To receive pension payments in Poland upon reaching retirement age, conditions apply regarding periods of insurance coverage, the amount of insurance contributions, indexation, compliance with the minimum pension, and others. The main ones are considered further.

Receiving a pension upon reaching retirement age within the framework of compulsory pension insurance provided by the State Insurance Institute (ZUS) (60 years for women and 65 years for men) requires the fulfillment of the following basic conditions.

The right to a pension arises upon reaching retirement age and length of work, which is 20 years for women and 25 years for men.

The working period includes:

• periods of payment of contributions, periods of professional activity (for example, work under an employment contract) and
• periods for which social insurance contributions were not paid, but they may be included in the insurance period (for example, receiving care or sickness benefits, studying at a university).

When determining the insurance period, periods of absence of insurance contributions are limited to 1/3 of the confirmed periods of contributions. For example, the “period of non-payment of contributions” for women with 20 years of working period is approximately no more than 6 years.

If the accumulated contributions are not enough to receive a pension at the level of its minimum amount, subject to reaching retirement age and length of working period, the pension is increased to this minimum level. In 2023 (from March 1), the minimum pension was PLN 1,588.44.

The following components influence the size of the pension:

• basis for calculating pensions,
• insurance period (with and without insurance contributions),
• basic amount (from which the social part of the pension is calculated).

To determine the basis for calculating a pension, the salary is used, on the basis of which contributions to pension insurance were calculated for the period:

• 10 consecutive calendar years from the last 20 calendar years preceding the year of receiving the pension,
• 20 calendar years from the entire period of insurance coverage preceding the year of receiving the pension.

The basic amount is 100% of the average salary established for the previous calendar year and reduced by the amount of social insurance contributions.

The social part is a permanent component of the pension and is equal to 24% of the basic amount on the day of applying for the pension.

In addition to the retirement pension, the employee's pension plan (Pracowniczy Plan Kapitałowy, PPK) is applied.

On the website of the State Insurance Institute (ZUS) there is a calculator for calculating the expected pension.

Separate conditions for receiving a pension upon reaching retirement age apply to those receiving a disability pension, certain professions, and also depending on the year of birth of the insured persons – pensioners.