APPEAL TO ENTREPRENEURS TO JOIN THE DEFENSE
RIGHTS OF SUBCONTRACTING COMPANIES TO REGISTER FOREIGNERS' WORK PERMITS
NO TO OUTSOURCING! YES TO SUBCONTRACTORS!

Dear Sirs,

Acting on behalf of the employers' union OKAP, which brings together more than 50 employment agencies and entrepreneurs operating in the area of specialised subcontracting services from all over the Republic of Poland, I call on you to take joint action to protect the rights of entrepreneurs who are denied the right by provincial offices to obtain work permits for foreigners under the pretext of illegally providing services on the basis of a service outsourcing structure.

From 1 April 2023 onwards. provincial offices across the Republic of Poland will send letters to entrepreneurs who have submitted applications for permits to provide work by foreigners to demonstrate whether the applications are not submitted as part of the so-called service outsourcing.

Significantly, the summonses target a number of entrepreneurs who have specialised for many years in providing highly specialised subcontracting services, whose scope of services does not in any way include outsourcing services, taking over none of the processes that clients have in place.

For these reasons, OKAP disagrees with this practice, pointing out that the overwhelming number of businesses that have received these letters are subcontractors and not outsourcing companies. These companies perform services based on, among other things:

• a subcontract based on civil law provisions, different from temporary employment contracts, but also completely different from an outsourcing contract;
• independently recruited staff;
• employees who perform work under the sole direction of their employer;
• employees whose working time is recorded by the employer and paid for by the employer;
• PKD specific to a particular, specific, subcontracted service; not related to the PKD specific to services provided by employment agencies.

Significantly, the practice described above threatens to upset the Polish economy, with a number of planned business ventures having to be curtailed or even closed down due to the impossibility of subcontracting some of the work.

For these reasons, we call on all businesses affected by this situation or who simply object to these unauthorised practices to actively join in opposing such actions, in particular by contacting OKAP at the following telephone number: 502 035 563 , email: [email protected] , or by visiting the OKAP office in person and joining the association's work to protect the rights of all those entrepreneurs who, acting honestly in Polish business, are fighting against unclear legal regulations and unfair practices on the part of their competitors. 

I would like to conclude by stressing that only in unity is our strength. Let us not allow our interests to go unprotected.

OKAP has been supporting entrepreneurs from all over Poland for more than 15 years, annually preparing a number of speeches and interventions to Polish offices and ministries, actively participating in all relevant legislative processes.