One day late, a month lost
Contribution holidays occur once a year and cover one selected month. The company does not have to suspend operations or cancel invoices. It can continue to sell and earn, and the entrepreneur does not pay their own contributions: pension, disability, and accident.
The exemption can also cover voluntary sickness benefits and contributions to the Labour Fund and Solidarity Fund.
A request is submitted a month in advance, so a document sent in August will only take effect for September. With full ZUS calculated from the minimum base plus the sickness rate, the amount is 1,926.76 PLN. Without sickness, the entrepreneur retains 1,788.29 PLN.
Matching the company’s rhythm
A month of contribution holidays can be matched to the company’s rhythm, i.e., weaker revenues, higher expenses, or vacation slowdown. Instead of paying almost 2,000 PLN in social contributions, the entrepreneur keeps that money in the business and reduces liquidity pressure.
The scale of benefits depends on the type of contributions.
- An individual using preferential ZUS with sickness will pay 456.18 PLN less.
- With Small ZUS Plus, the exemption amount is based on an individual base. It is not worth artificially raising it. ZUS will still calculate the relief from the lowest applicable base for the entrepreneur.
The name may be misleading. The health contribution remains mandatory, as do obligations for employees, contractors, and collaborators. The state finances only the entrepreneur’s social contributions, which will be recorded on their account and contribute to future pension or disability.
Before you click “send”, check the blocks
Relief is available to those running an activity registered in CEIDG, partners of civil law partnerships, and court bailiffs. In the month preceding the application, the entrepreneur can register up to ten people, including themselves, for insurance. They must also be subject to social insurance from the business for at least one day.
Revenue matters. For applications submitted in 2026, the years 2024 and 2025 are examined. The condition is met by those who did not achieve revenue in at least one of those years or did not exceed the equivalent of 2 million euros.
The path to relief can be closed by cooperation with a former employer in the same activities previously performed on a full-time basis. It must also stay within the de minimis assistance limit, generally 300,000 euros over three years.
The RWS application is submitted solely via eZUS. From the end of June 2026, a new form is in effect, and a civil partnership partner sends it from their payer account. After the relief is granted, documents for settlement, including ZUS DRA and relevant RCA reports, must still be provided.
From December 2025 to June 29, 2026, entrepreneurs submitted over 500,000 applications, and relief for the first half-year reached nearly 739 million PLN.
