1. Voivodeship Labour Office in Lublin Living and Working in Poland Marta Sadłowska EURES Adviser Turin, 12 - 13 October 2012

2. General information Territory: 312 685 km² Population: 38.2 mln Number of voivodships: 16 Language: Polish

3. General information Full country name: Republic of Poland Capital city: Warszawa (Warsaw) – population 1.7 million Political system: parliamentary democracy Currency: 1 zloty (PLN)= approx. EUR. 0.25 Time: GMT+1h Nationalities: 98.5% Polish, 0.6% Ukrainians, 0.5% Germans, 0.4% others Religion: 90.7% Catholics, 1.4% Orthodox, 7.9% others The biggest cities: Warszawa, Łódź, Kraków, Lublin,Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Białystok Climate: continental, moderate, changeable weather

4. Main economic indicators GDP growth in 2012– 2,5 % Private sector responsible for more than 60% of Polish economy Inflation rate in 2012- 3,8 % Average gross monthly salary in 2012- 3496,82 pln – 835euro Minimum gross monthly wage 2012- 1500,00 pln- 357 euro Unemployment benefit in 2012- 761,40 pln- 172 euro

5. UE citizens` access to Polish labour market: -NO LIMITS – UE citizens have a free access to Polish labour market – work permit is NOT required

6. Residing in Poland If residence is longer than 3 months: The application for registration must be filed in by EU citizen wth the competent voivode in the place of residence. The applicant must show a valid travel document or another document confirming his/her identity and citizenship

7. The application for registration must be accompanied by the following documents: 1.Emploees: -A written statement of the employer -A work certificate 2.Self-employed: -An excerpt from the National Court Register -A certificate of registration in the business activity register 3.Students or persons undergoing job training: -A certificate from a school of higher education confirming admission or a referral for a job training -A documents confirming the right to health and care benefits -A proof confirming possession of sufficient funds to support oneself without a need to apply for welfare benefits

8. Permanent Residency in Poland NOTE! After five years of uninterrupted residency in the territory of Poland an EU citizen acquires permanent residency (the person does not remain outside Poland for more than six months within the year) More info: http://uric.gov.plhttp://uric.gov.pl

9. . Zachodnio- Pomorskie 16.5 Pomorskie 12.1% Lubuskie 14,9% Wielkopolskie 9.1 % Dolnośląskie 12.4 % Łódzkie 13.0% Opolskie 13.1% Śląskie 10.2% Podkarpackie 15.3% Warmińsko- Mazurskie 19.3% Małopolskie 10.6% Mazowieckie 10.2% Kujawsko- Pomorskie 16.6% Świętokrzyskie 14.9% Lubelskie 13.0% Podlaskie 13.9% Unemployment Rate 12,4 % - August 2012

10. The characteristic of Polish unemployment: seasonality – dropping from March, increasing in November and December differentiation between the regions of the country registered unemployment is dominated by women average duration of registered unemployment among men is shorter than the figure for women people with the highest qualifications are in much better situation on the labour market unemployment growth caused by an international crisis – group dismissals (procesing industry, tourism, finance, automotive industry, transport)

11. Surpluses in Poland: Mainly in three industries: - agriculture, forestry, gardening Seller Economic assistant Technician mechanic Car mechanic Economist Theologist Construction technician Processing industry worker Farmer / agriculture technician Tradesman Electrician fitter Electronics engineer Shortages in Poland: Administrative clerk Office worker Secretary Call- centre workers Cashier Safeguard Steel fixer Welder (TIG, MAG, MIG) Nursery-worker Commercial agent Child and Old people carer Plasterer Tile layer Buildings conservator Work possibilities:

