Work permits in Poland: why a power of attorney does not give HR access to praca.gov.pl
Your lawyer has prepared a power of attorney. The company’s management board has signed it. But when HR logs in to praca.gov.pl to apply for a work permit for a developer from India, the company is not visible. The candidate is waiting, and the project cannot move forward.
The problem is that legal authority and portal access are separate. A signed power of attorney authorizes someone to act for the company, but it does not automatically connect that person to the company’s account in Poland’s employment-services portal.
Since June 1, 2025, applications for work permits for foreign nationals and declarations on entrusting work to foreign nationals must be submitted through praca.gov.pl. An application sent by post, delivered in person or submitted through ePUAP is left unexamined. The approved source cites Article 8 of the Act of March 20, 2025, on the Conditions for Entrusting Work to Foreigners (Journal of Laws 2025, item 621) for this rule. Without working portal access, an employer cannot use another submission channel to keep the process moving.
This guide explains how to set up HR access, avoid common delays and maintain that access as employees join or leave.
The accounts and authorizations you need to distinguish
| Term | Meaning | Where it operates |
|---|---|---|
| Power of attorney | A civil-law document authorizing a person to act for the company | The legal relationship between the company and the authorized person |
| Individual praca.gov.pl account | A personal account created using a Polish trusted profile or a qualified electronic signature | The portal |
| Organization account | The company’s account, identified by its REGON number, to which users are assigned | The portal |
| Representative verification | Confirmation by a district employment office that a person is entitled to act for the company in the portal | The district employment office and the portal |
| Assignment request | A portal request by a user to join the organization account, approved by a verified representative | The portal |
| “Context” field | The portal selector that determines whether a submission is made as an individual or for the company | The portal |
NIP is a Polish tax identification number. REGON identifies an entity in Poland’s official business register. KRS, the National Court Register, records company information, including how a registered company may be represented. A powiatowy urząd pracy (PUP) is a district employment office.
The practical rule is simple: a power of attorney without the necessary portal setup does not give HR access; portal access without a power of attorney does not provide the required legal authority.
Why the signed document is not enough
For an HR employee to submit a work permit application for the company, the approved process requires three elements at the same time:
- A power of attorney signed by those authorized to represent the company. It should cover the work HR will perform, including submitting applications, receiving decisions and corresponding with the office.
- A verified organization account. The company needs an account on praca.gov.pl, and at least one representative must be verified by a district employment office through the PGP-WKOKR process.
- The HR employee’s assignment to that account. The employee creates an individual account, requests assignment to the company using its NIP and REGON numbers, and a verified representative approves the request.
If any element is missing, HR cannot complete the application process as intended. Preparing the power of attorney first and starting portal verification only afterward can add weeks to a hire. Start the legal-document and account-verification workstreams in parallel.
Set up HR access step by step
1. Identify at least two representatives
The source’s process calls for a representative who can independently represent the company: a management board member or a prokurent samoistny, a registered commercial proxy authorized to act independently. A commercial proxy’s entry in KRS helps establish that authority to the office.
Choose at least two people where possible. If the only verified representative is away or leaves, no one remains to approve a new HR user’s assignment request. That creates an avoidable point of failure in foreign-national hiring.
2. Have each representative create an individual account
Each representative needs their own praca.gov.pl account. The source identifies two ways to create one:
- A Polish trusted profile (profil zaufany), which requires a PESEL number; or
- A qualified electronic signature, which does not require PESEL.
PESEL is a Polish personal identification number. For a foreign management board member without one, a qualified electronic signature may be the faster route. Another option is to use a suitable representative, such as an independently authorized commercial proxy with PESEL. For longer-term planning, the source notes that PESEL may be obtained, among other ways, through residence registration for a stay exceeding 30 days or an application to a municipal authority.
3. Request organization-account verification: PGP-WKOKR
A representative submits a request to the competent district employment office to verify the company’s portal account. The request should contain:
- The company’s name, NIP, REGON and registered office address;
- The representative’s name, position and basis of authority; and
- A KRS extract confirming the company’s rules of representation.
This stage depends on the office’s response time. No published processing statistics are cited in the source; offices say they handle requests on an ongoing basis. The source refers to the Code of Administrative Procedure’s general maximum periods of one month for ordinary matters and two months for complex matters. Because verification involves checking details against KRS, the source expects it to take less time, but recommends submitting the request several weeks before access is needed.
