# Hiring employees in Poland — for German companies > A guide for German employers hiring in Poland: Entsendung vs. local employment, ZUS obligations, and the compliant route without your own Polish entity. From EUR 300/month + VAT. > Source: https://certapoland.com/for-german-companies/ For **German companies** hiring in Poland. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. ## The short version A company based in **Germany** can, in many cases, employ someone in Poland without opening a Polish company, branch or office (**Niederlassung**) — and without handing the relationship to an EOR platform. The employee signs a real Polish employment contract directly with your German company and — on the social-security side — is registered as the **technical (formal) payer** of contributions; the legal basis is **Article 21(2) of Regulation (EC) 987/2009**, which applies to employers based in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. Germany qualifies. Certa Poland runs the local side — contract, HR documentation, registrations, and the monthly calculations — as your operational partner. **Money never passes through us:** you fund the employee directly, and the contributions and tax are settled from there. **We do not become the employer.** We also do not claim every role fits — some do not, and we tell you which before you sign anything. ## Who this is for German employers who have found a specific person in Poland — an engineer, analyst, designer, support or operations hire — and want them on the team quickly and cleanly, on a direct contract, without standing up a Polish entity for one to a handful of people. ## Entsendung or local employment — get this right first For German companies this is the point most often confused, so it is worth being plain. These are **two separate arrangements**, and the facts — not a preference — decide which applies. **Entsendung (posting / A1).** A defined, time-limited assignment with a foreseeable end. The employee stays employed by, and integrated with, your German company, remains on the **German** social-security system, and the **A1 certificate** is the evidence of that (issued under Regulation 883/2004). Right for someone genuinely sent to Poland for a project or a period, then returning. **Local employment (lokale Anstellung).** The employee works from Poland on an ongoing basis, as part of everyday operations, with no real end date. Here Polish social security generally applies and a Polish employment contract is the honest structure — the route this page describes. An Entsendung does **not** stretch to cover an open-ended role, and local employment is **not** a longer posting. If you are unsure which fits, see [A1 and posted workers](/a1-posted-workers-poland/); we confirm the boundary in the assessment. ## When it is simple The arrangement is at its cleanest when the role is **not** a sales role, the person works remotely from their own home in Poland, and your company has no office or fixed place of business there. Software engineers, data analysts, designers, researchers, HR and support roles are the typical straightforward cases — one hire or a small team, a clear job description, a real salary. ## When it gets risky Two situations deserve honesty rather than a sales pitch. The first is **permanent establishment (PE / Betriebsstätte).** If the person negotiates or concludes contracts on your behalf in Poland — a sales role with authority — or regularly makes key management decisions, or works from an office your company leases, your German company can create a taxable presence in Poland, bringing corporate tax and reporting obligations. No structure, ours or a platform's, makes that risk disappear, and PE can also arise through a leased office, management decisions taken there, or a dependent agent. We screen the specific role up front with a **licensed tax adviser**; we do not promise immunity, and we tell you plainly where the risk is real. The second is **contractor reclassification.** A genuine employment contract — which is what this model gives you — substantially mitigates that specific risk. It does not remove the other duties every Polish employer has (working time, health and safety, records), so it is one strong reason to employ properly, not the only thing to get right. ## What to check first Four things matter before deciding, and they sit on **separate tracks**: - **Social security (ZUS):** the Article 21(2) route for an EU employer like a German company. - **Income tax (PIT):** a **separate track** — it follows the employee's residency and the Germany–Poland treaty, and a German employer without an establishment in Poland is **not** the PIT payer. Confirmed per case. - **Labour law:** separate again — work performed in Poland is governed by Poland's mandatory labour rules regardless of any clause in the contract, so the contract is built around them. - **Scope of the role:** for the PE question above. ## How we help We run the Polish side end to end, as one point of contact: - **Assessment** — we confirm the legal basis for a German employer and screen the role's PE risk together with a licensed tax adviser, then recommend a model. **Free to start.** - **Setup** — a bilingual employment contract under Polish law, the payer arrangement, and the HR documentation a Polish employer needs, with ZUS registration by power of attorney. - **Ongoing** — each month we calculate the contributions and the income-tax advance at the correct NBP rate, prepare the filings, and give you and the employee the exact figures and the statutory deadlines. **You fund the employee directly; we never hold or move your money.** From **EUR 300 / month + VAT**, flat, regardless of salary. Because the employee is registered as the formal contribution payer, the model is deliberately built so your company funds the full cost, in full and on time — a real role, not a formality, and one we brief the employee on plainly. Related: the detail on how to [hire an employee in Poland](/hire-employees-in-poland/), your [social-security obligations](/social-security-compliance-poland/), the [monthly payroll](/payroll-poland-foreign-employers/), and [our packages and pricing](/employer-setup-compliance/). ## When it is time to talk to us Reach out when you have a candidate in Poland and a start date, when a candidate has asked for an employment contract instead of B2B, or when a Deel/Remote quote or a Niederlassung estimate has made you look for a better route. The initial assessment is free and honest — including telling you if this model is *not* right for your case. [Book an assessment →](/book-assessment/) --- *This page is general information about a service, not legal or tax advice. The right structure depends on your specific facts and is confirmed case by case, with licensed legal and tax advisers where the law requires it.*