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Advicero Nexia | Employer Solutions: Summary of the blog November 2020

In November, an important deadline for signing a contract for running a PPK on behalf of employees who decided to participate in Employee Capital Plans passed. The possibility for working parents to take advantage of additional care allowance was introduced again in connection with the introduction of distance learning in grades 1-3 of primary schools. A new system was also launched, thanks to which the employer obtains data on the isolation and quarantine of employees based on the data posted on the ZUS PUE website. You can read about this and other issues in the following summary of the topics that we discussed in our HR and payroll blog in November.

An important date in November for entrepreneurs obliged to implement PPK

On November 10, 2020, the deadline for the employer to conclude a PPK agreement with a selected financial institution on behalf of employees who want to participate in the additional pension scheme. After concluding the contract via the electronic system dedicated by a given financial institution, the employer and the employee received an electronic contract for running a PPK.

Let us recall that the obligation to implement Employee Capital Plans in the second half of the year covers enterprises employing at least 20 people as of 31/12/2019, as well as employers who, as of 30/06/2019, employed at least 50 employees, but with Due to the coronavirus epidemic, they have not decided to introduce Employee Capital Plans from April 2020.

Employers will obtain data on isolation and quarantine from ZUS PUE

As of October 31, ZUS has made available to contribution payers a new function of informing about the isolation or quarantine imposed on an employee through the ZUS PUE platform. Until now, the payment of sickness benefits for an employee for the period of quarantine or isolation was possible after the employee submitted a decision received from the Sanepid. From October 22, Sanepid no longer issues such decisions, but only provides information about the employee’s isolation to the Social Insurance Institution.

Data on quarantine or isolation on the PUE portal is made available to both the employer and the insured, starting from people whose quarantine or isolation began on October 22.

The additional care allowance returns

Parents will be able to apply for additional care allowance in the period from November 9 to 29. Additional care allowance is paid in the amount of 80% of the sickness basis for each day of childcare. Moreover, the additional care allowance does not reduce the amount of 60 days care allowance per child under the general rules.

Working during quarantine and isolation

According to the explanations of the Social Insurance Institution, an employee in quarantine is a healthy person who, as a result of an epidemiological interview, was isolated due to the possible risk of exposing this person to infection. As regards the payment of sickness benefits for the period of the employee’s quarantine period, the general provisions of the Allowance Act are applied (Act of 25 June 1999 on cash benefits from social insurance in case of sickness and maternity, Journal of Laws of 1999, No. 60, item 636), which specifies that an employee during the period of incapacity for work who performs work for an employer, is deprived of the right to sickness benefit. Thus, taking into account the above, it should be considered that it is up to the employee whether he will provide work for the employer during the quarantine period or apply for sickness benefit for this period.

Postponement of the date of payment of advances for income tax and flat-rate tax

As part of the announcements of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki regarding assistance for entrepreneurs suffering from the negative effects of the second wave of the pandemic, a draft regulation “on the extension of the deadlines for the transfer of advance payments for income tax and lump-sum income tax by certain payers” was published in recent days, which provides for the postponement of the date of payment of advances to the tax office.

The extension of the payment deadline will apply to advances and tax charged and collected in October, November and December. The payment deadline will be as follows:

  • liabilities to the tax office for the month of October will be required to be paid on May 20, 2021.
  • liabilities to the tax office for the month of November will be required to be paid on June 20, 2021.
  • liabilities to the tax office for the month of December will be required to be paid on July 20, 2021.

Day off for a public holiday falls in 26th of December

The employer is obliged to grant an additional day off for a Saturday holiday. In the near future, this obligation applies to December 26 (Saturday).

The day off should be granted to the employee within a given settlement period, i.e. if the Employer’s settlement period is a monthly period, then the day off for December 26 should be granted by the end of the year. Giving a day off may take place both before and after a given holiday.

If the employer does not grant the employee a day off for a public holiday falling on Saturday, after the end of the settlement period, he will be obliged to pay 100% of overtime remuneration.

Advance payment for the tax on the employee’s remuneration in the month of exceeding the tax threshold

In previous tax years, employees whose income exceeded the tax threshold in a given month were used to a situation where in the month of exceeding the tax was still charged on the basis of a lower rate. Only from the following month, the employer was obliged to collect income tax advance at a higher rate – 32%. Some of the employees submitted to the employer applications for a higher advance payment from the month the threshold was exceeded, and then at the end of the tax year they recorded the overpayment in the tax office. On the other hand, employees who did not decide to submit such an application, after settling the tax return for a given year, had to take into account the obligation to settle the unpaid tax amount. From 2020, a solution has been introduced that prevents overpayment or underpayment on the taxpayer’s account due to exceeding the tax threshold. Under Art. 32 sec. 1 point 2 of the Income Tax Act (Act of 26 July 1991 on Personal Income Tax, Journal of Laws 1991 No. 80 item 350), advance payments for income tax in the month of exceeding the tax threshold are calculated proportionally.

The increase in the minimum wage in 2020, what will it affect?

Pursuant to the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of September 15, 2020 on the amount of the minimum remuneration for work and the amount of the minimum hourly rate in 2021, the minimum remuneration for work in 2021 will be PLN 2,800, while the hourly rate in the case of a mandate contract has been set at at PLN 18.30. The average cost of employing an employee will increase by approximately PLN 240 compared to this year. This is particularly acute for smaller entrepreneurs, also taking into account the fact that from January 2021 they will be obliged to implement employee capital plans, for which the employer’s contribution is 1.5% of the employee’s gross remuneration, i.e. at least PLN 42.

Change in the Labor Code from December 1, 2020

In recent years, it has become quite a common phenomenon on the Polish labor market to employ illegally or conceal the actual amount of remuneration received of employees with adjudicated maintenance obligations. On December 1, 2020, pursuant to art. 3 of the Act of December 6, 2018 (Act amending certain acts to improve the effectiveness of the enforcement of maintenance payments, Journal of Laws 2018, item 2432), the employer will be responsible for possible assistance to the employee in avoiding the obligation to pay maintenance.

The employer, in the case of employing an employee without concluding an employment contract, or the payment of a salary higher than indicated in the employment contract, thus not making deductions from the salary indicated to meet the needs specified in art. 282 §3 and delaying their fulfillment for a period longer than 3 months will be subject to a fine from PLN 1,500 to PLN 45,000.

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