Since December 1, 2018, sick leave in electronic form has been the mandatory form for certificates issued by all doctors in Poland. The certificate is automatically sent by the doctor electronically to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) system and to the profile on the Electronic Services Platform (PUE ZUS) of the contribution payer (employer or company). This type of document does not need to be delivered by the employee in person to the employer if the employer is registered in PUE, which is a much more convenient option than the previous paper-based sick leaves. Lekarz rodzinny w Poznaniu may print a paper version of the sick leave in situations where:

Every sick leave must be issued on the day of the medical visit or consultation. If a patient suffers an accident or injury, the certificate of incapacity for work must be issued at the place where emergency aid is provided (for example, at a hospital emergency department - SOR). Issuing an e-ZLA takes very little time because, based on the patient's PESEL number, the system automatically completes most of the data in the form. The period of incapacity for work itself is also generated based on the rules for issuing leaves specified in the regulations.

The electronic sick leave that reaches the employer does not contain the statistical code of the disease. It only shows the period of incapacity for work and the details of the doctor issuing the e-ZLA. Thanks to this solution, patient privacy is better protected. In turn, on your private profile, you have access to the full version of the certificate and all information regarding the incapacity for work.

Sick leave is a form of paid time off granted to employees unable to work due to illness. It is possible to check your sick leave online. You can also call your employer and ask for more information. To check the validity period of your sick leave, you should set up a profile on PUE ZUS or log in to the Patient GOV Portal. There, we can find all information about how long the leave issued by the doctor lasts and also whether a "stay-at-home" leave has been issued. It should also be remembered that in cases of visiting a doctor in person, we will receive a paper sick leave, which, unlike the E-ZLA, we can pass to the employer or keep in our medical records. Electronic sick leave (E-ZLA) should be provided to the employer no later than 7 days from the absence. We should also remember that L4 online, i.e., sick leave confirming our incapacity for work, a doctor can backdate by only 3 days. Therefore, if you are very ill and unable to visit the doctor, you should schedule a phone consultation with a primary care physician, who will issue the sick leave  and automatically deliver it to ZUS (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych) and the employer.