23.09.2022 ZUS

[Poland] The 2nd instalment of write-offs for the Company Social Benefits Fund (ZFŚS) by 30 September 2022


Employers have less and less time to transfer the next instalment for the so-called ‘social’ write-off. The second instalment for the Company Social Benefits Fund ZFŚS must be paid by 30 September 2022 at the latest. The government has also proposed, as part of the budget bill, to freeze the amount of social fund write-offs in 2023.

Write-off for the ZFŚS – 2nd instalment by 30 September

The deadlines within which employers obliged to create company social funds must make write-offs to the fund’s bank account are set out in the Act of 4 March 1994 on the Company Social Benefits Fund (ZFŚS).

Under the Act, employers must meet three important deadlines:

  • until 31 May – 1st instalment of the write-off for the Company Social Benefits Fund (ZFŚS),
  • until 30 September – 2nd instalment of the write-off for the Company Social Benefits Fund (ZFŚS),
  • until 31 December – adjustment of the annual write-off based on the actual average employment.

The obligation to create a ZFŚS applies to all entities from the public sector.

Employers outside the public sector create the ZFŚS if, as of 1 January of a given year, they employ:

  • at least 50 employees in full-time equivalents,
  • at least 20 but less than 50 full-time employees, if the company’s trade union organisation has requested the creation of a social fund (fund up to the amount specified in Article 5 of the ZFŚS Act or the entity decides on the payment of holiday pay to employees).

As far as the obligatory write-off is concerned, the first instalment of the write-off for the Company Social Benefits Fund is at least 75% of the equivalent of the basic write-off per:

  • an employee employed under normal working conditions,
  • an adolescent worker or
  • an employee performing work under special conditions or performing work of a special character.

The second instalment of the social fund write-off covers the remaining part of the basic write-off plus optional increases.

It is very important to note that the abovementioned statutory deadlines and the necessity to send funds to the bank account of the ZFŚS fund do not apply to employers who are not obliged to create a fund, but have established the ZFŚS voluntarily within their organisation.

Company Social Benefits Fund – write-offs in 2022

The amount of the basis for mandatory write-offs in 2022 for the Company Social Benefits Fund depends on the amount of the average monthly salary from the second half of 2019. Therefore, the basis for write-offs for the ZFŚS in 2022 is calculated according to the amount of PLN 4434.58 and is higher than in 2021 by PLN 300.56.

Taking the above into account, the basic write-off amount per employee in 2022 varies as follows for different working conditions:

  • standard working conditions – the amount of the write-off is PLN 1662.97 (37.5% of the calculation basis),
  • special working conditions – the amount of the write-off is PLN 2217.29 (50% of the calculation basis),
  • for an adolescent employee:
    • 221.73 PLN in the 1st year of education (5% of the calculation basis),
    • 266.07 PLN in the 2nd year of education (6% of the calculation basis),
    • 310.42 PLN in the 3rd year of education (7% of the calculation basis).

In 2022, not only the write-offs have increased, but also the so-called increases to the ZFŚS write-offs. The increases relate to the employment of persons with disabilities, providing care for a retired person or a disability pensioner and/or running a nursery or children’s club.

An increase in the write-off above the statutory basis of 6.25 per cent of the average monthly remuneration (in 2022 – PLN 277.16) is provided for employees and for retired persons and disability pensioners for whom the company in question provides social care.

The increase for running a nursery or children’s club is 7.50% for each employee (2022 – PLN 332.59), but the condition is that the total is transferred to the said purpose.

The maximum amount of holiday pay in 2022, on the other hand, for an employee with standard working conditions and a full-time job of 40 hours per week is PLN 1662.97, and in the case of a three-quarter-time job, the amount is PLN 415.74 less and amounts to PLN 1247.23.

Holiday pay may be provided by an employer, for example, if the employer decided not to establish a company social benefit fund and employs fewer than 50 employees. Holiday pay, however, is obligatory for public sector entities.

Freezing write-offs for the Company Social Benefits Fund in 2023

Although at present employers who create the Company Social Benefits Fund must meet their obligation to transfer the write-off to the Fund account no later than on 30 September, it is worth knowing now, after all, the government’s findings regarding the amount of the basis for calculating the social write-off in 2023.

The budget bill for 2023 provides for a freeze in the write-offs for the ZFŚS. This means that the amount of the write-off calculation base will not change and will amount to PLN 4434.58, that is, equal to the average monthly remuneration in the national economy in the second half of 2019.

The maximum amount of holiday pay will also remain unchanged. In 2023, it will amount to PLN 1662.97, which is the same as in 2022.\

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