Life / 3 year old special needs child, moving to Krakow what options are there? [6]

Your salary of 7.5K pln gross per month is absolutely nothing to write home about. This is extremely low. You do not make clear whether the quote 90K pln per year is gross or net, I have assumed gross. I was earning 6K pln gross in 1996, some 23 years ago. Make sure you have got your figures right as on that salary you will struggle.

Life / 3 year old special needs child, moving to Krakow what options are there? [6]

You will be very lucky to find a place that will take your child. Contact the USA Embassy in Krakow or guidance.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The teacher's strike has been suspended as from today.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The problem with educated people is that they know too much. It is far easier to rule over less-well educated and you can p*** on them and tell them it's raining.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The Government can change from day to date rules that have applied to education. Now, the director of a school will sign each pupil's pass mark for them to go to the next year's class, if he does not, he will be sacked. The teaching committee which used to do that has been resolved.

Work / What is deducted from a salary in Poland apart from Income tax? [155]

You can always email the consulting firms and see what your chances are? How can anyone on a forum give you such assurance?

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

If I was a teacher now, I would seek other employment immediately and leave the profession. Even if that meant going on the cash desk at Biedronka. . It seems that the Government will do everything not to negotiate with the teachers and not pay them. They will make life hell and I do mean hell for all teachers who went on strike.

Work / What is deducted from a salary in Poland apart from Income tax? [155]

You forgot to say whether your wife speaks Polish to a high standard. She maybe able to get a job, but don't expect too much. You can find pages where tax calculations are done for you. With 10K gross pln, you will be o.k. On 10K pln gross you will get around 7K pln nett take home pay.

Work / Business in Poland - should I expect some dirty tricks? [26]

All of the above and 100 times more.

Real Estate / Real estate in Poland - licytacje (an auction?) [7]

Read up on this very thoroughly. Do not go in with your eyes looking through rose-tinted glasses thinking you are getting a great deal. Generally, you may have problems as people whose houses have been taken away from them have a grievance towards the new owner.

The other thing is that you may have to pay off all the other debts accrued by the previous house owners.

Work / Working in Poznań - competitive salary? (customer service related to languages) [2]

At present the customer service jobs is the best you can hope for. Minimum wage applies unless you can negotiate better. You will be lucky to get 3.5K pln gross per month. Search on websites if you can live on this. You cannot teach in proper schools without all the certificates they need, but you can give private lessons, except there are thousands doing that already.

To me you need more research, do not look at this through rose-tinted glasses. Try 'gumtree' to find out costs of rooms.

Law / International Divorce - my ex wife lives in Poland and I live in Asia (alimony) [39]

That's about right. She saw your bank balance and not you and didn't like the idea of another woman taking it away from her. Gold digger and nothing else.

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland "doesn't" want to return the deposit [6]

If you were there from 1.10.2018 to 10.04.2019 you must pay this bill. The other page is for anticipated use from 05.09.2019 for each month. The way the company charges for electricity is to give you a proper bill every 6 months and ask you to prepay for the next 6 months and then they recalculate the money correctly in the proper bill based on readings.

What I would do is not pay both parts of the bill until you settle the matter with the deposit. They can take this amount out of the deposit.

Real Estate / Landlord in Poland "doesn't" want to return the deposit [6]

Get a Polish friend (well-built man with muscles) to come with you. I would not pay him any rent or bills for the last month and then he can have his deposit.

That electricity bill story is false.

Law / International Divorce - my ex wife lives in Poland and I live in Asia (alimony) [39]

The lesson here is: try before you buy. You could have lived with her for a while to see how it goes. However, from experience I know that a woman changes the moment she gets married. She knows that she has caught someone who has to provide for her.

In your case I would forget it, but just to be sure, make sure that your (Polish) marriage and divorce is registered in the country you live in, just in case you want to ever get married again.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

It's very interesting to read that in 1993 teacher's went on strike and their representative said 'We deserve an increase'. This was Mrs. A. Zalewska (Minister of Education) and then the matura exams were postponed. Funny how she changed.

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News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Education in schools is free and many parents do not really care what the child is being taught as long as the children are off their hands. Not every child is gifted or wants to learn and many will leave school with good exam results but without the necessary attributes to find work in the future, as the education system does not prepare them to use their own brains.They are taught in schools to pass exams only.

