances, entitled to reintroduce the limits of residence permits for EU member state nationals. The Swiss government decided to benefit from the safeguard clause. Such a solution can be extended no longer than until 31 May 2014. In a referendum the Swiss nationals obliged the Government to limit immigration in 3 years to come. At present, the outcomes of that referendum are difficult to foresee.

How to find a job in EU, EEA or Switzerland?

Polish nationals can commence work for foreign employers based on the rules in force in the state of employment based on individual agreements executed directly with foreign employers or by the agency of authorised organisations or institutions.

Polish nationals can look for a job in EU, EEA states and Switzerland using EURES network and non-public employment agencies.

EURES

European Employment Services (EURES) are a formal network of cooperation between public employment services (labour offices) and other regional, national and international organisations from EU member states, EEA and Switzerland under the auspices of the European Commission and aimed at supporting mobility of employees in the network member states.

By the agency of EURES advisors and assistants, as well as other partner organisation personnel, EURES network offers e.g. EU employment services and advisory on the EU mobility of workers, including the conditions of living and working in member states.

There is the European Job Mobility Portal (EURES portal) www.eures.europa.eu run on the European level, the most important European Union website devoted to the labour market mobility, offering e.g. access to the job offers of public employment services in member states and to the database of CVs of people wanting to work abroad.

In Poland, EURES network is coordinated by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, and the network services are offered in every Voivodeship and Poviat Labour Office. The scope of services is broader on the voivodeship level than on the poviat level. For more information, click here.

Polish nationals interested in working abroad in EU, EEA states or Switzerland can find foreign job offers using EURES:

• on the Polish website of EURES at www.eures.praca.gov.pl, publishing foreign job offers handled by Voivodeship Labour Offices, in which foreign employers declared particular interest in recruiting Polish nationals. For up-to-date offers in Polish click here
• on the EURES website at www.eures.europa.eu, where all job offers announced by member states' public employment services are published. The offers where the foreign employers are interested in recruiting foreigners from member states are marked. Offers on the EURES portal are published in national languages, with a part of every offer translated into all official languages of member states, including Polish. For up-to-date offers, click here.

Voivodeship and poviat labour offices organise many EURES events in Poland, including international career fairs, recruitment and information days, workshops etc. for the unemployed and jobseekers. For a calendar of events click here.

You can also register your CV on the EURES portalwww.eures.europa.eu where it will be available directly to the employers registered on that portal who want to recruit foreigners from member states.

Before you go to work abroad, get to know the conditions of living and working in the state we intend to work. It is also worth learning the labour market situation in a given state.

The information about

• the conditions of living and work, as well as the labour market situation, including any low-demand and high-demand jobs in particular member states can be found on the EURES portal at www.eures.europa.eu. The said information is published in English, German and French.
• the conditions of living and work in particular member states, in Polish, can be found at www.eures.praca.gov.pl

It is worth reading the information materials on going abroad safely published by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.

Contact details of Polish EURES advisors and EURES assistants in Voivodeship Labour Offices can be found here.

Basic information will be provided also by a relevant employment agent in every Poviat Labour Office.

For more information, see www.eures.praca.gov.pl and EURES portal at www.eures.europa.eu. 

Employment agencies

To run an employment agency in Poland legally, it is necessary to obtain an entry in the register of employment agencies. The registers are kept by the Voivodeship Marshalls. A document confirming the entry in the said register is the certificate issued to the employment agency.

The obligation to hold the certificate does not apply to employment agencies from the member states of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland, benefitting from the freedom of service provision, offering employment agency services in Poland. The said agencies are obliged only to notify the Voivodeship Marshall of their intention to run their activity in Poland.

The employment agency referring to work abroad is obliged to execute a written agreement with the person referred to work (Article 85 of the Act of 20 April 2004 on Employment Promotion and Labour Market Institutions). This is not a contract of employment which is executed with the employer.

Employment agencies must not collect any charges from the people for whom they seek employment or whom they help to select an appropriate job and place of employment. It is permitted solely to charge the people referred to work for the actually incurred costs related to referring to work abroad, i.e. the ones connected with the referred person's transport there and back, visa, medical examinations and document translations, provided the said fees are listed in the agreement executed with the person referred to work abroad.

However, employment agencies are allowed to charge employers for their employment services.

For more information on the operations of employment agencies in Poland and on the register of those agencies, click here.

Working in the Netherlands

Information portal of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

An information video for Polish nationals starting work in the Netherlands