What to check before signing a contract in Poland? Practical advice for foreigners

Signing an employment contract, rental agreement or service contract in a hurry may lead to serious financial and legal problems. At INTEURO, we remind you why it is worth checking documents before signing them.

Many foreigners arriving in Poland want to find a job, rent an apartment and start a new life as quickly as possible. This is natural — especially when a person needs stability, income and a safe place to live.

However, haste is often one of the most common causes of problems. This applies especially to signing documents without carefully reading and fully understanding their content. In practice, this most often concerns employment contracts, civil-law contracts, rental agreements, insurance documents and various financial obligations.

Some people rely only on verbal promises, especially when a job or housing offer comes from acquaintances, online groups or people speaking their language. Unfortunately, it sometimes later turns out that the conditions are different from what was promised: the salary is lower, part of the money is paid unofficially, and the employee does not have full insurance or has not been employed in accordance with the law.

It also happens that a foreigner only finds out after several months that the employer has not paid social security contributions or has failed to complete the formalities related to legal employment. In such a situation, recovering money, clarifying the case or defending one’s rights may become much more difficult.

Similar risks also appear when renting an apartment. People urgently looking for accommodation, who do not yet know the Polish language and Polish procedures well, may become easy targets for dishonest landlords or fraudsters. There are cases where someone takes an advance payment and disappears, rents out an apartment without any agreement or refuses to confirm the rental conditions in writing.

The consequences of such situations can be very serious. The lack of a written agreement or unclear provisions may cause problems with recovering the deposit, registering an address, completing documents, protecting one’s rights, and sometimes even with a sudden need to leave the apartment. In extreme cases, financial losses may amount to several or even over ten thousand zlotys per year.

That is why in Poland most important matters should be handled officially and in writing. The contract should be signed by both parties, salary is best paid by bank transfer, and all important conditions should be clearly written in the document. This includes, among others, the amount of remuneration, scope of duties, working time, rent, deposit, notice period and additional fees.

If someone does not understand a document in Polish, they should not sign it under time pressure. It is better to first ask for help in explaining the content of the contract. A few hours spent checking a document may protect a person from many problems, stress and financial loss.

Many foreigners who have lived in Poland for several years admit that at the beginning they trusted other people too easily and did not check documents carefully enough. Migration is a major life change, so it is understandable that everyone wants to “get back on their feet” quickly. However, it is worth remembering that caution when signing contracts is one of the most important ways to protect one’s money, safety and legal stay.

We would like to remind you that at the INTEURO Information Point you can receive support from a legal adviser in solving these and other legal problems. We also encourage you to use our help in interpreting contracts presented by employers, insurers, landlords of apartments and commercial premises. Consultations are available by prior appointment.

We also encourage you to take part in Polish language courses organised as part of INTEURO activities. Better knowledge of the language helps you understand documents and information provided by schools, offices, workplaces, hospitals and other institutions more easily.

We would also like to remind you that we run a helpline in four languages to make it easier for people to contact us when they need information, consultation or help with everyday matters related to life in Poland.