Employment cost pressure - the latest data from July 2026
The latest survey by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) leaves no room for illusions - Polish businesses are facing growing cost pressure, and employment costs have reached the top of the list of barriers to doing business. In July 2026, as many as 66% of companies pointed to them, up from 64% a month earlier. The upward trend is clear and there are no signs of it reversing.
The next positions on the list of barriers are economic uncertainty (almost 60% of responses), rising energy prices and staff shortages - the latter two being a concern for around half of the surveyed companies. Payment backlogs affect slightly fewer than half of firms, while financing costs and product unavailability are a problem for 27% and 22% of businesses respectively.
What is important from a legal perspective is that, compared with the previous month, the frequency of responses rose for all barriers to business at the same time. This means that business owners need to take a comprehensive approach to managing legal and financial risk, rather than merely reacting to individual problems.
Differences between sectors - who feels the pressure most?
The PIE data reveals significant differences between individual sectors of the economy. The situation is particularly difficult for companies in the TSL sector (transport, forwarding, logistics), which more often than other sectors point to as many as five of the seven barriers to doing business surveyed. For employment costs, the share of TSL companies complaining reaches 73%, and as many as 71% of businesses in this sector feel economic uncertainty.
Construction companies struggle above all with staff shortages - as many as 69% of construction firms report this problem. This translates directly into project delays, contractual penalties and disputes with investors. Manufacturing companies, in turn, feel rising energy prices most acutely - 65% of businesses in this sector point to them.
The sector-specific nature of these barriers means that every company needs an individually tailored legal strategy that takes account of the specifics of its sector. Solutions that work in logistics may be entirely unsuitable for a construction company or a manufacturer.
Legal tools for optimising employment costs
Rising employment costs do not mean that a business owner is helpless. Polish employment law and tax regulations offer a number of lawful instruments for rationalising staff-related spending. The key, however, is to implement them correctly, so as not to be exposed to allegations of circumventing the law or to sanctions from the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) or the tax authorities.
The most important legal tools available to business owners include:
- Optimising the employment structure - analysing whether all positions require an employment contract, or whether some tasks can be carried out under civil-law contracts or in a B2B model, while remaining compliant with the rules on false self-employment.
- Flexible forms of work organisation - introducing remote working, hybrid working, task-based working time or flexible working time schedules, which helps reduce overtime and office infrastructure costs.
- Auditing internal regulations - reviewing work rules, remuneration rules and collective labour agreements with a view to eliminating inefficient pay components and non-pay benefits.
- Using available reliefs and subsidies - including reliefs for employing people with disabilities, subsidies from labour offices and EU programmes.
- Restructuring employment - in crisis situations, carrying out collective redundancy or individual dismissal procedures in compliance with the requirements of the act on special rules for terminating employment relationships.
Each of these solutions must be precisely adapted to the realities of the specific company. Improper use of, for example, B2B contracts where there is in fact an employment relationship may result in the recharacterisation of the contract by a court and an obligation to pay arrears of contributions to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) together with interest.
Payment backlogs and economic uncertainty - how to protect your company legally
Alongside employment costs, payment backlogs remain a serious threat to the stability of businesses, and almost half of the surveyed companies complain about them. Since 2020, the Polish legal system has had in place the act on counteracting excessive delays in commercial transactions, which gives creditors specific tools of protection.
A business owner affected by payment backlogs should first of all ensure the proper protection of commercial contracts. The key elements are precisely defined payment terms, a reservation of statutory interest for late payment in commercial transactions, clauses on compensation for debt recovery costs (currently the equivalent of EUR 40, 70 or 100, depending on the value of the performance), and security over assets and personal security, such as bank guarantees, sureties or a registered pledge.
In the context of economic uncertainty, the rebus sic stantibus clause (Article 357¹ of the Civil Code) also takes on particular importance, allowing a court to modify an obligation in the event of an extraordinary change in circumstances. It is also worth considering including indexation clauses and automatic price adjustment mechanisms in contracts, especially in long-term contracts.
Why it pays to act proactively - the legal perspective
The data from the Polish Economic Institute clearly indicates that cost pressure on Polish companies will persist and will probably even increase. In such conditions, a reactive approach to legal problems - that is, seeking help only at the moment of crisis - is much more expensive than legal prevention.
A regular legal audit of the business makes it possible to identify risks before they turn into court disputes, inspections by state authorities or financial losses. It covers the verification of contracts with employees and counterparties, compliance with employment law and personal data protection rules (GDPR), as well as tax optimisation within the limits of the law.
Companies that invest in professional legal advice gain not only security but also a competitive advantage. A well-drafted contract, a properly conducted restructuring or an effectively implemented compliance policy can mean the difference between survival and insolvency under growing cost pressure.
Do not wait until rising employment costs, payment backlogs or economic uncertainty put your company at risk. Contact our firm today - together we will analyse the legal situation of your business and propose specific solutions tailored to the specifics of your sector. An initial consultation will help identify the areas that require immediate action and plan a long-term strategy to protect your business.
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