Over the past three months, 52,000 applications for the additional maternity allowance have been submitted to ZUS offices in Lower Silesia. – That is as many as we usually receive over two years. This figure shows the enormous amount of additional work our employees perform every day, while at the same time they are also processing applications for other benefits, such as sickness, maternity and accident benefits – says Iwona Kowalska-Matis, ZUS regional press spokesperson in Lower Silesia.

Payments in Lower Silesia: PLN 19,655,677.16, including:

  • ZUS Branch in Legnica: PLN 3,371,157.55
  • ZUS Branch in Wałbrzych: PLN 7,343,671.20
  • ZUS Branch in Wrocław: PLN 8,930,848.41.

To process the large number of incoming applications, ZUS branches are assigning employees from other departments. The spokesperson emphasizes that, apart from the number of applications, their incompleteness is the biggest problem:

Unfortunately, many applications for childcare are completed incorrectly or do not include attachments from the employer (Z-3 or Z-3a) confirming that the employee is covered by sickness insurance. As a result, ZUS has to contact the applicant (in the case of self-employed people) or the employer if the person has an employment contract or a contract of mandate, and ask for a correction.

– And this causes delays in payments, warns I. Kowalska-Matis. – For us, this means a huge number of entirely additional applications that must be processed. Please remember that our employees also have small children, and some of them have stayed at home with them. This means that we are working with a reduced staff, while we must also continue paying other benefits on an ongoing basis.