"I work at a supermarket checkout because I don't want to be woken up by patients calling at night." How Ukrainians work in Poland now

However, the requirements for them have also grown: if in 2022 military migrants were employed without language skills, there was a high level of empathy and a desire to help war victims, today things look a little different. Employers believe that there was enough time to learn the language, undergo requalification, get additional knowledge and certificates.

Ukrainians are workaholics, and this sometimes plays against them

For example, Poland has recently announced that Ukrainians who have not passed the language proficiency exam will no longer be able to work as doctors, as it affects patients. And this is also logical, despite the big shortage of doctors and medical workers in the country.

On the other hand, Ukrainians themselves, the same doctors, sometimes make unexpected decisions.

Pani Marina, a doctor with 30 years of experience, gave up her medical practice.

Now I work as a supermarket cashier, because I don't want to wake up with patients calling at night," she explains her unexpected decision, adding that only now she has a clear division between work and personal time.

It turned out that her overly responsible approach to her patients turned against her: Mrs Marina was never able to explain to her former patients that there are working hours and there is time free from work. Perhaps it is the difference in mentality and approach to work.

Alina, a 30-year-old assistant accountant, was surprised that no one from the clients of the accounting office where she works calls her after 5 pm. It turned out that these requirements are spelled out in the bureau's contracts with clients: it is stipulated that after hours, the cost of services is doubled, and this disciplines service users.

"I never found a job because of my age."

Ukrainians of pre-retirement and retirement age are in the grey area of job search. It is more difficult for them to convince an employer that they can cope with the job, so they are the ones who have one of the most difficult situations: opportunities to live in collective centres disappear, and they cannot pay rent.

68-year-old Panja Alena has the third disability group and lives in such a collective centre. She has tried to find work in small shops near the centre. She was politely promised a call back, but the phone is silent. Panja Alena's son, who also has a disability, used to work as a cleaner at the railway station, but lost his job when he went into hospital.

Predominantly, Ukrainians who have seriously ill relatives or who are pensioners themselves are considering moving to another country where there is a chance to get social protection and housing.

They keep silent because they are ashamed of their accent

Iryna Samolyuk, a psychologist with the Polish foundation Fundacja "Twarze Depresji", told Socialportal that based on the enquiries she has received since the beginning of the full-scale war, the feeling that Ukrainians are now competing for the right to be the best on the labour market has become more acute.

And this is such an internal attitude that makes a person work more, keep silent more, and tolerate more. A Polish employee can come up and say something to the manager and he or she will not be fired, while Ukrainians mostly believe that they should keep silent so that the manager does not fire them, because three Ukrainians will take this place tomorrow. Such an internal attitude creates an overload, the psychologist explains.

Usually, she says, they agree to lower pay and work below their qualifications.

There are many erroneous beliefs about the impact of the accent on the possibility of working in Poland and being successful.

It happens that the fear of making a mistake because of the language and accent puts a person in a rather restrictive framework. A person starts to evaluate himself/herself not so much in terms of professional level and competence, but in terms of whether he/she sounds perfect when speaking Polish. I know of examples when a highly professional specialist kept silent at meetings, but expressed her very interesting ideas in written documents. And this is not an isolated example, says Iryna Samolyuk.

She advises to ignore this limiting factor, to show your professional abilities, and mistakes in word endings will be corrected - it's not a problem.

Ukrainians need to understand that in the Polish environment, they can be evaluated as professionals, and this is the main thing.

Working "off the books" is not about dirt, but about the danger of deportation

The most accessible area of employment for Ukrainian refugee women remains physical work - cleaning, warehouse work, and seasonal employment.

Cleaning is the most common option. However, there are many risks in this field: one can often see vacancies with the wording "no experience required, we will teach you everything". Often, such announcements hide the free use of physical labour. You should be especially attentive to the so-called "internships", which are offered at the beginning of work by unscrupulous employers. They often do not count these days as days worked and do not pay for them, Olga Semenyuk, coordinator of the professional activation department of the Ukrainian House in Warsaw Foundation, told Socialportal.

