Disability certificates: changes to basic rules come into effect on August 14

• The new chairman of the adjudicating panel may be a specialist doctor, currently specializing (at least 3 years) or with 5 years of professional experience (no internship).
• The same criteria apply to members of adjudicating panels - the amendment unifies the qualifications
• Mandatory verification of documentation by a doctor appointed by the team leader is provided for.
• The adjudicating panel is selected based on the condition, and may be supplemented by a doctor with appropriate clinical experience.
• The changes, which are intended to legitimize the adjudication process, come into force on August 14th.

The Regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of 28 July 2025, published on 30 July 2025 in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, introduces changes to the provisions on determining disability and the degree of disability .

The main amendments concern the qualifications required of the presiding judge . According to the amended wording of paragraph 19, section 2, the presiding judge may be a physician holding a specialist title or at least a first-degree specialization. This group also includes a physician undergoing specialization training who has completed the basic module appropriate for the given training, or is in the third year of that training in the case of specializations for which a uniform module is provided .

The regulation specifically mentions fields of medicine such as:

• internal diseases,
• pediatrics,
• orthopedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system,
• neurology,
• psychiatry,
• ophthalmology,
• otorhinolaryngology.

5 years of experience is enough to become chairman

The possibility has also been introduced that the chairman of the adjudicating panel may also be a physician who has been practicing the profession for at least 5 years.

This 5-year period excludes the following time:

• completing a postgraduate internship,
• practicing a profession on the basis of a conditional right to practice a profession,
• practicing a profession on the basis of the right to practice a profession for a specific scope of professional activities,
• period and place of employment in the healthcare facility.

Similar criteria including:

• having the right to practice a profession,
• specialist title,
• at least first-degree specialization,
• being in the third year of specialization training or having at least five years of professional experience with similar exemptions,

were applied to the general qualifications of physicians who are members of the adjudicating panel, which results from the changes in paragraph 21 paragraph 1 point 3.

The adjudicating panel may be supplemented by an additional doctor

The amendment to paragraph 33 also clarifies the procedures. It provides for a physician designated by the team leader to conduct an initial review of the submitted documentation in terms of:

• completeness,
• the need to supplement it with tests confirming the diagnosed underlying disease.

Then, based on the diagnosed condition of the person concerned or the child, a doctor is proposed - the presiding judge of the adjudicating panel.

- The adjudicating panel, appointed from among the members of the district or voivodeship team, may, if necessary, be supplemented by an additional physician - a member of the team who may have a significant impact on the outcome of the adjudicating procedure, also taking into account the diagnosed disease.

The regulation enters into force fourteen days after its announcement, i.e. on August 14, 2025 .

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