Minimum wage

The minimum wage is the lowest pay an employer may give for work. For 2026 it is set at a single level for the whole year — with no split into two half-years, as happened in some earlier years. Both a monthly value and a separate minimum hourly rate apply.

A single value for all of 2026 — no half-year split

For 2026 the minimum monthly wage is 4 806,00 zł gross and applies from 1 January to the end of the year. That is a real change of rhythm from years when the minimum wage rose mid-year: for 2026 there is one amount, with no second threshold from July. The 2026 pay regulation has one provision for the monthly amount and one for the hourly rate — and nothing in between.

For planning that means a simpler situation: the amount does not change during the year, so pay need not be recalculated afresh in July. This page and its accompanying illustration deliberately show one level rather than a two-step schedule, precisely because there is no second threshold in 2026.

The minimum hourly rate and mandate contracts

Alongside the monthly amount, a minimum hourly rate of 31,40 zł gross applies. It concerns mainly mandate contracts and contracts for services, where pay is settled by the hour rather than as a full-time post. It is the same figure for all of 2026 — again with no half-year split.

The hourly rate is tied to the minimum wage and rises with it. In the mandate calculator, the amount you enter is the income of a given payment — the minimum hourly rate is the backdrop that sets the floor for pay per hour worked, not a direct input to the net calculation.

The amounts on this page come from a primary source (the Journal of Laws), but nobody has signed them off.

The same minimum wage also sets the upper cap on statutory severance pay on dismissal for reasons unrelated to the employee — the cap is a multiple of the minimum wage, not a standalone figure.

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