Is it legal to receive your salary in cash?

Right to receive salary in cash in Poland

Until a certain time, payment of salary in cash (in Polish, do rąk własnych – in your own hands) was widespread in Poland. However, the further, the more employees wanted to receive their salary in a non-cash way – to bank accounts, cards. In 2019, amendments were made to the Labor Code, according to which the transfer of salary to the bank was established by default. This provision is used by most employers, assuring that there is no alternative to this method. To make sure that this is not true, it is enough to carefully look at the Pracy Code, and specifically Art. 86, which regulates these conditions:

§3. Remuneration is paid to the bank account specified by the employee, unless the employee personally submitted a paper or electronic application for payment of remuneration in cash.

It is obvious that transferring salary to a bank is indeed defined as the main method, but this does not deprive the employee of the right to demand payment do rąk własnych (in cash).

Why might you need to pay your salary in cash? Before we move on to explaining how to transfer salary to cash, let’s look at the possible reasons for such a step – not only their advantages, but also their undeniable disadvantages. Firstly, a foreign employee may simply want to have cash payments. There can be any number of reasons for this: from the inability to use electronic services to the unwillingness to pay for their maintenance. Secondly, sometimes this method can be used to try to avoid unnecessary costs and problems when leaving. For example, close the account before the employee leaves Poland and receive the last payments in cash. However, despite all the visible advantages, there are also many problems that can be associated with this.

Salary without opening an account

Some people are simply used to “keeping their own to themselves” and / or do not trust banks. In this sense, cash payments will be a more familiar option. Of no small importance for many is the already mentioned need to pay monthly for the account and card maintenance, which can be avoided with this method of receiving a salary. However, if your work takes more than a month and you do not plan to spend every penny you receive, then the question of storing funds will arise. How reasonable is the risk of losing your money, for example, due to negligent neighbors or a dishonest landlord – this must be calculated in detail in each specific case.

Closing an account before the last salary

This is a really convenient option. Often, problems arise with closing an account from abroad, and the foreigner continues to accumulate debt. Closing an account before leaving and receiving the remaining funds in cash is the most profitable method. But there are pitfalls here too. According to the law, the last salary may well be paid not upon dismissal, but on the date set by the enterprise, which may be outside the legal or desired stay of the foreigner in the Republic of Poland. If there is a card, the funds will be transferred to it. If there is none, the money will be waiting for the employee at the company’s cash desk, and the foreigner himself will already be abroad.