Umowa i ZUS
Employment in the words on the contract and the payslip — and the ones colleagues use about them. Brutto against na rękę, etat against śmieciówka, urlop and L4.
śmieciówka
noun · feminine, colloquial, derogatory
- EN
- a junk contract (a civil-law job contract)
- RU
- мусорный договор, договор без соцгарантий
Pięć lat na śmieciówce i żadnego urlopu.
Five years on a junk contract and no paid holiday.
From śmieci, rubbish. The colloquial label for umowa zlecenie or umowa o dzieło used instead of a proper job: no statutory paid holiday and fewer employment protections. A political word as well as a payroll one.
etat
noun · masculine
- EN
- a salaried post; a unit of working time (full-time equivalent)
- RU
- ставка, штатная должность
Szukam pracy na cały etat.
I'm looking for a full-time job.
Być na etacie is to be employed on a proper contract; cały etat is full time, pół etatu half. Etat comes from the French word for the state; Russian штат came through German and means the staff list itself.
okres próbny
phrase · noun, masculine
- EN
- probation period
- RU
- испытательный срок
Umowa na okres próbny trwa trzy miesiące.
The probation contract runs for three months.
Three months at most, and it is its own contract rather than a clause: umowa na okres próbny, followed (or not) by the real one. Notice during it is counted in days, for both sides.
wynagrodzenie
noun · neuter
- EN
- remuneration, pay
- RU
- заработная плата
Wynagrodzenie płatne do 10. dnia miesiąca.
Pay is due by the 10th of the month.
The contract's word for pensja: nobody says it at lunch, everybody reads it in paragraph four. RU вознаграждение is a reward or a fee; the Polish word is simply what you are paid, brutto.
na rękę
phrase · adverb, colloquial
- EN
- take-home, net (of pay)
- RU
- на руки, чистыми
Ile dostajesz na rękę?
How much do you take home?
Russian gets paid на руки, Polish na rękę — one hand is enough. The formal word is netto; ile na rękę? is the question everyone actually asks about a job offer.
składka
noun · feminine
- EN
- contribution (social insurance); premium; a whip-round
- RU
- взнос; складчина
Składki potrąca pracodawca, zanim cokolwiek zobaczysz.
The contributions are deducted by the employer before you see a thing.
The payslip lines that eat the brutto: emerytalna, rentowa, chorobowa, zdrowotna. Also the car insurance premium (składka OC) and the office whip-round: zrobić składkę is RU скинуться.
ZUS
noun · masculine
- EN
- the Social Insurance Institution; social contributions
- RU
- соцстрах (польский ПФР)
Na B2B sam płacisz ZUS co miesiąc.
On B2B you pay ZUS yourself every month.
Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych: pension, sickness and disability in one office, declined like a noun — do ZUS-u, w ZUS-ie. Also the money: a contractor pays ZUS even in a month that earned nothing.
urlop
noun · masculine
- EN
- leave, holiday (from work)
- RU
- отпуск
Mam jeszcze pięć dni urlopu do wykorzystania.
I still have five days of leave to use.
From German Urlaub. Twenty days a year, twenty-six after ten years of work — a degree counts as eight of them. Urlop na żądanie: four of those days need only a morning phone call.
L4
noun · neuter, colloquial
- EN
- sick leave, a sick note
- RU
- больничный
Jestem na L4 do końca tygodnia.
I'm on sick leave till the end of the week.
Named after a paper form that no longer exists: the doctor sends an e-ZLA straight to ZUS and your employer, nothing to hand in. Pay drops to 80 per cent; iść na L4 is the phrase.
na B2B
phrase · adverb, colloquial
- EN
- on a business-to-business contract, as a contractor
- RU
- по договору B2B (как ИП)
Pracuję na B2B, więc faktury wystawiam sam.
I'm on B2B, so I issue my own invoices.
You register a działalność, invoice your 'employer' monthly and pay your own ZUS: more cash, no urlop, no L4, no notice. Half of Polish IT lives this way, and says it in English: bi-tu-bi.
Drill these ten · earlier morning · later morning
Drill these ten