As ZUS reminds, new rules for calculating seniority come into force in May. The employer will be able to add to it the period of professional activity other than employment under an employment contract. This may be useful for those who want to obtain full leave (26 days) earlier. From January 1, 2026, these regulations already cover people employed in public finance sector entities, and from May 1, they will also apply to employees of private companies. However, people who want to take advantage of the new opportunities must meet one condition – obtain an insurance certificate from ZUS.
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Already 1 million certificates from ZUS for Poles
The new regulations do not apply to retirement years. They do not affect the right to a pension or the method of calculating its amount. However, they have another advantage – they allow you to obtain an earlier right to full-time leave, which may be an attractive privilege for many Poles. Many people have already applied to ZUS for the appropriate certificate.
“Until April 28, ZUS received nearly 640,000 applications for the issuance of insurance certificates for the purpose of adding periods to the length of service. Since we have 7 days to consider such an application, the process is as automated as possible. We have already issued over 1 million certificates,” ZUS informs on its website.
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If the employee obtains a certificate from ZUS, the employer may add to his/her length of service, among others: periods of paying pension and disability insurance contributions for conducting non-agricultural business activities, under a contract of mandate or other contract for the provision of services, cooperation with a person performing a contract of mandate, being a member of an agricultural production cooperative or a cooperative of agricultural circles, etc.
An application for a certificate can only be submitted electronically using an account in the Institute's IT system (eZUS).
