Absolutely! Employer of Record is your legal gateway to hiring software developers without the complexities of opening a legal entity abroad. Your EOR partner serves as the legal employer of programmers on your behalf, taking care of all the admin functions, like payroll, HR, legal, and benefits management. They also assume full liability for adhering to local labor laws, employment rules, and tax obligations, bearing any potential legal risks.

But make no mistake—you remain the one and only real employer of software engineers. From day one, you manage your team directly and integrate it into your culture and practices. All the bureaucracy? Gone. Legal risks and admin burdens? Off your shoulders. Instead, you focus on what matters the most—developing your software product.

So, an EOR service in Poland is simply a means for tech companies to swiftly expand into new markets and hire a development team compliantly. Exactly what tech companies like BigCommerce, People.ai, Dotmatics, and Sift did. With the help of Alcor, an EOR provider for tech, they have seamlessly and securely built fully backed teams of 30+ developers and fast-tracked their product growth.

There are two prevalent models for hiring Polish developers: employment agreement (Umowa o pracę) and B2B contract (Umowa o dzieło).

An employment agreement forms an employer-employee relationship governed by the Polish Labor Code. For employers, this type of employment comes with tax obligations, including paying payroll taxes and social security contributions (SSC), as well as withholding income tax and SSC on behalf of the employee. Additionally, it is full of rigorous working terms and employee termination procedures. That’s where Alcor’s IT EOR in Poland can serve as your lifeline in the deep employment waters.

For employees, an employment contract serves as a safety net, securing their salary amount, benefits, working hours, paid time off (PTO), and termination terms. The downside? Their salary is paid in a local currency, which may be affected by inflation.

A B2B contract is signed between a hiring tech company and a software developer, establishing a contractor-client relationship under the Civil Code. The programmer must register as a sole trader to provide IT services.

Unlike an employment agreement, in B2B relations, the employer is free from tax obligations, while the contractors handle taxes and social contributions on their own or via an EOR vendor in Poland. The reward is paid in a foreign currency, so inflation and exchange rate swings are not an issue. However, benefits, PTO, and working terms are typically negotiated individually and are usually more restrictive than those outlined in the employment contract.

An employment agreement typically entails tax obligations for both the employer and the employee. 

What does the employer’s share include?

1. Social Security Contributions are determined at the national level and collected by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). They include 

• retirement and pension contributions, 
• disability pension, 
• Employment Fund, and 
• Fund of Guaranteed Employment Benefits, 

with a total ranging from 19.48% to 22.14% of the employee’s gross salary. 

Now, the employee’s share:

1. Personal income tax follows a progressive structure. For income up to $29,821, the applicable tax is 12% minus the amount of the decreasing tax, which is approximately $894.60. If the developer’s income exceeds this threshold, the tax is $2,683 plus 32% of the excess over $29,821.
2. Social Security contributions on the employee’s side are a bit higher compared to those of the employer, constituting a total of about 22.71%, including:

• Health insurance 
• Retirement pension contribution 
• Pension contribution
• Sickness contribution

The employer is responsible for calculating all taxes and deductions and paying them by the 15th of each month for the previous month. An Employer of Record company in %geo%, like Alcor, can take care of the taxes for you, so you wouldn’t have to worry about miscalculations or missed deadlines.

The second employment model is the B2B contract, which enables tech companies to hire Polish software engineers as contractors. In this case, paying payroll taxes is not mandatory for the company. Developers, on their part, are responsible for covering:

1. Personal income tax can be either a lump-sum tax (no deduction of costs) or a flat tax (i.e., revenue minus costs). The former is the most optimal choice for IT industry experts, accounting for 12%.
2. Social Security contributions are not paid during the first 6 months after registration as a private entrepreneur (PE). For the next 24 months, PEs can pay so-called “preferential contributions” of $109 per month. After that, the sum of social contributions shall be determined in a lump sum of  $436.17 per month.

