Expert Guide on Use of outsourced IT personnel in Poland

Yes.

Yes.

Optional. Contractors can act either as independent contractors, with a registered commercial activity, or dependent contractors acting as individual persons with no registered commercial activity.

Yes, common.

In practice, this depends on the size of the team to be engaged. Use of an intermediary may entail some legal risks. If the end-client contracting with the outsourcing entity strongly supervises the third-party IT staff, the end-client runs the risk that the IT specialist may try to establish a direct relationship with the end-client. Further risks might be relevant if the outsourcing structure is deemed to be temporary work provided by an entity not registered in the National Register of Employment Agencies (KRAZ). Additionally, the signing or ending of the outsourcing agreement could trigger a TUPE/ARD automatic transfer of IT staff from the end-client to the outsourcing company or vice versa.

Low to high. When analysing the reclassification risk and whether a given contractor qualifies as an employee, all circumstances, including the wording of the contract and the factual manner of service provision, must be taken into account. The reclassification risk would be relevant if the company treats the contractor on a day-to-day basis as an employee, in particular if the company asks them to sign an attendance list, tells them when and how they must perform the tasks, issues binding work orders and subjects them to constant supervision, runs employee-like appraisals; and pays them for absences due to sickness or holiday, etc.

The risk of reclassification of civil law contracts into employment contracts remains a material issue. A government draft bill had envisaged that, from 1 January 2026, labour inspectors (PIP) would be able to issue administrative decisions requalifying civil law contracts as employment contracts with immediate effect where the work was performed under typical employment conditions. However, in January 2026 the Polish Prime Minister announced that work on this reform would not be continued in its then current form, and the draft has not been adopted. As a result, PIP do not currently have the power to reclassify civil law contracts by administrative decision; instead, as before, they may only initiate or support court proceedings to establish an employment relationship, and such cases remain relatively rare in practice. Nevertheless, the reform of PIP competences, including measures to curb misuse of B2B and other civil law arrangements, remains on the political agenda and is linked to Poland’s National Recovery Plan, so further (possibly different) proposals can still be expected. It therefore remains prudent to monitor legislative developments and to review cooperation models and documentation to mitigate the reclassification risk.

No.

A hiring entity that has no legal presence in Poland and engages Polish contractors potentially faces a tax risk of creating a permanent establishment (PE) in Poland and having to pay local corporate tax. The PE concept is quite broad and exists when a foreign entity carries on a commercial activity in a Poland through a “fixed” place of business or has a “dependent agent” in Poland.

The lack of a local Polish legal presence can also complicate the process of legalising the work of non-EU nationals if they need to work from Poland.

N/A

No.

Yes.

This is not recommended as it could increase the risk of reclassification into employment and a permanent establishment. In practice, some companies recharge the costs of using the premises to the contractor and increase the fee to compensate for this.

Yes.

See above.

Depending on the case and the characteristics of the engagement, a service contract or an employment contract, along with IP assignment arrangements.

IT service agreement together with IP assignment arrangements.

Yes.

No.

No.

There is a similar concept of employee-created software. The economic copyrights to such software, created as a result of performing employment obligations, are vested by operation of law with the employer. For copyrightable works other than software, e.g. documentation, created by employees as a result of performing employment obligations, the economic copyrights are transferred by operation of law to the employer. Those rules only apply to employment relationships and can be modified by contract.

Written agreement on the transfer of IP rights, in particular economic copyrights.

Limited. The enforceability of non-competition/non-solicitation provisions depends on whether the contractor is a dependent or independent contractor; on the scope of the restrictions; whether they apply during or after the duration of the contract; and on the company’s and the contractor’s position on a given market. Given the complexity of this issue, we recommend running a careful analysis on a case-by-case basis.

Yes.

The choice of foreign law may be partially limited regarding, e.g. the transferability of certain IP rights, by some provisions of Polish law which may apply regardless of the foreign law governing a contract. In addition, if a civil law contract is reclassified as an employment contract, Polish mandatory labour laws will apply regardless of the chosen foreign law.

Yes.

Yes, they are often used in practice but need to be adjusted to local rules to be effective.