Does a foreign employer have to establish Employee Capital Plans?

The Act of 4 October 2018 on Employee Capital Plans (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 2215) imposes specific obligations on employers in relation to their participation in the PPK. The most important ones are:

• the selection of a financial institution which will establish PPK accounts for employees,
• signing a PPK management agreement with a selected financial institution, as well as an agreement for running the PPK in the name and on behalf of employees,
• the timely and correct calculation and transfer of contributions to the selected financial institution,
• collecting and archiving documentation on the PPK,
• providing employees and the selected financial institution with any information related to the established PPK.

It should be emphasized that according to Article 5 of the PPK Act, an employing entity which has no registered office or place of residence on the territory of the Republic of Poland may transfer the obligations arising from the PPK Act to an employee (by means of a contract concluded in writing under pain of nullity). This regulation allows a foreign entrepreneur to "transfer" the obligations of the PPK Act to an employee. It is similar to Article 21 of European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 of 16 September 2009 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems. The rules under which an employee will 'substitute' for the employing entity should be set out in the contract concluded by the employee with that entity.