Live and Work in Poznań The Capital of Wielkopolska in a Nutshell Live and Work in Poznań The Capital of Wielkopolska in a Nutshell 1 Basic Information about Poland Poland is a medium-sized country situated in the very centre of Europe. With an area of 312,683 km2, it occupies the ninth position among European states. The country is limited by the waters of the Baltic Sea from the north and by the mountain range of Karpaty and Sudety from the south. The majority of the territory of Poland is situated within the basin of the Vistula River and the Odra River. • Population: 38,437,239 (2016) • Capital: Warsaw • Official language: Polish • Neighbouring countries: Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia (the Kaliningrad Oblast) • Membership: European Union, NATO, OECD, WTO, Schengen Area • Climate: moderate, of a transitional character between oceanic and continental climate • Political system: parliamentary democracy; the executive power over the country is exercised by the President of the Republic of Poland and the Council of Ministers • Time zone: CET (UTC + 01:00) • Currency: Złoty (PLN) • Important telephone numbers: European Emergency Number – 112, the Police – 997, Fire Service – 998, Ambulance Service – 999 • Holidays: 01.01 – New Year’s Day 06.01 – Epiphany the first day of Easter (i.e. Easter Sunday – a movable holiday) the second day of Easter (i.e. Easter Monday – a movable holiday) 01.05 – Labour Day 03.05 – Constitution Day (the anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May) the first day of Pentecost (a movable holiday) Corpus Christi (a movable holiday) 15.08 – Assumption Day (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) 01.11 – All Saints Day 11.11 – National Independence Day 25.12 – the first day of Christmas 26.12 – the second day of Christmas • Most popular foreign languages among the citizens: English, German, Russian, French, Italian and Spanish 2 • Documents indispensable for travelling: w European Union citizens – an identity document that confirms one’s citizenship of an EU Member State w Citizen of other countries – depending on the purpose of their stay, foreigners may stay in Poland based on one of the following documents: – a valid passport, the validity of which exceeds the planned date of departure from Poland by at least three (3) months; – a residence visa; – a temporary residence permit; – a permanent residence permit. w Citizens of countries with which the Republic of Poland has signed bilateral agreements on the abolition of the visa requirement will need only their passports to cross the Polish border. 3 Registration of an EU Citizen’s Stay EU citizens who stay within the area of the Republic of Poland through a period longer than three (3) months are obliged to register their stay; on the other hand, members of their families, who are not EU citizens, are obliged to obtain a residence card of an EU citizen’s family member. In order to register your stay within the area of the Republic of Poland or to obtain the residence card, you have to submit an application to the voivodeship office competent for the EU citizen’s place of stay. All information concerning necessary documents and attachments can be found at: www.poznan.uw.gov.pl/informacje-ogolne. WORK PERMITS Citizens of the European Union, Island, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland do not need a work permit if they want to work in Poland – but if they want to work for more than 90 days – they must have a temporary resident permit. Citizens from non-EU countries must receive a work permit if they intend to work in Poland the application for a work permit has to be made by the employer. All the information about work permits are available in Wielkopolska Voivodship Office in Poznań. www.poznan.uw.gov.pl/en 4 Money EMPLOYMENT COSTS IN POLAND The employment costs incurred by an employer in Poland consist of three kinds of benefits: • an employee’s gross remuneration, including the pension, disability and sickness insurance contributions paid by the employee, as well as the personal income tax, • compulsory pension, disability and sickness insurance contributions paid by the employer, • other costs, including the ones arising from the employer’s duties within the scope of provision of occupational health and safety, medical examination and possible training for the employees. Type of contribution Employee Employer Notes Pension insurance 9.76% 9.76% - Disability insurance 1.50% 6.50% - Sickness insurance 2.45% - - Labour Fund - 2.45% - Accident insurance - 0.40% – 3.60% Depending on the industry that the enterprise operates in, this amount ranges from 0.40% to 3.60%. Here we assume the amount of 1.2%. Guaranteed Employee - 0.10% - Benefits Fund TOTAL: 13.71% 20.01% - Health insurance 9.00% - - State