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Bonuses, overtime and shift pay: how much does a Polish bank count?

How Polish banks treat monthly, quarterly and annual bonuses, the 13th salary, overtime and shift or night allowances when they calculate borrowing capacity, and how to document them.

Piotr Sułkowski · mortgage expert, KNF RHA0013513
Updated:

In short

A Polish bank splits your pay into base salary and variable pay. Base salary and fixed allowances from the pay rules count in full. Bonuses set by the pay rules usually count as an average of the last 6–12 months, and quarterly, half-yearly and annual bonuses (including the 13th salary) are spread over the months. Overtime, discretionary bonuses and shift allowances are counted by some banks when they are regular and shown on the employer’s certificate, and ignored by others.

Base pay and variable pay

The employer’s income certificate (zaświadczenie o zarobkach) for a Polish bank usually has separate fields for base pay (wynagrodzenie zasadnicze) and variable pay (wynagrodzenie zmienne). Banks ask for net amounts, most often the average of the last 12 months. Jubilee awards, travel allowances (diety), cash equivalents and subsidies are excluded on bank certificate templates. The key difference is between a bonus set by the company pay rules (premia regulaminowa) and a discretionary bonus (premia uznaniowa) that the employer decides on; banks are much more willing to count the first.

How banks usually count each part

  • Fixed allowances from the pay rules (seniority, function): like base pay.
  • Monthly bonus under the pay rules: average of 6–12 months.
  • Quarterly, half-yearly and annual bonus, 13th and 14th salary: divided by 3, 6 or 12.
  • Discretionary bonus: some banks count part of it, others nothing.
  • Overtime and shift or night allowances: an average when they are regular; some banks ignore overtime.

Overtime and night work

Under the Polish Labour Code overtime is paid with a supplement of 100% at night, on Sundays and public holidays and 50% on other days, and night work (21:00–7:00) earns at least 20% of the hourly minimum wage extra. For a bank overtime is uncertain income, so it helps when it was paid regularly over the whole period of the certificate.

How to document it

Ask the payroll office to show base pay, bonuses and allowances separately and to state whether a bonus follows the pay rules and how often it is paid. Add your PIT-11 for the last year and bank statements showing the salary. A full year with the bonus on record gives the best chance that the bank counts it. Sales commission is a separate case, described in our guide mortgage with commission income.

The full description in Polish, with an example calculated by our borrowing capacity model: Premie, nadgodziny i dodatki a kredyt hipoteczny.

Frequently asked questions

Does a Polish bank count my bonus for a mortgage?

Usually yes if the bonus follows the company pay rules and was paid during the period on the certificate. Quarterly, half-yearly and annual bonuses are divided into monthly amounts. Discretionary bonuses are counted only partly or not at all by some banks.

Does overtime count towards borrowing capacity in Poland?

In some banks, when it is regular and shown on the certificate for the whole required period. Other banks count only base pay and fixed allowances, so it is worth comparing several banks.

How does a bank count the 13th salary?

Like an annual bonus: it is divided by 12 and added to the average monthly income. In the Polish public sector the 13th salary is 8.5% of annual pay and is set by law.

Sources

  1. Bank BPS: employer income certificate template (Polish)
  2. Labour Code, art. 151¹: overtime supplement (Polish)
  3. Act on the additional annual salary in the public sector, Journal of Laws 1997 item 1080 (Polish)
This guide describes general rules and typical bank practice as of October 2026. Details

It is not legal or tax advice and not a bank offer. Each bank sets its own criteria, and the lending decision is always made by the bank.

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