Social Security of Mothers/Foreigners
SOCIAL SECURITY AND LEGAL PROTECTION of Employed Female Foreigners and Their Families
1. ARE YOU AN EMPLOYED FOREIGNER EXPECTING A CHILD? DO YOU KNOW WHAT MATERNITY LEAVE IS?
- As an employee you are entitled to go on maternity leave. Maternity leave is your legal right to be absent from work due to birth giving and care of your newborn baby. It lasts 28 weeks (in case of multiple births 37 weeks).
- You can start your maternity leave 6 to 8 weeks before the date your baby is due and must not finish earlier than 6 weeks after the birth.
- Maternity leave must not be shorter than 14 days.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Visit your medical doctor (gynecologist) who will estimate the date when your baby is due and when you are supposed to start your maternity leave. Your gynecologist will fill in an official form, which you will submit to your employer. As an employee you are entitled to go on maternity leave.
2. DO YOU KNOW THAT DURING YOUR MATERNITY LEAVE YOU ARE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE ONE OF TWO TYPES OF FINANCIAL BENEFITS: MATERNITY BENEFIT (MB, PENĚŽITÁ POMOC V MATEŘSTVÍ) OR SICKNESS BENEFIT (NEMOCENSKÁ)?
- Female foreigners employed in the Czech Republic are entitled to these benefits too, if they meet the conditions to get the maternity benefits.
- Men can also be entitled to maternity benefit if certain conditions are met.
- You can receive the maternity benefit during the entire period of time when you are on maternity leave (28 or 37 weeks).
WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS?
- You were participating as an employee in the sickness insurance plan for at least 270 calendar days over the last two years before the starting day of your maternity leave or you paid the insurance yourself as an entrepreneur (Notice: it is not tested if your employer paid the insurance correctly.)
- You are still entitled to the maternity benefit if your insurance plan expired under the condition that you are going to start your maternity leave in so called protection period. This protection period lasts 180 days. If you were employed for a shorter period of time, the protection period lasts for the same amount of days as your last employment.
HOW MUCH IS IT?
The amount of money you will receive is based on your prior earnings (e.g. if your salary was 19 000 CZK, you will receive approx. 13 140 CZK a month).
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Apply for the maternity benefit at your employer (even if your employment ended and you are in protection period) and bring him the form from your gynecologist.
WHAT IF YOU DON NOT MEET THE CONDITIONS TO RECEIVE THE MATERNITY BENEFITS?
If you are not entitled to the maternity benefit, it is possible that you are entitled to get the sickness benefit. The sick leave starts from the 6th week before your baby is due. (The doctor will end the sickenss slip 6 weeks after delivery).
Note: If you are on sick leave due to a risky pregnancy, you will switch to maternity leave according to doctor’s decision 8-6 weeks before the birth. If you are not entitled to get the maternity benefits, you will stay on sick leave which will end 6 weeks after the birth.
3. DO YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS ALSO A PARENTAL LEAVE?
- Parental leave is a legal right to be absent from work. It is granted to you by your employer after you finish your maternity leave. It may also be granted to the father of the child from the date of the child’s birth. According to the Labor Code (Zákoník práce) employers must provide a mother or a father time off from work if requested.
- Parental leave lasts until the child is 3 years old. If your child is older than 3 years of age and you want to stay home with him/her, you must apply for approved absence from work in order to take care of your child (pracovní volno z důvodů péče o dítě). This absence from work is not your right, it depends on your employer´s decision.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Before the end of your maternity leave, you must submit a written request to your employer. Write how long your paternal leave is going to be.
4. DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN RECEIVE PARENTAL BENEFIT (RODIČOVSKÝ PŘÍSPĚVEK)?
- Parental benefits are one of the benefits provided by the State Social Support (Státní sociální podpora, SSP)
- Parental benefits are intended for parents who take care, properly and during the whole day, of a child under 4 years of age (the youngest child). Parents can take turns after some time in taking care of their child. (Attention! Father can apply for this benefit only when registered in the child’s birth certificate.)
- After fulfilling certain conditions, you can plan your parental benefits and to choose the length and amount of the benefit.
- Parental benefits can be provided the longest until the child reaches the age of 3 and shortest until the total of a benefit reaches 350 000 CZK (525 000 with twins/multiple birth).
- As a foreigner, you are entitled to this benefit if you have had residence permit in the Czech Republic for longer than one year (except for Employee card holders). The child needs to be born in the Czech Republic or - if not - needs to fulfill the same time requirements.
Does it matter whether I was employed and how much did I earn? How is the amount of parental benefits decided?
- For having the parental benefits granted, it does not matter how much do you earn in your family. The income of the mother or income of the father of the child determines only the amount of money you will receive every month.
- During the time you are getting the parental benefits, you can decide to change the monthly amount (and therefore the period of receiving) once in three months and to take turns in taking care of the child. The parental benefit is paid always for the youngest child in the family. The maximum total sum of parental allowance is 350 000 (525 000 for twins) and it is paid maximally until 3 years of age of the child.
- The choice of monthly amount depends on If the mother of father of the child had income giving right to sickness insurance benefits (usually, mother's PPM) before the birth of the child:
- You can choose monthly parental allowance lower of equal to the amount of your PPM if you were entitled to it.
- If you did not have income entitling you to PPM, you can make choice until maximum monthly amount 13 000 CZK (or choose lower amount).
Can the child still go to nursery school or kindergarten?
For children under 2 years of age, there is a limit of 92 hours per month to spend in nursery or kindergarten. If you need to work or run your business to some extent, you have to provide another adult responsible person to take care of your child. There are no limits for children above 2 years of age.
What to do? Where and when apply for the parental benefits?
You have to apply at the State Social Support (Státní sociální podpora, SSP) at labour offices (Úřad práce) according to your place of residence, after:
- You have finished getting maternity benefits (peněžitá pomoc v mateřství, PPM).
- You did not get maternity benefits, but you were on sick leave due to pregnancy and giving birth.
- You did not get neither maternity benefits nor sick pay.
- You got maternity benefits, but it was lower than are the parental benefits. You can apply to get the difference also during the time you are getting your maternity benefits.
The application consists of a child’s birth certificate, filled form, confirmation that you have a valid residence permit in the Czech Republic (or history of your stay – issued by OAMP MV), filled questionnaire about your place of residence and other attachments. If the mother did not receive PPM, or if you are using the father´s income to qualify for choosing the monthly amount, you also have to submit confirmation of ČSSZ proving the amount of income influencing the parental benefit.
5. What else is father of the baby eligible for?
Fathers of newborn babies: Up to 6 weeks after delivery, the father may apply for a "paternity" benefit from his sickness insurance. Possible to draw up to 7 days in a row. From the 7th week after the birth of a child, father and mother can switch after a written agreement (at least 7 days). That means mother cannot draw the maternity benefit for those days. The payments are also calculated from his sickness insurance.
6. DO YOU KNOW THAT OTHER TYPES OF STATE SOCIAL SUPPORT ARE AVAILABLE AS WELL?
BIRTH GRANT (porodné). A “birth grant” is a one-time payment given to low-income families (households) to help with expenses in connection with a first child. A woman who gives birth to her first or second child (born within the Czech Republic, i.e., prior children born outside the Czech Republic do not affect eligibility) and her family income is less than 2.7-times the subsistence minimum is eligible for this payment. The one-time payment is 13 000 CZK for the first child and 10 000 CZK for the second child.
If the family (household) income is low, you can apply for child welfare support (přídavek na dítě) or housing support (příspěvek na bydlení). However, it depends on your residence permit.
7. DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU AS AN EMPLOYEE YOU ARE PROTECTED BY LAW? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ARE?
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT BY RECEIVING NOTICE
- The Labor Code guarantees so called protection period during your pregnancy, maternity and parental leave. It means that you cannot be given notice (with the exception of some structural changes) or dismissed by your employer during the protected period.
- Note! Be aware, that the protection period does not apply in case your employment was terminated during probation period, or if the employment ended by mutual agreement and also in case your contract was only for limited time.
RETURN TO WORK
If you return to work after the end of your maternity leave, you are entitled to the same position and work place you had had prior to maternity leave. If you return after parental leave when your child is up to three years of age, you are entitled to any position and workplace which is in terms with your contract.
TRANSITION TO A DIFFERENT POSITION
- Pregnant or breastfeeding employees and mothers of children who are up to 9 months old are prohibited to perform dangerous types of work and work in dangerous type of workplaces (where they are exposed to radiation, toxics, lifting heavy loads…)
- If you have any type of work like this, your employer must transfer you to a different position.
- If in this case your income is reduced, you are entitled to receive compensatory benefit in pregnancy and maternity (vyrovnávací příspěvek v těhotenství a mateřství, type of sickness insurance benefit).
- The Labor Code also provides further protection for caretakers of children – the adjustment of working conditions.
Useful links:
https://www.uradprace.cz/web/cz/rodicovsky-prispevek
https://www.penize.cz/kalkulacky/rodicovsky-prispevek
https://www.penize.cz/kalkulacky/materska
tel.: +420 704 600 700
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
tel.: +420 774 866 838
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mladá Boleslav – sociální poradenství
tel.: +420 735 755 200
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Liberec – sociální poradenství
tel.: +420 735 752 467
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
tel.: +420 735 173 719
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hořovice – sociální poradenství
Jablonec nad Nisou – sociální poradenství
Kutná Hora – sociální poradenství