PolandZakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych
ZUS simplifies benefit claims from 24 October: single Z-15 and ZAM forms
From 24 October 2026 care claims use a single Z-15, maternity claims a single ZAM, the Z-3b payer certificate disappears and ZUS fetches birth records itself when it pays.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 22 October 2026
Industry: Public administration and defence; compulsory social security
Sickness and maternity benefit paperwork is simplified from 24 October 2026ZUS, when a new benefits-documentation regulation replaces the 8 December 2015 rules
ZUS.
For care benefit (zasiłek opiekuńczy), the two existing claim forms Z-15a and Z-15b disappear and a single form Z-15 takes their placeZUS. Instead of answering whether the child's other parent works and whether that work uses a shift system, the applicant declares that no other household member could have provided care during the period claimed. The condition stays the same — no alternative carer at home — but it is now captured as a declaration rather than two employment questions.
For maternity benefit, three forms — ZAM, ZUR and ZAO — merge into one new ZAMZUS covering leave taken as urlop macierzyński, leave on maternity-leave terms, urlop rodzicielski, supplementary maternity leave and urlop ojcowski. The claimant completes only the section of the form that corresponds to the particular leave period. Where ZUS itself pays the maternity benefit, no shortened copy of the child's birth certificate needs to be attached: ZUS retrieves the record from the child's name, PESEL number and date and place of birth, together with the parent's name and PESEL number — or identity-card or passport series and number where the parent has no PESEL. Where the contribution payer (płatnik składek) pays the benefit, the shortened birth certificate must still be attached to the claim. Where a child has been placed in foster care, the court order placing the child there, issued under security proceedings, may accompany the maternity benefit claim.
Self-employed contributors see a document disappear: people running a non-agricultural business, those cooperating with them, clergy paying their own insurance contributions and sailors no longer supply the payer's certificate Z-3bZUS that was previously needed to establish benefit entitlement. ZUS assesses entitlement on the benefit claim and the remaining documents. Soldiers discharged from active military service who claim sickness benefit for incapacity falling after discharge supply the Z-10 declaration together with the document confirming discharge.
The form catalogue changes accordingly: Z-15a and Z-15b merge into Z-15, ZAM, ZUR and ZAO merge into ZAM, Z-3b is withdrawn, and ZNp-7, Z-10, ZAS-53, Z-3 and Z-3a are amended to fit the new rules. The new and updated forms are available on www.zus.pl from 24 October 2026ZUS and arrive on eZUS in mid-November 2026; until the eZUS forms are updated, entitlement is assessed on either the existing eZUS forms or the new forms from www.zus.pl. The regulation also reflects the benefit-act changes on document submission that apply since 1 July 2026.
Legal basis: Rozporządzenie Ministra Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej z 27 września 2026 r. w sprawie zakresu informacji o okolicznościach mających wpływ na prawo do zasiłków z ubezpieczenia społecznego w razie choroby i macierzyństwa lub ich wysokość oraz dokumentów niezbędnych do przyznania i wypłaty zasiłków (Dz. U. poz. 1316).
From 24 October 2026 file care benefit claims on the single Z-15 and maternity claims on the single ZAM, stop attaching the Z-3b certificate and birth records ZUS retrieves itself, and use the www.zus.pl forms until the eZUS forms are updated in mid-November 2026.