The Polish government announced its intention to raise the minimum wage again in 2019

Good news for foreing workers, who plan to go to work in Poland next year – the government announced a new increase in the minimum wage from January 1, 2019. Exact figures are not yet known, but it is already clear that this will be more than 100 zlotys. Employees will receive more for their full-time work, as well as for hourly work. There will be more and those employees who have been hired for a job under contract, or perform certain tasks on request. The most interesting question is how much the minimum wage will increase. Elzbieta Rafalska, Minister of Labor and Social Policy of Poland, proposes that from January 1, 2019, each employee will receive more than for 150 zlotys extra. The minister also suggests that increasing the minimum wage also applies to full-time workers and those who work on the basis of a mandate and a contract of employment. This automatically means that the minimum hourly rate will increase as well. The increase of the minimum wage already occurred in early 2018. If on January 1 of this year, the hourly rate was 13.7 zlotys (3.85 dollars), then next year this figure will increase to 14.7 zloty ($4,14). Thus, the minimum wage in 2019 will reach 2,250 zlotys (approximately $633). That news was announced to trade unions and employers who are consulted on this matter and will soon express their opinions.

If the gross minimum wage will be 2,250 zlotys, then worker will receive about 1634 zlotys or $460 net. If we are talking about the hourly rate, then an employee who got 14.7 zlotys can count on 12 zlotys on hands, and 9 zlotys when he /she is working under a contract.

At the same time, the proposal of the Minister of Social Policy was not supported by the Ministry of Finance, so the government registered a proposal to raise the “minimum” not to 150 zl, but only 120 zl. Such a decision is explained by the fact that not all firms are able to raise even to 117 zl, and we already talk about an additional 33 zl. Accordingly, the hourly rate will be 14 zl.

The government has not yet approved the final decision, negotiations between ministries and trade unions continue. More precisely, the growth of the minimum wage will be known in early 2019.

These changes affect the workers, in most cases, positively. After all, Polish employers are increasingly willing to pay foreigners for work the same amount as the Poles. So, after the next rise in wage levels, earnings should also be expected.

But not all Poles are happy about such news because an increase in wages entails an increase in the cost of food, travel, prices for various services and products. But, in any case, such changes suggest that the country is developing and the standard of living in Poland is gradually increasing.

Foreign workers go to Poland for earnings, so they spend much less on their own expense than the same Poles. Therefore, they bring home, according to standards of their countries, considerable sums and spend this money already in they home countries. Thus, the increase of the “minimum” will be an additional plus, why it is necessary to go to work it is to Poland.

So, let’s wait for the final decision of the Polish government regarding the size of the minimum wage and you confidently can go to work in Poland.

Information provided by Internet magazine “Dziennik Zachodni”.