Counteracting the effects of unemployment of the migrant population as a dimension of Poland’s integration policy

Abstract

The article analyses the legal regulations concerning unemployment benefits for immigrants and presents them as an element of the policy aimed at integrating immigrants in Poland. The access to instruments counteracting the effects of losing employment varies significantly among particular categories of foreigners. The most extensive rights (equal to the rights of Polish citizens) are granted to immigrants with a permanent residence permit and long-term residents of the EU, forced immigrants and migrants from the EU/EFTA member states. However, the heterogeneity of these categories and the variety of grounds for obtaining residence permits lead to the conclusion that the integration policy underlying the regulations for individual groups is
characterised by different assumptions and objectives. In the case of  permanent immigrants, the assumption of the integration policy is to provide access to the institutions of the welfare state to those whose centre of life interests in Poland is permanently connected with the Polish labour market and the social security system. In the case of forced immigrants, the grounds underlying a policy of providing access to services are humanitarian reasons. The acceptance of these immigrants to the territory of the Republic of Poland is of a charitable nature and cannot be seen in terms of the calculation of financial profits and losses. On the other hand, the shaping of integration policy with regard to access to social benefits for migrants from EU/EFTA member states is a consequence of the need to comply with the EU’s laws, mainly to ensure smooth implementation of the principle of the free movement of workers. However, the largest category of immigrants in Poland are short-term immigrants who come to Poland with a seasonal work permit in combination with a system of declarations and who are not covered by the unemployment protection system, and who are expected to leave the country following the completion of work.