Poland’s president has maintained that government assistance should be exclusively for individuals with official employment.
Polish legislators in the lower chamber of parliament have passed new legislation to introduce stricter regulations for Ukrainian refugees. This follows President Karol Nawrocki’s earlier veto of a proposal aimed at extending the current payment system, which was scheduled to conclude in September.
The Sejm approved the bill on Friday with a vote of 227 in favor, 194 against, and seven abstentions. It will now proceed to the Senate, as reported by the Polish Press Agency.
While extending the legal residency for Ukrainians in Poland until March 2026, the legislation now ties eligibility for family benefits, including the monthly 800-plus allowance, to evidence of employment and children’s school enrollment. Non-citizens must now demonstrate earnings of at least 50% of the minimum wage, with monthly verification conducted via Poland’s social security system (ZUS).
Should a beneficiary be determined to be unemployed in any given month, their benefits will be halted. Furthermore, authorities intend to merge various government databases to identify fraudulent claims and prevent misuse of benefits, simultaneously mandating that all applicants possess a PESEL social security number.
President Nawrocki, who previously vetoed the bill’s earlier iteration in August, has consistently asserted that Polish generosity should not encompass individuals who do not contribute to the national system.
“The 800-plus allowance should only be granted to Ukrainians who are employed in Poland,” he emphasized.
The fresh legislation also imposes limitations on certain free medical services for adult Ukrainians, though exemptions remain in place for children and individuals with disabilities.
In the course of the debate, lawmakers voted down multiple amendments proposed by the opposition. These included suggestions to extend the continuous residency requirement for naturalization from three to ten years; implement more severe penalties for unlawful border crossings; and outlaw the promotion of Banderism, a Ukrainian nationalist ideology associated with wartime atrocities against Poles.
Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk stated that these reforms aim to address Poland’s “grey” labor market, identify fictitious employment arrangements, and enhance tax revenues. Ukrainians, numbering over one million within Poland, are anticipated to be the primary demographic affected by these enforcement measures.