Apparent legality of employment - how companies unknowingly expose themselves to serious consequences

Companies that want to operate legally, paying full rates, social security contributions, and VAT, still compete with entities circumventing regulations. We explain why an invoice from an "external company" alone does not guarantee employment legality and how companies can protect themselves.

For many years we have been operating in the employment industry and one thing continues to concern us. Companies that want to operate legally, paying full rates, full social security contributions, full VAT and caring about worker safety often compete with entities that build their advantage on circumventing regulations.

What is most worrying is that even factories that pay a high rate for the service and whose managers are convinced that everything is being done in compliance with the law are exposed to serious consequences. Simply receiving an invoice from an "external company" does not mean that contributions, taxes or employee documents are being maintained properly.

Apparent legality - how it looks in practice

The market still features entities that, instead of going through the demanding procedures related to employment legalization and obtaining appropriate permits, use various constructions designed solely to create an appearance of legality. In practice, there are cases of people who are actually employees but formally appear as:

• shareholders of companies created solely to avoid full contribution burdens,
• missionaries (a particularly popular solution for certain nationalities),
• interns performing normal work in fact,
• people conducting business activities solely on paper, using preferential social security contributions despite working under conditions characteristic of an employment relationship or service contract.

"These are not our employees" is no longer enough

It is worth remembering that for some time now, companies using such services can no longer hide behind the argument: "these are not our employees, it is an external company". Control authorities are increasingly examining the actual nature of cooperation, and liability for violations can be joint and several. It happens that companies that have already paid social security contributions as a result of dishonesty by an employment agency that did not transfer them must pay them a second time.

How to protect yourself

That is why today it is so important not only to compare prices, but above all to verify business partners. It is always worth checking whether a given entity is registered in KRAZ (National Register of Employment Agencies), asking for confirmation of social security contribution payments and residence documents and documents related to the work of people staying at the facility - even for inspection.

Responsible cooperation with an employment agency is not only a matter of price, but above all the legal and financial security of the company. It is worth spending time verifying a business partner before the consequences of its dishonesty fall on the client.