How to check a job agency in the KRAZ register: step-by-step guide

In Poland, a legal employment agency must be entered in the state register of employment agencies — KRAZ (Krajowy Rejestr Agencji Zatrudnienia). The entry number is often printed right in the job ad, in small type at the bottom. And that creates a convenient illusion.

Many people think that if an ad has a KRAZ number, the agency has been checked. It hasn't. A number can be copied from another company, and the entry may have been deleted long ago. Checking takes five minutes, and you have to do it yourself rather than take someone's word for it.

Step 1. Collect the agency's details

To search you'll need at least one of three things:

• KRAZ entry number. A number with a year mark or a voivodeship code — depending on when the agency was registered.
• NIP. The company's 10-digit tax number. It must appear in the contract.
• Full name. Not the brand name from Facebook, but the legal one — with "sp. z o.o." or the owner's name.

If a recruiter refuses to give you the NIP or full company name before you sign, that's already your answer.

One more detail: the agency that found you and the company you sign with may be different. Then check both — each one, if it acts as an agency, must be in KRAZ with its own service type.

Step 2. Search the register

1. Open the KRAZ register website (it's run by the Ministry of Labour; search for "KRAZ rejestr agencji zatrudnienia" — the link should lead to a gov.pl domain).
2. Choose agency search and enter the NIP or entry number. Searching by name also works but gives more look-alike results.
3. Open the agency's record.

Step 3. What to look at in the record

• Status. The entry must be active. A deletion mark (wykreślenie) means the agency no longer has the right to operate as an agency.
• Name, address, NIP. Must match your contract letter for letter. A different company with the same logo is a different company.
• Service types. The most important field — more on it below.
• Date of entry. An agency registered a week ago isn't necessarily bad, but it's a reason to ask more questions.

Take a screenshot of the record with the date — you'll need it if you ever have to complain.

Service types: intermediary or employer

The register shows which activities the agency is allowed to carry out. Two matter for workers:

• Pośrednictwo pracy. Job placement: the agency finds you a job, but you sign the contract with the company you'll work for. Placement in Poland and abroad are listed separately.
• Praca tymczasowa. Temporary work: the agency itself becomes your employer and "lends" you to a user company. Your contract and pay come from the agency.

If an agency offers you a contract as an agencja pracy tymczasowej but the register only lists placement, you're being given a contract by a company that has no right to do so. Clear up such a mismatch before signing.

Step 4. Extra company checks

• KRS or CEIDG. A company (sp. z o.o.) is in the National Court Register (KRS), a sole trader in CEIDG. There you can see the owner and whether the company is being liquidated.
• Biała lista VAT. On the tax authority's portal, the NIP shows whether the company is an active VAT payer and which bank accounts it has registered.
• Reviews. Useful, but secondary: they're easy to manipulate either way.

What an agency can't charge you for

An agency may not charge a worker for finding a job or for employment in Poland. For placement abroad it can only ask to be reimbursed for specific actual costs: travel, visa, medical check, document translation. These must be set out in your contract with the agency. A "fee for a place in the queue" or "processing fee" with no document is a serious red flag.

Violations can be reported to the marshal's office of the voivodeship (urząd marszałkowski — it keeps the register and can delete the agency) or to the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP).

Agency check checklist

• NIP and name. Get them before any prepayment or travel.
• KRAZ. Find the agency yourself, not via a link from the recruiter.
• Status. Make sure the entry is active.
• Service type. Match it with the type of contract you're offered.
• Details. Name, address and NIP are identical in the register and the contract.
• Money. No payments "for employment" in Poland.