Who may receive the disability pension

Anyone who meets all of the following three requirements. 

1. Has a certificate from a ZUS certifying doctor. In order to obtain a certificate, you must go to a general practitioner or a specialist to obtain a health certificate (form OL-9). You must submit the health certificate, together with other necessary documents, at a ZUS branch. After examining the application, the ZUS will notify you when you will be examined by a ZUS certifying doctor. If the doctor declares you completely unable to work or partially unable to work, you will receive a certificate
2. Has completed an appropriate total insurance period (contributory and non-contributory periods). The required insurance period depends on how old you were when you became unable to work:

• younger than 20 – the required insurance period is 1 year,

• between 20 to 22 years old – the required insurance period is 2 years,

• between 22 to 25 years old – the required insurance period is 3 years,

• between 25 to 30 years old – the required insurance period is 4 years,

• older than 30 – the required insurance period is 5 years. However, this insurance period of 5 years must fall within the last 10 years before the submission of the application for the disability pension or before the date on which you became unable to work.  You do not have to meet this condition if:

  • you are a woman, the doctor has declared you completely unable to work and your contributory period is at least 25 years,

  • you are a man, the doctor has declared you completely unable to work and your contributory period is at least 30 years.

You do not always need to have completed such an insurance period. There are several exceptions:

• a ZUS certifying doctor has declared you unable to work as a result of an accident on the way to or from work,

• you were registered for insurance and suffered an accident before you reached the age of 18 or within 6 months after you completed school education (at any post-primary school). In addition, gaps in your insurance coverage cannot be longer than 6 months.

If you are years, months or days short of the required insurance period, you may add periods of farmers’ social insurance (if you have completed any). 

An insurance period is a sum of the following periods (years, months and days):

• contributory periods, i.e. periods during which you are employed (for example, under an employment contract) or pay social insurance contributions or pension contributions to the ZUS by yourself,

and

• non-contributory periods, i.e. periods during which insurance contributions are not paid to the ZUS, but which are counted towards your old-age pension and disability pension (because during that time you, for example, study, receive a sickness benefit or a rehabilitation benefit).

Non-contributory periods making up an insurance period cannot exceed ⅓ of contributory periods. Example: you study for 5 years (a non-contributory period) and then work under an employment contract for 3 years (a contributory period) – your insurance period is 4 years: all the 3 years making up the contributory period + only 1 year from the non-contributory period (rather than all the 5 years, as non-contributory periods must constitute ⅓ of contributory periods). You must demonstrate that you have completed your insurance period. You may submit, for example, certificates of employment (a contributory period) or a certificate from a higher education institution (a non-contributory period).

An accident on the way to or from work is an accident that takes place when an insured person travels to or comes back from:

• the place where that person works (for example, an office or a customer’s home if that person works there),

• the place where that person receives education (for example, a school or a higher education institution),

• the place where that person usually eats their meals (for example, a canteen next to the workplace).

That person’s route must be either the shortest possible or the most convenient in terms of transport. Examples of routes most convenient in terms of transport:

• the longest route, but that on which you travel faster (no traffic jams),

• a more convenient route because of a detour, roadworks or an accident on the shortest route.

If such a route is disrupted or changed for personal reasons (for example, shopping or a social meeting) and then an accident happens, such an accident is NOT regarded as an accident on the way to or from work. The exceptions are justified personal reasons, for example disrupting a journey or changing the route to go to hospital.

• during a contributory period,

• during a non-contributory period,

• no later than 18 months from the date on which a contributory or non-contributory period ended.

This does not apply to you if:

• you are a woman, the doctor has declared you completely unable to work and you have demonstrated completion of a contributory and non-contributory period of at least 20 years,

• you are a man, the doctor has declared you completely unable to work and you have demonstrated completion of a contributory and non-contributory period of at least 25 years.

What you need to prepare

• an application for a disability pension for incapacity for work (form ERN) – download it and complete it at home; paper application forms are also available at a ZUS branch,

• information on contributory and non-contributory periods (form ERP-6) – download it and complete it at home; paper application forms are also available at a ZUS branch,

• documents confirming your insurance period – both contributory and non-contributory periods, for example certificates of employment, an insurance card, a certificate from a higher education institution confirming the period of education, excerpts from your children’s birth certificates, a military identity card or a certificate from the Military Recruiting Command (Wojskowa Komenda Uzupełnień) stating the period of compulsory military service,

• a certificate of employment and remuneration (form ERP-7) or an insurance card containing entries on earnings,

• a health certificate (form OL-9) issued by the doctor responsible for your treatment – obtain such a certificate from the doctor no earlier than one month before the submission of the application,

• medical records that may be of relevance to the ZUS certifying doctor (a case history, hospital discharge summaries, a preventive medical examination report, therapeutic or vocational rehabilitation records),

• an accident sheet for an accident on the way to or from work, testimonies of witnesses to the accident and other documents confirming that you had an accident on the way to or from work – if you have not completed the required insurance period.

