Article 134 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act (ZPIZ-2) went into effect at the beginning of the year. FURS is now responsible for penalizing employers who fail to issue REK forms. As we have reported, these violations rarely result in fines. FURS has advised employers who fail to pay wages and do not submit REK forms to do so as soon as possible to avoid fines.

FURS plans to deploy mobile units in February, which will enable the agency to increase oversight of employers that have not filed REK forms. The mobile units will also check if the REK forums have not been submitted because of unpaid wages. They will also check if employees have received wages, while their employers have failed to pay the social security contributions.

FURS will issue fines for employers who fail to pay out wages in accordance with the new legislation. The fines range between 450 and 20,000 euros; the amount will depend on the size and the status of the employer. Fines of 450 to 2000 will also be issued to the persons responsible.

The National Assembly passed the new legislation last year. The original bill submitted to parliament by a group of MPs was considerably more ambitious, since it called for the immediate enforcement of payment in cases where employers failed to pay wages. The government believed that the proposal represented an excessively drastic intervention in other mechanisms, so MPs settled for the investigation of tax violations and the resulting fines.