On 24.02.2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia’s war against Ukraine is a heartbreaking attack on humanity. As an international company collaborating with brilliant, caring and hardworking Ukrainian clients and candidates, many of whom we consider friends, we stand united in support of the Ukrainian people and against all forms of aggression against them.

Since the beginning of the war, we were contacted by many companies that were forced to relocate their IT team from Ukraine to Poland. In this article, we will cover some of the most frequently asked questions. These questions and answers are applicable to companies from any country; however, we will be referring to the companies that moved to Poland from Ukraine.

Many companies in Poland are using the B2B agreement instead of an employment agreement (Umowa o pracę). What is peculiar about Poland is that the companies will not treat people working as pure contractors but they will try to offer terms and conditions very close to the employment agreement. This is a great advantage even for companies that do not have a legal entity in Poland as they can simply receive an invoice from their IT developer at the end of each month. Some of our customers that needed to relocate from Ukraine to Poland asked us these questions:

1- In a B2B contract, is it required to provide employees sick leave?
With a B2B agreement, by law, there’s no obligation of providing vacation or paid sick leave.

2 – In a B2B agreement, is it required to have non-payment day-offs in the social package, or are vacations and paid sick leave enough?
No, it is not required to have non-payment days off. It is however common practice for IT companies in Poland to grant their B2B employees within some days (usually from 20 to 26 based on juniority and seniority).

3 – What is the most common payment method in Poland? What’s the date for the salary payment?
The most used payment method in Poland is bank transfer while receiving the invoice. Some companies pay their employees between the 25th and 27th of every month while other companies do it before the 10th day of the following month. However, we do not recommend the second approach in order to keep the collaborators motivated.

4 – Do IT companies usually provide full PE accounting support?
No, in Poland B2B employees are responsible for hiring their own accountant.
*This question is one of the main difference from Ukraine. As we understood from our clients, there is the company to cover the cost of accountancy for their IT developers collaborating on a B2B agreement.

5 – Are the national holidays always days-off in Poland?
Yes, polish labor laws require employers to provide all employees with a paid day off for all the national holidays.

6 – What is the usual compensation for training/certification?
Some companies are offering a compensation that goes from 500 pln to 1000 pln per quarter.

7 – What is the average benefit cafeteria provided to employees?
In Poland, for the benefit cafeteria (for example, https://www.mybenefit.pl/en/), companies usually offer both private medical insurance and a Multisport card.
For private medical insurance companies, some well-known companies are:

• LUXMED
• MEDICOVER
• ENELMED

Typically, companies provide a full Multisport card: https://www.kartamultisport.pl/en/
Please note that these data are just indicative, and each company is adapting that in a different way.

How can ITSELECTA help companies from Ukraine in this situation?

In case a company would like to relocate their business to Poland, either being by opening a brand-new legal entity or just by finding IT developers remotely from Poland, we can:
• Introduce them to our trusted and experienced Polish lawyer and accountant, besides speaking fluent English, they also have experience dealing with international customers.
• We can provide our recruitment services in order to set up your IT team in Poland:
In this case, our process includes also a “free of charge” feasibility studio for 3 positions. You can send us your detailed job description and we will come back with the right salary for the actual Polish market. Moreover we can provide you with a full market research paying a fee that will be deducted from your first invoice for recruitment with us.

If you need more information, feel free to contact us at info@itselecta.com or via phone at +48 508 033 065. We would be more than happy to help. #PrayForUkraine