Skip to main content

Table 5 Institutional differences across countries in procedures for the diagnosis, certification of disability, and provision of disability benefits

From: Disability and employment across Central and Eastern European Countries

 

Poland

Lithuania

Czech Republic

Slovak Republic

Hungary

Romania

Disability pension-eligibility criteriaa

 Type of program

Social insurance system

Social insurance and social assistance system

Social insurance system

Social insurance and individual account system

Social insurance and individual account system

Social insurance and individual account system

 Disability pension

Permanent or partial disability pension: paid for a total disability (incapacity for any work) or partial disability (greatly impaired earning capacity or total incapacity for usual work).

Permanent or partial disability pension: paid for a total disability (loss of working capacity of 75 to 100 % or 55 to 74 %) or partial disability (loss of working capacity is from 45 to 54 %).

Permanent or partial disability pension: Paid for a total disability (70 % loss of earning capacity) or partial disability (from 50 to 69 % loss of earning capacity).

Permanent of partial disability pension: Paid for a total disability (at least a 70 % loss of earning capacity) or partial disability (at least a 40 % loss of earning capacity).

Permanent or partial disability pension: paid for a total disability, 100 % loss of working capacity and need for permanent care by others; 100 % loss but no need for permanent care; partial disability for at least a 67 % loss.

Permanent or partial disability pension: Paid for a total disability (assessed with a permanent disability and incapacity for any work) or partial disability (loss of at least 50 % of working capacity).

 Diagnosis/certification and delivery of disability benefits

Social Insurance Institution

The Disability and Capacity for Work Establishment Office

Czech Social Security Administration

A medical examiner of the Social Insurance Agency and a general practitioner

The national medical board

National Pension and Social Insurance Fund

 Work injury: temporary and permanent disability benefits

Temporary: 100 % of average earnings in the 6 months before the disability began is paid from the first day for up to 26 weeks.

Permanent: if the insured has a total disability, the benefit is based on national average earnings, insured’s earnings and number of contribution years.

Temporary: 100 % of the insured’s average earnings and paid from the first day of disability until the date of certification of permanent disability.

Permanent: for a loss of working capacity of at least 30 %, benefit is based on 50 % of the percentage of loss in working capacity, compensation coefficient and insured income level.

Temporary: lump sum is paid equal to the difference between the insured’s average earnings before work injury and full amount of sickness benefit.

Permanent: full pension paid for a total permanent disability (66.7 % loss of earning capacity or more). The monthly pension is based on average gross earnings before disability.

Temporary: from the 1st to the 3rd day of incapacity, 55 % of the insured’s daily assessment basis is paid; thereafter, 25 %.

Permanent: if the insured has an assessed loss of earning capacity of at least 40 %, the monthly benefit is the product of 80 % of the assessment.

Temporary: monthly benefit 75 % of old-age pension paid to the insured at the normal retirement age.

Permanent: value of pension varies: 100 % loss of working capacity and need for permanent care provided by others; 100 % loss but no need for permanent care; and at least a 67 % loss.

Temporary: The benefit is 80 % of the insured’s average wage in the 6 calendar months before the disability began and is paid from the first day of disability for up to 180 days a year.

Permanent: the pension is based on the insured’s average lifetime accumulated pension points.

 Accumulation with earnings from work

Pension suspended or reduced if the beneficiary works: a) earnings below 70 % national average wage: no effect on pension; b) earnings between 70 and 130 % national average wage: basic amount of the pension reduced by 24 or 18 % in case of partial disability pension; c) earnings over 130 % national average wage: pension suspended.

No restrictions, full accumulation is possible.

No limitations

Accumulation possible: disability pensioners may continue to work, wages are paid.

Disability benefit terminated in cases where the eligible person performs gainful activity and his/her income regarding 3 consecutive months respectively exceeds 150 % of the minimum wage.

Those with permanent disability pension: cumulation not permitted. Those with temporary disability Pension: cumulation not permitted with earnings from work if employed for more than half of the full working time for a particular job.

 Employment quotas reserved for disable individuals/incentives for employers

Employers with 25 or more employees must meet a quota of 6 % disabled persons. In case of non-compliance with quota, employers face a penalty of 40.65 % of average wages for each disabled person that should have been hired. For workers disabled from work injury, employers must arrange suitable workplace within 3 months after the employee declares readiness to return to work. In case of dismissal of such employee, the employer must pay a fee equal to 15 month’ s salary.

Enterprises with 50 or more workers are obliged to employ 2–5 % of disabled persons with a reduction in capacity for work by at least 60 % or disabled with moderate disability. If employers do not fulfill this obligation, they pay a contribution equal to 15 times the official minimal wage.

Every additionally created workplace for a disabled person is subsidized by the Employment Fund by an amount related to the national minimum wage for a maximum period of 1 year and a half.

Employers with a workforce of over 25 employees are obliged to employ disabled persons in a proportion of 4 % of the total number of the employees.

Employers comply with this obligation by employing disabled persons, purchasing products/services from employers whose workforce includes more than 50 % of disabled, or making payments to the State budget.

Employers whose workforce includes more than 50 % of disabled receive a contribution to support the employment of these persons.

Employers with 20 or more employees (with the exception of the police and security forces of the State) must employ at least 3.2 % disabled persons. If not, the employer pays 0.9-times the total average wage per year per vacancy for which a disabled person should have been hired.

Calculation: 1 person whose capacity for work has been reduced by more than 70 % compared to a healthy person = 3 disabled persons. Employers pay lower health insurance contributions for their disabled employees: 5 % instead of 10 %.

It is mandatory for each employer with 25 or more employees, to fill 5 % of all posts with persons with disability. If this obligation is not met, the employer must pay contribution.

Support from the Central Budget: for employers who hire persons with disability (who have lost at least 50 % of their working capacity and do not receive pension benefits in respect of their invalidity or old-age) for at least 1 year. The amount of the support varies according to the duration of employment.

A standard quota (4 %) is directed to both public and private employers. The small employers (with less than 50 employees) are exempted from the quota obligation. The employers who fail to meet the quota obligation are charged compensatory levies for each person with disabilities under the quota level or buying for the same amount products and services from the sheltered enterprises.

The employers are entitled to tax incentives and wage subsidies.

  1. aIn all countries, the provision of benefits is related to seriousness of disability. In all countries, with the exception of Hungary, the disability pension ceases at the normal pensionable age and is replaced by the old-age pension
  2. For additional information, see http://www.missoc.org/MISSOC/INFORMATIONBASE/COMPARATIVETABLES/MISSOCDATABASE/comparativeTableSearch.jsp and https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/