Employee Capital Plans (PPK) in Poland

Deadlines for small and medium-sized companies:

• 27 October 2020 sign agreements with the chosen financial institution to manage Employee Capital Plans (“PPK”)
• 10 November 2020 sign PPK administration agreements.

What is PPK?

Employee Capital Plans are a voluntary long-term savings program, obligatory for employers and voluntary for employees. PPK is created and co-financed by employees, employers, and the government. Employee capital plans (“PPK”) is a new, voluntary system of saving, which is supplementary to a pension from the Social Security Agency (ZUS). The main aim of Employee Capital Plans is the provision of the additional money that can be used after exceeding the age of 60 and earlier in exceptional situations. The funds gathered on the employee account will be private and will be subject to inheritance. It will be possible to withdraw them also before age of 60 under some conditions.

Participants of Capital Plans (PPK)

The implementation of PPK applies to all domestic enterprises with employees eligible for the program. Automatic enrollment for the program applies to workers aged 18-55. Employees aged 56-69 should submit a separate application to join the PPK. The employer chooses and signs the agreement with financial institution by means of which the individual Employee Capital Plans accounts will be established for the employees. Subsequently it automatically subscribes the employees to this program that are above the age of 18 but below 55 who are obligatorily subject to the retirement pension and disability pension (unless they did resign from making payments to Employee Capital Plans).

There are few exceptions to the rules. Companies employing less than ten people may not join the program, provided they submit a PPK resignation form, signed by all employees. Also, the law excludes employees that are over 70 years old.

Important dates for employers

The companies are joining the Employee Capital Plans gradually over two years depending on the number of persons employed by the company. The crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic also affected the timing.

Employers employing minimum 20 employees should remember about the new dates for setting the agreements with the insurance company regarding:

• management of the PPK. The deadline is October 27th, 2020.
• administration of the PPK, The deadline is November 10th, 2020.

The PPK agreements

The first agreement defines the rules of management. It connects the company with a selected financial institution, pension fund or insurance company. The agreement is in the electronic form. Please see www.mojeppk.pl for more information.

The second agreement concerns the ongoing administration of the PPK system. It should be agreed upon between the financial institution and the employer, on behalf of all employees. Although the deadline is November 10th, 2020, remember that it must be signed no earlier than ten days after the date of signing the first contract.

The selection of a financial institution must be accepted by the employee representation (works council, trade union representatives), along with a transparent and well-documented process. The Law exempts from the obligation to document the process if there are less than 30 days from the date of signing the management agreement.

Employer task list to remember

• Deadlines for both agreements (October 27th / November 10th, 2020).
• Formalities with employees (communication, documents). Informing employees about the PPK implementation is not arbitrary but it’s regulated by the law and must be followed strictly. Ensure the proper documentation for each stage and transparent communication of the results.
• Ongoing PPK system administration. If the employer decides to administer the system himself, he must be aware and remember his monthly duties.
• Payments management. The transfer of advances to the insurance company by the 15th day of the following month. Important: contributions to the PPK financed by the employer constitute the income of the PPK participant. This means that an advance on personal income tax should be calculated and charged on these payments following the tax rate applicable to a given employee (17% or 32%).
• Documentation and archiving. That includes collecting, storing, and archiving documentation on PPK, as well as renewing the dispositions submitted every four years, starting from April 1st, 2023.

Payments towards the employee capital plans. How much are they?

Payments towards the PPK are basic or supplementary. They are financed by both the employer and the PPK participant.