A type-A permit authorises a particular foreign national to do a particular job for a particular Polish employer, on terms set out in the application. Once a crew has settled in, employers want to promote people, move them between sites or lend them to a sister company. Some of those changes the permit can absorb. Others need a new permit before the worker starts the new work.
What the Permit Actually Fixes
The permit is tied to the employer, the position, the minimum pay, the working time and the basis of employment stated in the application. The safe assumption is that any of these can matter. When the work a person actually does drifts away from the paperwork, an inspection will treat it as work outside the permit.
Changes That Usually Do Not Need a New Permit
The legislation lists a small set of changes that leave an existing permit valid. In general terms these include:
- The employer's details changing: a new registered address, name or legal form, without a change in who the employer is
- A transfer of the workplace to a new employer under the Labour Code's business-transfer rules
- Renaming the position where the duties stay the same
- Increasing working time with a proportional increase in pay
- Moving from a civil-law contract to an employment contract
- Raising pay, which never harms compliance
The exact wording sets the limits of each exception, so check the current text before relying on one. A raise is always safe. A cut below the pay stated in the permit never is.
Changes That Need a New Permit
- A different employer. A permit does not transfer between companies. If a worker moves to a new employer, that employer needs its own permit before the worker starts. This also applies inside a corporate group: a sister company is a different employer.
- A different position. Promoting a production operator to setter, or moving a warehouse picker into a driving role, changes the job the permit describes.
- Cutting pay or hours below what the permit states, outside the exceptions above.
- A new place of work where the permit names one, especially if the new site falls under a different voivodeship office.
Our employer obligations checklist covers the inspection side.
Workers on a Single Permit
Workers who have moved on to the temporary residence and work permit are in the same position. The card is tied to the employer and terms it was granted on, and a change of employer or position generally means applying to change the permit. While that case is pending, protection for continuing work is narrower than many employers expect. Read our single permit guide before planning any move.
Reporting When Things Go Wrong
The Act also requires the employer to notify the authority within a short statutory deadline when a worker does not start work under a permit, stops working for an extended period, or leaves earlier than the permit period. These reports matter more than they used to: a foreigner's history of not taking up work under an earlier permit is now a ground for refusing a later one. Telling the office promptly protects both your company's record and the worker's future applications.
Planning Promotions Properly
Promoting the best performers is one of the main benefits of a stable Indian crew, so build it into the plan:
1. Decide the target role and the pay that goes with it 2. File the new permit through praca.gov.pl while the worker stays in the current role 3. Switch on the date the new permit takes effect, with a new contract or an annex that matches it
Allow four to eight weeks for the new filing, the same as a first permit. Your file is already established, which helps, but the office still has to process it.
When a Worker Leaves
Indian workers in Poland can change employer, but only on a new employer's permit. A worker who walks off your site cannot lawfully start with a competitor the next day. That protects your investment to some extent. It also means a worker who wants to leave is left in a difficult position. Being open about career paths and pay reviews keeps more people than paperwork does.
How We Help
When a client needs extra roles or promotions, we check the move against the existing permit and prepare the new candidate or role documentation in line with the current file. For anything legally borderline we recommend a Polish employment lawyer, because the cost of advice is small next to the cost of an illegal-employment finding.
See the type-A walkthrough for filing mechanics. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreign worker in Poland move to a sister company in the same group?
Not on the existing permit. A sister company is a different employer, and a type-A permit does not transfer between employers. The new company needs its own permit before the worker starts.
Does promoting a worker require a new Polish work permit?
Usually, if the duties change. Renaming a position with the same duties, raising pay, or increasing hours with a proportional raise are among the changes that typically do not. A genuine change of role needs a new filing.