Fund for the - PLN 0-106,18 The amount (herein per person per Rehabilitation of the Disabled month) depends on the number (PFRON) of the Disabled employees in the total renumeration and the average salary. Useful links: Regulations concerning employment and work in Poland: www.migrant.info.pl/Work_in_Poland.html A calculator of contributions to the Social Insurance Fund (ZUS): www.infor.pl/kalkulatory/skladki_zus.html A calculator of remunerations: www.infor.pl/kalkulatory/wynagrodzenia.html Calculation of net salary: www.liczyc.pl/obliczenie/pensji-netto/ TAXES The current rates of VAT for goods and services are 23%, 8% and 5%. There are some shops that offer tax free shopping. Persons who spend an amount exceeding PLN 300 for shopping and fill in appropriate forms, may apply for a tax refund while crossing the Polish border (except for EU citizens). 5 photo: Robert Korybut 6 Poznań – Where Is It? A few simple facts that will make you want to live in Poznań. Benefit from its assets: • it is one of the largest cities in Poland; • its location is attractive: in the middle of the distance between Berlin and Warsaw; • for years, the level of unemployment here has been among the lowest in the country; • it is an eco-friendly city; • it offers a wide range of events related to sport and culture. Transport Poznań is an important transport centre, the importance of which extends to other regions and countries. Availability of motorways: • A2 Warsaw - Berlin. 17 km stretch in Poznań serves as that city’s bypass. map by Artur Kabat 7 Public transport in the city is provided by a network of public roads, cycle paths, about 20 tram lines and about 50 bus lines. Moving around the city is facilitated in the first place by the route of the Poznań Fast Tram (PST) that connects the outer parts of the city. www.mpk.poznan.pl/ rozklad-jazdy PUBLIC TRANSPORT Daytime municipal transport service is provided from 5 AM to 11 PM. The same tickets are valid both in trams and buses. In Poznań, you can buy single tickets (including time-limit tickets and single-ride tickets), as well as short-term, long-term and semester tickets. www.poznan.jakdo- There are six time limits tickets available. The time-limit ticket is valid in both jade.pl trams and buses and entitles its holder to change the line during the ride. Detailed information concerning the tickets can be found inside the vehicles, as well as at tram and bus stops and at: www.ztm.poznan.pl. If you use municipal transport on a regular basis and wish to have one long- term ticket that would entitle you to use all lines of municipal transport in Poznań, you can buy the PEKA municipal transport card. Further information about the card can be found at: www.peka.poznan.pl. 8 photo: Trigranit BICYCLES A popular transport solution is Poznań City Bike, which offers 87 locations across Poznań. Using the bicycles for up to 20 minutes is free and the fee for the time between 20 and 60 minutes amounts to PLN 2. To be able to use the bikes you must register online first. More details: www.poznanskirower.pl. TAXI Poznań offers a wide range of taxi services. Several dozen taxi corporations operate here along non-member taxi drivers. Telephone numbers of selected taxi corporations: M1 Taxi T: +48 61 8 222 222 Radio Taxi T: +48 61 196 22 Hallo Taxi T: +48 605 216 216 RMI Radio-Taxi T: +48 61 8 219 219 Radio Taxi Stop Poznań T: +48 61 8 222 333 Multi Taxi Poznań T: +48 61 8 322 221 Euro Taxi T: +48 61 8 111 111 Poznańskie Stowarzyszenie Taksówkarzy T: +48 61 8 519 519 (The Association of Taxi Drivers of Poznań) TRAINS (PKP) AND BUSSES (PKS) Transport links to and from Poznań are also provided by Dworzec Poznań Główny (Poznań Main Station), which combines PKP railway station and PKS bus station, from where both domestic and international transport services are provided. AIRPORT International transport is also facilitated by regular air links provided by Port Lotniczy Poznań–Ławica (Poznań Airport). The airport in Poznań provides flights to the largest hubs, including Munich, Frankfurt and Copenhagen. Further information available at: www.airport-poznan.com.pl. 9 Healthcare in Poznań Poland offers two types of medical care, i.e. public healthcare (the National Health Fund – NFZ) and non-public healthcare. Foreigners are offered the possibility to use the public (state-owned) healthcare system, provided that they are eligible for health insurance. Further information about the access to health benefits can be found at: www.nfz.gov.pl. There are about 550 facilities that provide outpatient healthcare in Poznań, based on contracts signed with the National Health Fund (NFZ). Hospitals Wielkopolskie Centrum Pulmonologii i Torakochirurgii im. Eugenii i Janusza Zeylandów (Wielkopolska Center of Pulmonology and Thoracosurgery) ul.