According to the latest data, there are one million citizens living in Poland who need special care. Another 2 million families use domestic staff. The market for domestic staff vacancies continues to grow and women from Russia and other CIS countries are especially willing to get such positions. Working as a housekeeper or nurse in Poland allows people without higher education to receive decent wages.
The main responsibilities of housekeepers and caregivers
In recent years, there has been a shortage of personnel in Poland - people are leaving en masse to work in Western European countries. The domestic labor market is no exception, which is why more and more Poles are hiring foreigners.
The scope of duties and wages are determined individually. Some employers prefer to hire several people for different jobs, while others are looking for a one-stop assistant.
The standard list of duties for a housekeeper in Poland with residence looks like this:
- dry and wet cleaning of rooms;
- cooking, washing dishes;
- laundry and ironing of clothes and bed linen;
- change of towels, garbage removal.
Very often, the responsibilities of domestic staff include small work in the garden or vegetable garden, looking after children or the elderly. Hosts can also instruct the housewife to pay bills, buy groceries, and solve other household problems.
The duties of a nurse directly depend on the condition of the patient, his age, and the characteristics of the treatment.
Some patients need help with housekeeping, others require constant medical monitoring of their health or special procedures.
The first option for a nurse's vacancy is similar in terms of the range of duties to the work of a housekeeper - a woman buys food for the patient, prepares food, cleans and does laundry. Nurses, in addition to household work, often perform hygiene procedures for the wards and organize their leisure - they regularly take patients for walks, read books and the press aloud.
For optimal interaction with domestic staff, the hosts try to arrange for the domestic worker or caregiver to live in the home where she performs her duties. Housing in 90% of cases is provided to the staff free of charge, and for food you often have to pay extra or provide your own meals.
Requirements for applicants
When considering a resume, employers assess several parameters: age, work experience and special skills; some owners want to hire a nurse with a driver's license to drive the person to the hospital. Much attention is paid to the personal qualities of the applicant, therefore, before hiring, a potential home employee is interviewed.
Requirements are made for knowledge of the Polish language, at least at a conversational level.
There are vacancies that require specific knowledge, which can be obtained, for example, in nursing courses.
Let's consider the main criteria for personnel selection:
- Age. There are two types of ads - looking for young active housekeepers or middle-aged women experienced in housekeeping. There are no clear age restrictions, both a girl of 18 and a woman after 50 can find a job. The main thing is to get to an employer who will appreciate your qualities: energy, responsibility, the ability to organize the ward's leisure time or a serious attitude to medical manipulations.
- Knowledge of the language. According to the second criterion, the requirements are more stringent. All employers want the housekeeper to be able to understand them and quickly fulfill the assignment. For the vacancy of a nurse, knowledge of the Polish language is generally critical, since she must regularly communicate with the ward, monitor his condition and respond to requests in time.
- Work experience or lack thereof. On this point, everything is individual. Some owners are happy to teach the housekeeper, others do not want or cannot spend time on this. It is worth noting that social work may require specialized medical or psychological education.
- Personal qualities. Among the applicants for the position of a housekeeper or nurse, the owners are looking for hardworking, clean and conscientious people. The family lives under the same roof with the domestic staff, so the sense of tact, respect for the boundaries of personal space is appreciated. For nurses, positive qualities will be the ability to maintain a conversation, unobtrusiveness, and caring.
Salary in Poland
Looking through the vacancies of housekeepers and nurses, the applicant should pay attention not only to the amount of wages, but also to the number of hours. Many employers immediately indicate the approximate working hours in such formats: from 8 to 10 hours or 200 hours per month.
The type of employment influences the salary level of domestic staff:
- partial;
- full with days off;
- a full seven-day work week.
The housekeeper receives an average of 14 to 20 zlotys per hour (2.3 to 5.6 euros per hour). With full employment and the availability of days off per month, the employee will be able to earn from 1,760 to 3,500 zlotys (from 400 to 700 euros).