Also, according to her, job offers of "carer with accommodation" are widespread. Such vacancies are difficult to check, as they are often posted by private individuals, which makes it difficult to understand whether it is really about employment or whether the advert may have ulterior motives, she warns.

In Poland, despite strict prohibitions and penalties, as in other European countries, there is a labour market without official employment. This is called "working on the back end". Mostly, such conditions are found among offers of domestic services: cleaning, nanny, or carer services.

45-year-old Pani Angelina found herself in a difficult situation when she lost her job and had to respond to several vacancies for a carer for an elderly person.

The son of the woman I was caring for paid in cash and made me sign a statement saying that I was paying my own taxes. At the same time, he smiled and said that this piece of paper would not go anywhere, and that he just needed it just in case, says the woman.

According to her, the employer is well aware that he has violated the legal norms of Poland, because he has his own business, where he officially employs workers and pays taxes for them. Angelina did not work as a carer for long: such work threatens a foreign worker with deportation, even though there is a risk of tax penalties for the Polish employer as well. Moreover, the conditions of the job were terrible: she had to live with her 89-year-old ward, which meant that she was actually at work 24/7. She was given only two hours of rest three times a week.

Highly skilled labour - the demands are getting higher, and it is getting harder to compete

Ukrainians with higher education seek to find a job in their speciality in Poland or to retrain.

Four years ago, the Ukrainians who contacted me were in the "need to survive" mode, and it did not matter who they worked for, as long as they could somehow earn money to cover their basic needs. Now these requests are transformed into the mode "I have value", which draws the attention of psychologist Iryna Samolyuk.

Ukrainian women translate and nostrify their diplomas, go to school, and change professions. However, some returned who could not adapt. But the majority, notes Iryna, stop looking at themselves as the worst candidate on the labour market just because of their origin, although the competition remains high.

But there is more of this feeling that I have the right to be. And the demands on me as a psychologist have also changed: what do I need to do now to work in this speciality or to get exactly this kind of pay, because I am worthy of it, because I am worth it, - says Iryna Samolyuk.

When it comes to highly qualified work, the hardest jobs to find are in regulated professions (zawody regulowane). These are primarily medical professionals (doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives) and teaching staff of state educational institutions, especially after the cancellation of simplified employment rules, says employment expert Olga Semeniuk.

Access to qualified work is significantly complicated by the requirements for nostrification of diplomas or passing profile exams, in particular for medical workers, emphasises Mrs Olga.

This is despite the fact that there is a shortage of doctors and teachers in Poland.

Why has the issue of raising the requirements for doctors from Ukraine arisen now?

It is connected with the end of the so-called transition period, when simplified procedures for employment in regulated professions were in force. I think it is also closely related to the general state of the Polish healthcare system - Polish doctors organise strikes due to the lack of funding for hospitals, and this situation could not help but affect refugees, explains the Ukrainian House specialist.

"Improvements", in her opinion, should not be expected. Instead, it is necessary to look for opportunities for language courses and to confirm their level of language skills in order to be able to work in their speciality.

And what about those Ukrainians with higher education whose specialities require extra effort to stay in Poland?

Mrs Oksana and her husband had their own business in Ukraine, but today their hometown is under occupation. They tried to open a real estate agency in Poland.

I know this market, I feel the demands, I see the potential of the property. But we failed in Poland: Polish sellers and buyers do not trust foreigners, and among Ukrainians, the demand for flats here is very low. That is why I retrained as a colourist, I work in a beauty salon, and how it will be further - we will see, - says Oksana.

As a result, in Poland, you can often meet a Ukrainian beautician or manicurist who has a law degree or a diploma in philology. Ukrainian beauty industry is known for a very high level of quality, so Polish women willingly use the services of our compatriots.

Many Ukrainians work in the cleaning industry, and some of them have already opened their own business in this sphere, employ their compatriots, and say that this industry is the most understandable and convenient for them.

