ZUS: It will no longer be necessary to keep records for half a century

Due to the shortened period for retaining employee records, employers will provide ZUS with a broader range of information about their employees, which will help safeguard their acquired rights concerning social insurance benefits.

“Our system needs to be adapted to the new regulations, which will significantly make life easier for entrepreneurs, so that this does not come at the expense of their employees,” says Iwona Kowalska, ZUS’s regional press spokesperson in Lower Silesia.

The Social Insurance Institution is beginning preparations for the digitalization of employee records by announcing a tender to modify its KSI ZUS IT system so that it can collect data from employee records.

“We want to resolve this tender before the summer holidays, so that the contractor has a full six months to prepare our IT system for the full digitalization of employee documentation,” declares Prof. Gertruda Uścińska, president of ZUS.

From 1 January 2019, due to changes in the regulations, the period for keeping personal employee records will be shortened from 50 to 10 years for all newly hired people. Employers will be able to keep records electronically. This will allow employers to reduce operating costs, while also expanding the scope of data they will have to provide to ZUS about their employees and contractors.

The retention period may also be shortened for employee documentation created between
1 January 1999 and 31 December 2018, provided that the employer submits to ZUS a statement of its intention to file an information report for people first registered for insurance during this period, and also submits an information report containing all the necessary data.

Starting with the settlement for January 2019, contribution payers will be required to provide ZUS on an ongoing basis, in monthly individual reports (ZUS RCA), with additional data concerning the amount of income paid in a given month—for example, income paid in a given month but due for another calendar year—which forms the basis for calculating social insurance contributions.

Additionally, from January 2019, in the document deregistering a person from insurance (ZUS ZWUA), employers will provide additional data concerning the termination or expiry of the employment relationship, such as the date and method of termination and the party at whose initiative the employment relationship was terminated. The broader scope of information provided by employers to ZUS will help safeguard employees’ acquired rights concerning social insurance benefits.