Social security

Working in Europe | Pension rights | Poland

The national welfare policy in Poland is the responsibility of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (website in Polish), and the Social Insurance Institution (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, ZUS) acts as its executive agency. ZUS is responsible for collecting contributions and afterwards paying benefits to the entitled persons.

Social insurance contributions

The contributions are divided into 4 categories: old-age pension insurance, disability insurance, sickness insurance (including maternity) and work accident insurance. Their amounts paid to ZUS are calculated as percentages of a monthly salary.

All the 4 types of the insurance contributions are obligatory in case of the regular employment contract and are paid by an employer or empoyee in the amounts specified in the table below. In case of the employee's part, the amounts are simply subtracted from the salary.

Types and rates of monthly contributions (2020):

Type of contribution	Total contribution rate (%)	Employer (%)	Employee (%)
Old-age pension	19.52	9.76	9,76
Disability	8	6.50	1.50
Sickness (incl. maternity)	2.45	-	2.45
Work accidents*	0.67 - 3.33	0.67- 3.33	-

* the rate depends on the type of the activity you perform, according to the Polish Classiﬁcation of Activity

It should also be noted that on top of the above contributions, 9% of your monthly salary is paid for health insurance (in case of a regular employment contract; more about Healthcare system in Poland). There are also other minor work related contributions such as Labour and Social Fund or others calculated in a different way or applying to other than social security aspects of employment.

In case of 2 most common types of civil-law contracts:

a free-for-task agreement (umowa zlecenie), 3 types of contributions are compulsory: old-age pension insurance, disability insurance and work accident insurance. The sickness insurance is not obligatory but can be obtained voluntarily;
a specific-task contract (umowa o dzieło) none of the above-mentioned contributions are obligatory. However, you can obtain the old-age pension and disability insurance on a voluntary basis.

Each month the employers inform the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) about the amount of the paid contributions (using a special form: ZUS RCA, ZUS RZA and ZUS RSA). Once a year, employers are also obliged to provide their employees with the same information, in writing. You also have the right to request this information once a month, if needed. The information is given to you on the ZUS RMUA form or a different document containing the same information.

Based on the paid insurance contributions, the insured are entitled to receive various social security benefits, such as:

sickness allowance - if you are on a sick leave, you will be paid 80% of your basic salary (calculated on the basis of an average monthly salary from the last 12 months,excluding any additional components such as bonuses),
maternity allowance - calculated in the same way
disability pension - in case of long-term incapacity for work
old-age pension
or in case of work accident - a lump sum compensation.

One should also note that in addition to the social security and healthcare contributions, each salary is subject to personal income tax which amounts to either 17% or 32%. More information about the tax thresholds in Taxation section.

European coordination of social security

Within the European Union countries, the European Economic Area (EU + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and of Switzerland there is a coordination mechanism of the national social security schemes which prevents from situations when a person moving across several countries is subject to social security legislation of more than one country or no country. Since Poland is a member state of the European Union and the European Economic Area, Polish citizens have the right to the free movement within the EU countries.

The European coordination of social security schemes gives you the following benefits:

You never "lose" your contributions – it means that contributions paid on your income in each country are summed up;
You do not pay double contributions towards insurance systems in each of those countries.

Remember that due benefits are not subject to any kind of reduction, change or suspension on the grounds that the beneficiary or their family lives in a different Member State than the one in which the institution responsible for the payments is located. The principle of equal treatment grants you and the citizens of the country you live in equal rights.

The European coordination of social security schemes in practice:

If you do not have social insurance in your country, you have to pay social security contributions in Poland in the same way as Polish employees. Of course, your contributions paid here will be summed up with all the contributions paid before and after in other EU countries.
If you are employed in your country and you arrive in Poland for the purpose of employment, you can still pay social security contribution in your country if you bring an A1 form with you. The A1 form is a document confirming that you are an employee covered by the social security system of another country. The standard form can be obtained from your employer in your country and its validity is certified in the national social security institution. The A1 form is available in each language of the EEA countries.
If you are employed in your country and your employer delegates you to a Polish institution for a predictable period not exceeding 24 months, you will still pay social security contributions in your home country. In this case the A1 form is obligatory.

If your stay needs to be prolonged, your employer can apply for an extension of the possibility of paying contributions in your home country. In such case he/she should apply to a proper institution in your country on your behalf to get a permission. If you do not obtain the permission, you are obliged to pay contributions in Poland.

If you are delegated for a period exceeding 24 months, you have to contribute towards social security scheme in Poland from the beginning of your stay.

Moving within Europe?

Social security and citizens of other countries

As far as non-EU countries are concerned, Poland concluded bilateral social security agreements with:Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine, United States of America, Canada, Korea and Australia. The aim of such an agreement is to avoid paying double contributions to social security schemes (in your home country and in Poland) and to settle the transfer of the paid contributions. Even though the general rule (the principle of territoriality) indicates that the obligation of social security arises in the country where the employment takes place, always pay attention to certain exceptions resulting from the bilateral international agreements.

In other cases, foreigners employed in Poland have to pay full social security contributions in Poland according to the national rules. All the paid contributions "stay" in Poland and cannot be transferred to your home country or withdrawn from the Social Security Institution after you finish employment in Poland.

Also note that PhD students from non-European countries are not covered by social security system in Poland. This is because Polish universities are not obliged to cover PhD students’ contributions. It is especially important when it comes to health insurance which is compulsory. Therefore, PhD students should buy their health insurance individually (preferrably in the Polish National Health Fund).

Only those PhD students who study and work simoultaneously (based on a regular employment contract) can have their social security contributions paid by their employer.

Useful links

Social Insurance Institution's brochure "Social security in Poland" (2017)
European Commission's brochure "Your social security rights in Poland" (2019)
Social Security Coordination in Europe