As their company develops, each entrepreneur will encounter the problem of how to employ a person who will perform specific duties for the company in exchange for remuneration.

Polish law provides a wide range of forms of employment of people who perform specific activities for the company. Belong to them:

• Contract of employment,

• Mandate contract,

• Contract work,

• Copyright transfer agreement,

• Management contract,

• Sole proprietorship.

Each of these forms has its advantages and disadvantages for the entrepreneur using them, and choosing the right form of employment is not an easy thing and is associated with certain consequences, both in terms of additional costs incurred, documentation obligations, rights of employees, and the risk of inspection by supervisory authorities. .

An employment contract involves the least risk of questioning the existence of such a relationship between the company and the person providing the services, but it entails the need to pay full ZUS contributions:

• retirement pension (paid in total by the employer and the employee in the amount of 19.52% of remuneration),

• disability pension (8% in total),

• sickness (2.45%),

• accident (from 0.67% to 3.33%)

• health (9% of the base).

Additionally, employers also bear the cost of:

• contributions to the Labor Fund (2.45%) and

• contributions to the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (0.10%).

In the case of contracts of mandate, the sickness contribution (which covers possible benefits in the event of an employee’s extended sick leave) is voluntary.

In the case of contracts for specific work, ZUS contributions are not charged. However, it should be remembered that each contract for specific work must be reported to ZUS on a special ZUS RUD form, and ZUS may, as part of the inspection, question the validity of the application of a contract for specific work to a given legal relationship between the company and a person performing activities for it for remuneration. ZUS most often questions contracts for specific work if it finds that:

• the subject of the contract is a service (activity) or

• the subject of the contract are repetitive activities.

Therefore, using this form of settlements with contractors requires special attention and the ability to draw up contracts. At ASK Audit, we not only conduct HR and payroll settlements, but also help entrepreneurs formulate the text of the contract for specific work to minimize the risk of it being questioned by ZUS. Ask ASK for advice on this matter.

The mandate contract should also be formulated in such a way that it does not call into question in the event of an inspection by the Social Insurance Institution what the legal relationship between the principal and the contractor is. For example, you cannot call a contractor an employee or guarantee him holidays, although you can regulate the right to a break in the performance of the contract as part of the freedom to conclude contracts. Ask ASK for advice on this matter.

Based on Article. 41 of the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyright and related rights (Journal of Laws 2022.02509), instead of a contract for specific work, in certain cases the parties may conclude an agreement on the transfer of copyrights or an agreement on the use of the work. The great advantage of this solution is that there is no obligation to prepare and send a ZUS RUD report to ZUS in connection with concluding such an agreement.

At ASK AUDIT, our specialists will provide support and advise entrepreneurs on how to prepare and properly settle the selected legal form of the contract between the entrepreneur and his service recipient. Ask ASK for advice.