International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
134
their problem-free return to Poland after a shorter or longer stay abroad. 66 We deal
with a completely different situation in the case of labour immigration to Poland.
In practice, there is no comprehensive system of information on the conditions and
rules for taking employment by third-country nationals in Poland.
Government initiatives aimed at providing information on the
conditions governing the employment of third-country nationals in
Poland
The most detailed information about the binding regulations governing the
employment of foreigners in Poland can be found on the web portal kept by the public
employment services (public labour offices): www.zielonalinia.pl. It was established
on the initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and its operation is
co-financed by the European Social Fund. The main goal of the portal is to provide
all available information about how the Polish labour market functions. It targets
employees, the unemployed, job-seekers and employers. In the part concerning
the employment of migrants, it contains all the necessary information an employer
might need to know in order to employ a foreigner legally, both on the basis of a work
permit and a declaration. Moreover, one can find in the system information about
obligations for employers who hire foreigners. The portal is run in three languages:
Polish, English and Russian.
A significant shortcoming of the portal is represented by the absence of links to
electronic versions of the documents whose completion is mandatory in order to
employ a foreigner. These can be found on web portals of certain labour offices in
the tabs concerning the employment of foreigners. Moreover, it may be difficult
to understand certain pieces of information. This results from the inclusion on the
portal of specific articles of legal acts regulating foreigners’ access to the Polish
labour market without being translated into colloquial language. According to the
portal’s statements, it does not serve the purpose of an intermediary agency between
employers and employees and therefore it does not contain job offers.
Employers’ awareness of the channels for the legal employment of
migrants in Poland and evaluation of the regulations in force
Unfortunately, in recent years there have been no representative studies carried
out in Poland as regards the legal employment of foreigners. In-depth research
on the issue was carried out in 2007 (Grabowska-Lusińska, Żylicz, 2008), that
is before the legislation liberalizing the access of third-country nationals to the
Polish labour market came into force. The aforementioned research suggested that
Polish employers were hardly aware of the legislation in force, and those who were
aware, were obliged to follow related procedures which they considered costly and
difficult.
66 There is even a special Internet portal: www.powroty.gov.pl, where return migrants may access the
necessary information facilitating their return to the home country.