Minimum hourly rate for couriers and drivers: when are you entitled to it?

Who this applies to

This guide is for couriers (food and parcel delivery) and passenger transport drivers who work through an app. Most often your contract is not with the app but with an intermediary, the so-called fleet partner. We describe who your contracting party is in the guide Courier or app driver: who is your employer and what contract do you have?.

The minimum hourly rate protects two groups (Article 1(1a) and (1b) of the Minimum Wage Act):

• a person without a business who has a contract of mandate or a contract for the provision of services with an entrepreneur or another organisational unit and performs it as part of their business,
• a person with a one-person business (B2B), registered in Poland or in a country outside the EU and EEA, who does not employ workers and has no contractors of their own.

The obligations under the Act lie with the party to the contract for whom you perform the mandate. If you concluded the contract with a fleet partner, the partner must ensure the rate, confirmation of hours and payment. The Act does not say that an app you have no contract with has such obligations.

If you have an employment contract (umowa o pracę), the minimum wage applies to you (PLN 4,806 gross in 2026 for full time), not the minimum hourly rate.

What to do

1. Read the contract. Check three things: how pay is calculated (per hour, per ride, a percentage of revenue), who decides when and where you work, and how the number of hours is confirmed. The contract should specify how hours are confirmed (Article 8b(1)).
2. Assess whether the commission exception applies. The exception under Article 8d(1)(1) requires both conditions at the same time:
   • you decide on the place and time of work,
   • you receive only commission-based pay, that is, pay that depends on results, for example on the number of services performed (Article 8d(3)).

   If the partner or the app sets your rota, zone or mandatory hours online, or penalises you for refusing jobs, the first condition may not be met. If in addition to commission you receive a fixed amount, for example per hour on standby, the second condition may not be met. Then the minimum rate should apply. The final assessment is made by the PIP (National Labour Inspectorate, Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy) in an inspection or by a court.

3. Record your hours. When the contract does not specify how hours are confirmed, it is you who submit information on the number of hours, in writing, electronically or in documentary form (for example by e-mail), before the payment date (Article 8b(2)). Do this every month. Write down the start and end time of work, screenshots from the app and the job history. The working hours table will help you.
4. Check the payment. For a contract concluded for more than a month, pay under the minimum rate must be paid at least once a month (Article 8a(6)), in money (Article 8a(5)). You cannot waive this pay or transfer it to another person (Article 8a(4)). A signed statement that you "give up the hourly rate" does not take this right away from you.
5. Calculate the difference. Multiply the number of hours by the minimum rate and compare it with the gross amount you received for that month. See the "Example" section.
6. Write to the partner. Ask in writing or by e-mail for a top-up to the minimum rate and for a copy of the documents showing the number of your hours. The partner must keep these documents for 3 years from the day the pay became due (Article 8c). How to claim outstanding money, we describe in the guide Fleet partner does not pay or makes deductions: what to do?.
7. File a complaint with the PIP. The National Labour Inspectorate inspects payment of the minimum hourly rate (Article 10(1)(15b) of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate), also at entrepreneurs who are not employers (Article 13 of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate). The inspector may issue post-inspection recommendations (wystąpienie) or an instruction (polecenie) to pay the pay under the minimum rate (Article 11b of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate). Paying below the minimum rate is a petty offence punishable by a fine of PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000 (Article 8e of the Minimum Wage Act). You can prepare the complaint in the PIP complaint generator. We describe the rules in the guide How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?.

Exceptions and caveats

Payment "per ride" is a disputed matter. The Act gives as an example of commission pay that depends on "services performed" (Article 8d(3)). This may suggest that payment per ride is commission. However, the exception also requires that you decide yourself on the place and time of work. We know of no provision or official position that settles this for couriers and app drivers. For this reason we cannot promise that the minimum rate is always due to you. We also cannot say that it is never due.

Which hours count. The Act speaks of every hour of performing the mandate, but does not say directly whether time spent waiting for a job in the app is such an hour. The contract and the method of confirming hours set in it matter a lot. If the partner requires you to be available at specified hours, record that time separately.

