Paperless contract signing: where to start in a company

Start paperless contract signing with a list of your contracts, templates and responsible people, then check the required form for each contract. According to a 2023 legal opinion, a signature in SignSafe is handwritten and meets written form, but it does not replace a notarial deed, and where the electronic form of Art. 78¹ of the Polish Civil Code is required, we can connect a qualified signature in SignSafe. This summarises the opinion and is not legal advice.

Start paperless contract signing with a review: which contracts you conclude most often, what form they need and who signs them in your company. According to a legal opinion by Gałecki and Associates dated 21 August 2023, a signature in SignSafe is handwritten and meets written form. It does not replace a notarial deed, and where the electronic form of Art. 78¹ of the Civil Code is required, we can connect a qualified signature in SignSafe. This summarises the opinion and is not legal advice.

Where do you start with signing contracts online in a company?

Do not start with a tool; start with an inventory. List:

• which contracts you sign (with customers, suppliers, employees, tenants),
• how many there are and which repeat most often,
• where signed copies end up today,
• who is authorised to sign on behalf of the company.

The best first candidate is a repeatable, simple contract signed by people far from the office. That is where time savings show immediately.

Which contracts can be signed without paper?

It depends on the form required by law or by the contract itself. A simplified split:

• written form: a handwritten SignSafe signature meets it according to the 2023 legal opinion; as a last resort the statement is valid in documentary form (Art. 77² of the Civil Code),
• electronic form under Art. 78¹ of the Civil Code: requires a qualified electronic signature, which we can connect in SignSafe,
• notarial deed: requires a notary and cannot be replaced by a signature on a screen.

Examples from the opinions: a real estate brokerage contract requires written or electronic form on pain of nullity, and a contract concluded by the parties in SignSafe meets the form requirement according to the 2024 opinion. A contract for healthcare services requires written form on pain of nullity, which according to the opinion for medical facilities a SignSafe signature meets. A property sale requires a notarial deed, so paper (at the notary) stays.

What should you watch for with employment contracts and foreign nationals?

According to legal information from Gałecki and Associates from 2021, there is no obstacle to concluding contracts via SignSafe with Polish citizens and with foreigners whose status equals Polish citizens as regards the right to work. There are caveats:

• the employer should confirm to the employee in writing that an employment contract was concluded and its terms before work starts (Art. 29 § 2 of the Labour Code),
• in work-permit proceedings and labour inspection checks, authorities may read “written form” as a paper document, which is an interpretation risk,
• a foreigner must be given a translation of the contract into a language they understand.

In addition, according to a legal analysis prepared for SignSafe, archiving employee records in electronic form requires a digital copy bearing the employer’s qualified signature or seal. Where a qualified signature is required, we can connect one in SignSafe.

How do you roll out the process in five steps?

1. Pick one contract to start with, preferably a repeatable one.
2. Check the form with a lawyer and list the exceptions (contracts that stay on paper or follow another route).
3. Prepare a PDF template with fields for the recipient (data, dates, choices).
4. Send a test to a colleague and one friendly customer; check the phone screen, status and storage of the signed file.
5. Set the archive and responsibility: where the signed file goes and who checks status.

In SignSafe the recipient does not create an account or install an app, and status is visible in the document list. The free trial period at the start lets you go through these steps without commitment.

Does rollout require integration with a system?

Not at the beginning. Manual sending is enough for a few dozen contracts a month, but when contracts are created in a system (CRM, HR) it is worth automating. SignSafe offers integration through a REST API, and in that case we do practically the whole implementation; pricing is individual. For API customers and those switching provider we offer 50% of the price of the current offer on presentation of an invoice or offer from the current provider (terms agreed individually), described under switching e-signature provider.

What do customers say?

Restaurant Mimosa and Inter-Trans, companies from different industries, use SignSafe to sign contracts and protocols; you will find their opinions under reviews. These are customer voices, not a guarantee of results in your company.

What next

• See how signing contracts online works.
• Read about the electronic document workflow and legal security.
• Considering a switch or automation? Check switching provider and API integration.
• Contact us.