From April 1, 2023, people who have suffered an accident at work or have been diagnosed with an occupational disease can count on higher amounts of compensation from ZUS.

One-time compensation for an accident at work or an occupational disease applies to a person who has suffered a health impairment:

• permanent – meaning a violation of the body’s efficiency, which results in impairment of the body’s functions with no prospect of improvement, or
• long-term – meaning a violation of the body’s efficiency, which results in impairment of the body’s functions for a period exceeding 6 months, which can be improved.

Compensation for an accident at work or an occupational disease is also due to the family of an employee who died as a result of health damage. The following persons are entitled to compensation: the spouse;

own children, children of the other spouse, adopted children; grandchildren, siblings and other children adopted for upbringing and maintenance before reaching the age of majority; parents.

According to Art. 3 of the Act on social insurance for accidents at work and occupational diseases, an accident at work is a sudden event caused by an external cause causing injury or death, which occurred in connection with work:

• during or in connection with the employee’s performance of ordinary activities or instructions from superiors;
• during or in connection with the performance of activities by the employee for the employer, even without instructions;
• while the employee is at the employer’s disposal on the way between the employer’s seat and the place of performance of the obligation arising from the employment relationship.

The definition of an occupational disease can be found in Art. 235¹ of the Labor Code. It is a disease:

• listed in the list of occupational diseases, which is included in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of June 30, 2009 on occupational diseases;
• which can be determined as a result of the assessment of working conditions indisputably and with a high probability that it was caused by the action of harmful factors present in the working environment,
• arising from the manner in which work is performed.

Compensation for an accident at work and an occupational disease depends on the amount of certain rates. From April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the amounts of one-off compensation for an accident at work or occupational disease will be:

• PLN 1,269 for each percent of permanent or long-term damage to health;
• PLN 1,269 for each percent of permanent or long-term damage to health, for increasing this damage by at least 10 percentage points;
• PLN 22,212 for a certificate of total incapacity for work and incapacity for independent existence of the insured person;
• PLN 22,212 for a certificate of total incapacity for work and incapacity for independent existence due to the deterioration of the pensioner’s health;
• PLN 114,231, when the spouse or child of the deceased insured person or pensioner is entitled to one-time compensation;
• PLN 57,115, when a family member of the deceased insured person or a pensioner other than a spouse or child is entitled to one-off compensation;
• PLN 114,231 when a spouse and one or more children of the deceased insured person or a pensioner are entitled to one-time compensation, and PLN 22,212 for increasing the compensation due to each of these children;
• PLN 114,231 when two or more children of the deceased insured person or the pensioner are entitled to one-time compensation, and PLN 22,212 for increasing the compensation for the second and each subsequent child;
• PLN 22,212, when other family members of the deceased insured person or the pensioner are also entitled to one-time compensation, apart from the spouse or children; each of them is entitled to this amount, regardless of the compensation due to the spouse or children;
• PLN 57,115 when only family members other than the spouse or children of the deceased insured person or the pensioner are entitled to one-time compensation, and PLN 22,212 for increasing the compensation due to the second and each subsequent entitled person.

In order to receive compensation for an accident at work or an occupational disease, an application should be submitted to the ZUS branch competent for the place of residence of the injured person and attached to it:

• health certificate OL-9 containing e.g. information on the completed treatment and rehabilitation process, issued not earlier than one month before submitting the application, and possibly medical documentation;
• protocol of establishing the circumstances and causes of the accident at work drawn up by the employer or the accident card;
• a final judgment of the labor court;
• a decision confirming an occupational disease issued by a state sanitary inspector.

Compensation for an accident at work or an occupational disease may be awarded to the family of an employee who died as a result of health damage. In this case, you should submit to ZUS:

• a document stating the date of birth and date of death of the person after whom the one-off compensation is to be granted;
• a document confirming the degree of kinship (affinity) with the deceased person;
• abridged copy of the marriage certificate, if a widow or widower is applying for the benefit;
• certificate of the child’s health condition issued by the doctor in charge of treatment, if the award of compensation depends on the determination of incapacity for work;
• school attendance certificate if the child is over 16 years old;
• a document establishing the right to maintenance on the basis of a court judgment or settlement in relation to parents, adoptive person, stepmother, stepfather (if they did not live together or the deceased person did not contribute to their maintenance).

Source:https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-odszkodowanie-za-wyróżni-w-pracy-i-chorobe-wodowa-obowiazujace-stawki

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.