After selecting the organization context, the request’s status can be checked in the portal’s “Sprawy – stan spraw” (“Cases – case status”) tab.
4. Prepare HR powers of attorney at the same time
Do not wait for verification to finish. Prepare powers of attorney for everyone who will handle applications relating to the employment of foreign nationals through the portal.
The source recommends covering:
- Work permit applications of all types;
- Declarations on entrusting work;
- Receipt of decisions and correspondence from the employment office; and
- Explanations and appeals.
If employees will work at locations across Poland, prepare broadly drafted authority covering representation before all district employment offices.
5. Assign HR users to the company account
Each HR employee creates an individual praca.gov.pl account using a trusted profile or qualified electronic signature. After logging in, the employee submits an assignment request for the company account and enters the company’s NIP and REGON numbers.
The portal notifies verified representatives. A representative then approves the request in the portal, without a further employment-office approval for that assignment. The employee can then see the company in the “Context” field and submit on its behalf.
6. Check the “Context” field before every submission
HR must switch from personal context to company context before filing. If someone submits in personal context, the document exists but is not linked to the company’s cases. HR may then be unable to find it in the company account, while the office has received a submission from an individual.
Include this check in a short internal filing guide.
One company account across Poland—with a qualification
The source describes praca.gov.pl organization accounts as centralized: one REGON corresponds to one account, and the system does not allow multiple accounts for the same entity. On that model, verification by one district employment office grants access across the portal, rather than only for that office.
For a company with several locations, the practical approach described in the source is:
- Verify the organization account through the district employment office competent for its registered office.
- Assign users from different branches to that same account.
- Direct work permit applications to the district employment office competent for the place where the work will be performed.
Qualification: The source notes that no explicit provision confirms the portal-wide scope of verification, and some offices may request additional documents. Its nationwide-access conclusion rests on the portal’s central REGON-based architecture and single assignment mechanism.
Submission channels after June 1, 2025
The source states that an application submitted outside the required portal channel is left unexamined: no decision on its merits is issued and proceedings are not initiated.
| Channel | Status for work permit applications |
|---|---|
| praca.gov.pl | The required submission channel |
| ePUAP | Not permitted; the application is left unexamined |
| Post | Not permitted; the application is left unexamined |
| In person at an office | Not permitted; the application is left unexamined |
| mObywatel | Not provided for as an application-submission channel |
The source cautions that some biznes.gov.pl descriptions of type A, B, C and E permits still refer to postal submissions; it identifies those references as pre–June 1, 2025 information. It also cites Article 72(7) of the Act on the Conditions for Entrusting Work to Foreigners for submission of applications, explanations, appeals and documents through an individual account in the ICT system.
Common failures and how to prevent them
| Failure | Consequence | Preventive action |
|---|---|---|
| HR has a power of attorney but the organization account is not verified | HR cannot see the company or submit for it | Start the power of attorney and PGP-WKOKR workstreams together |
| There is only one verified representative | Their absence or departure prevents approval of new users | Arrange at least two verified representatives |
| HR files in personal context | The submission is not linked to the company’s cases | Make the “Context” check part of the filing instructions |
| The PGP-WKOKR request is incomplete | The office asks for missing information, delaying verification | Check NIP, REGON, KRS information and representative details before submission |
| An application is sent by post or ePUAP | It is left unexamined | Use praca.gov.pl |
| A departing employee retains portal access | They remain technically able to act through the company account | Remove the assignment as part of offboarding |
The cost of a blocked process
Setting up a portal account is free, but delayed access can have substantial operational costs. For IT specialists, the source estimates that onboarding delays of several weeks may cost tens of thousands of Polish zlotys per person through postponed projects, lost candidates and downtime. That is an illustration of potential business impact, not a fixed fee or penalty.
Allowing someone to start work before obtaining the required permit creates a different risk. The source gives the following figures under Article 84 of the Act on the Conditions for Entrusting Work to Foreigners:
| Violation or measure | Amount stated in the source |
|---|---|
| Illegally entrusting work to a foreign national, Article 84(1) | Fine of PLN 3,000–50,000 |
| Minimum per foreign national, Article 84(13) | PLN 3,000 per person |
| Aggravated offenses, Article 84(3)–(5) | PLN 6,000–50,000 |
| Fine imposed by the Polish National Labor Inspectorate (PIP) | Up to PLN 10,000 |
| Foreign national working illegally | Fine of PLN 1,000–5,000 |
At the stated per-person minimum, five people mean PLN 15,000 and ten mean PLN 30,000. The source also warns of administrative consequences, including refusal of later work permits following a final penalty.
