2026-01-07 18:49
publication
2026-01-07 18:49
President Karol Nawrocki signed the reform of medical certification at ZUS, which also introduces new rules for controlling sick leave – the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland announced on Wednesday. The purpose of the new regulations is, among others, sealing the system for checking the correct use of L4.
The amendment to the Act on the social security system and certain other acts is based on two pillars – the reform of medical certification in ZUS and the reform of sick leave.
The regulations are intended to shorten the waiting time for judgments and improve working conditions for medical examiners, which will result in filling staff shortages.
Medical certificates issued by ZUS authorize, among others: to work incapacity pension, care allowance and social pension. In addition, certifying doctors check the correctness of certifying temporary incapacity for work and issuing medical certificates.
According to the new regulations, medical examiners will be able to choose whether they want to work under an employment contract or a civil law contract. The chief physician of ZUS, his deputy, the chief certifying physician, the deputy chief certifying physician and physician inspectors for the supervision of medical certification will be employed solely on the basis of employment contracts.
The basic remuneration of medical examiners will be determined on similar principles as the lowest basic remuneration of certain employees employed in medical entities. According to the Ministry of Labor, this will translate into an approximately 25-percent increase in the remuneration of doctors in ZUS.
As a rule, doctors without specialist titles will also be employed as certifying doctors. The regulation provides for the introduction of the possibility for physiotherapists, nurses and nurses to issue judgments in specific types of cases (related to their competences).
The regulation provides for the introduction of single-person adjudication in all cases. In the first and second instance, as a result of filing an allegation of defectiveness or objection, the decision is to be issued by a single person. In particularly complex cases, the chief certifying physician or his deputy will be able to refer the case for reconsideration by a total of three certifying physicians. Currently, in the first instance, the decision is issued individually by a certifying doctor, and in the second instance – each time by a three-person medical commission.
The amendment also assumes changes in the organizational structure of medical certification. It was proposed to consolidate tasks related to issuing judgments and implementing direct supervision over judgments in judgment centers that will be established in ZUS branches.
The regulations clarify when you can lose sickness benefits.
It will be lost to people who perform paid work during their leave or undertake activities that are incompatible with the purpose of the leave (except for minor activities, e.g. shopping) or activities that prolong the illness (e.g. a strenuous trip during convalescence).
The regulation also introduces the possibility of taking sick leave in one place and working in another (e.g. for people with two jobs – if the nature of the work allows it).
New rules for controlling sick leave will also be introduced. During work on the act, Sebastian Gajewski, deputy head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, emphasized that the provisions regarding sick leave are intended to solve the problem of too strict construction of the grounds for losing the right to sickness benefits, questioned by the courts, and to facilitate the control of sick leave by ZUS.
The Social Insurance Institution will be entitled to carry out inspections of insured persons and persons after the termination of sickness insurance regarding the correctness of the use of leave from work in accordance with their purpose. The institution will be able to request the entity issuing the medical certificate or the entity providing health services where the medical certificate was issued to provide the medical records of the insured person or a sick family member.
The inspection is to determine whether the person is taking actions that exclude him or her from the right to temporary leave from work, and in the case of care allowance, also to determine whether, apart from the insured person, there are no other family members living in the same household who can provide care.
The Act, with certain exceptions, will enter into force three months after its announcement. (PAP)
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