The fourteenth pension is an annual payment guaranteed by law. In 2023, the government estimated that about 8.3 million pensioners would receive this benefit.
The fourteenth is issued on the same dates as regular pensions. No separate application is required to receive it.
In 2021, these pensions were paid for the first time. On July 19, President Andrzej Duda signed a law confirming that the fourteen will be a permanent feature of the pension system.
The law sets that the payment date for the fourteenth pension is determined each year by October 31 at the latest through a regulation issued by the Council of Ministers.
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The benefit is paid on the same dates as pensions, and no application is needed to receive the fourteen.
The full amount of the fourteenth pension is at least equal to the value of the lowest old age pension effective from March 1 of the year in which the next annual supplementary payment is made. This year the minimum is PLN 1,588.44 gross. According to ZUS calculations at the end of July, individuals whose main benefit falls between PLN 2,900 and PLN 4,438.44 will see the fourteenth reduced on a one-for-one basis with their primary pension.
The law also allows the possibility of a higher fourteenth pension. The Council of Ministers can set this higher amount by a national ordinance no later than October 31 of a given year.
The minimum amount of the fourteen must be at least PLN 50 for the pension to be due.
Millions of pensioners and retirees
According to government data, roughly 8.3 million retirees will receive the fourteenth this year. The cost of paying the benefit is estimated at nearly PLN 12 billion.
The payment is free from deductions such as bailiff attachments. When applying for help, alimony or 500 plus for surviving relatives, these amounts do not count toward income. Only the health insurance premium and the withholding tax are removed from the payment.
The fourteen is not awarded to claimants who have a payment suspended on the date of entitlement assessment, for example due to exceeding the limit on additional earnings.
From 2019, pensioners also receive the thirteenth pension. In 2023, 9.7 million people received it. The cost of paying the thirteenth is about PLN 13.6 billion.
This year, the government has allocated more than PLN 74 billion for benefit indexation, as well as for the thirteenth and fourteenth pensions.