Jaki jest właściwy sposób korzystania ze zwolnienia lekarskiego?

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What is the right way to use sick leave?

When absence due to illness is excused.

A medical certificate (L4 leave) is proof of an employee's inability to work due to illness.

It is most often issued electronically according to the Social Security template.

The date of inability to work is the day given on the sick leave as the day of onset of the illness.

The certificate makes it possible to establish the employee's entitlement to benefits related to the illness, hospital stay or other health care facility.

If the employee does not have a medical certificate, then:

Absence from work despite illness does not provide a basis for payment of sickness benefits.
If the doctor finds that the employee has become ill before the date of the examination, he may issue a sick leave with an earlier date, up to 3 days earlier. This restriction does not apply if the sick leave is issued by a psychiatrist who has found or suspects a mental disorder that limits the employee's ability to evaluate her own behavior.

Illness of an employee during pregnancy.

A pregnant employee may submit to her employer a certificate of pregnancy issued by a doctor informing her of this condition.
This certificate does not exempt her from working for the company, but the employer must respect the pregnant employee's rights, such as prohibiting her from working overtime or sending her on a business trip away from her regular place of work without her consent.

The employer often finds out about the pregnancy from the pregnancy sick leave, or «code B».
The grace period for pregnancy is 270 days, and sick leave and benefits are 100%. Sick leave for the first 33 days of sickness in a calendar year is paid by the employer, and from the 34th day - by Social Security.

How must the employee notify the employer of the illness?

Electronic sick leave is available in the employer's personal PUE profile as soon as it is issued by the doctor. There is a separate place in the PUE profile with electronic sick leave visible.

The employee is obliged to inform you immediately about the period of sickness absence. In extreme situations, such as an accident, and when family members are unable to notify the employer of the illness, they must do so no later than the second day of absence.

If, as an employer, you do not specify in your work regulations or other document how employees are to be notified of sickness absence, they may do so in person, through another person, by phone, text message, e-mail or registered mail, in which case the date of notification is considered the date of the postmark.

If the employee failed to provide or provided information about the illness and its duration too late, this violates the established work organization. A warning or reprimand may be imposed on such an employee. In serious cases, inaction may be considered a reason for termination of employment with or without notice.

What benefits are available during sick leave?

In case of illness, an employee who is registered with the social security system is entitled to sick pay for each day of illness, including days off. Its amount depends on the type of illness and the circumstances surrounding the cause of the absence.

The reasons for issuing medical certificates are confirmed by the codes printed on them:

Repeated illness within 60 days - code A
Pregnancy - code B
Alcohol abuse - code C
Tuberculosis - code D.

As a rule, sick pay is 80% of the assessment base.

In the case of inability to work due to an accident at work, illness during pregnancy or due to the examination of candidates for cell, tissue and organ donors or organ donation surgery - sick pay is 100% of the assessment base.

As an employer, you pay sick pay for the first 33 days of an employee's illness in a calendar year. Up to this limit, you add up subsequent sick pay during the calendar year. Then from the 34th day onward, sick pay is paid by the Social Security.

For employees over the age of 50, from the following calendar year you pay sick pay only after the first 14 days of illness, and Social Security pays sick pay from the 15th day.

The grace period, or period of payment of sick pay and sick benefit, is limited to 182 days. For pregnant employees and contractors and tuberculosis patients, it is 270 days.

Information on the number of paid sick days in a given year must be included in the employee's employment history.

If you employ more than 20 insured persons (employees and contractors), whom you report to social security, you pay sickness benefits to the employees, and the social security company reimburses you for the money paid.

If there are fewer insured persons, the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) will pay the benefits directly. You must prepare a Z-3 Social Security certificate for the employee, or a Z-3a certificate for the contractor.

Sick leave and sick pay will not be paid to the employee if:

The 30-day waiting period has not elapsed;
Inability to work arose during unpaid leave, parental leave, temporary detention or imprisonment;
The employee has been suspended from work due to suspicion of carrying infectious agents, if he or she does not take up alternative work that is not prohibited for such persons, that corresponds to his or her professional qualifications, or that he or she can perform after prior training;
Inability to work was caused by an intentional crime or misdemeanor committed by the employee and this is confirmed by an enforceable court judgment;
Inability to work was caused by alcohol abuse, in which case no benefit is paid for the first 5 days of inability to work;
During the period of work incapacity, the employee performs other gainful employment or uses the work incapacity in a manner inconsistent with the purpose of the incapacity, or the medical certificate was forged.