Allowance card - should it still be kept in the company?

If currently people dealing with HR and payroll matters have doubts as to whether the benefit card should be kept, the answers should be sought in the regulation of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy on the identification of evidence constituting the basis for the granting and payment of benefits, which has been in force for several years.

Benefit card and its legal basis

This regulation was introduced on May 9, 2012. There are no provisions in it that would oblige the benefit payers to use substitute benefit cards, allowances or letters of payment. The ordinance is an executive act to the act of June 25, 1999 on cash benefits from social insurance in case of sickness and maternity. Should the benefit card therefore be drawn up?

No obligation to draw up an allowance card

Therefore, if the company, which was previously obliged to keep this type of benefit documentation, resigned from having it after the change in the regulations, it acts in accordance with the applicable regulations.

Of course, the possible keeping of benefit cards, substitute allowance cards and payment lists, as well as their further use, is not an offense that would be subject to specific sanctions.

It is worth emphasizing that, as practice shows, many companies paying out social insurance benefits in the event of sickness and maternity have followed the old rules of documenting the implementation of these benefits. For example, a preserved employee benefit card often turns out to be helpful in the performance of professional duties. Even more so, there are no contraindications for its continued use.

If not an unemployment benefit card, then what?

For many years, the ZUS Z-7 form was in force, i.e. a substitute allowance assignment. Many insured persons or entrepreneurs still use it by mistake, which extends the time of payment of the benefit. ZUS pays the sickness benefit on the basis of the ZUS Z-3, ZUS Z-3a, ZUS Z-3b forms, which appeared in the place of the ZUS Z-7 form.

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Let us remind you that the ZUS Z-7 form, i.e. the substitute allowance assignment, was in force when paying social insurance benefits:

• sickness allowance,
• care allowance,
• maternity allowance or in the amount of maternity allowance
• rehabilitation benefit.

The form had to be completed on the basis of a medical certificate received from a doctor - ZUS ZLA (formerly L4).

Now, in order to receive one of the above-mentioned benefits from the Social Insurance Institution, you must complete the appropriate document for a given group of insured persons:

• ZUS Z-3 - employee employed under an employment contract,
• ZUS Z-3a - incl. an employee performing work under a mandate contract,
• ZUS Z-3b - a person running a business, cooperating person and a clergyman.

When submitting original documents to ZUS, you should keep their copies for a period of 5 years. If the documentation is submitted directly to the ZUS inspectorate, the official will confirm its receipt with a stamp on the copy. However, when a set of papers is sent by post, the date of receipt must be the date of the postmark. When shipping, it is recommended to send by registered mail, where the proof of postage is the proof.