The date – 1 July 2019 – of the obligatory application of the Act on Employee Capital Plans (PPK) for employers that had at least 250 employees on 31 December 2018 (including  individuals working under certain civil law contracts) is fast approaching.

The establishment of a PPK is associated with a number of additional obligations for the employer, including, the necessity of selecting a financial institution to manage the PPK in a given employing establishment – a decision that should be taken together with the company trade union organizations or employee representatives operating in the employing establishment. Choosing the right financial institution is a key issue for the employer, as it is with this institution that the employer is required to enter into a  contract for managing the PPK and a contract for running the PPK. In the case of employers obliged to apply the Act on PPKs from 1 July 2019, the deadline for concluding the first contract is 25 October  2019, and for the latter – 12 November 2019.

It is crucial that employers take the appropriate actions to ​​introduce PPKs because failure to do so may result in  criminal sanctions: a fine of up to 1.5% of the employer’s remuneration fund, and in some cases a fine of between PLN 1,000  and PLN 1,000,000

It is also important to remember that the obligation to create a PPK will soon also apply to other employers:

• employers that have at least 50 employees on 30 June 2019 – obligatory PPK from 1 January 2020,
• employers that have at least 20 employees on 31 December 2019 – obligatory PPK from 1 July 2020,
• all other employers – obligatory PPK from 1 January 2021.