Health insurance contribution (under lump sum tax system) per month:

• Income up to $14,496—$114.10
• Income from $14,496 to $72,480—$190.17
• Income above $72,480—$342.30

Poland is a goldmine of skilled software engineers without the Silicon Valley price tag. The average senior developer salary here constitutes about $75,500 per year, with the most in-demand tech talents, such as AI Engineers, Cloud Developers, and DevOps Engineers, earning between $72,000 and $87,500. But here’s the pro tip: if you opt for less competitive tech hubs like Kotowice or Poznań, you can save up to 20% on developer salaries.

Even the highest-paid tech experts don’t break the bank in Poland. For instance, a senior Site Reliability Engineer gets about $84,000, while a Head of R&D receives an annual salary of $146,000.

That’s about 37% savings compared to the US. See yourself:

So, how much should you really budget to hire a software developer in Poland? To break down the total cost beyond just salary, you need to include:

• annual income of a software engineer,
• taxes, social contributions, and additional payments presupposed by the local labor laws,
• employee benefits package, which typically includes health insurance, professional training, hardware, and corporate merchandise, totaling about $6,350 in Poland and $15,400 in the US per developer/year,
• recruitment fee, which is typically 20% in Poland and 30% in the US of the senior developer’s gross annual salary.

Have a sneak peek at the figures:

Contact Alcor, your EOR service provider in Poland, to get precise payroll calculations for your tech positions and discover your true savings.

When hiring software engineers in Poland, as an employer, you must comply with the statutory employee benefits outlined in the Polish Labor Code. They are mandatory for tech specialists working on the employment contract. Failure to provide these benefits may lead to legal troubles, penalties, and fines.

So, what are these statutory employee benefits?

• Social security contributions, including retirement, pension, disability, healthcare, sickness, unemployment, and others;
• Annual vacation consists of paid days off, calculated based on the number of years an employee has been employed.
• Leaves, including sick, maternal, paternal, parental, and childcare.
• National holidays, including Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Independence Day, are all set out in the Polish Labor Code.
• Termination protection includes a notice period based on employees’ seniority and severance pay, which applies to layoffs in companies with 20 or more employees.

There are also supplementary employee benefits, which are optional but good to have if you want to attract top software engineers in Poland, like:

• Private medical insurance is a common addition to basic medical coverage, typically covering diagnostics, vision and dental care, emergencies, mental health services, etc.
• Tech courses & English classes to promote professional development;
• Gym membership is offered as a subsidized benefit or fully paid by the employer.
• WFH setup & Internet allowance, relevant for international dev teams working remotely;
• Stock options are predominantly offered to C-level experts.

According to Poland’s Labor Code, the standard workweek in the country is 40 hours, with the possibility of overtime, which should not exceed 8 hours per week. The overtime compensation amounts to 150% of the regular rate for regular hours and 200% for night shifts, Sundays, or national holidays, or can be compensated with time off.

When you hire a software developer in Poland, their probation period depends on the duration of the contract:

• 1 month – for fixed-term contracts under 6 months;
• 2 months – for fixed-term contracts between 6 and 12 months;
• 3 months – in all other cases.

Usually, this time is enough to test the skills and assess the performance of the new hire. We at Alcor guarantee only high-quality tech talent, with 98.6% of our hires passing probation with flying colors. In the rare case that someone doesn’t meet your expectations, we provide a replacement free of charge.

Software developers, working on an employment contract in Poland, are entitled to the following paid time off (PTO):

Annual leave consists of 20 working days if the employee’s work experience is less than 10 years, and increases to 26 working days if the employee’s work experience is 10 years or more. Can only be compensated with money upon contract termination.

Sick leave of the first 33 days (or 14 days if an employee is 50+ y.o.) is paid at 80% of the employee’s salary by the employer. If it extends up to 182 days, then it’s covered by Social Insurance (ZUS).

Maternity leave lasts for 140 calendar days, of which at least 98 days must be taken after childbirth.

Extraordinary paid leave includes

• Paternity leave: 14 days, 
• Parental leave, available for both parents, lasts for 287 calendar days (if 1 child is born) and 301 (if 2+ children are born),

paid by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS);

• Special leave: up to 2 working days (for special life events);
• Force-majeure leave: up to 2 working days (for urgent family matters).

paid by the employer.

