Temporary Agency Work in Poland: Your Rights as a Temp Worker
Short answer: In Poland a temporary work agency is your formal employer on a fixed-term contract and can assign you to one client for at most 18 months in 36. You earn 2 days of leave per month, the agency must be in the official register of employment agencies, and it may never charge you a fee for finding you work.
Temporary work agencies employ a large share of Poland's warehouse, production and office workforce - including many foreigners. If you work through one, Polish law gives you specific rights and limits. This guide is based on the consolidated texts of the Act on Employing Temporary Workers (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 236) and the Labour Market Act (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 620), current as of October 2026.
Who is your actual employer?
When you work through an agency (agencja pracy tymczasowej), the agency is your formal employer - not the company where you physically work (the "user employer", pracodawca użytkownik). Under art. 7 of the Act on Employing Temporary Workers, the agency hires you on a fixed-term employment contract and sends you to work for its client. The user employer directs your day-to-day work, but your contract, payslip, ZUS registration and holiday entitlement come from the agency.
Only registered agencies may operate
Under art. 305 of the Labour Market Act, employment agencies must be entered in the official register of employment agencies (rejestr agencji zatrudnienia) to provide temporary work or job brokering. Running an agency without the entry is an offence carrying a fine of 3,000 to 100,000 zł (art. 362). Before you sign, check the agency in the register - it is kept publicly by the voivodeship labour offices.
An agency also may not charge you, the worker, extra fees for finding you a job. Charging such additional fees is an offence with a fine of 3,000 to 30,000 zł.
The 18-month limit
The core limit sits in art. 20 of the temporary workers act: an agency may assign you to one user employer for no more than 18 months in total within 36 consecutive months, and the user employer may not use the same temp longer than that either. Civil-law assignments count towards the same cap.
There is one big exception: if you are replacing an absent employee of the user employer (for example someone on long parental leave), the assignment can run continuously for up to 36 months, and after that the same employer must wait 36 months before using you as a temp again.
Leave: 2 days per month
Under art. 17, a temporary worker earns 2 days of annual leave for each month of remaining at the disposal of one or more user employers. The user employer must let you take that leave during the assignment, at a time agreed with you.
What jobs an agency cannot give you
Art. 8 bans agencies from assigning temps to particularly dangerous work within the meaning of the Labour Code regulations. In practice, agencies staff standard production, logistics, office and service roles.
Ending the contract, and your work certificate
Two rules surprise newcomers:
- the contract ends automatically when the agreed assignment period with a given user employer ends (art. 18)
- if the agency terminates your contract unlawfully, you are entitled only to compensation (odszkodowanie) - reinstatement is not available under art. 21
After you finish, the agency must issue a work certificate (świadectwo pracy) covering your total employment with it over contracts concluded within a 12-month period, listing every user employer and assignment period (art. 18a). You can also request a certificate at any time after a contract ends (art. 18b).
Practical tips for expats
- Sign with the agency, keep a copy of the contract - you are protected by the Labour Code like any employee.
- Check the agency in the register of employment agencies before travelling to Poland or paying for anything; a legitimate agency never asks you for a job-finding fee.
- Count your months: if one client keeps you beyond 18 months in a 36-month window without the replacement exception, both the agency and the client break the law.
- Your ZUS contributions are paid by the agency, which matters for your health insurance and benefits.
Frequently asked questions
### Is a civil-law (umowa zlecenia) assignment through an agency also temporary work?
Yes. The Act lets agencies send both employees and non-employees on civil-law contracts to perform temporary work, and the 18-in-36-month limit counts both types together.
Can the user employer hire me directly after my assignment?
Yes - the limits restrict using you as a temp, not hiring you. Many Polish employers use agencies as a recruitment channel, and moving to a direct contract is common once the 18-month cap approaches.
What if the agency does not pay me?
The agency is your employer and is liable for your pay. You can complain to the district labour inspector (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy) and sue the agency in the labour court; the register entry is what makes the agency traceable, which is why checking it first matters.
