The company is closing down and your wages have not been paid. What next?

Author: inspekcja-pracy.pl editorial teamChecked: 15 October 2026

Short answer

Closing the company does not release the employer from the duty to pay wages. Until there is formal insolvency, you claim the money in the usual way: with a demand for payment, a complaint to the PIP and a claim in the labour court. When a court declares bankruptcy, dismisses a bankruptcy petition for lack of assets, or another case of insolvency defined in the Act occurs, unpaid wages for up to 3 months may be paid by the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych, FGŚP). Applications are handled by the voivodeship marshal (marszałek województwa) through the voivodeship labour office (wojewódzki urząd pracy) competent for the employer's registered office. If the employer has simply disappeared for more than 2 months, you can apply for an advance from the Fund up to the amount of the minimum wage (PLN 4,806 in 2026).

This matter usually requires an individual legal assessment. The guide explains the rules, but the outcome depends on documents and circumstances. Before an important decision, consult a lawyer or a trade union, or use free PIP advice. PIP legal advice.

In this guide: Liquidation, bankruptcy, a business that simply stopped: when the FGŚP pays through the voivodeship labour office, limits, the application, trustee, limitation.

Who this applies to

Employees and former employees of a company that has stopped paying, is in liquidation, is bankrupt or has in fact stopped operating.
People on a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) or a contract for the provision of services, if on that basis they were compulsorily covered by pension and disability insurance (Article 10 of the Act on the Protection of Employee Claims in the Event of Employer Insolvency).
Family members of a deceased employee who are entitled to a survivor's pension (Article 11).

The Fund covers employers who are entrepreneurs. It does not cover, among others, public finance sector units, family foundations and people employing domestic help (Article 2(2)).

What to do

Find out what is happening with the company. Check in the National Court Register (KRS), in CEIDG (the business register for sole traders) or in the National Register of Debtors (Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych) whether a bankruptcy petition has been filed, bankruptcy declared or liquidation opened. This determines whether and when the Fund will step in.
Secure the documents. Your contract, payslips, bank statements, working time records, notice of termination, employment certificate. Ask the employer for a written certificate of the amount owed. Such a certificate is attached to the application to the Fund (§ 7(2) of the regulation on lists and applications).
Act as with any arrears. Send a demand for payment (demand generator), file a complaint to the PIP or a claim with the labour court. As a rule, an employee does not pay court fees. A final judgment is also a document for the Fund. Details: Your employer did not pay your wages on time. What can you do?
Check whether insolvency within the meaning of the Act has occurred. The most common cases:
- declaration of bankruptcy or opening of restructuring proceedings (Article 3(1)(1)-(2)),
- dismissal of a bankruptcy petition because the assets are not sufficient to cover the costs of the proceedings (Article 3(1)(3)-(4)),
- discontinuance of bankruptcy proceedings for lack of assets, dissolution of a commercial company by a court, removal of an entrepreneur who is a natural person from CEIDG after ceasing business (Article 8(1)).
A resolution to liquidate a company or closing the office is not yet insolvency within the meaning of this Act.
If the employer has disappeared: an advance. A de facto cessation of business occurs when, for more than 2 months, all of the following apply: the company is not operating and has no revenue, nobody is present at the registered office or places of business, and the employer is not performing its obligations towards employees, ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) and public authorities (Article 12a(2)). In that case, at your request, the voivodeship marshal pays an advance towards the arrears, no higher than the minimum wage on the date the application is filed (Article 12a(1)). You attach to the application information or documents making the cessation of business plausible (Article 12a(6)).
After insolvency: a list or an individual application. The employer, trustee, liquidator or administrator has one month from the date of insolvency to submit to the voivodeship marshal a collective list of unsatisfied claims (Article 15(1)). If you were not included in it, file an individual application. You can do this no earlier than 2 weeks after the deadline for submitting the list (Article 16(2)). The application is filed with the voivodeship marshal competent for the employer's registered office, and for a sole trader for the main place of business (Article 15(3)). According to gov.pl, cases are handled by the voivodeship labour office.
In bankruptcy, watch the list of claims. Claims arising from an employment relationship do not need to be lodged with the trustee; the trustee enters them on the list ex officio (Article 237 of the Bankruptcy Law, Prawo upadłościowe). Claims for the period before the declaration of bankruptcy are in the first category of satisfaction (Article 342(1)(1)). When a notice that the list has been filed appears, check your entry. You have 2 weeks from the notice to file an objection with the judge-commissioner (sędzia-komisarz) (Article 255(2), Article 256(1)). An employee may file documents without using the IT system (Article 216aa).

Exceptions and caveats

What the Fund covers. Principal amounts for, among other things, wages, pay for downtime and excused absence, sick pay paid by the employer, holiday pay, severance pay under the Act on dismissals for reasons not related to employees, payment in lieu of unused leave for the year in which the employment relationship ended and the previous year, compensation for a shortened notice period, and contributions on payments from the Fund (Article 12(2)). The Act does not mention interest. You claim it, like the rest of the arrears, from the employer or in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Periods. The Fund covers wages and related benefits for at most 3 months immediately before the date of insolvency, or for 3 months before the employment relationship ended, if it ended no earlier than 12 months before insolvency (Article 12(3)). Severance pay, payment in lieu of leave and compensation are covered when the employment relationship ended within 12 months before insolvency or 4 months after it (Article 12(5)).

Limits. For one month, in total no more than the average monthly wage for the previous quarter, announced by the President of Statistics Poland (GUS) and applicable on the date the list or application is filed (Article 14(1)). The latest announcement as at 15.10.2026 is PLN 9,233.13 for Q2 2026 (M.P. 2026 item 779). The next announcement may change this amount. Payment in lieu of leave in total up to one average wage (Article 14(2)). The income tax advance, contributions and maintenance are deducted from the benefits (Article 21(2)).

