Basic Steps to Be Taken to Secure Business Activity During COVID-19

The situation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic resulted in the introduction of many changes and restrictions by state authorities, which in turn had a significant impact on the activities of entrepreneurs in Poland. The changes introduced can be evaluated differently, but we must agree on one thing – only few  entrepreneurs have not been affected by the effects of the pandemic.

Anyone who runs a business bears both risk and responsibility, often not only for himself, but also for his employees. Therefore, it is worth securing the activity and functioning of your company in advance, in case of a situation where, for reasons beyond your control, such as illness, the fulfilment of daily duties related to running the company is impossible or significantly difficult.

Below, we present the most basic solutions that will allow you to secure your business and protect you from the consequences of untimely fulfilling the obligations imposed on you.

Power of attorney

It is worth considering granting a power of attorney and in this way authorizing the empowered person to perform legal actions on your behalf.

Importantly, there are three types of power of attorney:

  • general
  • generic
  • special

The difference between them concerns the scope of actions that you authorize the attorney to perform:

  • general power of attorney – authorizes one to perform actions related to the day-to-day ongoing affairs of running the company;
  • generic power of attorney – is granted for a given type of actions – e.g. to conclude contracts of a specific type;
  • special power of attorney – authorizes one to perform one specific legal action.

The form of the power of attorney should also be taken into account. The power of attorney should be granted in writing, but if a specific legal action is taken in a form other than in writing, then the power of attorney authorising one to do so, must be granted in the same form, e.g. a power of attorney to sell real estate requires a notarial deed form (just like the action of sale itself).

Proxy

Apart from the possibility of appointing a representative, it is also possible to grant a power of proxy. You have to report this fact to the CEIDG. The range of a proxy power is wider than that of an ordinary power of attorney. A power of proxy includes authorization to perform judicial and extrajudicial actions related to running a business.

The only exceptions are:

  • sale of an enterprise,
  • legal action on the basis of which an enterprise is commissioned for temporary use,
  • sale of and encumbrance on real estate.

Currently, a notification on granting a power of proxy may be made in person – at the office of the CEIDG, as well as electronically. It is obligatory to report the fact of granting power of proxy to the CEIDG.

The appointment of an attorney can also be reported to the CEIDG, thanks to which it will not be necessary to submit the power of attorney document each time and pay the power of attorney fee when taking action in the office. However, there is no obligation of attorney appointment reporting to the CEIDG.

“Banking” power of attorney

The provisions of banking law restrict the scope of information provided regarding an entity / client of a bank,  therefore there is a high risk that in a situation when an entrepreneur has a limited access to his bank accounts, the funds in those bank accounts may be “frozen”.

To avoid such a situation, it is worth granting a power of attorney that will allow the empowered  person to make payments on your behalf. However, in this case, a simple power of attorney granted in writing is not sufficient. Most banks require personal appointment of an attorney – i.e.at one of the bank’s branches, using the power of attorney template prescribed by the given bank.

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