Breaking a work contract and preliminary agreement fee in Poland

I have received a job offer from a Polish employer, who claims to have already applied for my work permit.

When I accepted that offer, they made me sign a preliminary agreement stating that if I change my mind, I would have to pay a PLN 10,000 for it. Only after signing it, I realized that there are no penalties assigned to my employer if they change their minds about hiring me. I have read in this forum that my work visa might take too long and my application might get rejected. Moreover, I have no proof that my work permit application has ever been submitted.

My dilemma is, I have been accepted into a master's degree program, and I will soon have to send my decision about it. I am not even sure if I will ever get this visa and this job. Do you guys think that my prospective employer would ever be able to charge me for this preliminary agreement fee if I am a non-European? Are contracts with unilateral fees for breach even legal in Poland?

Thank you for your advice!

I really doubt they would be able to charge that money in any way...

Sounds like a company to avoid; self-seeking nonsense like that should be a warning of the delights to come if you take that job.

Thank you for your opinions, guys!

There are plenty of firms which make you sign 'an agreement' that you will refund them money if you leave beforehand. If they invest in training they want their money back. This is now standard practice in large organizations (corpos).

terri,

I haven't received any training yet. I believe that they have only spent money on a work permit application, which should be nothing close to the contract penalty. They might have had internal costs with my documentation, but if their business is to import workers, that might be considered the cost of doing business.