In Poland, employees can be left without payments for sick leave if the sick leave certificate indicates code «C». Such certificates are issued in cases where the incapacity for work is related to alcohol abuse. This is reported by inPoland.
Sick leave with code «C» is not paid for the first five days
In Polish sick leave certificates, special letter codes are used to indicate the reason for the employee's illness or condition.
Code «C» means that the incapacity for work occurred due to alcohol abuse.
In this case, the employee does not receive any payments for the first five days of sick leave. This applies to both salary from the employer and sick leave payments.
After this period, payments may be calculated according to standard rules.
What other codes are used in sick leaves in Poland
In the Polish sick leave system, several main designations are in effect:
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Code A — recurrent illness within 60 days.
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Code B — incapacity during pregnancy.
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Code C — issues related to alcohol.
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Code D — tuberculosis.
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Code E — infectious diseases.
The code in the sick leave certificate is determined by the doctor during the document processing.
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The number of sick leaves due to alcohol is increasing in Poland
ZUS reports that the number of sick leaves with code «C» in Poland increases every year.
By September 2026, over 1,000 such sick leaves were issued in the Masovian Voivodeship. This is over 13% of all similar certificates in the country.
The most common reasons for obtaining such sick leaves are:
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Alcohol dependence.
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Cirrhosis of the liver.
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Stomach ulcer related to alcohol consumption.
Most of such sick leaves are issued to men
According to ZUS statistics, about three out of four sick leaves with code «C» are issued to men.
In recent years, there has been increasing attention in Poland to the problem of alcohol abuse and its impact on the labor market, health care system, and social benefits.
Let us remind you, Poland plans to build a new highway from the border to Lviv and introduce road tolls. The funds obtained will go to the Polish budget as a mechanism for repaying the loan granted to Ukraine.