Since 2019, new regulations regarding both the method and the period of storing employee documentation have been in force.
At the outset, it should be mentioned that employee documentation should be construed as:
Employee personal files, consisting of four parts:
- A: Statements or documents regarding personal data collected in connection with job applications, as well as referrals for medical examinations and medical certificates.
- B: Statements or documents regarding the establishment of an employment relationship and the employment history.
- C: Statements or documents related to the termination or expiration of an employment relationship.
- D: A copy of a penalty notice and other documents related to the employee’s liability for non-compliance or liability specified in separate regulations, which provide for expungement of the penalty after the expiry of a specified period of time.
Documentation regarding matters related to the employment relationship comprising:
- Documents relating to working time records.
- Documents relating to applications for annual leave and taking annual leave.
- Payslip showing paid remuneration for work and other work-related benefits as well as the employee’s request for direct payment of remuneration.
- Work clothes and footwear record sheet.
As of 2019, the employer can choose whether the employee documentation is to be kept and stored in paper form or in an electronic form in the computerised system. Regardless of the manner of keeping the documentation, an employer must ensure that the employee documentation is kept in a manner that guarantees its confidentiality, integrity, completeness, and availability, under such conditions as to prevent any damage or destruction.
An employer may also change the form in which it keeps and stores the employee documentation. Paper form may be changed to electronic form by making its digital representation, in particular a scan, and affixing it with a qualified electronic signature or a qualified electronic seal confirming the conformity of the digital representation with a paper document. Electronic form may be changed to paper form by preparing a printout and affixing it with a signature confirming the conformity of the printout with an electronic document.
Upon changing the form of the employee documentation, an employer shall inform its employees about the change in the form of keeping and storing the documentation and about the possibility of receiving the previous form of documentation within 30 days of this information being provided. If the employee fails to collect the previous form of the employee documentation, the employer may destroy it.
Similarly, in the event of termination or expiration of the employment relationship, the employer shall provide the employee with an employment certificate and information, in a paper or electronic form, about the retention period applicable to the employee documentation and the employee’s right to collect the employee documentation by the end of the calendar month following the expiration of the documentation retention period and the destruction of the employee documentation if it is not collected.
As of 2019, the retention periods for employee documentation have also changed. However, these changes will not apply to all employees, and the validity of the new regulations depends on the moment the employment relationship is established and submission by the employer of an information report containing information about an employee to the Social Insurance Institution. The retention periods for employee documentation therefore are as follows:
- For employees with whom the employment relationship was established on 1 January 2019 or later, the retention period equals 10 years as of the end of the calendar year in which the employment relationship was brought to an end.
- For employees with whom the employment relationship was established after 31 December 1998 and before 1 January 2019, and where the employer has submitted the information report referred to in Article 4 subparagraph 6a of the Social Insurance System Act*, the retention period equals 10 years as of the end of the calendar year in which the information report was submitted.
- For employees with whom the employment relationship was established after 31 December 1998 and before 1 January 2019, and where the employer has not submitted the information report referred to in Article 4 subparagraph 6a of the Social Insurance System Act*, the retention period equals 50 years following the end of the employment relationship.
- For employees with whom the employment relationship was established on or before 31 December 1998, the retention period equals 50 years following the end of the employment relationship.
*Social Insurance System Act of 13 October 1998.