In 2023 it will be four years since the introduction of the universal retirement savings programme in Poland, i.e. Employee Capital Plans (PPK). This means that this year employers must carry out the procedure for the first so-called PPK auto-enrolment.

What is PPK auto-enrolment?

Auto-enrolment means that employees who have so far opted out of participation in a PPK will be automatically enrolled (this will now happen every four years, so the next auto-enrolment will take place in 2027). Importantly, auto-enrolment applies to all employees between the ages of 18 and 55.

Employers will not have to obtain an employee’s consent to be enrolled in a PPK and every employee in the age bracket referred to above will be automatically enrolled by the employer unless they make a further declaration to opt out.

What responsibilities does the employer have?

Auto-enrolment leads to a number of obligations for employers which must be met by statutorily defined deadlines. The most important of these are as follows:

• the end of February 2023 – the employer must provide auto-enrolment information to employees who have so far submitted declarations to opt out of PPK participation. It should be noted that it is prohibited for employers to persuade employees to opt out of a PPK – they can only inform them of this possibility.
• March 2023 – in the period between 1 March and the date on which the employer pays its employees’ salaries in that month, any employee wishing to opt out of participation in the PPK should submit a new declaration to that effect.

If the employer does not receive a declaration by this salary payment date, auto-enrolment will be deemed to have taken place and the employer should collect and make the relevant payments to the PPK, as well as enrolling employees who have not yet participated in the PPK.

If an employee submits an opt-out declaration after the deadline, a payroll adjustment must be made accordingly.

• From 1 to 17 April 2023 (15 April and 16 April being Saturday and Sunday, respectively) – the employer must transfer the amounts collected in March 2023 from those automatically enrolled employees to the financial institution managing the PPK (unless they have submitted another declaration to opt out).

An employee’s declaration should serve as proof of his/her decision not to participate in the PPK. The PPK regulations do not contain precise requirements regarding the form of the declaration, but we recommend that it should be in writing.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

 

Emilia Kalecka, Associate