PIP checks minimum pay — how to report underpayment

The Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy (PIP – National Labour Inspectorate) checks every year whether employers pay at least the minimum wage and the minimum hourly rate. In an announcement of 18 September 2026 the inspectorate published its results for 2025: over 3,200 inspections, irregularities in calculating the minimum hourly rate and a total of over PLN 8.4 million in underpayments affecting almost 4,000 people. PIP also reminds that underpaying is an offence punishable by a fine of up to PLN 60,000.

Where underpayments come from

Most often the problem lies in umowa zlecenie (civil contracts) settled as a lump sum — a fixed amount per month with no count of hours. When there are more hours than planned, the hourly rate falls below the minimum. The second typical case is incorrect pay components: the employer adds the night-work, overtime or seniority allowance to the minimum wage, even though the law expressly excludes them from that amount.

In 2026 the minimum wage is PLN 4,806 gross per month and the hourly rate is PLN 31.40 gross. From 1 January 2027 it will be PLN 4,950 and PLN 32.30 gross.

How to check whether you are paid what you are owed

1. Identify your contract type. For a full-time umowa o pracę (employment contract), compare the gross amount on your payslip with the monthly minimum wage. For a civil contract, divide the gross monthly amount by the number of hours worked.
2. Subtract the components that do not count towards the minimum: night-work allowance, overtime pay, seniority allowance, allowance for special working conditions, jubilee award, retirement or disability severance pay.
3. Count your hours. For a civil contract, the contract should state how the number of hours is confirmed. If it does not, you submit a statement of hours to the client yourself before payday. Keep a copy.
4. Check the payment dates. For a civil contract longer than one month, pay in the amount resulting from the minimum rate is due at least once a month and only in money.

If the result is below the minimum, you have the right to a top-up — regardless of what the contract says. Waiving this right is invalid.

How to file a complaint with PIP

You file the complaint with the okręgowy inspektorat pracy (district labour inspectorate) competent for the employer’s registered office. You can do this:

• in person — orally for the record or on a form at the inspectorate,
• by post — the original with a handwritten signature,
• by e-mail — the complaint file must be signed electronically (qualified, trusted or personal signature),
• via e-Doręczenia (the official electronic delivery service).

The complaint must include your name and surname, address, the employer’s name and address, and your signature. PIP considers anonymous complaints only in exceptional cases — in practice they usually remain unexamined. The inspector does not reveal to the employer that the inspection results from a complaint, unless you give written consent. Complaints are handled no later than one month after receipt.

Before filing a complaint, you can consult the matter free of charge by phone with a PIP lawyer — the inspectorate provides legal advice for employees and employers.

What the employer risks

• Failing to pay an employee the minimum wage (employment contract) — an offence under Article 282 § 1 point 1 of the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy), a fine of PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000.
• Paying a contractor below the minimum hourly rate — an offence under Article 8e of the Act on the minimum wage, a fine of PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000.

The fine does not replace the top-up: the employer must still pay the missing amount.

What this means for you

If you are an employee or a contractor:

• Record your hours every day — this is your main evidence under a civil contract.
• Keep contracts, annexes, payslips and transfer confirmations.
• If you are a foreigner: you can file a complaint with PIP in the same way as a Polish citizen. If you need help writing it in Polish, write to us.
• Underpayment over several months usually adds up to several thousand złoty — it is worth calculating before you decide what to do next.

If you are an employer:

• Before every payment under a civil contract, recalculate the hourly rate using the actual number of hours, not the plan.
• Include in the civil contract the method of confirming hours and keep the records for 3 years from the day the remuneration became due.
• Do not “top up” the minimum wage with night, seniority or overtime allowances — the inspector will challenge it.
• If you use temporary workers on civil contracts, you keep the record of their hours as the pracodawca użytkownik (user employer).

A PIP inspection most often starts with a complaint from one person. Properly counted hours and orderly documents protect both sides: the worker from loss, and the employer from a fine and a back payment.

Basis: PIP announcement “Inspekcja pilnuje minimalnych wypłat” of 18 September 2026; PIP guide “Jak złożyć skargę?” (How to file a complaint); Act of 10 October 2002 on the minimum wage (consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1773), Articles 6–8f; Article 282 § 1 point 1 of the Labour Code; Regulations of the Council of Ministers: Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242 and Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1213. Legal status as of 22 September 2026.