Unregistered business. The Act speaks of a "registered" business. It does not directly settle the situation of people with an unregistered business (działalność nierejestrowana). Ask the PIP how it assesses it.

Business registered in another EU country. A one-person business registered in an EU or EEA country other than Poland does not fall within the definition in Article 1(1a).

When the cooperation may be an employment contract. If you work under direction, at a place and time set by the partner, the contract may in fact be an employment relationship, regardless of its name (Article 22 § 1 and § 1(1) of the Labour Code, Kodeks pracy). Check this in the Mandate or employment tool and in the guide Contract of mandate or employment contract? How to check what really binds the parties.

EU Platform Work Directive. Poland has not yet implemented it into its law (as of 15.10.2026). The Polish bill is at the government stage. Currently the provisions described in this guide apply.

When to see a lawyer. When the partner claims the commission exception applies and you disagree, when the arrears are large, or when you want to establish that the cooperation was an employment contract. The PIP also gives free advice, see How do you get free legal advice from the PIP?.

Example

Assumptions: a courier without a business has an open-ended contract of mandate with a fleet partner. The contract provides for pay per delivery. The partner sets the rota and requires the courier to be logged into the app at set hours. We assume that the commission exception does not apply, because the courier does not decide on the time of work himself. In September 2026 the courier was logged in according to the rota for 120 hours and sent the partner a list of these hours by e-mail before the payment date. For September he received PLN 3,200 gross.

1. Minimum for September: 120 h × PLN 31.40 = PLN 3,768 gross.
2. Paid: PLN 3,200 gross.
3. Difference: PLN 3,768 - PLN 3,200 = PLN 568 gross.
4. The courier writes to the partner asking for a top-up of PLN 568. When he gets no reply, he files a complaint with the PIP and can claim the amount in the civil court.

If the courier chose himself when to log in and received only a fee per delivery, the result could be different, because the exception under Article 8d(1)(1) could apply.

Documents and deadlines

Frequently asked questions

Does the app have to pay me the minimum rate?

The Act ties this obligation to the party to the contract. If your contract is with a fleet partner, you demand the top-up from the partner. Whether the app can have such obligations when you have no contract with it, the Act does not say directly.

I have a business and issue invoices. Does the rate apply to me?

Yes, if you run a business registered in Poland (or in a country outside the EU and EEA), on your own, without employees and without contractors. The commission exception works the same way as for a contract of mandate.

Will the PIP recover the money for me?

The PIP may issue post-inspection recommendations or an instruction to pay the pay under the minimum rate (Article 11b of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate). It is not a court judgment. If the partner does not pay, you claim the amount in court. See Contract of mandate: I have not been paid. Where do I report it and how do I recover the money?.

Useful tools

• Personal record of working hours
• PIP complaint generator
• Questionnaire: mandate or employment

Related guides

• Courier or app driver: who is your employer and what contract do you have?
• Fleet partner does not pay or makes deductions: what to do?
• Contract of mandate: I have not been paid. Where do I report it and how do I recover the money?
• Contract of mandate or employment contract? How to check what really binds the parties
• How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?

Sources (documents in Polish)

• Ustawa o minimalnym wynagrodzeniu za pracę, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1773 (art. 1 pkt 1a i 1b, art. 8a-8f)
• Rejestr zmian ustawy o minimalnym wynagrodzeniu (ELI)
• Rozporządzenie RM z 11.09.2025 w sprawie minimalnego wynagrodzenia za pracę oraz minimalnej stawki godzinowej w 2026 r., Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242
• Rozporządzenie RM z 14.09.2026 w sprawie minimalnego wynagrodzenia za pracę oraz minimalnej stawki godzinowej w 2027 r., Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1213
• Ustawa o Państwowej Inspekcji Pracy, tekst ujednolicony ISAP (art. 10 ust. 1 pkt 15b, art. 11b, art. 13)
• Kodeks pracy, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245 (art. 22)

Sources checked on 15 October 2026. Law as at 15 October 2026.

Change history

• 15 October 2026: First publication.