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Remuneration adjustment and payment to the PPK

Sometimes it is necessary to make a salary adjustment - for example, if there is a sick leave that has not been included in the payroll. In this case, the participants of the PPK raise the question of how it will affect the settlements. What does the remuneration adjustment look like and the payment to the PPK? We explain the details in this article!

Remuneration adjustment and payment to the PPK

There are two options for the settlement of the correction of contributions to the PPK. On the portal on Employee Capital Plans (https://www.mojeppk.pl/) there is information that corrections of contributions to the PPK should be made based on the balancing principle. That is, in the case of making payments to the PPK calculated from the lowered or overpayment calculation basis for retirement and disability insurance in the next month, they must be calculated on the basis of the calculation of contributions for retirement and disability insurance, respectively increased by the amount of the underpayment or lower by the amount of the overpayment. If the basis for the calculation of contributions for retirement and disability pension insurance is adjusted, but if the employee has not deducted the overpayment from his salary due to his absence, he will make an adjustment to the contributions to the PPK in the month in which he made the appropriate deduction from the remuneration of the PPK participant. Then it is not necessary to settle the correction separately with the financial institution, unless it is not possible to deduct the overpayment. The payment for the PPK is adjusted in the next month by charging and paying a higher or lower amount.

Example 1.

Mr Jan's salary is PLN 6,000 gross. In the period from July 28 to September 31, 2021, the employee is incapable of work. The ZUS ZLA medical certificate was received by the employer after the salary was calculated and paid for July (in August). So in July the employer did not take into account the sick leave in the period 28–31.07 in his salary. He calculated the contributions for retirement and disability insurance as well as payments to the PPK for July on the basis of the calculation of contributions in the amount of PLN 6,000. Due to the disease, the basis for social contributions and contributions to the PPK in July should be PLN 5,400 [PLN 6,000 - (PLN 6,000: 30 days x 3 days of illness) = PLN 6,000 - PLN 600 = PLN 5,400]. The basis for calculating the PPK payment was therefore PLN 600 too high.

In August and September, it is not possible to settle the overpayment of remuneration and thus correct payments to the PPK.

The correction of contributions to the PPK will be possible only after Mr. Jan returns to work, i.e. in October. Then, the payment to the PPK should be calculated on the reduced amount, i.e. PLN 5,400 (PLN 6,000 - PLN 600).

In this situation, the correction of the PPK declaration is not submitted to the financial institution.

Most institutions also accept the second option, i.e. adjusting the payment in the month it is paid. In this case, the employer may request the financial institution to reimburse the excessively high PPK payment or inform it about the underpayment. After sending the PPK declaration file in the "correction" mode, the financial institution returns the funds (too high payment), and in the case of too low payment, the employer replenishes the funds.

Example 2.

The PPK payment from Mr. Jan's salary from example 1 is adjusted in the second way.

In July, the PPK payment was calculated from the amount of PLN 6,000:

basic employer's payment: PLN 90 (PLN 6,000 x 1.5%)
employee's basic payment: PLN 120 (PLN 6,000 x 2%).

The remuneration was adjusted and the payment to the PPK was calculated from the amount of PLN 5,400:

basic employer's payment: PLN 81 (PLN 5,400 x 1.5%)
employee's basic payment: PLN 108 (PLN 5,400 x 2%).

In this case, the employer provides the financial institution with a correction of the PPK declaration, which shows that he transferred too much payment. Therefore, the financial institution transfers the surplus PLN 21 (90 + 120 - 81 - 108). The employer is obliged to return to Mr. Jan the PPK contributions financed by the employee (PLN 12; PLN 120 - PLN 108) and incorrectly collected tax on the entrepreneur's PPK payment (if it was collected).

Remuneration adjustment related to the resignation from the PPK

When an employee resigns from PPK, the question arises whether the remuneration needs to be adjusted in any case. This is because the resignation from participation in the PPK is valid from the month of submission. If it has not been included in the salary calculation, you may need to make an adjustment to your salary. This activity depends on the moment of transfer of funds for payments to the financial institution:

we adjust the salary if the funds have not been transferred to the institution;
the remuneration is not adjusted if the resignation is submitted after the funds have been transferred to the PPK. In such a situation, the resignation will apply from the next month.

Example 3.

The company pays wages on the last working day of the month for which they are due. Recently, contributions to the PPK were transferred to the selected financial institution:

September 15, 2021 - when it comes to payments calculated / collected in August;
October 15, 2021 - when it comes to payments calculated / collected in September.

On September 16, 2021, Mr. Karol submitted a declaration of resignation from making payments to the PPK. Then in his case:

Payments to the PPK taken from the salary in August are not returned, because they have already been transferred to the selected financial institution (September 15). The salary for August is not adjusted.

The payment to the PPK from the remuneration for September 2021 should no longer be collected.

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Example 4.

If Mr. Karol from example 3 had submitted a declaration of resignation from making payments to the PPK, e.g. on September 14, then the payment to the PPK taken from the August salary would be refunded, because the resignation would take place before transferring it to the selected financial institution.

In August, the PPK payment was calculated from the amount of PLN 4,000:

basic employer's payment PLN 60 (PLN 4,000 x 1.5%)
employee's basic payment PLN 80 (PLN 4,000 x 2%).

In such a situation, the employer should reimburse the employee for the basic fee for the employee's PPK in the amount of PLN 80.

Example 5.

In the company, salaries are paid by the 10th day of the following month. Recently, contributions to the PPK have been transferred to the selected financial institution:

September 15, 2021 - when it comes to payments calculated / collected in August (salary for July);
October 15, 2021 - when it comes to payments calculated / collected in September (salary for August).

Ms Anna made a declaration of resignation from making payments to the PPK on September 16, 2021.

In this case, it should receive a refund of the payment to the PPK calculated and collected from the salary for August (paid on September 10).

In August, the PPK payment was calculated from the amount of PLN 5,600:

basic employer's payment PLN 84 (PLN 5600 x 1.5%)
employee's basic payment PLN 112 (PLN 5600 x 2%)
additional payment of the employee PLN 56 (PLN 5600 x 1%).

In such a situation, the employer reimburses the employee the basic and additional fee for the employee's PPK in the amount of PLN 168 (PLN 112 + PLN 56).

PPK payments made it difficult to correct the remuneration in a way. They also created an additional situation in which it is necessary to draft amendments. However, by following the rules governing wage adjustments, it will be easy for your employer to do so.