Law / International Divorce - my ex wife lives in Poland and I live in Asia (alimony) [39]

You just never know in life. Maybe some day when he wants to get married again, he may have to show his divorce papers which may show what the Court decided regarding alimony payments.

Law / International Divorce - my ex wife lives in Poland and I live in Asia (alimony) [39]

The Court will get in touch with the nearest Embassy to where you live and you may have problems.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The strange thing is that the teachers' strike is less about who the best teachers are or what they do or how many hours they work.

The strike only goes to prove that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
Any person with the same qualifications as a teacher can get a better-paid job. If all teachers who could leave did go, the school system would collapse. The whole system has collapsed and this should have been sorted properly 3 years ago and not now.

If I was a teacher I would seek a job somewhere else, even as a cashier in a supermarket till I got what I wanted. Any sentiment towards teaching goes out of the window when you cannot pay your bills.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

There was a joke about Winston Churchill once asking a lady whether she would go to bed with a man for money. She said 'no' and he then said 'but Madam, everyone has their price.' It is the same with PiS supporters. They sell themselves for a bowlful of rice now, but if another party offered more they would switch.

Just a small matter. Beata Szydlo is going to get an increase on her monthly pay from 16.7K pln to 24.1K pln gross. So there is money - but only for the chosen few. She gets 7.4K pln more whereas some people don't even earn that a month and teachers are lucky to get 4K pln per month. Some country......

Language / What do foreigners find the hardest part of Polish? [63]

As far as I recall (having studied Latin) there would not be a word for 'toilet paper' as toilet paper (as we know it today) did not exist at the time. They washed and dried their private parts when needed, or got someone else to do it.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

The problem is that the Government (Prime Minister and Prezes) go on TV and promise the earth and everyone believes them. They promised reduction in the tax from 18 to 17%....but later we find out it's only for people who earn less than 3.5K pln gross a month. They promised no tax for under 26, but we learn it's only for full-time employees. It's the headlines that attract the whole community, but the devil is in the details. So not all that glitters is gold.

As for the childrens' 500 plus, I said at the time, that many women will give up work as it will not be worth for them. If you have 3 children and do not work, you get 1.5K pln in hand, but working on the minimum wage, you might bring home 1.8K pln. Also all classes get it, so even those on 50K or 60K pln per month get the 500 plus. The Government didn't want to put a limit on this as they themselves would then not get it. This seems somehow unfair. Even in England, you do not get child benefit if one of you earns above a certain amount.

The Prezes will not promise whatever the public wants never thinking where the money is coming from. He has his reasons.

Law / PIT declaration before the next tax year [5]

The same thing happened to me some years ago now. I did the PIT declaration at the appropriate time, calculated it myself and it turned out that I owed them tax, so I paid that too. Obviously kept all the evidence.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Just read on a Polish website that the President of Poland, Mr. A. Duda has confirmed that 'teachers' earnings given by the Government on TV are false.'

Travel / Watch out for airport personnel stealing stuff on regional Polish airports. [64]

I go through security at Krakow very frequently. I know not to have any expensive items on me and absolutely nothing in the hand luggage. With watches and other expensive items, you could always put them in hand luggage beforehand as there is less likelihood of that going missing.

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]

Add to the bacon sandwich a fried egg and sausage and you're in heaven......

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Just read on a Polish website that the people who currently service the 500 plus payments for children are voting on strike action. If they go on strike there will be no payments for children. The country will be in an uproar - but they are in an ideal position to ask for more money or go on sick.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Last week I read on the Polish net that a project is being prepared about this and they will be asking 2% of the current price of the property to be paid in 'podatek' (tax). This would bring untold damage to PiS as higher value houses/flats would then be going for a song as no one would be able to afford to live there. It would be a big undertaking valuing every property in Poland.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]

Every employee would like more money from their employer. It reminds me of a famous quote, and I have changed it slightly.
They came for the old - I wasn't old so it didn't concern me, they came for the young - I wasn't young so it didn't concern me, they came for the intelligent - I wasn't intelligent so it didn't concern me. Finally they came for me - and there was no one left to stand up and defend me. Substitute 'they came' for 'PiS'.