Temporary work: 18 months at one company within 36 — how to count the limit

Have you been working at the same company through a temporary work agency for many months? The law limits this time: no more than 18 months in total within 36 consecutive months. The limit applies both to the agency that assigns you and to the company where you work. It is worth knowing how to count it — before exceeding it surprises you or your employer.

Who the limit applies to

Temporary work involves three parties:

• the temporary work agency (agencja pracy tymczasowej) — employs you and pays your wages,
• the user employer (pracodawca użytkownik) — the company where you actually work and which assigns your tasks,
• you — the temporary worker (pracownik tymczasowy).

Art. 20 of the Act on the employment of temporary workers provides that:

1. the agency may assign you to one user employer for a period not exceeding 18 months in total within 36 consecutive months,
2. the user employer may use your work for the same maximum period.

The limit covers work under both an employment contract (umowa o pracę) and a civil-law contract (e.g. umowa zlecenia — a contract of mandate), if you were assigned by a temporary work agency.

How to count 18 months in 36

The limit is counted in total — breaks do not reset it. If you worked at company X through an agency for 10 months, then had a break, and later came back for 8 months, you have already used the whole 18-month limit within the 36-month period.

The 36-month period means 36 consecutive months — each time you check how long in total you have worked for the given company during the last 36 months.

Important: the law also ties the limit to the user employer. Moving to a different agency does not give you a new 18 months at the same company — the company can still use your temporary work for only 18 months in total within 36.

Exception: replacing an absent employee

You can work longer if you continuously replace an absent employee of that company (e.g. a person on long sick leave or parental leave). The limit is then up to 36 months. After such a period, the same agency may not assign you to the same company, and the company may not take you on as a temporary worker, for the next 36 months.

The limits also do not apply when the contract of a pregnant temporary worker is extended until the day of childbirth (Art. 177 § 3 of the Labour Code).

Penalties for exceeding the limit

Exceeding the limit is a petty offence. A fine of PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000 may be imposed on:

• a person acting on behalf of the agency that assigns a worker beyond the limit (Art. 27a),
• a person acting on behalf of the user employer that uses the work beyond the limit (Art. 27b).

The request for a penalty is filed by a labour inspector of the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP).

Other temporary work rules worth knowing

• The agency employs temporary workers under a fixed-term employment contract. The general Labour Code limit of 33 months and three fixed-term contracts does not apply here.
• The contract may provide for shorter notice: 3 days (contract of up to 2 weeks) or 1 week (contract longer than 2 weeks).
• You may not be treated less favourably than the company’s employees in the same or a similar position — as regards working conditions and other terms of employment.
• You are entitled to leave: 2 days for each month of being at the disposal of a user employer.

What this means for you

If you are a temporary worker:

• Write down the start and end dates of your work at each company — they will be useful when the limit needs to be counted.
• When you get close to 18 months, ask the agency what comes next: an assignment to another company or being hired directly by the company where you work (then no longer as a temporary worker).
• If you are a foreigner, any change of the entity you work for may require checking your work permit (zezwolenie na pracę) or declaration (oświadczenie) — do this before the change, at the agency or at the office.

If you are a user employer:

• Keep your own record of the working periods of each temporary worker — you are responsible for the limit regardless of the agency, also when the worker has changed agencies.
• In the case of a replacement, state in your arrangements with the agency whom the worker is replacing — this is the basis for the longer, 36-month period.
• If you want to keep a proven worker for longer, plan to hire them directly in advance.

Legal basis: Act of 9 July 2003 on the employment of temporary workers (ustawa o zatrudnianiu pracowników tymczasowych, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 236), Art. 2, 7, 13(2), 15, 17(1), 20, 21, 27a, 27b, 28. Legal status as of 29 September 2026.