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Get a social pension from the ZUS

You are unable to work? Find out whether you are entitled to a social pension and whether you will receive money from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).

Who may receive the social pension

You are entitled to a social pension if you meet the following conditions.

  1. You are an adult, i.e.:

  • you have reached the age of 18,

  • you are a woman who got married after reaching the age of 16.

  1. You are not entitled to:

  • an old-age pension,

  • remuneration for retired judges and public prosecutors,

  • a disability pension for incapacity for work,

  • an invalidity pension,

  • a structural pension,

  • a pre-retirement allowance,

  • a pre-retirement benefit,

  • a teacher’s compensatory benefit,

  • another type of disability pension from a foreign institution.

If you are entitled to even one of these benefits, you are not entitled to a social pension.

  1. A ZUS certifying doctor has declared you completely unable to work due to a physical impairment sustained:

  • before you reached the age of 18,

  • while receiving school education, for example at a secondary school or during studies, if this happened before you reached the age of 25,

  • during doctoral studies or postgraduate studies.

The ZUS will refer you to such a doctor if you demonstrate that you meet the other conditions. If the certifying doctor decides that your medical records are sufficient to issue a certificate of incapacity for work, an appointment will not be necessary.

You must meet additional conditions if:

  • you have agricultural property:

  1. the size of your agricultural area cannot exceed 5 conversion hectares – if you are the owner or holder of agricultural property,

  2. your share in the agricultural property cannot exceed 5 conversion hectares – if you are the co-owner of such property,

  • you receive a survivor’s pension – your survivor’s pension cannot exceed 200% of the lowest disability pension for complete incapacity for work. Find out what amount it is on the ZUS website. If your survivor’s pension exceeds this amount, you will not receive a social pension,

  • you are a foreigner:

  1. you must have a residence card with the annotation ‘access to the labour market’ (this does not apply to persons who have obtained a work permit in EU countries for up to 6 months, have been admitted to studies or employed in seasonal work, or are allowed to work on the basis of a visa)

or

  1. you must reside in Poland and have:

  • a permanent residence permit,

  • a long-term resident’s EU residence permit,

  • a temporary residence permit, for example in connection with your work or education in Poland,

  • the refugee status or subsidiary protection,

  • the right of residence or the right of permanent residence and, at the same time, you are a citizen of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland or a family member of such a citizen.

Being entitled to the pension does not mean that you will receive the money. Your pension may be suspended. See When the pension will be suspended for details.

What you need to prepare

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

  • an application for the social pension – open the file in a new window – download the application and complete it at home or at a ZUS branch. You may also submit such an application orally – all you need to do is answer a few questions from a ZUS official and sign a report prepared by that official,

  • a health certificate (OL-9) – completed by the doctor who treats you. Ask the doctor to issue such a certificate no earlier than one month before the date on which you wish to submit the application,

  • originals or copies of other documents confirming your health condition, for example test results or hospital discharge summaries (you may enclose information on an OL-9A form prepared by the ZUS).

In some cases, you must prepare additional documents, for example:

  • a professional interview from your workplace (OL-10), if you are employed. Such a document is completed by your contribution payer,

  • a certificate in which your employer will state for how long your contract has been concluded (for example, for an indefinite period) and what your revenue from work is, if you are employed. You will receive such a document from your contribution payer,

  • a certificate confirming that you have completed school education or a certificate stating the period of studies, if the physical impairment was sustained before you reached the age of 25. You will receive such a document at your school,

  • a certificate confirming the period of doctoral studies or postgraduate studies, if the physical impairment was sustained during doctoral studies or postgraduate studies. You will receive such a document at the unit offering such studies,

  • a certificate stating the size of your agricultural area (in conversion hectares), if you are the owner, holder or co-owner of an agricultural holding. You will receive such a document at the municipal office,

  • a copy of a permit to settle in Poland, a residence permit or a document confirming your refugee status or subsidiary protection, if you are a foreigner. One of these documents will suffice. Such a copy must be certified as true to the original by a ZUS official or the head of a welfare centre.

A contribution payer is any entity 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.

What you need to do

  1. Collect all the necessary documents. See What you need to prepare for details.

  2. Submit the documents to the ZUS. See Where to submit the documents for details.

  3. Wait for the ZUS to determine when the ZUS certifying doctor will examine you to establish whether you are completely unable to work.

  4. Wait for the ZUS’s decision. See How long you will wait for details.

If you have an account on the ZUS Electronic Services Platform (PUE ZUS), you may book a date for a visit to a ZUS branch. Find out how to create an account on the PUE ZUS portal.

If you are a statutory representative of a person who wishes to obtain a social pension, for example a carer or guardian of a totally incapacitated person, you may settle the matter on that person’s behalf.

