ZUS Changes approach to counting a sickness benefit period
At the request of the editors of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, the Social Insurance Institution (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych) clarified that a day on which an employee worked all or part of a day and then received a medical certificate for the same day is to be included in a period of sickness benefit.
The number of hours worked or whether the employee was paid for a full day or only part of it is irrelevant. That which matters is that a medical certificate applies to the day.
At the same time, ZUS emphasizes that entitlement to the benefit and the manner of counting the period of benefit are separate issues. Sickness benefit is not payable for a day for which an employee is entitled to remuneration for work. However, this does not affect the obligation to include that day in the 182-day limit.
This new position is a departure from the previous practice under which a worked and fully paid day was not included in a period of sickness benefit. Currently, the key factor at present is the mere fact that an employee’s incapacity to work is certified in a medical certificate.