Read the contract you sign with your employer. Surprises can be painful

In Poland, there are several types of labour contracts, each with its own peculiarities. The most desirable is the so-called "Umowa o pracę" - it means working in the state, the employer pays all taxes, and the employee is protected as much as possible both socially and from dismissal. However, if you have such a contract for an indefinite period of time (this happens automatically by law after more than three years of work under such a contract), it will be a bit more difficult to quit your job - you will have to work for three months, which practically excludes the possibility that a new employer will be waiting for you. However, it is often possible to agree to dismiss by mutual agreement, in which case the term is reduced to one month.

The second type of agreement is Umowa zlecenia. According to it, the employer pays only the minimum mandatory contributions for the employee (e.g. health insurance, but the payment of sick leave is already in question), and the employer can terminate such a contract at any time. This type of employment relationship does not even provide for paid holidays.

The Poles themselves call the third type of agreement "rubbish" - Umowa o dzieło. According to it, the employer may not pay even minimum contributions at all (although sometimes there are exceptions), and at the end of the year, the fiscal authorities may charge the employee additional taxes.

At the same time, each type of contract may contain its own requirements and penalties. For example, in journalism, it may be a ban on working for any other media, and the fine for violation may reach the annual income of the employee. Therefore, it is worth reading the contract carefully, demanding changes and exceptions - it is quite realistic.

It is worth reading and signing the contract and demanding a copy for yourself. Very often, under the pretext of "signing by the management", employers delay the signing of the contract, and the situation arises when a person goes to work, fulfils his duties, but in case of any emergency situations, he cannot even prove that he is employed, says the coordinator of the professional activation department of the Foundation "Ukrainian House in Warsaw".

Accordingly, a person knows nothing about the actual terms of notification of UP (labour administration) and ZUS (social insurance authorities), on which many other issues directly depend - the possibility of legalisation based on employment, access to free medical services, the specialist points out.

Unfavourable conditions, according to her, such as unpaid overtime hours, incomplete leave, and non-refund of part of taxes, are usually encountered to a greater or lesser extent when employing low-skilled workers, especially due to their lack of knowledge of Polish law and language (which is taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers).

Business in Poland is often an alternative for Ukrainian women who want to fulfil themselves

In the four years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there is a very clear trend: tens, and possibly hundreds of thousands of highly qualified and competent Ukrainian women have come to Poland - doctors, lawyers, economists, IT specialists, teachers, designers, people with real expertise and extensive experience, says Marijka Nebozhenko, founder and head of the Empowerment Foundation, in a comment to Socportal.

Many of them are actively looking for a job in line with their qualifications, some of them are retraining.

When it is not possible to find a job in line with their competences - due to language barriers, non-recognition of diplomas or the specifics of the Polish market - many women decide to start their own business. This is a conscious choice. Entrepreneurship gives a decent position on the market and, very importantly, greater flexibility of time when raising children independently. At the same time, it is also a great responsibility and burden," emphasises Marijka Nebozhenko.

According to PIE, in 2024, 33,200 Ukrainian individual entrepreneurs will be registered in Poland - twice as many as in 2022. Women make up about 38 per cent of founders.

Empowerment Foundation supports these women through educational and mentoring projects, such as the Entrepreneurship Academy for Ukrainian women and the Business Booster educational mentoring programme, which are implemented together with employment centres and international organisations.

The aim of the project is to provide tools, knowledge and confidence for professional development in a new country. For example, Business Booster 2.0 will be launched in July for entrepreneurs who are legally present in Poland, have been doing business legally for at least six months and arrived in the country on or after 24 February 2022.

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Thus, in four years Ukrainian refugees have already adapted to the Polish labour market: some stay in the areas where there is the greatest need for workers, mainly physical labour, and some seek to change their profession, continue their studies in order to take up a higher position and gain career prospects in this country.

It can be cautiously stated that gradually those Ukrainians who see their competitiveness and opportunities to realise themselves on the local labour market or in business remain in Poland.