Who submits the documents

  • you or your statutory representative (for example, your parent if you are not an adult),

  • the head of a welfare centre, if you request that person’s assistance or your statutory representative does,

  • a legal guardian,

  • the actual carer, if that person submits a declaration that they take actual care of you, confirmed by the mayor of a municipality, town or city or a person authorised by that mayor,

  • another person, if you grant that person a written power of attorney or your statutory representative does. There is no single model document. It is worth providing data that will allow a ZUS official to verify the plenipotentiary’s identity, for example that person’s full name and the series and number of the identity card. Sign the power of attorney. If the power of attorney is granted by your statutory representative, it is the representative that should sign such a document.

When to submit the documents

  • no earlier than one month before the date on which you reach the age of maturity, if you are a minor,

  • as soon as possible if you are an adult.

Where to submit the documents

At any ZUS branch. You can speed up the process by selecting the branch having jurisdiction over your place of residence.

Enter your postal code to find out where your ZUS branch is located.

The documents may be:

  • submitted in person at a ZUS branch,

  • sent by post.

How much you will pay

The service is free of charge.

How long you will wait

Before issuing a decision, the ZUS must check whether you meet all the conditions. Sometimes the ZUS has to wait until such conditions are fulfilled. For example, if you submit the application as a minor, the ZUS will have to wait until you reach the age of majority. The ZUS may issue a decision only after all such circumstances are clarified – it should do this within 30 calendar days from the date on which the last circumstance is clarified (for example, from the date on which the certificate from the ZUS certifying doctor becomes final).

If it turns out that your application is incomplete because, for example, there is no annex, the ZUS will set the deadline by which you must supplement the application.

In the decision, you will find all the necessary information about the pension, for example when it will be paid or whether it has been suspended.

The decision will be sent to the address indicated in the application.

How much you may receive

The amount of the social pension changes every year – check the current amount on the ZUS website.

This amount may be reduced if you also receive a survivor’s pension.

When the social pension will be suspended

The pension will be suspended for the month in which your revenue exceeds 70% of the average monthly remuneration in the quarter concerned. Find out what amount it is on the ZUS website.

Even if the pension is temporarily suspended, you are still entitled to that pension. The ZUS will pay it to you again once your revenue is lower. If you earn additional revenue and you know that your pension should be suspended, notify the ZUS accordingly. If you receive a pension that should have been suspended, you will have to return it. Your revenue is, for example, your remuneration under an employment contract, a maternity benefit or a sickness benefit.

If you do not agree with the doctor’s certificate or the ZUS’s decision

The ZUS certifying doctor may declare you able to work. If you do not agree with that certificate, complain against it to a ZUS medical committee. You should do this within 14 calendar days from the date on which you receive the certificate.

The ZUS may decide not to award you the pension. If so, you may appeal against such a decision to a regional court – labour and social security court. Submit the appeal at the ZUS branch that issued the decision. You should do this within one month from the receipt of the decision.

When you will lose the right to the social pension

When:

  • you no longer meet the conditions set out in What conditions you must meet – for example, you become entitled to an old-age pension,

  • you are in a detention centre or a penal institution. By way of exception, you may receive 50% of the social pension – if you meet all the following conditions:

  1. you live in a single-person household (you run the household alone, i.e. live by yourself and support yourself on your own),

  2. your only revenue is the social pension,

  3. you are not entitled to a survivor’s pension,

  4. you will undertake in writing to spend the pension on charges relating to a house or flat, for example on the rent, if no one else lives in that house or flat.

If you are in a detention centre or a penal institution and you are entitled to 50% of the pension – complete part V of the application for a social pension – open the file in a new window. The detention centre or penal institution administration authorities will help you with all the formalities. In addition, you must prepare all the following documents:

  • an excerpt from the land and mortgage register for real estate confirming your right of ownership, or a certificate from the administrator of a flat confirming your right to these premises,

  • a certificate from the registration office confirming that other persons are not registered in your house or flat,

  • your written undertaking to spend the pension on charges relating to the house or flat.

If you are in a detention centre or a penal institution, you must notify the ZUS accordingly.

 

Additional information

If you have any doubts, contact the ZUS. You can do this without leaving your home – for example:

  • call 22 5601600,

  • send an email to cot@zus.pl. 

ZUS consultants are available on working days, Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Legal basis:

Social Pension Act of 27 June 2003 (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2020, item 1300)

Regulation of the Minister for the Economy, Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 2003 on the award of social pensions (Journal of Laws 2003, No 170, item 1656)

Act of 17 December 1998 on old-age pensions and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2020, item 53)

 

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 

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