Planned changes to sick leave

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​by Agnieszka Szczodra-Hajduk, Paulina Przewoźnik-Lewińska, Aleksandra Fiuk 

30 April​ 2025 

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Work is underway to amend the Social Insurance System Act and other laws concerning sick notes. The new legislation is to unify the legal position of people on sick leave.

Current legislation

According to the current legislation, people on sick leave may lose the right to their sick benefits over the period of incapacity for work in two situations:

1. if they perform gainful work during the period of incapacity for work, or
2. if they misuse the sick leave.

Gainful work and misuse of the sick leave

The bill introduces definitions of “gainful work" and “misuse of the sick leave", the absence of which has so far made it difficult in practice to identify activities that lead to a forfeit of sickness benefit.

New basis for loss of the sickness benefit

The bill additionally introduces a third reason for losing the sickness benefit: being in a place other than indicated in the sick note or in the notice of change of the place of stay during the time of incapacity for work. However, if the insured person proves s/he was absent at the indicated address for health reasons or due to the need to take incidental action for important reasons, s/he will not lose the right to the sickness benefit.

The insured person will be allowed to stay in another country during sick leave if this is recommended by the doctor (e.g. change of climate due to a health condition) or is justified by other important reasons (e.g. the need to be cared for by a person living in another country).

Sick leave vs work for several employer​​s – new rules

The new legislation will also revolutionise the issue of working while on sick leave. For those who work for two or more employers, sick notes will be issued for each insurance basis separately. However, if gainful work can be performed due to the nature of such work, the doctor, at the insured's request, will be allowed not to issue a sick note for the respective insurance basis, e.g. a person with a broken leg may be on sick leave in a company where s/he performs physical work, while at the same time s/he will be allowed to work as usual for another employer where s/he or she performs remote work.

Thus, it will be possible to declare incapacity for work under one insurance basis and not under every insurance basis, as is currently the case.

The above solution will abolish the current rule according to which performing any gainful work during the period of incapacity for work results in the forfeit of the right to sickness benefit.

If you have questions about sick notes and sickness benefit, you are welcome to contact us »