Maternity allowance

The maternity allowance is granted to a person who is covered by sickness insurance and has become a mother or a father or who has decided to foster a child.

The maternity allowance is granted during the period defined in the Labour Code as the period of:

• maternity leave,
• leave under maternity leave conditions,
• parental leave,
• paternity leave.

The legislation does not provide for a waiting period.

The maternity allowance for the period of maternity leave is granted to the insured woman who gave birth to a child. The mother may give up receiving the allowance after taking at least 14 weeks of the leave after the birth, in which case the insured father of the child will be entitled to it on the condition that he has interrupted his gainful activity to take personal care of the child.

If a woman dies or abandons the child, either the insured father of the child or another insured member of the immediate family has a right to the maternity allowance. However, they must cease their employment or other gainful activity in order to take care of the child personally.

These persons are also entitled to the maternity allowance if the mother has a medical statment on the incapability of independent existence or a medical statement on a severe degree of disability, which makes it impossible for her to look after her child. In this case, they must also cease their employment or other gainful activity.

The allowance may also be granted to an insured woman if she gives birth to a child after the insurance has expired. This will be the case if the employment ceased during pregnancy and the reason for this was death, the declaration of bankruptcy or liquidation of the employer or a violation of the law established by a valid court decision. If the employer has died, has been declared bankrupt or liquidated and the pregnant female employee was not provided with other employment, she is entitled to an allowance in the amount of the maternity allowance until the day of childbirth.

If the insured mother of a child requires hospital care and cannot take care of the child, she may stop receiving the allowance 8 weeks after the birth. During this period, an insured father of the child may take advantage of the maternity allowance. The father and mother are entitled to one total period of the maternity allowance for the period of maternity leave.

The maternity allowance for the period of leave on the conditions of maternity leave is payable to a person who:

• has decided to foster a child under the age of 14 years to be brought up and applied to the guardian court for its adoption,,
• has decided to foster – within a foster family – a child under 7 years of age, or a child under 10 years of age in relation to whom compulsory schooling has been deferred (the person who runs a professional foster family will not receive the benefit).

The period of payment of the maternity allowance due to the birth of a child or having decided to foster a child for the period of maternity leave or leave under the conditions of maternity leave depends on the number of children born in one delivery or accepted to be fostered at the same time. It is equal to:

• 20 weeks – if one child is born or taken to be brought up,
• 31 weeks – if 2 children are born in one delivery or taken to be brought up at the same time,
• 33 weeks – if 3 children are born in one delivery or taken to be brought up at the same time,
• 35 weeks – if 4 children are born in one delivery or taken to be brought up at the same time,
• 37 weeks – if at least 5 children are born in one delivery or placed in foster care at the same time.

Where it is not possible to take the full amount of maternity leave before the child is 14, 7 or 10 years old respectively, the maternity allowance is granted for not less than 9 weeks.

The maternity allowance is also payable for the period of the parental leave.

Employees are entitled to the parental leave immediately after their maternity leave, while the insured persons not being employees are entitled to the leave immediately after they have used up the maternity allowance for the period corresponding to this leave.

Parents can divide the leave between themselves into up to 4 parts, each being a multiple of the week. They must fall either immediately one after other or immediately after the maternity allowance for the period corresponding to part of the parental leave.

The maternity allowance for the period of parental leave is granted for a maximum of:

• 41 weeks – when one child is born or placed in foster care,
• 43 weeks – when at least 2 children are born or placed in foster care at the same time.

Where a child is accepted to be fostered at such an age that it is not possible to take full parental leave before the child is 14, 7 or 10 years old respectively, the maternity allowance for the period of parental leave is 36 weeks.

The maternity benefit for the period of parental leave for insured persons whose child has a ‘Za życiem’ (Pro-life) certificate2, is granted for a maximum of:

• 65 weeks – when one child is born or placed in foster care,
• 67 weeks – when at least 2 children are born on in one delivery or placed in foster care.

Both parents may also take advantage at the same time of the maternity allowance for the period corresponding to the period of parental leave, however the total period of payment of the allowance to both parents may not exceed the full amount of parental leave that may be granted.

Each parent of a child within the maximum parental leave entitlement has an exclusive right to 9 weeks of parental leave, which may not be transferred to the child’s other parent.

An insured father of the child or a man accepting the child to be fostered is entitled to the maternity allowance for the period of paternity leave. It is up to 2 weeks. The father must take the leave before the child is 12 months old, and the man accepting the child to be fostered – before 12 months have elapsed since the adoption court’s decision becomes final and before the child turns 14 years of age.

Paternity leave and maternity allowance for the duration of this leave may be taken by the father either once or in 2 parts. Each of these must last at least one week. The parts do not have to be taken directly one after the other or after the maternity allowance for the period of the leave.

The amount of the maternity allowance is:

• 100% of the allowance assessment basis for the period of:
  • maternity leave,
  • leave under maternity leave conditions,
  • paternity leave,
• 70% of the allowance assessment basis for the period of:
  • parental leave, if the claim for maternity benefit is submitted later than 21 days after childbirth or after the child has been accepted to be fostered and an application has been made to the guardianship court to initiate proceedings for the adoption of the child or after the child has been accepted to be fostered as a foster family, or if the claim is submitted before the aforementioned period of 21 days but its content shows that the insured person declares his or her intention to use only the maternity allowance for the period of maternity leave/ under the conditions of maternity leave and only part of the parental leave,
  • parental leave to which the other parent of the child is entitled (9 weeks),
  • if not a single day of maternity allowance is taken for the period of parental leave during the first year of the child’s life,
• 81.5% of the allowance assessment basis for the period of:
  • full maternity leave and parental leave if the claim for allowance is submitted no later than 21 days after the birth,
  • leave on conditions for full maternity leave and parental leave, if the claim for maternity allowance is submitted no later than 21 days after the child has been accepted to be fostered and an application has been made to the guardianship court to initiate adoption proceedings or after the child has been accepted to be fostered as a foster family.

If the mother had been receiving a maternity allowance of 81.5% of the assessment basis but has resigned from that allowance for the period of full parental leave, provided that she has not used a single day of maternity allowance for the period corresponding to the period of parental leave in the child’s first year, she may receive a one-off adjustment of the allowance to 100% of the assessment basis. Then the allowance that has not been used by the mother may not be claimed by the insured father of the child.

An employee may simultaneously work and take the parental leave – this applies to a combination of leave and work of no more than half of full time. The amount of the maternity allowance is then reduced in proportion to the working time in which the person concerned is employed when taking the parental leave.

The basis of the maternity allowance assessment is calculated in the same way as the basis of the sickness allowance assessment. The average remuneration from 12 months preceding the birth or the start of the foster care is taken into account. If the insured person has not worked the full 12 months, the remuneration for the actual period of employment is taken into account.

The expenditure on the maternity allowances in 2023 amounted to PLN 9,538.3 million.

The Social Insurance Institution pays out maternity allowances inter alia to employees of work establishments that report no more than 20 employees for sickness insurance. Whereas, in work establishments with more than 20 employees reported for sickness insurance, this allowance during the period of insurance is paid out by the employer.