Preventive medical examinations are one of the most frequent items in inspection reports: not because employers fail to order them, but because the deadline passed and nobody noticed. Here are the rules.
Legal basis
- Polish Labour Code (Kodeks pracy), Art. 229 — pre-employment, periodic and follow-up examinations, the ban on allowing an employee to work without a valid medical certificate, costs borne by the employer.
- Regulation of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare of 30 May 1996 on medical examinations of employees (as amended) — scope of the examinations, template referral and certificate.
Three types of examinations
Pre-employment examinations are required for a person being hired and for an employee being transferred to a position with harmful or arduous factors. Exception: a person re-hired by the same employer for the same position within 30 days of the termination of the previous contract, and a person with a valid medical certificate from another employer, if the working conditions described in the referral match (excluding particularly hazardous work).
Periodic examinations are required for every employee, by the date set by the occupational medicine doctor in the certificate. It is the doctor, not the employer, who decides whether the next examination will be in one, two or four years — depending on the position and the factors.
Follow-up examinations are required for an employee returning to work after incapacity for work due to illness lasting more than 30 days. Without them, the employee cannot be allowed to work, even if the periodic examination is still valid.
Referral and costs
The referral is issued by the employer, in two copies, with a description of the position and the harmful, arduous or hazardous factors. Examinations take place during working hours where possible, the employee retains the right to pay, and the costs are borne by the employer (including travel costs if the examination is in another town). The certificate goes into the employee’s personnel file.
What the penalty is for missing them
The employer may not allow an employee to work without a valid medical certificate confirming that there are no contraindications to work in the given position. Breaching this obligation is a petty offence against employee rights (Art. 283 § 1 of the Labour Code), punishable by a fine of PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000. In the event of an accident, missing examinations also complicate the accident investigation and the discussion with the insurer.
Why deadlines slip
Certificates have different expiry dates for different people, because the doctor issues each one individually. With a hundred people that is a hundred different dates; with five hundred, with staff turnover and returns from long sick leave, nobody can keep track of it from a binder. In the OHS app, the certificate’s expiry date sits in the employee’s record next to training and qualifications, and a notification goes out in advance, before the deadline passes. A return from long sick leave also leaves a trace in the record, so the follow-up examination is not missed. More: OHS at ErgoFlow.
Legal status as of October 2026. This article is for information only and does not replace legal advice.
