Who may receive the rehabilitation benefit

Anyone who meets the following requirements:

1. you were previously granted a sickness benefit for an accident at work or an occupational disease,

2. despite treatment, you are still unable to return to work,

3. further treatment or rehabilitation could help you return to work,

4. you meet ONE of the following conditions:

• you are a worker (you have an employment contract),

• you are a contractor (you have concluded an agency contract, a contract of mandate or another contract for the provision of services, including a formal nanny agreement if you work as a nanny),

• you work together with a contractor, 

• you are an outworker working under a contract for outwork (you work at home, for example assemble pens, sew or make felt jewellery),

• you carry out non-agricultural economic activities or you work together with a person carrying out such activities,

• you are a member of a farming cooperative or a farmers’ cooperative association,

• you have been sentenced to imprisonment or you are remanded in custody and you have a work placement,

• you are a member of the clergy,

• you receive a sickness benefit while no longer being covered by insurance and you are still ill.

If:

• you are an MP or a senator and you receive a salary, 

• you receive a sports scholarship,

• you are a student at the National School of Public Administration (Krajowa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej) and you receive a scholarship,

• you receive a scholarship during training, work placement or vocational training for adults or vocational training at the workplace to which you have been referred by the district labour office or another institution (for example, a higher education institution),

• you are pursuing postgraduate studies and you receive a scholarship under the provisions on employment promotion and labour market institutions,

you may obtain the benefit only when you are no longer covered by insurance.

 

When you cannot receive the benefit:

• you are person who intentionally or by gross negligence infringed the provisions on the protection of life or health, which was the only cause of the accident,

• you are a person who largely contributed to the accident by being under the influence of alcohol, narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances,

• you carry out non-agricultural economic activities, work together with a person carrying out such activities or pay social insurance contributions by yourself as a member of the clergy and your debt is higher than PLN 6.60 (on the date of the accident or on the date of submission of the application for the benefit for an occupational disease). If you pay the missing contributions within 6 months from the date of the accident or the date of submission of the application for the award of the benefit for an occupational disease, you will regain the right to the benefit,

• you have been granted an old-age pension,

• you receive an unemployment benefit or a pre-retirement benefit or allowance,

• you have been granted a disability pension for incapacity for work or a teacher’s compensatory benefit, or you are on health leave,

• you are on unpaid leave or childcare leave,

• you have been sentenced to imprisonment or you are remanded in custody and you do NOT have a work placement.

A formal nanny agreement is an agreement with a nanny taking care of a child:

• older than 20 weeks until the end of the school year in which the child reaches the age of 3, 

• under the age of 4 if it is impossible or difficult for the child to receive pre-school education. 

The agreement is concluded in written form between the nanny and the parents or a single parent.

What you need to prepare

• an application for the benefit (ZNp-7) – completed both by you and by the contribution payer (for example, your employer),

• a health certificate (OL-9) – completed by the doctor responsible for your treatment,

• a professional interview from your workplace (OL-10) – issued by the contribution payer. You do not need this document if you carry out non-agricultural economic activities or you submit an application for the benefit and you are no longer covered by accident insurance, or you submit an application for the benefit for another period,

• a declaration (Z-10) – if you submit an application for the benefit and you are no longer covered by accident insurance, 

• a document confirming that you are unable to work as a result of an accident at work:

1. a report on the circumstances and cause of the accident for a worker – such a document is prepared by the contribution payer (the employer),

2. an accident sheet for other insured persons – such a document is prepared by the contribution payer or the ZUS,

• a decision of a sanitary inspector – if you have been diagnosed with an occupational disease,

• a certificate from the contribution payer (for example, your employer) – if you know that the benefit will be paid by the ZUS.

1. Z-3 certificate for workers,

2. Z-3b certificate for insured persons who carry out non-agricultural activities, insured persons who work together with persons carrying out such activities, and members of the clergy,

3. Z-3a certificate for other insured persons. 

The certificate from the contribution payer is not necessary if the ZUS pays you a sickness benefit,

• an identity document, for example identity card or passport, if you come to a ZUS branch personally.

What you need to do

1. Download and complete an application for a rehabilitation benefit.

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

3. Submit the application to the ZUS branch having jurisdiction over your place of residence. You may also submit the application electronically via the ZUS Electronic Services Platform (PUE ZUS). You may send the documents by post, or submit them in person or through a plenipotentiary.

Please remember that the ZUS will request that you undergo an examination by a ZUS certifying doctor.

When to submit the documents

Submit the application at least 6 weeks before the end of the period of entitlement to a sickness benefit (this period lasts 182 days, and 270 days if you are pregnant or you suffer from tuberculosis). In this way, you will not wait for the benefit. You will receive it when the sickness benefit ends. However, submit the application within 18 months after the period during which you received the sickness benefit.

If you cannot submit the application within this deadline for some reason (for example, you are in hospital), you may submit it within 6 months from the date on which this reason ceases to apply.

Where to submit the documents

At the ZUS branch having jurisdiction over your place of residence.

Use the ZUS browser to find out at which branch you may submit the documents.

How much you will pay

The service is free of charge.

How long you will wait

You will receive the ZUS’s decision within 60 calendar days after you submit all the documents. The decision will specify who will pay you the benefit (the ZUS or the contribution payer, such as your employer).

The certifying doctor may issue a certificate that you disagree with. You may then complain against it. The president of the ZUS may also disagree with the certifying doctor’s decision. In these two cases, the ZUS will request that you be examined by a medical committee. In such a situation, you will receive the ZUS’s decision within 30 days from the date of the examination by the medical committee.

A contribution payer is any company, institution or person that registers insured persons with the Social Insurance Institution and settles and pays social or health insurance contributions for them. It may be, for example, an employer or a person carrying out non-agricultural activities.

How much you may receive

100% of the sickness benefit assessment basis. The ZUS or the contribution payer will calculate the amount of your benefit.

The sickness benefit assessment basis:

• for workers: the average monthly remuneration (the sickness insurance contribution assessment basis reduced by the portion of social insurance contributions paid by a worker),

• for persons who are not workers: the average monthly revenue for which the sickness insurance contribution is paid, reduced by 13.71%.

Both values are calculated on the basis of your remuneration or revenue from the last 12 months before the month when you became unable to work. If you have been insured for a shorter period of time – from the entire period of insurance. In the case of a rehabilitation benefit, it is the assessment basis adopted by the ZUS or the contribution payer for a sickness benefit, after adjustment.

A contribution payer is any company, institution or person that registers insured persons with the Social Insurance Institution and settles and pays social or health insurance contributions for them. It may be, for example, an employer or a person carrying out non-agricultural activities.

When you may receive the benefit

• if the benefit is paid by the ZUS – within 60 days from the date of submission of the application,

• if the benefit is paid by the contribution payer (for example, your employer) – when the payer pays remuneration. However, the payer must do this within 30 calendar days from the receipt of the ZUS’s decision.

The benefit is paid on a regular basis – you will receive it every month to the account or address indicated in the application.

If you do not agree with the ZUS’s decision

You may appeal to the district labour and social security court. You may do it through the ZUS branch that issued the decision. You should do this within one month from the date of receipt of the ZUS’s decision. There is no fee for lodging an appeal.

Legal basis:

Act of 30 October 2002 on social insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases (Journal of Laws 2019, item 1205)

 

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.pl