The source identifies no exemption from liability for technical problems with the portal. Keeping records of attempts to obtain a permit may bear on the amount of a penalty, but does not itself remove liability.
Revoke access when someone leaves
praca.gov.pl is not connected to the employer’s HR records. Ending an employment contract does not automatically end a person’s portal permissions. A former employee may retain the technical ability to submit applications and receive correspondence for the company.
- If another representative remains: Log in and use “Zarządzanie kontem organizacji” (“Organization account management”) → “Reprezentanci organizacji” (“Organization representatives”) → select the user → “Usuń” (“Remove”). The person’s individual account remains active, but its link to the company account is removed.
- If the only representative is leaving: Contact the district employment office and submit a request to remove the former representative and add a new one.
Make portal removal part of standard offboarding, alongside company-system access changes, equipment return and revocation of powers of attorney. Review existing assignments regularly; access does not end merely because a person’s role has changed.
Implementation checklist
| No. | Action | Owner | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify at least two eligible representatives: independently authorized management board members or commercial proxies | Management board | Start today |
| 2 | Create an individual praca.gov.pl account for each representative | Representatives | Start today |
| 3 | Submit the PGP-WKOKR verification request for each representative to the competent district employment office | Representatives / HR | Start today |
| 4 | Prepare and sign HR powers of attorney in parallel | Lawyer / management board | Start today |
| 5 | Have each relevant HR employee create an individual portal account | HR | Within a week |
| 6 | After verification, have HR submit assignment requests | HR | After verification |
| 7 | Approve those requests in the portal | Verified representative | When notified |
| 8 | Issue an internal guide covering the “Context” field and scope of authority | HR / lawyer | Within two weeks |
| 9 | Add portal-access removal to the offboarding checklist | HR | Within two weeks |
| 10 | Review assigned users, representative availability and powers of attorney | HR manager | Quarterly |
The work can start immediately, but HR’s ability to file for the company depends on verification and assignment being completed.
Frequently asked questions
We signed powers of attorney a year ago. Why can our new HR employee not see the company?
The documents do not automatically create portal permissions. Check that the organization account has been verified through PGP-WKOKR, the employee has an individual account and has requested assignment using the company’s NIP and REGON, and a verified representative has approved that request. The employee also needs the appropriate power of attorney.
How long does account verification take?
The source cites no published processing statistics. Offices say requests are handled on an ongoing basis, while the general administrative time frames it cites are one month for ordinary matters and two months for complex ones. Verification may be quicker because it involves checking KRS details, but plan to submit several weeks in advance.
Can our HR director be the verified representative?
Under the process described in the source, a verified representative must be able to represent the company independently—for example, an eligible management board member or a prokurent samoistny recorded in KRS. Being HR director alone does not meet that condition. After a representative verifies the account, the HR director can be assigned as a user acting under a power of attorney.
What if our sole management board member is a foreign national without a Polish trusted profile?
A trusted profile requires PESEL. The source identifies a qualified electronic signature, which does not require PESEL, as an alternative for creating the portal account. Another option it gives is appointing an independently authorized commercial proxy with PESEL. Obtaining PESEL may be a longer-term option.
What happens to existing HR users if the verified representative leaves?
Their access does not automatically expire. The immediate difficulty is approving new assignment requests when no active verified representative remains. Maintain at least two representatives where possible; if the only one leaves, contact the district employment office.
Do we need a separate portal account for every district employment office?
The source’s answer is no: one REGON-based organization account operates across the portal. Applications still go to the office competent for the place of work. Keep in mind its qualification that no explicit provision confirms portal-wide verification and that an individual office may request additional documents.
Keep legal authority and access management together
A signed power of attorney, a verified organization account and an approved individual assignment each serve a different purpose. Start verification while preparing HR authorizations, keep more than one representative available, check company context when filing, and remove access promptly when people leave.
We help companies audit their praca.gov.pl setup, prepare powers of attorney and employment-office correspondence, identify access bottlenecks and develop HR instructions. If you need support with your company’s configuration, contact us.
