Often, clients of our PRWT accounting office ask whether they are obliged to give employees the so-called “Payslips”?
What are “payslips”?
This concept covers documents showing individual components of employee remuneration. In some workplaces, it is still custom to provideing employees with a strip of paper each month containing information about the base salary and any other allowances and deductions that affect the amount of the employee’s salary.
Is the employer obliged to issue such strips?
No, the provisions of the polish labor law do not impose such an obligation on employers. The provisions of the polish labor law refer only to the employer’s obligation to provide the employee with access to the documents on the basis of which his remuneration has been calculated (Art. 85 paragraph 5 of the Labor Code). Hence, some employers, wanting to avoid asking employees about the amount of their remuneration, give them this information in the form of the aforementioned “payslips”. If the employer has such a custom, or his work regulations contain relevant provisions in this regard, then the employer will be obliged to issue such documents to employees.
Do “payslips” have to be in paper form?
If the employer has already decided to issue “payslips” to employees, he may consider whether they will be in a paper or electronic form. However, it should be remembered that the choice of electronic form of this type of documents must be preceded by obtaining the e-mail addresses of employees. The scope of data that the employer may require from the employee is included in Art. 22 1 of the polish Labor Code. Among the data listed in this provision, the legislator does not explicitly mention the private e-mail address of the employee. This means that the employer may obtain this address only with the express (preferably in writing) consent of the employee.
Therefore, if employees agree to receive information on remuneration via a private e-mail box and voluntarily provide their e-mail addresses for the purpose of sending this data, it will be possible to replace the traditional bars with their electronic version.