Hiring a Barber from Ukraine: Documents & Training

Tuesday morning. Denys walks into your barbershop — a barber with six years of experience from Kyiv. His portfolio is impressive; he does a better fade than half your crew. Just one question: what do you need to have on paper before you sit him down at the chair? And can he even legally work for you at all?

This is not a theoretical problem. Barbers from Ukraine increasingly work in Polish barbershops — and many owners handle it on a hunch, without full documentation. Yet a single missing document can cost you a fine higher than a year's earnings from that chair.

Legalising residence and work — where to start

Before we even talk about health-and-safety and hygiene, there has to be a foundation: legal residence and legal employment. These are two different things and both have to be in place.

• Ukrainian nationals under the special act — if they arrived after 24 February 2022 and hold UKR status, they may work without a permit. The condition: the employer must notify the district labour office (powiatowy urząd pracy) that work has been entrusted within 7 days (via praca.gov.pl).
• Declaration of entrustment of work — for nationals of Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Armenia. The employer enters it in the register at the district labour office (PUP). It allows work for up to 24 months.
• Type A work permit — when the employee does not qualify for the simplified routes. It is issued by the voivode (regional governor) and the procedure takes longer.

The key: do not start work "on a trial basis" without the paperwork. Even a single day of work without a legal basis counts as illegal employment — and the penalties run from PLN 1,000 up to as much as PLN 30,000.

The contract — which type and what it must contain

A barber can be on an employment contract, a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenie), or self-employed (B2B). The choice affects your obligations, but health-and-safety documentation is always required whenever someone works in your premises under your supervision.

Arrangement	Who is responsible for health & safety	Sanitary training
Employment contract	The employer, fully	Mandatory, paid by the employer
Contract of mandate (zlecenie)	The employer (if work is on the premises)	Recommended; in practice required by Sanepid (the sanitary inspectorate)
B2B (booth rental)	The barber, for themselves	Required, but they arrange it themselves

You will find more about the chair-rental model in our post on booth rental — chair rental and liability.

Health-and-safety training — when and in which language

A new employee cannot be allowed to start work without initial health-and-safety training. This is not a recommendation — it is an obligation under the Labour Code.

• Initial training — before being allowed to work (general induction plus job-specific instruction).
• Periodic training — for manual roles, usually every 3 years.
• A language the employee understands — this is crucial. Training in Polish for someone who barely speaks Polish is a fiction. An inspector from the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy) can challenge it.

If Denys barely speaks Polish, the training and instructions must be in a language he understands — or with a translation. A signature under a document the employee does not understand is a signature without value.

Sanitary documentation for a new barber

A barber works with blades and clippers, has contact with the client's skin and with blood in the event of cuts. Sanepid looks at hygiene in exactly the same way, regardless of the employee's nationality.

• A certificate of completed training in hygiene and disinfection.
• Knowledge of the procedure for sterilising and disinfecting tools (autoclave, solutions, single-use items).
• Instructions on what to do if a client is cut or the barber cuts themselves.
• A health card / medical certificate confirming no contraindications to work (occupational health checks).

This whole set should be ready on the day the new hire sits down at the chair — not "we'll sort it out later". We describe the induction process in detail in onboarding a barber in 7 days.

Occupational health checks and the medical certificate

Before a barber sits down at the chair, a medical certificate confirming no contraindications to work is required. This is a standard part of employment, asked about both by the National Labour Inspectorate and — indirectly — by Sanepid when it assesses staff hygiene.

• Referral for examination — issued by the employer, describing the role and the hazards (work with sharp tools, contact with the client's skin).
• Examination by an occupational health physician — ends with a certificate you keep in the employee's file.
• Validity — the certificate has an expiry date; keep an eye on the re-examination date so the employee is not working "on an expired one".

For a foreign national the process is the same as for a Polish citizen. The barrier is often the language — it helps if they go to the examination with someone who can assist with communication, or with a translated referral.

Common mistakes when hiring a barber from abroad

Barbershop owners most often fall into the same traps:

• "He'll start tomorrow, we'll sort the papers this week" — working before legalisation is illegal employment, even if the documents are "in progress".
• Training in Polish for someone who doesn't understand it — the signature is there, the knowledge is not. In the event of an incident, you are the one who is liable.
• Failing to notify the office — with UKR status you have 7 days to report the entrustment of work. Being late is a risk.
• Treating B2B like employment — if a "self-employed" person works to your schedule and under your supervision, the authorities may treat it as a disguised employment relationship.

GDPR — the data of an employee from abroad

By employing a foreign national you process their data: passport, PESEL (national ID number), address, details for social security (ZUS). This is personal data and it is subject to GDPR (in Polish, RODO).

• Collect only the data necessary for employment — do not copy things "just in case".
• Keep a copy of the passport only when a regulation requires it, and in a secure place.
• Inform the employee how you process their data (a privacy notice — ideally in their language).

Frequently asked questions

Can a barber from Ukraine start work straight away, "on a trial basis"?

No. They must have a legal basis for residence and work and complete initial health-and-safety training before being allowed to start. Even a single day of work without this is illegal employment, with the risk of a fine.

In which language must health-and-safety and sanitary training be delivered?

In a language the employee understands. If they barely speak Polish, the training and instructions must be translated or delivered with an interpreter. A signature under a document that is not understood does not protect the employer.

With a B2B contract (chair rental), do I have to give the barber health-and-safety training?

Formally, the entrepreneur is then responsible for their own health and safety, but when they work in your premises you still have to ensure safe conditions and consistent sanitary procedures. In practice, Sanepid holds the premises owner accountable for on-site hygiene.

How much is the penalty for illegally employing a foreign national?

The fine for the employer runs from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000, and where work is entrusted to a larger number of people without a permit it can be even higher. On top of that comes the risk of sanctions against the foreign national themselves.