On January 1, 2023, the provision of Article 23(5) of the Law on Employee Equity Plans (hereinafter PPK) regarding automatic resumption of contributions to PPK will take effect. According to the legislator’s intention, once submitted by the Employee, the declaration of resignation is effective until the last day of February of the year in which the employer is obliged to take up making payments to PPK, and such resumption takes place every four years. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What does this mean for employees and employers?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Automatic enrollment (re-enrollment in PPK) involves automatic enrollment in the PPK contribution program, unless an eligible person submits a declaration of resignation from making PPK contributions, regardless of whether he or she has made such resignation previously. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The automatic enrollment applies to all employing entities – it does not matter when the PPK implementation or lack thereof took place at their company. The first automatic enrollment will take place on April 1, 2023, the next one in 2027, and every 4 years thereafter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Automatic enrollment refers to eligible individuals between the ages of 18 and 55, subject to mandatory pension insurance, who:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
A current member of the PPK program is not required to re-enroll in the program.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Automatic enrollment therefore includes those who have opted out of PPK, unless they submit a new declaration of opting out of this form of saving.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
In connection with the automatic resumption of PPK contributions, as expressed in Article 23 of the PPK Law cited in the introduction, employers should fulfill the following obligations:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
At the same time, employers have to take into account that inducing an employed person or PPK participant to resign from saving in PPK is subject toa fine of up to 1.5% of the wage fund of the employing entity in question in the fiscal year preceding the commission of the illegal act. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Since automatic enrollment involves automatic registration in the PPK program, if an employee does not intend to use the program, he or she should submit a resignation from participation to the employer by the end of February 2023. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The employee also has the right to resign from participation at a later date. Due to the construction of the law, however, it is not clear whether, if the resignation is submitted in March 2023, the employer is obliged to make a contribution for April 2023. Therefore, it is worth considering this issue at an earlier stage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
At the same time, the employee’s right to express his will to participate in the PPK at any time remains unchanged, regardless of the prior resignation. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The next\u00a0automatic\u00a0enrollment will take place in 2027, which means that the decision on the\u00a0employee\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0willto participate in the program will once again have to be made\u00a0that\u00a0year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n