Poland to accept Belarusian workers

Poland is going to allow Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian citizens to work on its territory without any additional permission twice a year for periods of three months starting from May.

Our reporter Aleh Milivich has tried to find out the reason for it and whether anyone could get a job in Poland in his interview with a job market analyst from “Gazeta Wyborcza” Marek Wielgo.




Aleg Mіlevіch: “Mr. Wielgo, why did the Minister of Labour take such a decision?”



Marek Wielgo: “It was caused by a flow out of Polish workers after the Western Europe’s job market was opened for them. They simply moved to places where they could earn more money. So Poland started lacking workers and employers urged the authorities to let them hire foreign workers in Poland.



They would be eager to work with neighbours – Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians. Moreover, the new rule will be applied not only to construction but to all the other branches of business too. Any employer wishing to hire, say, Belarusians, can invite them to work in Poland twice a year for periods of three months without getting any permission or payment. There is only one condition – they should declare they have given jobs to them”.




Aleg Mіlevіch: “How can Belarusians get to know about the new opportunity to work in Poland without bureaucratic obstacles?”



Marek Wielgo: “Sometimes we do not know about it, but there are many contacts between Polish and Belarusian companies. New companies dealing with the organization of transfer of workers to Poland will appear as soon as they get the opportunity. We have such companies here – they are hiring workers for Great Britain, Ireland and other EU countries.”




Aleg Mіlevіch: “Is there any possibility that the innovation could not become popular?”



Marek Wielgo: “We are carrying out negotiations with trade unions and employers’ organizations but the Ministry of Labour claims that everything is already decided and the decision of the Minister of Labour will come into power in May”.



In the photo: Marek Wielgo.
Photo by Kamil Wróblewski / TOK FM