From 1 January 2027, the minimum wage and the minimum hourly rate will increase.
The minimum wage will be 4,950 zł gross, and the hourly rate for certain civil-law contracts will be 32.30 zł gross.
For employees receiving the statutory minimum wage, this means a pay rise. For employers, it means they will need to take the new rates into account when planning wages and employment costs.
What will change from 1 January 2027?
From the start of 2027, the following amounts will apply:
- 4,950 zł gross – the minimum wage,
- 32.30 zł gross – the minimum hourly rate for certain contracts for specific tasks and contracts for the provision of services.
Compared with 2026, the national minimum wage will rise by 144 zł gross, or 3 per cent, and the minimum hourly rate by 0.90 zł; according to government estimates, the change will affect around 1.58 million people.
What does this change mean for employers?
The new rates must be taken into account in salaries from 1 January 2027.
In practice, it is worth checking the following before the end of the year:
- Salaries of employees on the minimum wage,
- Rates applied to contracts for specific tasks and service contracts,
- The 2027 pay budget,
- Employment costs associated with the increase in the minimum wage.
It is also worth bearing in mind that the level of the minimum wage affects certain other benefits and entitlements related to the employment relationship, including the amount of the night work allowance.
And what does this mean for the employee?
- If an employee’s pay is set at the minimum wage level, it should be adjusted to the new amount from 1 January 2027,
- whilst in the case of individuals working under specific civil-law contracts, it is necessary to check whether the hourly rate applied meets the new minimum.
However, 4,950 PLN gross does not equate to 4,950 PLN ‘take-home pay’. The net amount depends, amongst other things, on the type of contract, social security contributions, tax and the employee’s individual circumstances.
To sum up: what should you do before the end of 2026?
Employer: check salaries and hourly rates and take the new figures into account when planning employment costs for 2027.
Employee: check whether, from 1 January 2027, your salary will meet the new minimum wage or minimum hourly rate.
Who sets the minimum wage?
The levels of the minimum wage and the minimum hourly rate were finally set by the Council of Ministers after the workers’ and employers’ representatives failed to reach a common position within the Social Dialogue Council.
The regulation on this matter was issued on 14 September 2026 and published in the Journal of Laws on 15 September 2026.
Did you know that…?
In 2027, the minimum wage will be 3,200 zł higher than it was 10 years earlier.
Over the last 10 years, the minimum wage has risen from 1,750 zł in 2015 to 4,950 zł in 2027.
Particularly significant changes took place in 2023–2024, when the minimum wage was raised twice in the course of a single year. This change resulted from a mechanism provided for in the legislation. If the consumer price index forecast for the following year is at least 105 per cent, the minimum wage is set on two dates: from 1 January and from 1 July.
Legal basis
Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 14 September 2026 on the minimum wage and the minimum hourly rate for 2027.
The legal basis is Article 2(5) of the Act of 10 October 2002 on the minimum wage.