High Salaries with a Catch: How Agencies in Poland Deceive Labor Migrants

About 70% of foreign workers in Poland who were employed through employment agencies have personally encountered opaque salary calculation or payment schemes. Moreover, 57.8% of respondents have already experienced several such practices.

According to Dilo.ua, this is evidenced by the results of a new study by the Gremi Personal Analytical Center.

Labor migrants are most often deceived by promises of high net salaries, while the actual amount of taxes and contributions to ZUS is hidden. Employers artificially lower the official salary and list all the rest as "conditional" bonuses, confuse worked hours or change the rate, and during employment, they deduct money for unforeseen expenses.

Experience with intermediaries directly affects the risk of falling into a trap: among those who worked through only one agency, 44% encountered schemes. If a worker changed from 2 to 4 agencies, this share rises to 74.5%, and among those who had experience working with five or more companies, 88.9% faced manipulations.

Although a high rate remains a key factor when choosing a job — 64.3% of respondents rate its influence at 4-5 out of 5. At the same time, 74.5% of respondents admit that over time they have become more cautious about offers with overly attractive pay.

Especially cautious are "foreigners with experience" who have worked in Poland for more than three years: 95.2% of them either choose completely transparent vacancies or are willing to consider a higher rate only after a written explanation and the opportunity to verify its formation. 63.8% of this group always check the agency and conditions before signing an agreement, while among newcomers, only 28.9% do.

The reason for such caution is the fear of legal and financial consequences. Respondents are most concerned about:

• problems with ZUS and social insurance (79.5%);
• loss of legality of work and residence documents (77.0%);
• problems with tax authorities (70.0%);
• inspections by controlling services (PIP, ZUS, KAS, or Border Guard) (69.8%).

Additionally, 44.5% of respondents have heard in their surroundings about cases of forced return, re-entry bans, or deportation due to employment violations.

Besides gray schemes, a significant factor of dissatisfaction is the level of income. According to WNP.pl, Ukrainian refugees in Poland earn an average of 973 euros per month, which is significantly less than in other European countries (for comparison, Poles earn about 1,227 euros). Therefore, Poland is witnessing a gradual decrease in the number of Ukrainians: some are returning home, while others are moving to Western European countries in search of higher salaries and better conditions.

Despite this outflow, Ukrainians still make up the largest share among foreigners — as of September 2024, there were about 779,000 officially employed citizens of Ukraine. However, their share in the market is gradually decreasing.

Overall, the number of foreign workers in Poland has already exceeded 1.17 million people. Currently, around 30,000 citizens from Colombia and the Philippines are working in the country, and the number of workers from Nepal and India is rapidly increasing.

"For employment agencies, this means a fairly confident trend of changing competition rules. The attempt to lure workers with just a higher rate is gradually losing effectiveness. If the pay difference does not have a clear written explanation, the high rate itself begins to be perceived as a possible risk signal and prompts more experienced candidates to check the agency more carefully. Therefore, it is not the maximum figure in the advertisement that matters, but the agency's ability to prove that this figure is real, transparent, and will not create problems for the worker in a few months," emphasize analysts from Gremi Personal.

Research note: The sociological study "Rates, Schemes of Employment, and Fear of Consequences" was conducted by the Gremi Personal Analytical Center from August 5 to 18, 2026, using the CAWI method. It involved 600 foreign workers aged 18 and older (citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Colombia, India, the Philippines, Nepal, and Uzbekistan) who are currently working or have worked in Poland over the past three years through employment agencies.

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