In family businesses, help from relatives feels entirely natural: a spouse answers the phone, issues invoices or runs the shop while the owner is out visiting a client. ZUS, the Polish social insurance institution, however has its own definition of such help and its own financial consequences. The „osoba współpracująca“ (collaborating family member) is a separate insurance title, and the contributions due are noticeably higher than most entrepreneurs expect.
Who counts as a collaborating family member for ZUS
The Social Insurance System Act lists a closed circle of close relatives: a spouse, own children, children of the other spouse and adopted children, parents, a stepmother and stepfather, and adopting persons. For the status to arise, two conditions must be met at the same time — a shared household with the entrepreneur and actual collaboration in running the business. The Act provides one exception: it does not apply to a person with whom an employment contract for vocational training has been concluded.
People outside this circle — siblings, parents-in-law, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, an unmarried partner — are not collaborating family members, even if they live under the same roof; they are employed on ordinary terms and contributions are calculated from their actual pay. The shared-household criterion also works the other way round: an adult child living with a parent and helping in the business will be a collaborating family member, whereas a child living separately will not.
The most important rule is easy to overlook: the status is determined neither by the form of the contract nor by its absence. If a family member from the circle above genuinely and regularly helps run the business — including without payment and without any document — ZUS will treat that person as a collaborating family member. Occasional, minor help is assessed differently, but the line is judged case by case.
What a collaborating family member costs in 2026
The basis for social insurance contributions is a declared amount, no lower than 60% of the forecast average monthly salary. In 2026 that is PLN 5,652 — exactly the same as the basis for an entrepreneur's full ZUS. Importantly, the basis does not depend on how much the collaborating person actually earns or how many hours they devote to the business.
From the basis of PLN 5,652, the 2026 contributions are: old-age pension 19.52% — PLN 1,103.27, disability pension 8% — PLN 452.16, accident insurance 1.67% (the rate for a payer reporting up to 9 insured persons) — PLN 94.39, voluntary sickness insurance 2.45% — PLN 138.47, and the Labour Fund and Solidarity Fund 2.45% — PLN 138.47. Together that comes to PLN 1,926.76 per month.
The health contribution for a collaborating family member is a flat amount and is calculated in a completely different way than for an entrepreneur. It equals 9% of a basis corresponding to 75% of the average monthly salary in the enterprise sector in the fourth quarter of the previous year, including profit distributions. For the fourth quarter of 2025 that salary was PLN 9,228.64, so the 2026 basis is PLN 6,921.48 and the contribution is PLN 622.93 per month. The company's form of taxation and its income are irrelevant here.
In total, maintaining one collaborating family member with voluntary sickness insurance costs around PLN 2,549.69 per month in 2026. All of these contributions are financed and paid by the entrepreneur from their own funds, on top of the contributions paid for themselves.
The entrepreneur's reliefs do not extend to the family
„Ulga na start“ (the start-up relief), preferential ZUS, „Mały ZUS Plus“ and the contribution holiday are reliefs attached to the person running the business, not to the person collaborating with them. This produces a situation that is especially surprising at the outset: an entrepreneur using the start-up relief pays no social contributions for themselves for the first six months, yet must pay full contributions from the PLN 5,652 basis for a helping spouse.
That is why it pays to calculate the cost of a family business in advance. Sometimes hiring someone from outside the family works out cheaper, sometimes the spouse running their own business and the two invoicing each other for services. Each option carries its own tax consequences, however, and calls for an honest assessment rather than optimisation in name only.
When only the health contribution is due
The most common way to reduce the cost follows from the overlap of insurance titles. If the collaborating family member is at the same time employed under an employment contract at another company and their pay is at least the minimum wage (PLN 4,806 gross in 2026), then old-age and disability insurance from the collaboration are not compulsory. The entrepreneur then registers that person for health insurance only, using form ZUS ZZA.
Bear in mind, though, that the health contribution is due separately from each title — a job at another company does not remove the PLN 622.93 per month arising from the collaboration. Other overlaps, such as maternity benefit, a pension or a mandate contract, follow their own rules and should be checked individually.
Pay and contributions from the tax side
Since 1 January 2019, the pay of a spouse and of minor children can be treated as a tax-deductible cost on the same terms as the pay of any other employee. The earlier exclusion in Article 23(1)(10) of the Polish Personal Income Tax Act was repealed, which was a real improvement for small family businesses.
The contributions the entrepreneur finances for the collaborating person also have a tax effect: the social part can be treated as a tax-deductible cost or deducted from income, and under the lump-sum tax on registered revenue — deducted from revenue. How it is recognised depends on the form of taxation and the accounting method adopted, so it is worth settling this with your accountant before the first entry is made.
The collaborating person pays nothing out of their own pocket and is nevertheless fully insured: they accumulate insurance periods and pension capital, use public healthcare, and — with voluntary sickness insurance — acquire the right to sickness benefit after 90 days of uninterrupted insurance. For many families this is the main argument for formal registration.
Registration with ZUS and the most common mistakes
A collaborating family member must be registered within 7 days of the collaboration starting — on form ZUS ZUA where social and health contributions apply, or ZUS ZZA where only the health contribution is due. The insurance title code for a collaborating person (05 11) is used. Ending the collaboration requires deregistration on ZUS ZWUA, likewise within 7 days. Each month the settlement declaration and the personal report are filed, and contributions are paid by the 20th day of the following month.
The most common mistakes are years of unpaid help with no registration at all (ZUS can establish the insurance obligation retroactively, and overdue contributions then come with interest), the belief that a mandate or specific-task contract with a spouse settles the matter, and the assumption that a separation of marital property excludes the status — what matters is the shared household, not the matrimonial property regime. Add to that overlooking the health contribution where the collaboration overlaps with a job.