Refusal of payment. The marshal notifies you of a refusal in writing with a statement of reasons. A dispute is decided by the labour court competent for the marshal's seat; you have 30 days from service of the notification (Article 20).

Only once. If the same employer becomes insolvent again, the Fund does not pay the same people a second time for the same items (Article 13).

Dismissals in bankruptcy or liquidation. In that case, among other things, the ban on giving notice during leave and illness (Article 41), pre-retirement protection (Article 39) and other provisions on special protection do not apply (Article 41(1) § 1 of the Labour Code, Kodeks pracy, KP). The employer may shorten a 3-month notice period to 1 month, but pays compensation for the remaining part (Article 36(1) § 1 of the Labour Code). Severance pay is due when the employer employs at least 20 employees and the conditions of the Act on dismissals are met (Articles 1, 8, 10 of that Act).

Limitation. Claims arising from an employment relationship become time-barred 3 years from the due date (Article 291 § 1 of the Labour Code). The period is interrupted by, among other things, a claim and the employer's acknowledgement of the debt (Article 295 § 1 of the Labour Code). Lodging a claim in bankruptcy interrupts the limitation period (Article 239a of the Bankruptcy Law), but employee claims go onto the list ex officio, without being lodged. The provision does not say expressly whether entry on the list alone has that effect. Do not delay filing a claim if the deadline is approaching.

Changes in the law. From 12 December 2026, it will also be possible to file an individual application electronically, with a qualified, trusted or personal signature (Dz.U. 2026 item 1200). Until that date, the regulation provides for paper form, in two copies. A further amendment to the Act enters into force on 11 January 2027 (Dz.U. 2026 item 1206).

When to see a lawyer. When nobody has filed a bankruptcy petition and you are considering filing one yourself as a creditor (Article 20(1) of the Bankruptcy Law; the court may require an advance on expenses, Article 32(5)), when the employer has disappeared and you do not know how to make the cessation of business plausible, when you dispute the list of claims, or when you want to pursue the liability of management board members.

Example

Assumptions: a limited liability company (spółka z o.o.) employs 15 people. A full-time employee earns PLN 7,000 gross. They were not paid for July, August and September 2026. On 1 October 2026 the court declared the company bankrupt. The employee is still employed.

The date of insolvency is 1 October 2026 (the date of the decision declaring bankruptcy, Article 3(2)).
The Fund may cover wages for July, August and September, each month up to the limit in Article 14(1). At PLN 7,000 a month, the limit of PLN 9,233.13 does not restrict the payment.
The trustee should submit the collective list by 2 November 2026 (one month from 1 October; 1 November is a Sunday and a public holiday). If the employee was not included, they may file an individual application at the voivodeship labour office no earlier than 2 weeks after that deadline.
Independently of the Fund, their claims go onto the list of claims ex officio. Whatever the Fund does not cover (e.g. interest) remains to be satisfied in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Moving the deadline from 1 to 2 November is our assumption. The Act on the Protection of Employee Claims requires the Code of Administrative Procedure (KPA) to be applied accordingly in these matters (Article 18), and the Code of Administrative Procedure moves the end of a period falling on a statutory public holiday to the next working day (Article 57 § 4 of the Code of Administrative Procedure).

Documents and deadlines

What	Deadline or rule	Legal basis
Collective list (trustee, liquidator, employer)	one month from the date of insolvency	Article 15(1) of the Act on the Protection of Employee Claims
Individual application	no earlier than 2 weeks after the deadline for the list	Article 16(2)
Advance on de facto cessation of business	after more than 2 months; up to the minimum wage	Article 12a
Monthly limit	average wage for the previous quarter (PLN 9,233.13 according to the announcement for Q2 2026)	Article 14(1), M.P. 2026 item 779
Claim after refusal of payment from the Fund	30 days from service of the notification	Article 20(3)
Lodging non-employee claims	30 days from the bankruptcy notice	Article 51(1)(4) of the Bankruptcy Law
Objection to the list of claims	2 weeks from the notice that the list has been filed	Article 256(1) of the Bankruptcy Law
Limitation of employee claims	3 years from the due date	Article 291 § 1 of the Labour Code
Documents for the application	employment certificate or judgment, certificate of arrears, other evidence	§ 7(2) of the regulation, Dz.U. 2017 item 2041

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to lodge my unpaid wages with the trustee?

No. The trustee enters claims arising from an employment relationship on the list of claims ex officio (Article 237 of the Bankruptcy Law). It is, however, worth checking whether the amount on the list is correct. Other claims, e.g. under a contract of mandate, must be lodged within the deadline set in the bankruptcy decision.

The employer closed a sole trader business and does not answer the phone. What can I do?

If they removed themselves from CEIDG after ceasing business, this may be insolvency under Article 8(1)(7) of the Act. If they are still listed in CEIDG but have not operated for more than 2 months, check the conditions for an advance under Article 12a. At the same time, you can sue them in the labour court.

Will the Fund pay me if I worked under a contract of mandate?

Yes, if on the basis of the mandate you were compulsorily covered by pension and disability insurance (Article 10). You claim the rest according to the rules in the guide Contract of mandate: I have not been paid. Where do I report it and how do I recover the money?

Useful tools

Related guides

Sources (documents in Polish)

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

Change history

15 October 2026: First publication.

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This guide is for information only. The current legal provisions and the information of the National Labour Inspectorate apply. An independent information website. We are not the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy).