The article analyses the compensatory benefit for harm caused by vaccination in the Polish legal order. It discusses the origin and purpose of the benefit, the eligibility condi­tions and the method for determining its amount. It also presents the positions of scholars representing various branches of law regarding the legal nature of this benefit. Some consider it to be a lump-sum civil-law compensation awarded in a simplified procedure, while others argue that it constitutes a new type of social benefit, described as social (public) compensation. The text indicates that, during the legislative process, the lawmaker did not draw on research findings on social compensation benefits, resulting in the creation of an institution that cannot be clearly assigned to a single branch of law. According to the authors, the lawmaker also failed to define the concept of social compensation and did not take a clear position on establishing a new benefit within the social security sys­tem. Such a step would have contributed significantly to the field’s development.

In accordance with Act on pension benefits from the Social Insurance Fund, training benefit is a benefit payment for those who are entitled to get a pension for incapacity to work and who have lost their ability to conduct their previous line of work but can be retrained. The regulations on training benefit have been full of concerns. The data presented in this study shows that in 2023 the benefit practically ceased to be provided. The reason for this situation may be disadvantages of the legal regulations described in the article, as well as the incorrect practice of applying the law. In the text, a lawyer and a physician discuss not only the applicable legal regulations but also the future of the training benefit, taking into the account how the regulations can potentially be modified. The authors present possible solutions, from changing the scope of the applicable regulation, through introducing another benefit in social insurance instead of the training benefit, to completely abandon this type of pension. This article also shows that occupational activization of people unable to work is a serious and difficult challenge for the legislator, who is responsible for creating an effective system of benefits serving the implementation of the right to social security.