Maternity benefit

Definition / Purpose of the benefit

Maternity benefit shall be provided to the following persons:

• female insuree based on her pregnancy or care for the newborn child;
• another insuree based on his or her care of a child under three years of age.

Who is eligible

The following are entitled to the maternity benefit:

• employee;
• mandatorily insured self-employed person (SZCO) with sickness insurance;
• voluntarily insured person;
• natural person who became entitled to maternity benefit after the termination of his or her sickness insurance within the protective period

Entitlement to the maternity benefit arises:

• the mother of the child;
• another insuree who is caring for the child.

Another insuree is any of the following persons:

• the father of the child
  • if the mother died
  • if, according to the medical opinion, the mother cannot take care of the child or is not allowed to care for it as a result of her unfavourable health condition, which lasts at least one month, and if the mother does not receive maternity or parental allowance;
  • at the earliest after six weeks from the date of birth, if the mother receives neither maternity benefit or parental allowance for the same child;
• the husband of the child's mother, if, according to the medical opinion, the mother cannot take care of the child or is not allowed to care for it as a result of her unfavourable health condition, which lasts at least one month, and if the mother does not receive maternity or parental allowance;
• the wife of the child's father, if she is caring for a child whose mother has died;
• a natural person if he or she is caring for a child based on a decision of the competent authority.

Claiming the benefit

The claim should be made by application for maternity benefit.

It is a form of the Social Insurance Agency, which is not freely available:

• pregnant insuree will get it issued by her doctor of a medical facility, usually at the beginning of the eighth to the sixth weeks before the expected date of birth;
• any other insuree (not the mother who gave birth to the child) will get it from the relevant branch of the Social Insurance Agency.

Before sending it to the Social Insurance Agency, the insuree shall be obliged to:

• indicate the data in the declaration (whether he/she claims the benefit from the concurrence of insurances, and the method of transfer of the benefit). Then, the insuree adds his/her signature to the application and, in the case of an employee, to submit it to the employer for confirmation.

If the insuree wants to claim maternity benefit from several sickness insurances, he/she should send such application for maternity benefit separately for each of them.

Where and when should you make a claim?

• Self-employed person (SZCO) with compulsory sickness insurance, voluntarily insured person with sickness insurance and natural person within the protective period shall submit the application for maternity benefit to the branch of the Social Insurance Agency that performs / last performed his/her sickness insurance.
• Before claiming, the employee should submit his/her application for the maternity benefit to his/her employer, who writes and signs the employer's confirmation.
• The application for the maternity benefit should be preferably submitted immediately after the issue of the application (see Lapse).

Eligibility criteria

Employee

• pregnancy or childcare;
• reason of the entitlement to the maternity benefit – for a pregnant insuree, it is usually the day of the beginning of the sixth week, at the earliest of the eighth week before the expected date of birth determined by the doctor, or day of birth, if the birth occurred earlier, – and for another insuree the day from which he/she is claiming the maternity benefit - it must occur during the period that is covered by the sickness insurance or within the protective period;
• at least 270 days of sickness insurance in the last two years before the childbirth
  • any previous period of any terminated sickness insurance is taken into account;
  • the period of interruption of the employee's compulsory sickness insurance due to the use of parental leave and the period of interruption of the compulsory sickness insurance of a self-employed person due to the right to parental allowance are also included;
• absence of income for work performed, which is considered to be the assessment basis (VZ), paid for the period of receiving maternity leave work (the period for which the benefit is paid is decisive rather than in which period and whether it is income for work performed);
• it is not monitored whether or not the employer has paid sickness insurance premiums.

self-employed person (SZCO) with compulsory sickness insurance;

• pregnancy or childcare;
• reason of the entitlement to the maternity benefit – for a pregnant insuree, it is usually the day of the beginning of the sixth week, at the earliest of the eighth week before the expected date of birth determined by the doctor, or day of birth, if the birth occurred earlier, – and for another insuree the day from which he/she is claiming the maternity benefit - it must occur during the period that is covered by the sickness insurance or within the protective period;
• at least 270 days of sickness insurance in the last two years before the childbirth
  • any previous period of any terminated sickness insurance is taken into account;
  • the period of interruption of the employee's compulsory sickness insurance due to the use of parental leave and the period of interruption of the compulsory sickness insurance of a self-employed person due to the right to parental allowance are also included;
• payment of the sickness insurance premium in the correct amount from the inception of the sickness insurance until the end of the calendar month preceding the calendar month in which the ground for the provision of the maternity benefit occurred (except if the ground for such provision of the maternity benefit occurred in the calendar month in which the insurance occurred the first time or within the protective period).
• It is not monitored whether or not the self-employed person earns an income while receiving the maternity benefit.

