Minimum Wage in Poland 2026: Rates, Rules and the 2027 Rise
Short answer: Since January 1, 2026 Poland's minimum wage is 4,806 zloty gross a month and 31.40 zloty an hour; it covers employees (pro-rata for part-time) and, through the hourly rate, zlecenia and service contracts, but not B2B - and it rises to 4,950 zloty on January 1, 2027.
Poland's minimum wage is set once or twice a year by regulation, and the numbers matter to expats twice over: they floor your employment salary and they floor hourly pay on many civil-law contracts. As of October 14, 2026, here are the rates in force, what counts toward them, and what is already known about 2027 - all from the Official Journal (Dziennik Ustaw) and the Minimum Wage Act.
The 2026 rates
From January 1, 2026 the minimum wage is 4,806 zloty gross per month and the minimum hourly rate is 31.40 zloty gross (Council of Ministers regulation of September 11, 2025, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242). That is 140 zloty a month (3.0%) above the 2025 rate of 4,666 zloty, and 0.90 zloty above the 2025 hourly rate of 30.50 zloty (Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1362).
Both figures are gross - before social insurance contributions and income tax advance are deducted. What lands in your bank account is lower and depends on your contract type, tax-deductible costs and whether you are covered by reliefs such as the under-26 PIT exemption.
2027 is already set
The Council of Ministers has already published next year's regulation (September 14, 2026, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1213): from January 1, 2027 the minimum wage rises to 4,950 zloty and the hourly rate to 32.30 zloty.
How often the rate changes within a year is fixed by statute. If the forecast consumer price index for the next year is at least 105%, the government sets two adjustment dates - January 1 and July 1; below 105%, there is a single January 1 change (art. 3 of the Minimum Wage Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1773). Both 2026 and 2027 were single-change years.
Who is covered
Employees. If you work full-time, your monthly pay cannot be lower than the minimum wage (art. 6 ust. 1). There is no reduced rate for your first year of work anymore - the earlier 80% rule for people in their first 12 months of employment was repealed (art. 6 ust. 2-3 are marked "uchylony" in the current consolidated text), so the full minimum applies from day one.
Part-time employees get the minimum proportionally to the hours they are scheduled to work in the month (art. 8).
Zlecenia and service contracts. The hourly floor applies to umowa zlecenia (Civil Code art. 734) and service contracts governed by the mandate rules (art. 750): the contract must be priced so that pay for each hour of work is not below the minimum hourly rate, and if it is not, you are still entitled to be paid at the hourly minimum (art. 8a). If several people take one zlecenie together, each of them is entitled to the hourly minimum.
B2B contractors are not covered. If you invoice through your own business, the minimum wage rules do not apply to your rates.
What counts toward the 4,806 zloty
Not every payment your employer makes counts. The comparison is made against the pay components classified by Statistics Poland as personal remuneration, and art. 6 ust. 5 excludes several items from the calculation:
- jubilee (long-service) awards,
- retirement or disability severance pay,
- overtime pay,
- the night-work supplement,
- the seniority bonus (dodatek za staż pracy),
- the bonus for special working conditions.
So your base pay plus ordinary bonuses and commissions must reach 4,806 zloty *without* counting those items. If in a given month - because of payout timing or your work schedule - your counted pay falls below the minimum, the employer must pay a top-up (wyrownanie) together with that month's salary (art. 7).
Why it matters beyond payslips
The minimum wage anchors several other numbers expats run into: it is a reference point in some residence-permit and benefits calculations, it affects the cost base of employers, and the hourly rate directly floors many student and gig-work contracts. When you compare a Polish job offer, check whether the quoted salary is gross or net, and whether any seniority or night-work bonuses were folded into a "guaranteed minimum" figure - under art. 6 ust. 5 they cannot be.
Frequently asked questions
### What is the minimum wage in Poland in 2026?
4,806 zloty gross per month for full-time employees, and 31.40 zloty gross per hour for zlecenia and covered service contracts, in force from January 1, 2026 (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242).
Is there a lower rate for workers in their first job?
No. The former 80% rate for people in their first 12 months of work was repealed; the current consolidated text of the Minimum Wage Act (Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1773) shows those provisions as uchylony (repealed).
Does the minimum wage apply to umowa zlecenia?
Yes, through the minimum hourly rate: each hour of a zlecenie or covered service contract must be paid at no less than 31.40 zloty gross in 2026 (art. 8a). It does not apply to genuine B2B contracts.
Will the minimum wage rise again in 2027?
Yes. From January 1, 2027 it will be 4,950 zloty a month and 32.30 zloty an hour (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1213).