We advise you to apply for vacancies that indicate hourly employment, in this case, the employee will be able to count on compensation for overwork. It so happens that the volume of work turns out to be incommensurate with the time allotted for its execution, while the wages remain the same if hourly wages are not provided.
Nurse nurses receive more: their salaries can be up to 4 and even 6 thousand zlotys (maximum up to 1.5 thousand euros per month).
Working as a maid in Poland from an employer is not considered highly paid, but women can earn more than in a similar position in Russia or Ukraine.
We get a job as a housekeeper or nurse in Poland
Job search methods depend on whether the job seeker is in Poland or not yet. Recruiting companies offer formal employment and are ready to help with paperwork. If a person has a work permit, he can contact families directly.
Job search
Private employers use the simplest methods of personnel search - they post vacancies on ad sites, for example, olx.pl, gumtree.pl or gratka.pl. Special recruiting sites and recruiting agencies will also help you in your search. You can get a job in a cleaning company that is recruiting staff, and then continue your search.
If the applicant has already entered the territory of Poland, he can contact social services. They offer vacancies for looking after the elderly, sick people or citizens with disabilities.
Job advertisements are also posted in regular regional newspapers. It is really possible to find a job there without intermediaries.
Required documents
In order to find a job officially and not have problems with crossing the Polish border in the future, a foreign citizen must obtain a work permit. To obtain a visa, you will need an invitation (sanction) for a period of 180 days a year or a voivodeship invitation for a period of 1-2 years.
Only some categories of citizens in 2021 can go to Poland for the purpose of employment without a permit (for example, Pole Card holders), the rest will need to first find an employer and only then issue an entry document.
When the invitation from the employer is in your hands, you will be able to deal with the registration of an entry document with the right to work. How to apply for a national visa, read the article "Work visa in Poland".
An invitation to work can be obtained not only directly from the employer, but also through intermediaries. However, such services are often expensive and do not provide any guarantees.
Useful tips for employment
If the applicant decided to look for a job through an agency, then it is advisable to choose the most reliable one among the proposed options. Recruiting companies have obligations to applicants, and it is important that they are fulfilled.
The easiest way to check an agency is to communicate with the people it has employed. Ask how long they waited for the vacancy to be submitted and if it matched what the applicant wanted. If possible, review the employment records. A decent and reliable recruiting agency does not charge a potential employee for finding an employer; only a future employer pays a recruiter for finding an employee.
Since housekeepers and caregivers most often live in the family to which they provide their services, psychological comfort is also important. First of all, the applicant and the employer should communicate in an informal setting. It is worth discussing not only working moments, but also trying to assess the psychological and moral compatibility, so that work and living side by side in the same house does not turn into discomfort.
The informal communication mentioned above should not accompany the relationship between the employer and the employee after the signing of the employment contract. We advise you to keep your distance and not be too annoying.
There is an opinion that Polish families are more closed, they can react negatively to the housekeeper, who shows excessive initiative.
Domestic staff have the same rights as members of other professions. If the employee's rights are not respected, he can complain about the employer or leave him.
Finally
On the one hand, working as a housekeeper or nurse seems attractive to Russians, Ukrainians, and people from other Eastern European countries. On the other hand, one cannot but recall the shortcomings.
The positive aspects of the work include:
- Good level of salary (nurses and maids receive from 400 to 1500 euros per month). The minimum requirements for applicants allow people without special knowledge or higher education to receive such money.
- Living at the place of work (in the house of the family to which the housekeeper provides services) allows you to comfortably solve the housing issue and significantly save on rent.
- Good language practice.
- Possibility of getting experience and recommendations from the employer.
Among the negative aspects of the work, it is worth noting its low prestige, sometimes overstated requirements of employers (you have to do more work for the same pay). Caregivers can be emotionally stressed when caring for a seriously ill person, so before accepting such work, you should carefully consider whether it is right for you. It so happens that the ward develops depression and only a specialist can get him out of this state. Squeamish people should not go to caregivers: almost always their duties include all hygienic manipulations, from dressing to changing clothes.
