Polish authorities have confirmed that the statutory minimum wage will rise to PLN 4,806 per month (PLN 31.40 per hour) on 1 January 2026. Because work permits and combined work-and-residence (‘Single’) permits must meet or exceed the national minimum, the change effectively resets the salary floor for tens of thousands of foreign employees.
The Labour Ministry’s notice, published on 19 November and circulated on 20 November, also updates the city-specific thresholds applied to Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) permits. Warsaw now requires at least PLN 5,926.63, Kraków PLN 5,084.37 and Wrocław PLN 5,210.45. Although the headline increase is a modest three percent, it comes on top of February’s jump in the EU Blue-Card benchmark to PLN 12,272.58, keeping pressure on global mobility budgets.
![Poland Raises 2026 Minimum-Salary Floor for Work and Single Permits]()
Multinationals must now audit all pending and renewal cases: any application decided after 1 January will be tested against the higher amounts, even if the offer letter predates the change. HR teams are urged to re-budget assignment costs and adjust shadow-payroll models. Benefits in kind, offshore payments and allowances cannot be counted toward the statutory floor; remuneration must be cash, paid in zloty via a Polish payroll.
Foreign assignees should also remember that Poland applies a ‘comparable salary’ test—pay must not undercut what local peers earn for similar roles. Companies using pan-EU salary bands may need Poland-specific uplifts to avoid rejection or later revocation during labour-office audits.
Strategically, the government argues the adjustment keeps foreign-worker wages aligned with domestic pay growth, countering the perception that migrants are a cheaper labour source. The move may encourage employers to pivot toward higher-skilled immigration channels such as the Blue Card, which, despite the bigger salary tag, offers faster processing and intra-EU mobility rights.
The Labour Ministry’s notice, published on 19 November and circulated on 20 November, also updates the city-specific thresholds applied to Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) permits. Warsaw now requires at least PLN 5,926.63, Kraków PLN 5,084.37 and Wrocław PLN 5,210.45. Although the headline increase is a modest three percent, it comes on top of February’s jump in the EU Blue-Card benchmark to PLN 12,272.58, keeping pressure on global mobility budgets.
Multinationals must now audit all pending and renewal cases: any application decided after 1 January will be tested against the higher amounts, even if the offer letter predates the change. HR teams are urged to re-budget assignment costs and adjust shadow-payroll models. Benefits in kind, offshore payments and allowances cannot be counted toward the statutory floor; remuneration must be cash, paid in zloty via a Polish payroll.
Foreign assignees should also remember that Poland applies a ‘comparable salary’ test—pay must not undercut what local peers earn for similar roles. Companies using pan-EU salary bands may need Poland-specific uplifts to avoid rejection or later revocation during labour-office audits.
Strategically, the government argues the adjustment keeps foreign-worker wages aligned with domestic pay growth, countering the perception that migrants are a cheaper labour source. The move may encourage employers to pivot toward higher-skilled immigration channels such as the Blue Card, which, despite the bigger salary tag, offers faster processing and intra-EU mobility rights.
