Before going on maternity leave and then parental leave, many expectant mothers have a lot of questions. It also makes a difference whether the mother is employed or works as a self-employed person (OSVČ). So how do “maternity leave” and “parental leave” differ, what needs to be arranged, how much money will you receive, and what about another pregnancy?

Maternity leave and maternity benefit

Expectant mothers start maternity leave 8-6 weeks before the due date, and it lasts 28 weeks; in the case of twins and multiples, it is 37 weeks. It is paid retroactively and usually around the 10th day of the month, but this may vary from city to city. 

Employed mothers

For a mother to receive the maternity benefit, abbreviated as PPM, she must have participated in sickness insurance for at least 270 calendar days in the last two years before starting maternity leave (this insurance is paid by the employer). If the mother changed jobs during those 270 days, the days are added together. If the mother was a student before starting work and then worked less than 270 days, those days are also counted together. A mother who only studies and does not work is not entitled to PPM. Mothers who work under an agreement to complete a job are entitled to PPM if they earn more than CZK 10,000 per month under the agreement. 

Employed mothers/contract workers submit the application for maternity benefit from their gynecologist to their employer and do not need to worry about anything else. They only report the date of starting maternity leave, and the employer arranges everything needed for receiving PPM. The amount of PPM is then 70% of the reduced daily assessment base per calendar day. You can calculate your “maternity pay” using an online calculator. 

Self-employed mothers

For mothers who are self-employed, the situation is somewhat more complicated. In order to receive PPM, a woman must have paid sickness insurance for at least 270 calendar days in the last two years before starting maternity leave, and at the same time for 180 days in the period of one year before starting PPM. Ideally, the mother should arrange sickness insurance before becoming pregnant, that is, when she decides she would like to have a baby in the near future. 

The amount of sickness insurance depends on the amount of advance social security contributions, which in turn depends on earnings. However, no one will tell you exactly how much you should pay. So the best thing is to go to the District Social Security Administration, where you submit the PPM application, and ask there about the maximum amount of sickness insurance you can pay so that the PPM will be as high as possible. However, if the mother does not have high income, the PPM amount will be low compared with employed mothers, even less than half or one third. In this case, it is worth considering whether it is even worthwhile to pay sickness insurance and then receive PPM. 

A small tip for increasing your PPM is to apply at the employment office for them to increase your PPM from the future parental allowance up to the minimum amount, which is currently CZK 13,000.

Extra income while receiving maternity benefit

Employed mothers may also work while receiving PPM, but they must not perform the same work for the same employer from which their PPM arises. 

Self-employed mothers do not have to suspend their business in order to receive PPM; however, they must not carry it out personally, but may do so through their employees or cooperating persons. If the mother has no one who can work on her behalf, it is better for her to suspend the business so that she does not have to pay advances for health and social insurance. Be careful about the date until which you want the business suspended, because the day after this date the business is automatically resumed. 

Parental leave and parental allowance

The total parental allowance is the same amount for all mothers, so it depends only on the length of the payment period. All mothers can spread the parental allowance over up to the child’s 4th birthday (from 2024 only up to the child’s 3rd birthday), and the allowance amount must not be higher than the amount of PPM received. For self-employed mothers there is also a condition stating that if the PPM amount was lower than CZK 10,000, then they may receive a maximum of CZK 10,000 per month from the parental allowance. 

The amount of the parental allowance for 2023 is set at CZK 300,000 (for twins and multiples it is CZK 450,000). From 2024 it will be CZK 350,000 (for twins and multiples it will be CZK 525,000), and this applies only to mothers whose baby is born in 2024; the difference is not paid retroactively. The allowance amount can be changed once every 3 months.

From now on, there is no need to go to the employment office, where the parental allowance is handled; it is enough to enter everything 1-2 months before the end of PPM in the Jenda app and save yourself the running around offices. 

Extra income while receiving parental allowance

While receiving parental allowance, mothers already have more work options. They may work under an agreement, part-time or full-time, and also as self-employed persons (this will then count as secondary activity), but they must ensure care for their child. For children under 2 years of age, this is a maximum of 92 hours in a calendar month, during which they may attend nursery or another similar facility (e.g. preschool, child group). After the child’s 2nd birthday, attendance at any facility is no longer monitored. 

Subsequent maternity/parental leave

If a woman is on parental leave (up to the child’s 4th birthday, from 2024 only up to the child’s 3rd birthday) and has a valid employment contract with her employer, she is entitled to PPM in another pregnancy as well. She must then apply for the unpaid portion of the parental allowance, and it is paid out as a lump sum after starting the next maternity leave. Unfortunately, it is not paid automatically, as we would expect.

If a woman had a fixed-term contract that ended while she was receiving parental allowance and then no new employment contract arose, she was not participating in sickness insurance and therefore is not entitled to further PPM, and after the birth of the next child she moves directly to parental leave. 

A self-employed woman is entitled to further PPM only if she again participated in sickness insurance for 270 calendar days during a two-year period. Otherwise, she is not entitled to PPM and moves from parental leave to another parental leave. The unpaid allowance is then paid out as a lump sum in the following month after reporting this fact, provided that the mother applied for it.  

If you have read this far, you may be feeling overwhelmed by all this information. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. If you are not sure what to do, simply ask at the relevant office; no one will “tear your head off,” as they say, and you will get up-to-date information for your family situation. 

Wishing you a beautiful pregnancy and an even more beautiful motherhood.