A 38-year-old resident of Lviv Oblast, Hanna K., has been earning a living through seasonal work in neighboring Poland for the last ten years. Twice a year, for three months at a time, she goes to the Masovian Voivodeship to help a Polish farmer with apple picking and processing. Hanna planned her next trip in June, but plans for a trip after that – in October – seem to be falling through.
Since 2007, Poland has gradually simplified the procedure for registering labor migrants from former Soviet Union countries to "patch" the shortage of workers in labor-intensive sectors of the economy: construction, services, and agriculture. Currently, Ukrainians, as well as Georgians, Armenians, Belarusians, Russians, and Moldovans can work in Poland without a work permit for six months – for this, a declaration from a Polish employer to the labor office of intent to entrust work to a foreigner is sufficient. However, from October this year, the EU requires even seasonal workers to be employed exclusively on the basis of a work permit.
"I am completely satisfied with how everything is organized now," says DW's interlocutor Hanna. "I can get an invitation from my boss in one day. I open a national visa for a year and calmly, legally go to earn."
However, despite the fact that in October the requirements of labor legislation in Poland will change, the woman does not intend to give up the trip: "I am going, I still have a visa, and what status I will have – I am not particularly interested. That is mostly in the sphere of the employer's responsibility. I have nothing to lose, because here in Ukraine I will not earn such money," explains the migrant worker. Hanna does not hide that the work is not easy, she has to do heavy work for 10-15 hours a day, but the monetary reward levels everything. According to her, a month of work on a Polish farm can earn up to 500 euros, which is ten times more than what can be earned in her native village. And about five times more than the average monthly salary in Lviv Oblast, which, according to the State Statistics Service, is 3.8 thousand hryvnias.
The fall of the hryvnia exchange rate, economic instability, and mass unemployment, especially among young people, are the main reasons for the constant increase in the number of people wanting to earn extra money in Poland, comments Tatiana Budova, manager of the recruitment agency Praca Polska, in an interview with DW. "Every day we consult up to fifty people wanting to go to work in Poland. We are focused exclusively on this country because it is close and legal. Besides, it is a good alternative – especially for residents of the provinces where unemployment is rampant," says Budova.
Hanna confirms these words. She says that in her village, every third house has seasonal migrant workers. "Every month there are more and more people wanting to work in Poland. Mostly women, and if the farmer is good, they return to him. I am lucky – I have a humane boss and good accommodation," explains Hanna in conversation with the journalist.
The woman also says that when Poland requires permits from all migrant workers, things will become many times more complicated for them. "I know from my own experience because my husband worked on a permit for one year, he waited for the documents for a month. And that is despite the fact that now we can get an invitation from an employer in one day." Also, says Hanna, the permit costs up to 50 zlotys per person, it must be certified at the voivodeship office, and Polish employers are used to saving money, the woman says. However, on the other hand, Polish farmers will not be able to manage without "Ukrainian hands," she added.
According to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy of Poland, among all seasonal workers, 90 percent are Ukrainians. In 2015 alone, 763 thousand declarations of intent to entrust work to a foreigner were issued for Ukrainians, and 50 thousand work permits. This is approximately twice as many declarations and permits as in 2014.
The agency Praca Polska works with both seasonal migrant workers and long-term workers. Tatiana Budova confirms that there are significantly more people wanting to work seasonally, and even those who plan to go for the first time, without knowing the language, apply. However, the agency representative is convinced that Ukrainians will not give up earnings even if the employment rules in Poland change. "Most likely, everything will go 'into the shadows,' the Polish labor market will become illegal, Ukrainians will look for various ways to leave and will still go, and Poles will hire them because they cannot do without workers at construction sites and farms," explains manager Budova. But another option is possible, she says: if Poland takes care of significantly simplifying and cheapening the procedure for obtaining permits for employers.
The new procedure will indeed complicate Ukrainians' departure to work in Poland, agrees Alexandra Slobodyan, an expert on labor migration at the analytical center CEDOS. But at the same time, it will also protect our migrant workers, the expert adds. "I think the new EU directive has more positive features because it guarantees protection for Ukrainians, which is currently very lacking for people who come for hard physical labor in neighboring Poland. Cases of fraud are not lacking. And a contract with an employer and a work permit are insurance, guarantees of normal living conditions," says Slobodyan.
Moreover, with a work permit, the migrant worker gets the right to change employers once if they are not satisfied with the proposed conditions. Currently, Ukrainians are deprived of such an opportunity, the expert explains. And she adds that when changing employers, a seasonal worker automatically becomes an illegal employee.
In addition, Slobodyan emphasizes that according to border service statistics, only 250 thousand Ukrainians entered Poland with work documents. "As we see, only a third of Ukrainians actually used the employment invitations, despite 763 thousand documents being issued. Therefore, Poles should be prepared to issue approximately that number of permits. Two-thirds is over-insurance by employers and business intermediaries," says the expert from the analytical center. But even a quarter million contracts is a considerable number, she added. Therefore, so as not to risk their own business, Polish employers will be forced to take care of seasonal workers in advance, concludes Alexandra Slobodyan.