File ZUS Application or Lose Extra Work Years: New 2026 Rules Spark Rush for Certificates

Thousands of Poles are rushing to obtain ZUS work history certificates under new 2026 Labor Code regulations that allow previously omitted employment periods to be counted toward work seniority.

Workplace Seniority Under New 2026 Rules

A certificate of work seniority from ZUS is a document through which thousands of Poles can gain additional years of work seniority in 2026. This is the result of important changes to the Labor Code that allow previously omitted employment periods, including contracting and business activity, to be added. However, for this to happen, an application for a certificate must be submitted to ZUS. Without this document, additional months or even years of work will simply be lost.

Changes regarding the calculation of work seniority entered the public sector on January 1, 2026, and apply to private company employees starting May 1, 2026. The new regulations expand the list of periods that can be added to work seniority within the meaning of the Labor Code.

Until now, many people worked for years on contracts of mandate or ran sole proprietorships, but these periods did not grant any employee rights related to seniority. Now that is changing. Periods that can be counted toward work seniority include contracting and business activity, among others.

Crucially, the regulations allow the inclusion of earlier periods prior to the law entering into force. Therefore, it is not only about contracts concluded in 2026. This is precisely why many people are starting to take an interest in obtaining documents from ZUS and checking how many additional years of work they can recover under the new rules.

Distinction Between Seniority and Retirement

Many people incorrectly assume that the new rules will increase their retirement seniority or affect the amount of their future pension. However, ZUS clearly emphasizes that this is not the case.

The changes apply exclusively to work seniority calculated according to the Labor Code, which is the seniority that affects employee rights. They do not change the rules for granting pensions or the method of calculating benefits.

Impact on Annual Leave Days

Work seniority under the Labor Code determines factors such as annual leave. The topic of leave is discussed most prominently because, after exceeding 10 years of work seniority, an employee is entitled to 26 days of paid annual leave instead of 20 days. For some individuals, counting former contracts of mandate or business activity may mean exceeding this threshold, resulting in up to 6 additional days off per year.

These changes can particularly benefit individuals who worked outside of traditional employment contracts for years and only later transitioned to an employment contract.

Procedure for Obtaining the ZUS Certificate

For an employer to recognize additional periods toward work seniority, an appropriate certificate from the Social Insurance Institution is required. Since the beginning of 2026, a special form named “Application for a certificate of insurance for the purpose of including periods in work seniority” (USP) has been operating on the ZUS platform.

The application can be submitted exclusively electronically through an eZUS account. Once the document is issued, the information will appear on the user’s account. Individuals with active notifications may receive an SMS message, e-mail, or a notification in the mZUS application.

Deadlines for Delivering the Certificate to Employers

The certificate received from ZUS must be submitted to the current employer. If ZUS is unable to issue such a certificate because, for example, the worked period was long ago, there is the possibility of proving seniority with one’s own documents, which must be delivered to ZUS.

The certificate must be delivered to the employer within 24 months, counting from January 1, 2026, in the public sector or May 1, 2026, in the private sector. If an employee does not prove a work period within these deadlines, the employer will not include it in the employment period entitling them to employee rights.

Exclusions and Unresolved Questions

Although the new regulations are intended to expand work seniority to include business activity and contracts of mandate, doubts have emerged regarding professional soldiers. Part of the military community is warning that the new rules for calculating work seniority may not cover individuals performing service on the basis of separate regulations. Official government materials list some uniformed services, including the Police, State Protection Service, Border Guard, State Fire Service, and Customs and Tax Service, but lack a clear confirmation that the new rules will also cover years of service in the military. This means individuals entering service after years of running a business or working on a contract of mandate may not receive the same rights as employees covered by the Labor Code.

The government draft indeed primarily concerns changes to the Labor Code and the “period of employment,” whereas professional soldiers operate on the basis of separate programmatic regulations of the Ministry of National Defense, specifically the Defense of the Fatherland Act of 2022. This may create a gap.

Specific contracts like specific-task contracts are unique agreements where the outcome is a specific, predetermined result. They do not involve repetitive tasks and assume a lack of subordination, and therefore will not be counted toward work seniority.

Summary of Rules and Inclusions

Periods that can be counted toward work seniority within the meaning of the Labor Code from 2026 include contracts of mandate, business activity, cooperation in running a business, start-up relief, work abroad, suspension of business activity for child care, membership in agricultural cooperatives, and service in selected uniformed formations, while specific-task contracts will not be included.