What you need to do

1. Collect all the necessary documents. See What you need to prepare for a detailed list of documents.

2. Submit the documents to the ZUS. See Where to submit the documents for details. You may submit the documents in person or through a plenipotentiary. Inquire at the ZUS how to settle the matter through the plenipotentiary.

3. The ZUS will determine when you will be examined by a ZUS certifying doctor.

4. Wait for the ZUS’s decision. See How long you will wait for details.

Where to submit the documents

At the ZUS branch having jurisdiction over the place of residence of the person concerned.

Enter your postal code to find out where your ZUS branch is located.

 

The documents may be:

• submitted at a ZUS branch, 

• sent by post,

• submitted online via the ZUS Electronic Services Platform (PUE ZUS) – create an account on the PUE ZUS portal for this purpose. Find out how to create an account on the ZUS Electronic Services Platform. You must also have a trusted profile or a qualified certificate. They make it possible to verify your identity so that no one can pose as you. Find out how to create a trusted profile. 

How much you will pay

The service is free of charge.

How long you will wait

A ZUS official will accept your application and other necessary documents straight away. After a preliminary examination of the application, you will be notified when the ZUS certifying doctor will examine you.

How much you will receive

There is no fixed amount. The ZUS calculates the amount of disability pension on a case-by-case basis. It depends on, inter alia, the number of contributory and non-contributory periods completed and earnings.

How long you will receive the disability pension

Depending on the ZUS’s decision, you may receive:

1. a permanent disability pension, if the ZUS has declared you permanently unable to work,

2. a disability pension for a definite period, if the ZUS has declared you temporarily unable to work,

3. a training benefit, if the ZUS certifying doctor declares you fit to work but not in your profession (declares that you need to change your profession). Such a benefit will give you time to prepare for a new job. The ZUS will inform the labour office about your training benefit. The office will determine when you can meet an official to arrange the details of the training. You may receive the training benefit for:

• 6 months,

• up to 36 months, if the labour office submits to the ZUS a request for extension of your benefit for the duration of training or a course that will allow you to change your job,

• up to 6 months, if the labour office informs the ZUS that you do not participate in training or a course or that no appropriate training is available.

You are not entitled to the training benefit if you earn any revenue (for example, you work under an employment contract or a contract of mandate or you are undergoing military service).

If you receive a disability pension for a definite period, you may submit an application for re-determination of the right to disability pension for incapacity for work – open the file in a new window. The ZUS will notify you accordingly and send you detailed information no later than 3 months before the disability pension ends. The ZUS may extend your right to the disability pension after such an application is submitted on the basis of a certifying doctor’s decision.

If you do not agree with the certificate or the ZUS’s decision

The ZUS certifying doctor may declare you able to work. If you do not agree with that certificate, complain against it to a ZUS medical committee within 14 days from the receipt of the certificate. The ZUS will inform you when and where the ZUS medical committee will meet.

If you do not agree with the ZUS’s decision (for example, the decision on the amount of the disability pension), you may appeal against it to the regional labour and social security court. Do it through the ZUS branch that issued the decision. You should do this within one month from the receipt of the ZUS’s decision.

In the appeal:

• indicate the Ref. No of the decision that you disagree with,

• briefly explain why you disagree with the decision,

• affix your signature.

A plenipotentiary may also lodge an appeal on your behalf. Inquire at a ZUS branch how to settle the matter through the plenipotentiary.

If the ZUS concludes that you are right, it will change its decision.

If the ZUS concludes that you are not right, it will refer your appeal to a court within 30 calendar days from the date of its submission to the ZUS.

Legal basis:

Act of 13 October 1998 on the social security system (Journal of Laws 2020, item 266, as amended)

Act of 17 December 1998 on old-age pensions and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund (Journal of Laws 2020, item 53, as amended)

 

NAME OF THE ENTITY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THE INFORMATION

Ministry of Family and Social Policy

Department of Social Insurance

email: info@mrips.gov.p