How to correctly determine the group of persons entitled to receive payments after the death of an employee?

Pursuant to Article 63 (1) § 2 of the Labor Code, property rights arising from the employment relationship pass, after the death of the employee, in equal parts, to the spouse and other persons who meet the conditions required to obtain a survivor’s pension under the provisions on pensions and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund. Only in the absence of such persons do these rights become part of the deceased employee’s estate.

Precise and correct determination of the group of persons entitled to receive payments after the death of an employee allows for the avoidance of legal problems related to the non-payment of benefits to the deceased employee’s entitled persons or legal consequences related to the payment of these amounts to unauthorized persons.

Only when there are no specified in Article 63 (1) § 2 of the Labor Code persons left after the death of an employee, the employer is exempt from making the payment, and may even make the payment after the entitled persons have submitted a valid document confirming that they are heirs of the deceased employee.

The group of eligible persons who meet the conditions required to obtain a survivor’s pension, in accordance with the provisions on pensions and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund, is determined on the basis of Article 67 of the Act of December 17, 1998, on pensions and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund.

Pursuant to this provision, the following family members who meet the conditions specified in Articles 68-71 of this Act are entitled to a family pension:

• own children, children of the other spouse, and adopted children;
• grandchildren, siblings, and other children taken in for upbringing and maintenance before reaching the age of majority, excluding children taken in for upbringing and maintenance as part of a foster family or family-type children’s home;
• spouse (widow and widower);
• parents (it should be noted that, within the meaning of this Act, stepfathers, stepmothers, and adoptive parents are also considered parents).

However, pursuant to Article 71 of the above-mentioned Act, parents are entitled to a family pension if:

• the insured person contributed to their maintenance immediately prior to their death;
• they meet the conditions specified for widows and widowers in Article 70(1) and (2) of the Act and, with regard to age, i.e.:
  • at the time of the insured employee’s death, they had reached the age of 50 or were unable to work, or
  • they are raising at least one of the children, grandchildren or siblings entitled to a survivor’s pension after the deceased, who have not reached the age of 16, or if they are in school, the age of 18, or if they are caring for a child who is completely unable to work and live independently or completely unable to work, entitled to a survivor’s pension, or
  • have reached the age of 50 or have become unable to work after the death of the employee, but no later than within 5 years of his death or of ceasing to raise the persons mentioned above.

Court rulings indicate that this statutory “contribution to maintenance” means, on the one hand, regular payments, which, however, do not improve the parent’s standard of living if, before receiving the additional funds, the parent was able to meet their basic social needs. Furthermore, it should be noted that the courts link the occurrence of this condition with the fulfillment, even if voluntary, of the maintenance obligation (Supreme Court decision of June 16, 2020, file ref. no. I UK 223/19).

Therefore, parents are only entitled to a family pension after the death of a child if they were unable to support themselves and the child contributed to their maintenance immediately before their death (Supreme Court judgment of November 21, 2011, file ref. II UK 65/11).