Hiring a Nanny in Poland: ZUS Pays Contributions, Tax and Forms
Short answer: With an umowa uaktywniająca the state budget pays nanny contributions on pay up to 50% of the minimum wage if parents work and the child is 20+ weeks old and not in a nursery.
Parents in Poland can hire a nanny on a special contract, called umowa uaktywniająca, and in many cases the state budget pays the nanny's insurance contributions on a part of the pay. This guide combines the ZUS page "Jak zatrudnić nianię i nie opłacać składek" (dated 30 January 2026) with the tax office page on nanny income (podatki.gov.pl, published 15 December 2025 and updated 30 September 2026), both read on 19 October 2026.
When the state pays the contributions
According to ZUS, the budget finances the nanny's contributions when three conditions are met. First, the parents work under an employment contract, or provide services under a civil-law contract that gives a title to social insurance, or run a non-agricultural or agricultural business. Second, the child is not in a nursery, a children's club or with a day carer, and is at least 20 weeks old. Third, the nanny is an adult and is not the child's parent. A relative such as a grandmother or grandfather can be the nanny.
ZUS adds that the budget does not pay if you are a professional foster family, receive maternity allowance or are on childcare leave. Payment lasts at longest until the end of the school year in which the child turns 3, or 4 if the child cannot be given a kindergarten place. The school year runs from 1 September to 31 August.
What the state pays
The budget pays pension, disability, accident and health insurance contributions on the part of the pay that is not more than 50% of the minimum wage. ZUS gives an example for January 2026: half of the minimum wage was 2,403 zł. If the nanny earned 2,503 zł, the contributions on the first 2,403 zł are covered by the budget and the parent shares the contributions with the nanny on the remaining 100 zł.
Sickness insurance is voluntary for the nanny. She pays for it herself, and you deduct the contribution from her pay and send it to ZUS.
What the contract must say
ZUS lists what the umowa uaktywniająca should contain: the parties, the purpose and subject of the contract, the time and place of care, the number of children, the nanny's duties, the pay and how and when it is paid, the contract term, and the conditions for changing or ending it.
* Photos: playground in Warsaw, CC0, and a historic photograph of the municipal nursery in Katowice, public domain, both via Wikimedia Commons.
How to register the nanny
First, register yourself as a contribution payer with form ZUS ZFA, unless you already did as a business owner. You are the payer if you signed the contract. Second, register the nanny as an insured person: form ZUS ZUA if she is covered by social and health insurance, or ZUS ZZA if only by health insurance. Use an insurance title code starting with 04 30.
Then you file a settlement declaration ZUS DRA and a monthly report ZUS RCA. For pay up to half the minimum wage, use the code starting 04 30. For pay above it, you also file an RCA with a code starting 04 31 for the extra part, whose contributions you share with the nanny. Documents are due by the 20th of the following month. If the pay does not exceed half the minimum wage, you file only once, unless you hired mid-month or the pay changes. Above that level you file monthly.
When the state stops paying
The budget stops paying when the contract expires or ends, and three months after you lose your job, stop or suspend your business, or take unpaid leave. After the contract ends you deregister the nanny with ZUS ZWUA within 7 days of the day the budget stops paying, and ZUS ZWPA if you paid contributions only for her.
The nanny's tax
For the nanny, income from this contract counts as income from other sources. She files PIT-36 and shows it in part E, in the row "Inne źródła". The tax is normally settled only in the annual return, filed between 15 February and 30 April of the following year. She can choose to pay monthly advances at 12% or 32%, and once she pays one she cannot stop for the rest of the year.
Costs are 20% of the revenue reduced by social contributions deducted by the parent or paid by her, or actual costs if she can prove them. She deducts social contributions that she paid or that the parent deducted, but not those paid by ZUS. Joint filing with a spouse remains possible.
What it means for expats
If you are a foreign parent working in Poland on a contract, the conditions are the same as for any parent, but check that your own work contract counts as a title to social insurance. The pages do not describe special rules for foreigners. Ask ZUS if you are unsure.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays the nanny's contributions in Poland?
The state budget pays them on the part of the pay up to 50% of the minimum wage, if the conditions are met. The parent pays on any amount above that, shared with the nanny.
Can a grandmother be the nanny?
Yes. ZUS says a relative, such as a grandmother or grandfather, can be a nanny, as long as she is an adult and not the child's parent.
How old must the child be?
At least 20 weeks old and not in a nursery, a children's club or with a day carer, according to ZUS.
Does the nanny pay income tax?
Yes. The tax office treats it as income from other sources, and she reports it on PIT-36.
