Kasa Rolniczego
Ubezpieczenia Społecznego

Social insurance for farmers, in accordance with the principles set out in the Farmers’ Social Insurance Act of 20 December 1990, applies to farmers and household members working with them and farmer’s helpers who:

1. hold a Polish citizenship or
2. are entitled to work in the territory of the Republic of Poland pursuant to Article 87 of the Act of 20 April 2004 on Employment Promotion and Labour Market Institutions, or are exempted from the obligation to have a work permit on the basis of special provisions.

The Farmers’ Social Insurance Act distinguishes: 
1) two types of insurance: 

• old-age and disability pension insurance, 
• accident, sickness and maternity insurance, 

2) two forms of insurance coverage: 

• mandatory,
• voluntary.

Both types of insurance are mandatory for: 

• the farmer, i.e. an adult natural person living and conducting agricultural activity in the territory of the Republic of Poland in person and self-employed, on a farm he/she owns, with an area of over 1 conversion ha of arable land (including within the group of agricultural producers), or in a special division of agricultural production, the size and type of which are specified in the Annex to the Farmers’ Social Insurance Act, as well as the person who allocated the land of his/her farm for afforestation; 
• the farmer's spouse, if he/she works on an agricultural holding or in a household directly related to this agricultural holding; 
• a household member, i.e. a person close to a farmer who is at least 16 years old, stays with the farmer in a common household or lives within his/her farm or in close proximity, permanently works on this farm and does not have an employment contract of any kind with the farmer; 
• if they are not subject to other social insurance and have no determined entitlement to an old-age or disability pension or the right to social insurance benefits. The above condition indicates that when determining the coverage of social insurance, any other insurance under the general insurance system has priority over agricultural insurance.

The exception to this rule applies to farmers and household members subject to full social insurance for farmers under the Act (mandatorily), who: 

1. additionally undertake non-agricultural business activities or cooperate in conducting them. These persons, in order to remain in the social insurance of farmers, should be subject to this insurance to full extent by virtue of the Act, continuously for at least 3 years before the date of commencing non-agricultural business activities or cooperation in conducting these activities.
   In addition, these persons, by May 31 of each tax year, have a statutory obligation to submit a certificate or statement to the Fund that they have not exceeded the amount of income tax due for the previous tax year on revenues from non-agricultural economic activities The “annual limit” of this tax in force for the past year is announced by the minister competent for rural development in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland “Monitor Polski”.
2. perform agency agreements, mandate contracts or other contracts for services to which the provisions of the mandate apply in accordance with the Civil Code, or have been appointed to the supervisory board despite being covered by other social insurance. These persons are still subject to social insurance for farmers, if the income obtained from the performance of the above-mentioned contracts or from performing a  function in the supervisory board on a monthly basis does not exceed the minimum wage in a  given period, determined on the basis of separate provisions.
3. receive an integration benefit or a scholarship during the time they participate in a training course, internship or professional preparation of adults (to which they were referred by a district labour office), receive a scholarship during the time they participate in a training course, internship or professional preparation of adults (to which they were referred by entities other than the district labour office), receive a scholarship on the basis of the
   provisions on employment promotion and labour market institutions during the time they participate in post-graduate studies, perform active military service as a non-professional soldier, perform substitute service. These persons are still subject to social insurance for farmers if they were subject to full social insurance for farmers by virtue of the Act immediately prior to the date of coverage for the above-mentioned reasons with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). Withdrawal from social insurance for farmers is possible at any time provided that a statement to this effect is submitted to the Fund. In this case, the insurance shall cease, but not earlier than from the date on which the statement was submitted to the Fund.

Old-age and disability pension insurance as the only type of insurance is mandatory for:

• persons receiving a structural pension co-financed from the funds of the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund or from the funds of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development until the entitlement to an old-age pension from agricultural social insurance;
• the spouse of the person referred to above, if the structural pension co-financed from the funds of the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund or from the funds of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development is paid with an increase for that spouse.

Accident, sickness and maternity insurance as the only type of insurance is mandatory to a limited extent for the farmer’s helpers, i.e. adults who provide assistance to the farmer for a fee when harvesting hops, fruit, vegetables, tobacco, herbs and herbal plants under a harvest help agreement.
Such insurance gives the right only to a one-off compensation for permanent or long-term damage to health or death as a result of an accident at work on a farm or an agricultural occupational disease.

Voluntarily, both types of insurance cover persons who: 

• do not meet the conditions for being subject to mandatory insurance, and for which agricultural activity is a permanent source of income, including in particular farmers conducting agricultural activity on a farm with an area not exceeding 1 conversion ha and their spouses and household members working on that farm; 
• as a farmer, transferred the land of their farm for afforestation, 
• if they are not subject to other social insurance and have no determined entitlement to an old-age or disability pension or the right to social insurance benefits.