Public holidays in Poland include 14 paid days, as per the annual leave entitlements for the year 2025. 

When a US-based tech company hires software developers in Poland, it should consider visa requirements. To travel on a business trip (of up to 90 days) to the USA, a Polish citizen does not need a visa but rather an ESTA approval that confirms they meet VWP requirements (e.g., a valid e-passport and no prior visa denials).

If the business trip lasts 6 months or longer, Polish programmers require a B1/B2 Visa. It allows business-related activities, such as attending conferences and meetings, participating in short-term training or team-building, and exploring partnerships, but not permanent work in the US.

There are also other visa types that you can explore with your Employer of Record service provider in Poland. For instance, Alcor supported ThredUP with business travel and US visas for their developers in Eastern Europe. We can do the same for you!

The termination of an employee in Poland is governed by the labor code, which establishes strict guidelines for the termination process, thereby protecting workers’ rights and posing risks for employers. Luckily, there are EOR companies in Poland like Alcor that serve as your compliance buffer, ensuring a smooth employee offboarding.

General termination rules:

Notice Period: 

• 2 weeks: for employment under 6 months;
• 1 month: for employment of 6 months to under 3 years;
• 3 months: for employment of 3 years or more;
• No prior notice is required for serious misconduct or long-term absence due to health or other reasons.

Local requirements: In all cases, the dismissal must be justified.

Termination payments: 

1. Compensation for all unused paid vacation days accrued and any outstanding payments.
2. Severance payments are applicable only if an employer has more than 20 employees and dismisses an employee solely for non-employee-related reasons: 

• 1 month’s salary: for employees with less than 2 years’ service; 
• 2 months’ salary: for employees with 2–8 years’ service;
• 3 months’ salary: for employees with more than 8 years’ service;
• Capped at 15× the minimum wage.

Employees on leave or with a justified absence, pregnant women, union members, and those within four years of retirement are protected from termination.

Expanding your development team abroad often means establishing a local legal entity, which varies from country to country based on the local laws of business incorporation. Generally, you would need to navigate complex legal requirements, including selecting the type of entity, registering with relevant authorities, opening bank accounts, and ensuring compliance with local tax and social security laws.

The business incorporation process can drag on for months, draining tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, registration, and insurance. What is even worse, failing to comply with local laws and practices can expose your tech company to hefty fines or even legal actions, putting your expansion plans at risk.

The EOR solution in Poland allows you to bypass the lengthy and expensive route of setting up your own entity abroad. For instance, with Alcor EOR for tech, you can hire developers through our readily established legal entities in LATAM or Eastern Europe, saving an average of 3.5 months on business incorporation. Plus, manage admin and legal complexities hassle-free. It’s a faster, safer way to expand your business compliantly without the financial burden.

Alcor’s Employer of Record for Tech is a 360-degree solution devised for the compliant and seamless hiring of software engineers in Latin America and Eastern Europe. With no need to open a legal entity, it saves tech companies an average of 3.5 months and tens of thousands of dollars in setup costs. This means you can skip the red tape and build your own team of 30+ developers in just three months, accelerating your software development and unlocking faster growth.

With our Employer of Record solution in geo, you get more than just HR & payroll:

• Tech-focused services: from FTE or B2B employment options and tax incentives to R&D deductions and tailored benefits for developers.
• 100% compliance: get shielded with guidance from our lawyers, who have expertise in IT law.
• Customized pricing: volume discounts, no hidden costs or pre-payment.
• Ongoing in-country support: our Dedicated Customer Success Managers go above and beyond to simplify your business expansion.
• All-in-one place: manage everything in one place, no need for multiple vendors.

But EOR is just the beginning…

You can upgrade it to our software R&D center solution, which includes:

• In-house tech hiring is handled by our 40 recruiters, who headhunt the top 10% of the market developers across LATAM and EE. With our 80% CV pass rate and 2-6 weeks to fill a vacancy, you can scale your team from 0 to 100 engineers in a year.
• Operational support encompasses additional services, including leasing office or co-working space, procuring equipment, setting up IT infrastructure, and employer branding.

The result? A fully backed tech R&D center with a software development team that’s 100% yours from day one.