12. How to find a job in Poland? In Poland, one may look for a job by oneself or through: public employment services - to have access to all the job offers of a district job centre (Powiatowy Urząd Pracy) the person must be registered at that centre as a job seeker or an unemployed non-public employment agencies - each non-public employment agency should be entered in the register of entities running employment agencies, a proof of which is a certificate issued by the Voivodship Marshal (Self-governed Regional Authority). The list of agencies is published on the webpage www.kraz.praca.gov.pl An employment agency may not charge any fees (except for the actual cost incurred in connection with sending an applicant to a job abroad) to the persons for whom employment sought or to whom assistance is provided in finding the right profession and place of employment

13. How to find a job in Poland? newspaper job ads - most daily newspapers, both nationwide and local ones, contain special pages with job offers. Monday edition of "Gazeta Wyborcza and Wednesday edition of "Rzeczpospolita" daily newspaper Internet portals with job offers (examples) www.praca.interia.pl www.praca.gazeta.pl www.pracuj.pl www.praca.wp.pl www.praca.onet.pl www.jobs.pl, www.jobpilot.pl

14. Concluding an Employment Contract A work agreement is concluded in wrriting and determines: parties to an agreement, the type of agreement, the date of its conclusion, conditions of work and pay the type of work, the place at which work is carried out, remuneration for the type of work, specifying pay components and legal grounds for their establishment, whether the work is part-time or full-time, a start date

15. At work Working Hours: Full time = 40h/week or individual agreement Salary: paid at least once a month, on a fixed pre-agreed date Poland has a minimum pay guaranteed by law. Currently, it amounts to PLN 1500,00 gross (as of 1 January 2012) for a full time employee. Annual Leave: 20-26 working days. Social Security – employer submits employee Taxes, contributions – deducted from salary

16. Taxation Types of taxes in Poland: direct: –personal income tax PIT –corporate income tax CIT 19 % indirect: –tax on goods and services also known as value added tax – VAT (Poland has four VAT rates: 23%, 8%, 5% and 0%) –excise tax –gambling tax property: –inheritance and donation tax –tax on civil law transactions –agricultural tax –forestry tax –real property tax –tax on means of transportation

17. Social Insurance Accident at Work and Occupational Diseases Insurance sickness allowance rehabilitation benefit one-time indemnity pension for accident at work or occupational disease training pension family pension nursing allowance medical costs reimbursement The contribution for the accident at work insurance varies from 0.40% to 8.12% of the contribution assessment basis and is funded in full by the employer.

18. Health Care An EU citizen is entitled to free medical health care in Poland if: –he/she is subject to health insurance in another EU state during his/her temporary stay in Poland –he/she is subject to Polish health insurance Subject to mandatory health insurance are persons who: –work under employment contracts or service contracts –are registered with a district job centre as unemployed –are self-employed Mandatory health insurance does not cover the persons who work under task contracts.

19. Renting a flat: 1.On ones own – by asking friends, reading newspaper and Internet ads, placing ones own ads in newspapers and Internet portals, or hanging such ads in the desired neighbourhood 2.Throuhg a real estate agency

20. Cost of Living – examples of prices: Bread: PLN 2 (EUR 0,5) Milk – 1 l: PLN 2,5 (EUR 0,6) Butter – 0,25 kg: PLN 4 (EUR ) Ham – 1kg: PLN 25 (EUR 5) Swiss cheese - 1 kg : PLN 27 (EUR 6) Apples - 1 kg: PLN 3 (EUR 0,75) Beer - 0,5 l : PLN 4 – 10 (EUR 0,75 – 2,5) Cinema ticket: PLN 20 (EUR 5)

21. Learning Polish http://www.polish.courses.pl/ http://www.klubdialogu.pl/ http://www.varia-course.com/ http://www.calleo.pl/ http://www.polonica.edu.pl/indexe.html http://www.centroitaliano.pl/it/

22. Thank you for attention! Marta Sadłowska Eures Adviser Voivodeship Labour Office In Lublin 5 Okopowa Street, 20-022 Lublin, POLAND Tel./Fax: 0048 81 472 56 34