Hiring a Stylist From Ukraine: Work Legalization, Contract and Documents 2026

You've got clients, you're short-staffed, and a friend recommends a great stylist from Ukraine, ready to start right away. Before you sign anything, there's one thing you need to check: on what legal basis can this person actually work for you. That's the first step everything else depends on, the contract, the ZUS registration, the tax settlements.

Residence status determines the entire employment path

Not every Ukrainian citizen has the same legal situation in Poland. Before starting the paperwork, check which category your future employee falls into.

• PESEL UKR (war refugee status, in effect since 2022): a person with this status can legally work in Poland without a standard work permit. As the employer, your only obligation is to notify the relevant district labour office of the employment, usually within 14 days of the person starting work.
• Permanent residence card or long-term EU resident card: full right to work without any additional permits, exactly the same as for a Polish citizen.
• Temporary residence card with labour market access: check the annotation on the card. If the document includes a note about labour market access, you can employ her without an additional permit, within the terms specified in the decision.
• None of the above: in that case you need a declaration of entrusting work to a foreigner registered with the district labour office, or a full work permit issued by the voivode. This path takes longer and requires submitting an application before the employee starts work, not after the fact.

Notifying the district labour office step by step

For today's most common scenario, a person with PESEL UKR status, the procedure on your side as the employer is relatively simple.

1. Check the ID document and residence status of the employee before you sign a contract. Ask to see a document confirming PESEL UKR or another basis for residence and the right to work.
2. Sign the contract (employment contract, contract of mandate, or another form of cooperation), the same as with any other employee.
3. Submit a notification to the relevant district labour office, providing the employee's details, type of contract, position and salary. In many offices this can be done electronically through the praca.gov.pl portal.
4. Meet the notification deadline, standardly 14 days from the day the foreign employee starts work. Check the current deadline in force at the time of hiring, since the rules for the simplified path for Ukrainian citizens tend to get extended and adjusted through successive legislation.

Which type of contract to choose

Choosing the form of cooperation with a stylist from Ukraine follows exactly the same rules as hiring a Polish citizen.

• Employment contract: the fullest protection for the employee (holiday leave, sick pay, protection against dismissal), but also the highest employer cost and full working-time records on your side.
• Contract of mandate: a more flexible form, lower administrative costs, but still subject to ZUS contributions under general rules for contractors.
• B2B cooperation: possible if the stylist has her own registered business in Poland. This requires her to already have a business set up, which is itself a separate formal process, described in our guide for salon owners from Ukraine.

Regardless of the contract type, the residence status entitling her to work must remain valid throughout the entire period of cooperation. If her residence card expires in a month and you're planning employment for a year, check with her at what stage the document renewal is, before you sign a long-term contract.

ZUS registration and tax settlements

On the social insurance and tax side, there's no difference between a Polish and a Ukrainian employee, as long as both have a valid basis for employment in Poland.

• ZUS registration within 7 days of starting work, on the same terms as for any other employee or contractor.
• Tax residency: if the employee stays in Poland longer than 183 days in a tax year, she usually becomes a Polish tax resident, which means settling her total income in Poland. This is worth discussing with your accountant, especially in the first year of employment, when status can change mid-year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to translate the employment contract into Ukrainian?

There's no formal requirement for that under standard employment terms, but in practice it's worth preparing at least a summary of the key terms in a language the employee fully understands, to avoid misunderstandings about salary, working hours or notice period.

What if the employee's PESEL UKR status expires during employment?

Track the expiry dates of her residence documents and remind her about renewal with enough lead time. If the legal basis for residence expires without renewal, you lose the right to continue legally employing her until she completes the documents.

Can I hire a stylist from Ukraine "on a trial basis" without formalities, just to see if she fits the team?

There's no legal path for employment "on a trial without a contract." Every form of work requires a signed contract and, where applicable, notification to the labour office, from day one. An alternative is a short fixed-term contract or a contract of mandate with a short notice period, if you want flexibility at the start of the cooperation.

Does notifying the labour office cost anything?

The notification itself, of entrusting work to a person with PESEL UKR status, is free. Fees apply for a full work permit issued by the voivode, if a given person doesn't qualify for the simplified path.