When employing people under an employment contract, the company is obliged to keep their personal files. According to the requirements of the Labor Code, personnel documentation must be kept for 10 years after the termination of employment, and in cases where the employee was hired before 1999 - for up to 50 years after the termination of employment. Polish law allows personnel documentation to be kept in paper or electronic form. Currently, most companies still choose paper. However, more and more companies are deciding on e-files and the convenience it offers.

Before documents become e-files

An e-files is, in the simplest terms, a complete set of electronic personal files of an employee. However, it is not an equivalent of an ordinary set of scans of documents that previously appeared in paper form. In order for such a set of documents to turn into an e-file, two steps are crucial. The first is to certify each scanned (or digital from the beginning) document with a qualified electronic signature, both by the employer and the employee. The second is to place the complete set of documents in a system that allows for the digital circulation and processing of information contained in the documentation.

According to the requirements of Polish law, personnel documentation can be stored after being certified by the employee with a qualified electronic signature. And this is where the first serious barrier appears for many companies, because employees as individuals usually do not have a qualified electronic signature and do not need to have one. An electronic signature certificate, depending on the provider, is valid from one to three years and costs about PLN 300, and apart from the prospect of signing employee documents, there are very few situations in which an individual needs it. However, this does not mean that a company deciding to digitize employee files faces an insurmountable barrier.

A different variant is often used. The exchange of documents between the employee and the employer is paper, while the employer scans the original contract with the employee and signs it with a qualified signature. From now on, only a digital document is in circulation in the company.

Combine digital documents into an e-files

A collection of electronic documents certified with a qualified signature does not yet constitute an e-files. In the next step, they must be arranged in an electronic system that allows information processing. The criteria and requirements for this system are defined in national regulations. Issues such as the required resolution of document scans, the type of signatures and the method of their verification, document flow audit in the system, metadata structure, technical file structure, conditions and format of data transfer to other entities (e.g. state labor inspection) are specified in the Regulation of the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy of December 10, 2018 on employee documentation (Journal of Laws 2018, item 2369). However, it should be emphasized that the e-files is just one element of the company's digitization.

A unique solution offered by ADP is the integration of electronic personnel documentation with other HR and payroll tools, such as payroll and HR administration. In this variant, the client does not have to build the entire infrastructure on their own to use this solution. The ADP system enables further processing of electronic data within the company, and the employee receives a user-friendly interface that allows them to use them according to their needs, significantly shortening the service time compared to documentation from the paper era. The employee portal allows, among other things, downloading pay slips, PIT forms, submitting leave applications, applying for a certificate of earnings or remote work, registering a family member with social insurance institution, downloading confirmation of the right to healthcare services (RMUA), etc. Job candidates have at their disposal an e-package, in which they can submit application documents in digital form. This is the first step to building their e-files.

Author: Marcin Mika, Client Success & Payroll Delivery Director, ADP Polska