Poland Labor Update: New Rules For Employee Record Retention

New rules for retention of employee records will come into force on January 1, 2019 and will result in reduced mandatory retention periods. Employers will need to retain employee records for 10 years from the end of the calendar year in which employment terminates or expires unless separate provisions provide for a longer retention period. It is a significant change considering that employers have had to retain such documentation for 50 years. 

Employers will be able to apply the shorter retention period to all employees hired from January 1, 2019. Employees hired between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2018 will be subject to an interim period unless their employer meets additional conditions, namely provides to the Polish Social Security Authority (ZUS) a declaration of an intention to deliver ZUS OSW reports and ZUS RIA reports.

In accordance with the new Labor Code provisions, employers will need to retain employee documentation in conditions ensuring its confidentiality, integrity, completeness and accessibility, and to protect it against damage and destruction. Failure to comply with this obligation will entail liability and may be punishable with a fine of up to PLN 30,000.

When outsourcing payroll and accounting services, employers must comply with obligations ensuing from the provision of employees’ personal data to third parties, which, among other things, involves an obligation to sign a separate personal data processing agreement in line with GDPR provisions.

Another important change that will take place as of January 1 is that employers will be able to switch from keeping and storing employee records in hard copy to electronic form. At the moment companies have to keep personnel files in hard copy. The change will consist in the digital reproduction of a document and adding a qualified e-signature of the employer, or a qualified e-seal of the company confirming that the copy is true to the original document. It is important to note that retaining a scanned document without an e-signature will not be considered an appropriate form of keeping records. Employers who digitalize documents in this way will have to continue to keep hard copy documentation.

The upcoming changes will add new duties connected with termination or expiry of employment relationships. In addition to issuing a post-employment certificate, employers will also have to inform employees:

•about the 10 year-period of employee record retention;

•that employees may collect their records by the end of the calendar month following the end of the employee record retention period; and

•that employee documents will be destroyed if they are not collected within this time.

Considering the upcoming amendments and GDPR rules, it is advisable to review internal procedures related to employee records so that the changes taking effect on January 1 can be an opportunity to streamline processes.

By CDZ Legal Advisors, Poland a Transatlantic Law International Affiliated Firm. 

For more information on this topic, please contact Weronika Papucewicz at polandlabor@transatlanticlaw.com.

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