07.01.2013

Calculation of initial capital is an element which is necessary to determine the amount of the future pension of each Pole. Every year, on average 225 thousand of persons reaching the retirement age face the problem of obtaining the Rp7 forms from their former employers – often large companies with scattered structure and long-term history. Cooperation with an external, specialized entity may be a solution for the companies – and in the same way a benefit for the future pensioners. Savings of the company may then reach from 15 to 35 percent annually, depending on the volume of the gathered documents and the level of their scattering and orderliness.

It is the largest companies that face the problem of storing the HR & payroll documentation at least for 50 years from the date of ending the case (which means from the moment of employment discontinuation) and compiling the files in order to issue the Rp7 form to their former employee upon his or her request. This process is often costly and time-consuming due to scattered structures of the enterprises and kilometers of stored documents of different level of orderliness. On the other hand, the employees applying for Rp7 forms require extreme accuracy and attach great importance to full documentation of the history of their employment, as it directly affects the amount of their future pension. The greatest problem occurs when the data possessed by the companies is incomplete, some documents may not be found or have been destroyed.

Improvement of the procedure to the advantage for the employees
The most cost-effective solution for large companies is commissioning handling of the HR & payroll files, particularly of dismissed employees, to a specialized entity. The client does not have to pay for the warehouse (archive) or for work of the persons handling the documentation anymore. A professional outsourcer ensures documentation management performed by experienced archivists, in compliance with valid legal provisions relating to personal data protection and the guidelines contained in relevant ordinances of the Minister of Culture. It implements modern solutions which have been proven in practice and it also ensures the highest level of security of the stored documentation.

Orders of this type are realized – for example for G4S, Netia or Ruch – by ArchiDoc from Outsourcing Experts Group. In total, the company is responsible for handling of over 750 thousand of the HR & payroll folders. Moreover, ArchiDoc stores about 500 thousand folders of this type of files from over 120 already non-existing companies and issues excerpts or authenticated copies of the documentation directly upon the order of the Social Insurance Institution or former employees.

Yet it should be remembered that the HR & payroll files are much more demanding in terms of processing than other company’s documentation. They are subject to rigors and regulations determining the manner and time of their storage on the basis of ordinances of the Minister of Culture. This is why – while selecting the external partner – it is worth to check whether it holds the required entry in the Register of Depositaries of the HR & payroll files kept by the Marshal of a given voivodeship and what the results of periodical audits of such entity, conducted by the Marshal’s Office, are.

Models of cooperation with an external partner
Handling of the HR & payrolls files is most often realized in two cooperation models. The first one relates to the situation when the target entity storing the files takes over the documentation after liquidated enterprises and provides excerpts or authenticated copies of the files upon the order inter alia of former employees of the enterprise or authorized institutions. The ordering party usually pays for the costs of issuance of the excerpts or copies only after receipt of the sent documents. Fees for the rendered services should be compliant with the ordinance of the Minister of Culture.

The second cooperation model relates to the situation, in which the entity storing the files takes over the documentation from an existing enterprise. Then, the documents are subject to provision upon the order of the client which decides whether the document should be issued in paper or electronic form. In case of services rendered by ArchiDoc from OEX Group, there is an additional possibility to scan the whole taken-over documentation or its selected part and to store it in electronic form which allows for preparation of employment and remuneration certificates without the need to turn to the originals. An authorized HR Department employee of the client – after logging into the system and being authenticated in the system – obtains access to the indicated documents.

Commissioning the process of storing and compiling the HR & payroll documentation to an external partner is beneficial for all parties – the company will reduce its costs of handling this process, the employee will obtain the required certificates faster and the Social Insurance Company will evade long-lasting check and appeal procedures. Therefore, in the next years it seems to be necessary to accelerate maximally the process of implementation of electronic solutions and procedures of documentation management, improving the formalities, to arrangement of which thousands of Polish citizens are obliged every year.