Adam Abramowicz, spokesman for small and medium-sized enterprises, wrote to Prime Minister Donald Tusk with a letter regarding two government announcements that are particularly important for entrepreneurs.
The first of these is a draft of changes to the health insurance contribution. Recently, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Health, presented the assumptions for this project. The SME Ombudsman assesses these assumptions positively. At the same time, he stipulates that the final version of the project should be consulted with the business community. The idea is for it to be business-friendly and reflect the promise made in the campaign to restore a flat-rate health insurance contribution, which should be partially deductible from tax, or an amount that should not be burdensome for companies.
Adam Abramowicz noted that he notes with concern the critical voices regarding the project prepared by the ministries of finance and health. They may block the changes promised to entrepreneurs or give them a shape that is unfavourable to companies. “I would like to remind you,” writes the SME spokesman, “that the government coalition keeping the promises made to entrepreneurs during the election campaign is a condition for rebuilding their trust in the state and the government.”
The second important election promise for entrepreneurs was the takeover by ZUS of paying sickness benefits from the first day of an employee’s illness. For companies from the SME sector, the need to pay sickness benefits for the first 33 days of an employee’s illness is a very big burden, which often leads to financial collapse and, as a consequence, suspension or liquidation of the company’s activity. As the SME spokesman reminds, Poland is one of those European Union countries where the employer is burdened with the obligation to pay sickness benefits to the employee for the longest time.
“Therefore, on behalf of Polish entrepreneurs, especially those from the SME sector, I am appealing to the Prime Minister to urgently begin work on changing the regulations that are harmful from an economic point of view,” writes Adam Abramowicz.
Source: Office of the SME Ombudsman