In a late-night sitting on 22 December, the Sejm adopted a revised welfare bill that makes continued payment of Poland’s flagship ‘800+’ child allowance conditional on the recipient holding formal employment. The compromise text—crafted after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the original draft in September—affects an estimated 420,000 foreign households, two-thirds of them Ukrainian.
Key changes include monthly Social Insurance (ZUS) checks to verify that beneficiaries are still registered with an employer and residing in Poland. Parents of children with disabilities are exempt, and Ukrainian refugees retain legal stay rights until at least 4 March 2026. The bill now heads to the Senate but is expected to pass before year-end, giving HR teams little time to adjust payroll guidance.
For multinational employers, the legislation may boost labour-market participation among spouses of transferred staff but also raises compliance stakes. Failure to register an employment contract promptly could deprive families of €188 per child each month, complicating cost-of-living calculations in assignment packages.
![Parliament Ties Foreigners’ Child-Benefit Eligibility to Employment Status]()
For organisations and individuals needing hands-on assistance with these new requirements, VisaHQ’s Poland desk provides streamlined support on everything from PESEL registration to work-permit filings. Their online portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) lets users verify document lists, schedule services, and receive deadline alerts, helping ensure that ‘800+’ beneficiaries and their employers stay fully compliant as the rules evolve.
Immigration advisers recommend that companies issue bilingual employment certificates and keep digital copies accessible via the praca.gov.pl portal—the same system now used for work-permit filings. Assignees arriving in Q1 2026 should be briefed on the new requirement so that they can book PESEL appointments and obtain a trusted profile (Profil Zaufany) quickly.
Politically, the move signals Warsaw’s shift from blanket refugee support to a contribution-based model, aligning Poland with similar reforms in Germany and the Netherlands. Observers say further tightening—possibly linking access to public healthcare to tax payments—could follow after local elections in April.
Key changes include monthly Social Insurance (ZUS) checks to verify that beneficiaries are still registered with an employer and residing in Poland. Parents of children with disabilities are exempt, and Ukrainian refugees retain legal stay rights until at least 4 March 2026. The bill now heads to the Senate but is expected to pass before year-end, giving HR teams little time to adjust payroll guidance.
For multinational employers, the legislation may boost labour-market participation among spouses of transferred staff but also raises compliance stakes. Failure to register an employment contract promptly could deprive families of €188 per child each month, complicating cost-of-living calculations in assignment packages.
For organisations and individuals needing hands-on assistance with these new requirements, VisaHQ’s Poland desk provides streamlined support on everything from PESEL registration to work-permit filings. Their online portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) lets users verify document lists, schedule services, and receive deadline alerts, helping ensure that ‘800+’ beneficiaries and their employers stay fully compliant as the rules evolve.
Immigration advisers recommend that companies issue bilingual employment certificates and keep digital copies accessible via the praca.gov.pl portal—the same system now used for work-permit filings. Assignees arriving in Q1 2026 should be briefed on the new requirement so that they can book PESEL appointments and obtain a trusted profile (Profil Zaufany) quickly.
Politically, the move signals Warsaw’s shift from blanket refugee support to a contribution-based model, aligning Poland with similar reforms in Germany and the Netherlands. Observers say further tightening—possibly linking access to public healthcare to tax payments—could follow after local elections in April.
