e-ZLA: how sick leave reaches the employer and the benefit

Expert knowledge. Content verified: 7 November 2026.

The doctor issues the sick note in the ZUS system as an e-ZLA and sends it to ZUS, and ZUS makes it available to the employer on its PUE profile no later than the day after receipt. The employee usually does not need to deliver a paper sick note. For the first 33 days of illness in a year (14 days after the age of 50) the employer pays sick pay, after which sickness benefit applies; who pays it, the employer or ZUS, depends on the number of insured persons registered.

The e-ZLA route from the doctor to the employer

The doctor issues the certificate in the system provided free of charge by ZUS, as an electronic document with a signature (qualified, trusted, personal or one available in the ZUS system), and sends it to the ZUS electronic inbox (art. 55 para. 1 and 2 of the Sickness Benefits Act).
ZUS makes the e-ZLA available to the contribution payer on its information profile, without the statistical disease code, no later than the day after receipt (art. 58 para. 1).
The employer sees the e-ZLA on its PUE ZUS profile and pays the benefit on that basis; the employee does not have to deliver a printout (zus.pl).
When the doctor cannot issue an electronic document, for example without internet access, they give the employee a certificate on a form printed from the ZUS system and pass the electronic version to ZUS within 3 working days (art. 55a para. 7 and 9). Until it is on the profile, the employer uses the document from the employee (zus.pl).

PUE profile: who must have one

Payers obliged to submit insurance documents electronically must create a payer profile on PUE (art. 58 para. 3), in principle those settling contributions for more than 5 people (art. 47a para. 1 and 2 of the Act on the Social Insurance System). Whoever has created a profile must maintain it (art. 58 para. 4).
A payer without a profile informs the employee in writing on the first day of their sickness insurance that they are to deliver a printout of the certificate, and after creating a profile has 7 days to inform them that the obligation has ended (art. 58 para. 5 and 6).
In PUE you can order collective e-ZLA reports with your own criteria; they make it easier to enter data into HR and payroll software and are generated overnight (zus.pl, questions and answers for the payer).

Employee obligations, an error in the e-ZLA and inspection

An employee promptly notifies the employer of the reason for the absence and its expected duration, no later than on the second day of absence (§ 2 para. 2 of the regulation on justifying absence from work). The evidence justifying it is the medical certificate under art. 55 para. 1 of the Sickness Benefits Act (§ 3 pt 1).
In the case of an error in the certificate, within 3 working days of finding it the doctor sends ZUS information on its invalidity and, where applicable, a new certificate, and ZUS makes it available to the payer no later than the day after receipt (art. 58a para. 1 and 3).
The payer may check whether the sick leave is being used in accordance with its purpose, for the purposes of paying sick pay (art. 68 para. 1d). Anyone who performs paid work during sick leave or undertakes activity inconsistent with its purpose loses the right to benefit for the entire period of the leave (art. 17 para. 1); doubts are resolved by ZUS (art. 68 para. 1e).

Sick pay and sickness benefit: how much and who pays

Sick pay is paid by the employer: for incapacity lasting up to 33 days in total in a calendar year, or up to 14 days after the employee turns 50, the employee keeps 80% of their salary, and 100% for an accident on the way to or from work, illness during pregnancy and tests of a prospective donor (art. 92 § 1 of the Labour Code). The 50+ rule applies to incapacity after the calendar year in which the employee turned 50 (§ 5). Sick pay is not due without entitlement to sickness benefit (§ 3 point 2).
For longer incapacity, sickness benefit is due (art. 92 § 4): 80% of the base, and 100% during pregnancy, for an accident on the way to or from work and tests of a prospective donor (art. 11 para. 1 and 2 of the Sickness Benefits Act), for up to 182 days, or 270 days for tuberculosis or during pregnancy (art. 8 para. 1). Previous periods of incapacity count if the break did not exceed 60 days (art. 9 para. 2).
Waiting period: the right to benefit arises after 30 days of uninterrupted sickness insurance for compulsory insurance and after 90 days for voluntary insurance (art. 4 para. 1). It applies from the first day, among other cases, for an accident on the way to or from work and for a person under compulsory insurance with at least 10 years of earlier compulsory sickness insurance (art. 4 para. 3).
The base is the average monthly salary from the 12 calendar months preceding the month in which the incapacity arose, and for a day one thirtieth of that amount (art. 36 para. 1 and 3), after deducting the employee's pension, disability and sickness contributions (art. 3 pt 3). Sick pay is calculated in the same way (art. 92 § 2 of the Labour Code), for every day of incapacity, including days off work.
Sickness benefit is paid by a payer that registers more than 20 people for sickness insurance (as at 30 November of the previous year), and in other cases by ZUS (art. 61 para. 1 and 2). From 1 July 2026 the rules on initiating benefit proceedings changed (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 441), so check zus.pl for the current payer certificate templates and deadlines.

How it works in Zaksio

Anna and Kasia are software (the AI team), not an accounting firm or an adviser. You switch on the "HR and payroll" module with the "Employees" feature in the company's business profile, and the Start plan is free within the limits stated in the pricing.

In the "e-ZLA" tab you add a sick leave manually ("Add sick leave") or import the raport.xml file downloaded from PUE ("Import e-ZLA report"). You order and download the report in PUE yourself, and upload the file to Zaksio; health data is entered by a person.
The payroll calculates sick pay and benefit for L4 days: the base from 12 months (from approved payrolls or from history entered manually), 80% or 100%, and a limit of 33 or 14 days. The "Sick pay estimate" window shows the base and the amounts in advance.
When a basis is missing, the item is a payroll problem and blocks approval; the system does not guess the amount. Amounts are calculated by deterministic code with tests, not by AI, and you check the result.
The payer pays the benefit when it registers more than 20 people for insurance (you can override this in the HR profile); in other companies ZUS pays it outside the payroll. You or your accounting firm submit the payer certificates to ZUS.

Sources

Act of 25 June 1999 on cash benefits from social insurance in case of sickness and maternity, consolidated text (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 854) — https://eli.gov.pl/eli/DU/2026/854/ogl
Act of 13 February 2026 amending the Act on cash benefits from social insurance in case of sickness and maternity (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 441) — https://eli.gov.pl/eli/DU/2026/441/ogl
Act of 26 June 1974, the Labour Code, consolidated text (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245) — https://eli.gov.pl/eli/DU/2026/1245/ogl
Act of 13 October 1998 on the social insurance system, consolidated text (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 199) — https://eli.gov.pl/eli/DU/2026/199/ogl
Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 15 May 1996 on the manner of justifying absence from work and granting employees leave from work, consolidated text (Dz.U. 2014 poz. 1632) — https://eli.gov.pl/eli/DU/2014/1632/ogl
ZUS, e-ZLA, information for contribution payers — https://www.zus.pl/en/elektroniczne-zwolnienia-lekarskie-e-zla-/e-zla-informacje-dla-platnikow-skladek
ZUS, You have a ZUS PUE profile. You pay sickness benefit to employees yourself — https://www.zus.pl/en/elektroniczne-zwolnienia-lekarskie-e-zla-/e-zla-informacje-dla-platnikow-skladek/twoj-pracownik-otrzymal-e-zla.-jakie-dokumenty-beda-potrzebne-aby-otrzymal-zasilek-chorobowy/masz-profil-na-pue-zus.-sam-wyplacasz-zasilek-chorobowy-pracownikom
ZUS, e-ZLA, frequently asked questions, Payer — https://www.zus.pl/en/ezla/najczesciej-zadawane-pytania/platnik