Sick leave and sick pay in Poland

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How it works

Article 92 of the Labour Code makes the first 33 days of incapacity per year an employer cost — 14 days for those aged 50 and over — at 80% of the average pay of the previous 12 months, or 100% for pregnancy, a work-related accident or organ donation. The employee needs a doctor's certificate from day one; since 2018 it is electronic (e-ZLA) and reaches ZUS and the employer's PUE account automatically. Once the employer's days are used up, ZUS's zasiłek chorobowy takes over at the same rates for up to 182 days of one uninterrupted incapacity (270 days for tuberculosis or pregnancy), after which a rehabilitation benefit may follow. Employers with more than 20 insured staff pay the ZUS allowance through payroll and offset it against contributions.

If you run a team in Poland

Pay 80% (or 100% where applicable) from the first day of each absence until 33 days in the year are used (14 for employees aged 50+). Pick up e-ZLA certificates from PUE ZUS; you cannot demand paper. Beyond the employer period, either pay the ZUS allowance in payroll (if you have more than 20 insured) or pass the case to ZUS. You may request a ZUS check of the certificate. Sickness does not reduce annual leave, and leave accrues during it.

If you work in Poland

See a doctor on the first day; the e-ZLA goes to ZUS and your employer automatically, but you must still tell your employer you are absent, within two days. Expect 80% of your average pay — 100% if pregnant or after a work accident. After 33 days in the year (14 if you are 50+), ZUS pays instead.

Sickness and annual leave

Sickness during annual leave interrupts it and the unused days are rescheduled. Annual leave accrues during sick leave and, if it could not be taken, must be granted by 30 September of the following year.

The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Poland annual leave page — 20 working days minimum.

Keeping the record straight

Sick pay rules turn on dates: the day the illness started, the day the certificate was due, the day the employer's obligation ends and the benefit takes over. In Poland those dates decide who pays and how much, and they have to be provable months later — to a payroll auditor, an insurer, or the employee. A shared spreadsheet rarely survives that; a tracker like Leavo records each absence with its dates and approvals alongside annual leave, so the record exists before anyone asks for it. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.

Source

Primary source: Kodeks pracy art. 92 (wynagrodzenie chorobowe); Ustawa o świadczeniach pieniężnych z ubezpieczenia społecznego (zasiłek chorobowy). Rates and caps change — often every January or April — and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme. Confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.