A Warsaw-Wola district court has ordered a labour-hire intermediary to pay PLN 15,000 (€3,300) after the Border Guard proved he placed five Indonesian nationals in a Łódź-area fruit-picking business without valid work permits or social-insurance registration. The verdict, delivered on 14 July, follows a 2025 field inspection in which officers found the migrants working under tourist-visa cover. Under Poland’s Act on Employment of Foreigners, fines can run to PLN 30,000 per person, yet courts have so far used the upper range sparingly. The judgement is nevertheless significant because it also triggers a six-month re-entry ban for one migrant who overstayed his visa, and an inspection of the farm’s entire seasonal-labour operation by the National Labour Inspectorate. For HR and mobility managers the case underscores a stricter enforcement climate. Electronic reporting of contracts via the PUE ZUS portal and proof of insurance must now accompany every application for a seasonal work permit. Brokers caught violating the rules risk being black-listed from Poland’s new e-Recruiter platform that large corporations use to source harvest workers. Companies using third-party agencies to fill peak-season vacancies are advised to audit agency licences and insist on original TRC cards or “work-permit decisions” rather than photocopies that can be forged. Repeat offences can bar an employer from accessing simplified visa channels such as Poland Business Harbour.
Source: Komenda Główna Straży Granicznej
