Conperio, a Polish consultancy specialising in supporting companies with the management of sick leave, stated in July 2025 that it had received numerous reports from European transport companies concerning the misuse of sick leave by Polish drivers returning home for the holidays. The news, reported by several media outlets and associations, mainly concerns haulage companies based in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
As explained by Conperio’s CEO, the practice is as simple as it is effective. Drivers employed abroad, who typically work two weeks followed by two weeks of rest, would allegedly abuse medical certificates to extend their time off, prolong holidays or take up temporary work in other sectors, all while receiving sickness benefits and earning an additional income. This practice, which intensifies each summer, is said to be damaging the reputation of over 150,000 Polish drivers working abroad. Conperio has warned, via its official website, that Poland’s healthcare system, managed by the Social Insurance Institution (Zus, Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych), needs to be revised in order to curb and eliminate such absenteeism.
Although the phenomenon may seem new, Polish media and public opinion have been following the issue for several years and the abuse is not limited to the transport sector alone. In December last year, Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius pointed out that absence rates in Germany were excessively high and were seriously affecting the country’s industrial production. However, Källenius focused on the German healthcare system without acknowledging that a significant share of the workforce comes from foreign countries such as Poland.
So how does the Polish medical leave certificate system work? Often still referred to as L4 due to an outdated nomenclature, the certificate functions much like an electronic sick note. It is available to all Polish residents, is issued by an authorised doctor and sent electronically to the employer. In the case of foreign employers, the certificate must be sent by the employee via email or post within seven days of issuance.
The sickness allowance can cover up to 80% of the employee’s salary, lasts a maximum of 182 days, and may be extended in cases of serious illness or rehabilitation. It may also be requested for child care. The first 33 days (or 14 days for workers over the age of 50) must be covered by the employer, while the remaining days are paid by the Zus system. A key feature of the Polish system is the ease with which certificates are granted. In Poland sickness is diagnosed and communicated by any doctor within the Zus network after a health assessment that may take place by phone and does not necessarily require the patient’s presence.
There are telemedicine services such as Memedic, eDoktor or Med24 through which one can book an online consultation for a fee ranging between 79 and 100 zloty (roughly 20 to 25 euros). Officially, it is not possible to buy a sick note online, but in practice, the certificate is often granted solely based on the patient’s self-reported symptoms, without any medical verification. This practice became widespread during the Covid pandemic and is now common: users simply pay online or via dedicated apps, wait for a call from the service, describe their symptoms, and receive a certified Zus medical note within minutes. The same process is used to obtain prescriptions for medication, and if a sick note or prescription request is denied, the consultation fee is refunded.
This loophole in the welfare system has been widely known in Poland for some time. Last year, the government presented a bill aimed at overhauling the entire system. The reform was expected to come into force at the start of this year but has been delayed in the legislative process and now appears to have been shelved. Zus has responded with a number of checks to limit certificate abuse and in 2024 suspended sickness benefits payments worth around 640,000 zloty (approximately 150,000 euros), more than double the amount withheld in 2020.
Inspectors are carrying out cross-checks and home visits in cases of long-term sick leave, frequent illnesses, certificates issued by different doctors, prior cases of abuse, or when the leave granted seems excessive compared to the symptoms described. It is also worth noting that an employee on medical leave is allowed to work for other employers without losing their sickness benefit, but only if the symptoms prevent them from performing their primary job while allowing them to safely carry out other duties. For instance, a driver with back pain who is unable to drive may still work remotely, retaining their benefit and effectively gaining an additional income.
Marco Martinelli
