PPK (Pracownicze Plany Kapitałowe – Employee Capital Plans) is a long-term savings system voluntary for the employee but mandatory for the employer. A company that employs even one person covered by the Act must choose a financial institution, enrol eligible people in the programme and transfer monthly contributions — unless all of them resign from it. Below we go through the employer's duties in 2026 step by step, with deadlines and penalties for omissions.
Who is covered by PPK
The Act on Employee Capital Plans uses the concept of an "employed person". These include, among others:
- employees under an employment contract (umowa o pracę),
- people over 18 working on a mandate contract (umowa zlecenie) or agency contract,
- paid members of supervisory boards,
- people on parental leave or receiving maternity benefit,
— provided that on this basis they are subject to mandatory pension and disability insurance in Poland. A contractor who is, for example, a student under 26 and does not pay pension and disability contributions is not covered by PPK.
Age matters: people aged 18–54 are enrolled automatically, people aged 55 to 70 — only on their own request (the employer must inform them of this possibility), and people who have turned 70 on the day of hire are not enrolled at all.
Who may not apply the Act
Exempt from the duty are:
- micro-entrepreneurs, if all employed people have filed written declarations resigning from contributions,
- natural persons employing somebody privately, outside business activity (e.g. a nanny),
- employers running a Pracowniczy Program Emerytalny (PPE – employee pension plan) in which at least 25% of the staff participate and the basic contribution is at least 3.5% of pay.
A note for micro-firms: the exemption only works if everyone has resigned. It is enough that one newly hired person does not file a declaration for the duty to come back.
Employer duties step by step
- Choice of financial institution. The employer makes it in agreement with the company trade union or, if there is none, with the representation of employed people. Offers are presented on the PPK portal.
- PPK management contract. It is concluded electronically, no later than 10 working days before the day on which the first PPK operating contract must be concluded.
- PPK operating contract for each eligible person. The earliest it may be signed is after 14 days of that person's work. The final deadline is the 10th day of the month following the month in which three months of employment have passed — e.g. with employment from 1 March, three months lapse at the end of May, so the contract must be concluded by 10 June. Periods of employment with the same employer in the previous 12 months count towards the length of service.
- Calculating and deducting contributions with every salary payment.
- Transferring contributions to the financial institution — no later than the 15th day of the month following the one in which the payment they were calculated on was made.
- Handling declarations — accepting resignations, changes in the amount of contributions and requests for resumption; the employer informs the financial institution about a resignation within 7 days.
- Automatic re-enrolment every 4 years. By the end of February the employer informs the people who resigned that from 1 April contributions will be resumed, unless they file a resignation again.
Contribution rates in 2026
| Type of contribution | Employer | Participant |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 1.5% of pay | 2% of pay (from 0.5% at low earnings) |
| Additional (voluntary) | up to 2.5% of pay | up to 2% of pay |
A reduced participant contribution (from 0.5%) is possible when their monthly pay from all sources does not exceed 1.2 times the minimum wage. With the minimum wage of PLN 4,806 in force in 2026, this threshold is PLN 5,767.20 gross.
The state adds two amounts to the programme: a welcome payment of PLN 250 (after at least 3 full months of participation) and an annual subsidy of PLN 240 if the sum of contributions in the year reaches the required level.
Example calculation
An employee earns PLN 8,000 gross per month and has not resigned from PPK. The employer has not declared additional contributions.
- employer contribution: 1.5% × PLN 8,000 = PLN 120,
- employee contribution deducted from pay: 2% × PLN 8,000 = PLN 160,
- in total, PLN 280 is paid into the PPK account each month, i.e. PLN 3,360 a year, plus state subsidies.
For the company this means an additional cost of PLN 120 a month for that employee. Employer contributions are not included in the ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) contribution base, but for the employee they are income subject to PIT, which must be reflected in the payroll.
Penalties and the most common mistakes
The Act provides for a fine of up to 1.5% of the previous year's payroll for failing to conclude the management contract on time. Failing to conclude the PPK operating contract, not paying contributions, giving false data or lacking documentation threatens a fine with a lower limit of PLN 1,000 and an upper limit of PLN 1 million. In addition, persuading employees to resign is prohibited.
In practice, the most common issues we see are:
- missing the deadline for enrolling new people, especially contractors,
- no information for people over 55 on the possibility of joining,
- accepting resignations in a form other than a written declaration,
- skipping the re-enrolment after 4 years.
How Good Balance can help
We take over PPK handling as part of HR and payroll services: we keep an eye on enrolment deadlines, calculate contributions on the payroll, keep the declarations and prepare the re-enrolment. We record the programme costs correctly under full accounting. You can read more about employment costs in the article Employment contract 2026.