Voluntary accident, sickness and maternity insurance covers to a limited extent persons conducting agricultural activity and who are subject to other social insurance or who have a determined entitlement to an old-age or disability pension (excluding retirees and pensioners who have a determined inability to live independently). Such insurance gives the right only to a one-off compensation for permanent or long-term damage to health or death as a result of an accident at work on a farm or an agricultural occupational disease.

Voluntary old-age and disability pension insurance only covers persons who:

• were subject to social insurance for farmers as a farmer and ceased agricultural activity without being entitled to an old-age or disability pension if they were subject to old-age and disability insurance for a period of at least 12 years and 6 months; 
• receive farmer’s pension due to incapacity for work as a temporary pension;
• operated a farm or worked there and because of that they were subject to social insurance for farmers, and then ceased agricultural activity or work on a farm in connection with the right to nursing allowance or special care allowance or allowance mfor a guardian until reaching the 25-year period of mold age and disability insurance. These people can decide if they want to be insured in KRUS or ZUS. If they choose old-age and disability pension insurance in KRUS, they should, within 30 days starting from the day of issue of the decision granting the relevant allowance or benefit, submit an application for coverage to the current organisational unit of mKRUS;
• receive a parental supplementary benefit, referred mto in the Act of 31 January 2019 on Parental Supplementary Benefit until reaching the 25-year period of old-age and disability insurance. 

Coverage by voluntary insurance takes place after submitting an appropriate application to the KRUS organizational unit and not earlier than from the date of submitting this application. 

Insurance contributions for all persons insured on a farm are paid by the farmer, with the exception of:

• contributions for persons subject to old-age and disability insurance upon request due to the receipt of a nursing allowance, special care allowance or allowance for a guardian, which is paid by an authority paying this benefit or allowance;
• contributions for old-age and disability pension insurance for a farmer or a household member and a family member of a farmer or a household member subject to insurance,  while caring for a child, financed from the state budget.

The amount of the contribution for accident, sickness and maternity insurance is determined by the Farmers Social Insurance Council. The President of the Fund announces the amount of the fee in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland “Monitor Polski”.

The accident, sickness and maternity insurance contribution is calculated in an equal amount for each insured person, excluding persons covered by accident, sickness and maternity insurance upon request to a limited extent, for whom 1/3 of the basic contribution is charged.
The contribution for accident, sickness and maternity insurance for the farmer’s helper is due in full every month.
The basic monthly contribution for old-age and disability pension insurance amounts to 10% of the basic oldage pension in the last month of the previous quarter. 

However, if an agricultural holding covers an area of arable land of over 50 conversion hectares, the farmer pays an additional monthly old-age and disability pension insurance contribution of:

• 12% of the basic old-age pension – if the farm covers an area of arable land of up to 100 conversion ha;
• 24% of the basic old-age pension – if the farm covers an area of arable land of over 100 conversion ha up to 150 conversion ha;
• 36% of the basic old-age pension – if the farm covers an area of arable land of over 150 conversion ha up to 300 conversion ha;
• 48% of the basic old-age pension – if the farm covers an area of arable land of over 300 conversion ha. 

 In each area group of a farm, only the basic contribution is paid for old-age and disability pension insurance for the household members. 

A farmer is obliged to pay the basic monthly contribution for old-age and disability pension insurance in a double amount for persons working on a farm and at the same time conducting non-agricultural business activities or cooperating in conducting such activities.

The contribution assessment is monthly, and the payment deadline is quarterly and falls on the last day of the first month of a given quarter, with the exception of contributions for a helper, whose payment deadline for a given month expires on the 15th day of the following month. However, if the insurance period is shorter than a month, the amount of the contribution is calculated in proportion to the number of days of coverage.

The right to finance contributions for old-age and disability pension insurance from the state budget in connection with personally taking care of a child is granted to:

• a farmer;
• a household member;
• a family member of a farmer or a household member;

from the date of submitting the application to this effect to the organisational unit of KRUS and after fulfilling the following conditions:

• not being subject to any other social insurance, e.g. due to employment under an employment contract or mandate contract;
• not having a determined entitlement to an old-age or disability pension or the right to social insurance benefits;
• ceasing or suspending non-agricultural business activities in the case of persons who conduct it, or ceasing cooperation in conducting such activities by persons who cooperate in conducting them;
• not using the same entitlements in KRUS or ZUS by the other parent (e.g. financing of contributions from the state budget in connection with personally taking care of a child, or receiving a maternity benefit, or taking parental leave). 

    This right is granted for a period of:

• up to 3 years, but not longer than until the child turns 5;
• up to 6 years, but no longer than until the child turns 18, in the case of caring for a disabled child who has a disability or a degree of disability certificate.