[Poland] Facilitations for employers – the government has adopted a draft amendment on PPE

The government has adopted a draft amendment to the Act on Employee Pension Schemes (PPE). The proposed provisions assume, among other things, that the most onerous administrative duties burdening employers will be transferred to financial institutions operating PPE.

The draft amendment to the Act on Employee Pension Schemes, Individual Retirement Accounts (IKE) and Individual Retirement Security Accounts (IKZE) is to introduce a number of solutions primarily aimed at facilitating the operation of pension schemes by entrepreneurs.

Amendment on PPE – key changes

The facilitation of employee pension schemes (PPE) is to be implemented through:

• transfer of funds accumulated in PPE by the previous managing institution to the new operator;
• lifting the optional ban on the additional (voluntary) contribution and allowing this contribution to be funded from sources other than the remuneration of the PPE participant;
• transfer of onerous administrative duties that burden employers to financial institutions operating PPE with the necessary human resources and technical infrastructure to operate PPE;
• introduction of an obligation to provide the Polish Development Fund (PFR) only with a statement on the number of PPE participants and employees hired (twice a year);
• introduction of an option to temporarily suspend or limit the expenditure of PPE by employers operating PPE due to their periodic difficult financial situation;
• introduction of a provision under which an employer, after the period of suspension or limitation of the basic contribution, will not be obliged to pay the amount of contribution which has not been paid due to the limitation or suspension of the basic contribution;
• reduction of the notice period from 12 to 3 months in the event of a unilateral decision by an employer to liquidate PPE;
• a maximum period of unilateral reduction of the basic contribution by an employer to be regulated (in a period covering 12 consecutive calendar months, the total period of unilateral reduction cannot exceed 6 months).

Amendment to the Act – changes to IKE and IKZE

The draft amendment to the Act on Employee Pension Schemes and Pension Accounts also includes provisions on IKE and IKZE:

• introduction of the possibility to conclude IKE and IKZE contracts in electronic form;
• introduction of a provision under which payments made into IKZE in a calendar year by a person running non-agricultural activity may not exceed the amount equivalent to 1.8 times the average projected monthly remuneration in the national economy for a given year specified in the Budget Act or the Budget Provision Act or in their drafts.

Amendment to the Act – when will the new solutions come into effect?

Most of the above-mentioned solutions of the amendment to the Act on Employee Pension Schemes and Accounts are to enter into force on 1 April 2022, with the exception of the changes concerning IKE and IKZE (after 14 days from the publication of the amendment in the Journal of Laws) and the change concerning the additional contribution (1 January 2023).

Learn more: Labour Code 2022 – important changes for employers and employees

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