Social security system
Kamila Siejka
Social security system
Social security is the sum of resources and
public activities, through which the society
is trying to protect its members from the
threat of inability to satisfy basic,
commonly regarded as important needs.
Social security system
• social security system in Poland has general and compulsory character,
• social security, social assistance and social insurance are fundaments of social policy,
• main sources: Constitution, Social Insurance Act, Act on social insurance in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases, Act on pension benefits from the Social Insurance Fund
Constitution of the Republic of Poland
Article 67
1.A citizen shall have the right to social security whenever
incapacitated for work by reason of sickness or invalidism as well as having attained retirement age. The scope and forms of social security shall be specified by statute.
2.A citizen who is involuntarily without work and has no other
means of support, shall have the right to social security, the scope of which shall be specified by statute.
Constitution of the Republic of Poland
Article 68
1.Everyone shall have the right to have his health protected.
2.Equal access to health care services, financed from public funds, shall be ensured by public authorities to citizens, irrespective of their material situation. The conditions for, and scope of, the provision of services shall be established by statute.
3.Public authorities shall ensure special health care to children, pregnant women, handicapped people and persons of advanced age.
4.Public authorities shall combat epidemic illnesses and prevent the negative health consequences of degradation of the environment.
5.Public authorities shall support the development of physical culture, particularly amongst children and young persons.
Constitution of the Republic of Poland
Article 69
• Public authorities shall provide, in accordance with statute, aid to disabled persons to ensure their subsistence, adaptation to work and social communication.
Article 71
1.The State, in its social and economic policy, shall take into account the good of the family. Families, finding themselves in difficult material and social circumstances - particularly those with many children or a single parent - shall have the right to special assistance from public authorities.
2.A mother, before and after birth, shall have the right to special assistance from public authorities, to the extent specified by statute.
Constitution of the Republic of Poland
Article 75
1.Public authorities shall pursue policies conducive to satisfying the housing needs of citizens, in particular combating homelessness, promoting the development of low- income housing and supporting activities aimed at acquisition of a home by each citizen.
2.Protection of the rights of tenants shall be established by statute.
Social insurance system
• The Polish social insurance system includes:
1) old-age pension insurance,
2) disability and survivor’s pension insurance, 3) sickness insurance,
4) work accident insurance.
An insured person - an individual who is covered by at least one of the social insurance schemes
The Polish Social Insurance Institution ZUS
-constitutes the largest state institution operating within the field of social security in Poland
Social insurance system
• Social Insurance Act has introduced compulsory insurance and voluntary insurance,
• Compulsory retirement and benefit insurance cover relates to, among others:
• employees (broad meaning), except for public prosecutors,
• members of agricultural production cooperatives,
• freelancers / contractors, persons performing work on the basis of civil law mandarory or agency contracts,
• persons running a non-agricultural business activity,
• public civil servants
• members of the clergy,
• Members of Parliament receiving remuneration,
• recipients of some benefits,
• Those who do not fulfill the conditions allowing for compulsory retirement and benefit insurance cover have the right to voluntarily contribute to these insurance schemes,
Social insurance system
• Compulsory sickness insurance covers persons subject to compulsory pension insurance, being:
• employees, except for public prosecutors,
• members of agricultural production cooperatives and rural cooperative circles,
• The sickness insurance may be joined, on a voluntary basis (on request), by persons covered by compulsory pension insurance, including:
• persons running a non-agricultural business activity,
• persons performing work on the basis of civil law mandatory or agency contracts,
• Compulsory work accident insurance covers persons subject to pension insurance, with statutory exceptions,
Social insurance system
• concurrence title insurance occurs when a person performs several activities (has a few titles) to social security,
• in such cases, the legislator usually indicates which title takes precedence,
• this applies only to retirement and disability insurance,
• there are basic rules on the precedence of insurance titles
"absolute" titles - never subject to exemption from insurance obligation,
"general" titles - subject to exemption from this obligation if the insured has a second title to insure
Social insurance system
• "absolute" titles are:
• employment,
• membership in agricultural production cooperatives,
• public civil service,
• receiving of some benefits,
Rule 1. If coincide two "absolute" titles the insurance obligation applies to each of them.
Social insurance system
Rule 2. If coincide an "absolute" title with the "general" one, only the "absolute" title is covered.
Rule 3. If coincide two "general" titles, the earlier title is covered.
However here are exceptions to those rules!