When assessing the condition of payment of health insurance premiums, the total amount of outstanding health insurance premiums shall be tolerated if less than EUR 5. By paying the claim, the condition of payment of the insurance premium is considered fulfilled for the purposes of the entitlement to the benefit.

persons with voluntary sickness insurance

• pregnancy or childcare;
• reason of the entitlement to the maternity benefit – for a pregnant insuree, it is usually the day of the beginning of the sixth week, at the earliest of the eighth week before the expected date of birth determined by the doctor, or day of birth, if the birth occurred earlier, – and for another insuree the day from which he/she is claiming the maternity benefit - it must occur during the period that is covered by the sickness insurance or within the protective period;
• at least 270 days of sickness insurance in the last two years before the childbirth
  • any previous period of any terminated sickness insurance is taken into account;
  • the period of interruption of the employee's compulsory sickness insurance due to the use of parental leave and the period of interruption of the compulsory sickness insurance of a self-employed person due to the right to parental allowance are also included;
• Payment of the sickness insurance premium in the correct amount from the inception of the sickness insurance until the end of the calendar month preceding the calendar month in which the ground for the provision of the maternity benefit occurred (except if the reason for the provision of maternity benefit occurred in the calendar month in which the insurance occurred the first time or within the protective period).

When assessing the condition of payment of the health insurance premiums, the amount of outstanding health insurance premiums is tolerated if it is in total less than 5 euros. By paying the claim, the condition of payment of the insurance premium is considered fulfilled for the purposes of the entitlement to the benefit.

Protective period

Duration

• seven days after the end of the sickness insurance;
• if the sickness insurance lasted less than seven days: as many days as the sickness insurance lasted;
• in the case of a female insuree whose sickness insurance expired during her pregnancy, eight months.

If not expiring earlier, the duration of the protective period shall expire on the day on which

• health insurance occurred;
• entitlement to payment of an old-age pension, early old-age pension, or disability pension has arisen.

Another insuree

• the father of the child who is caring for the child and who had sickness insurance for at least 270 days in the last two years before claiming the maternity benefit
  • if the mother died;
  • if, according to the medical opinion, the mother cannot take care of the child or is not allowed to care for it as a result of her unfavourable health condition, which lasts at least one month, and if the mother does not receive maternity or parental allowance;
  • at the earliest after six weeks from the date of birth, if the mother receives neither maternity benefit or parental allowance for the same child;
• the husband of the child's mother, who cares for the child and who had sickness insurance for at least 270 days in the last two years before claiming the maternity benefit if, if, according to the medical opinion, the mother cannot take care of the child or is not allowed to care for it as a result of her unfavourable health condition, which lasts at least one month, and if the mother does not receive maternity or parental allowance for the same child;
• the wife of the child's father, if she is caring for a child the husband of the child's mother, who cares for the child and who had sickness insurance for at least 270 days in the last two years before claiming the maternity benefit, if she is caring for a child whose mother has died;
• a natural person if he or she is caring for a child based on a decision of the competent authority, who had sickness insurance for at least 270 days in the last two years before claiming the maternity benefit.

Amount of the benefit in 2021

The maternity benefit shall be determined from the daily assessment basis (DVZ) or the probable daily assessment basis (PDVZ). Since May 2017, the maternity benefit has increased from 70% to 75% DVZ, resp. PDVZ.

• DVZ = the ratio of the sum of assessment bases from which the insuree paid the sickness insurance contribution in the reference period https://www.socpoist.sk/slovnik-pojmov/11s?prm1=618, and the number of days of the reference period. DVZ shall be rounded up to four decimal places
  • Limitation of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) – The DVZ may not be higher than the DVZ determined from twice the general assessment base that was valid in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for provision of the sickness benefit occurred (from 1 January to 31 December 2021 = 71,8028 EUR).
• PDVZ = one-thirtieth of the assessment basis (VZ), from which the sickness insurance contributions would be paid for the calendar month in which the reason for the provision of the sickness benefit occurred (assumed VZ). PDVZ shall be rounded up to four decimal places.
  • If the probable daily assessment basis (PDVZ) is higher than the amount corresponding to one-thirtieth of the minimum assessment basis (VZ) (i.e., the VZ referred to in § 138 paragraph 5 of Act No. 461/2003 Coll.), which is valid on the day on which the reason for the provision of the sickness benefit occurred (from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 it is 546 EUR), the PDVZ is the amount corresponding to one thirtieth of the minimum assessment basis (VZ) (from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 it is 18,2000 EUR).
  • Exception – Probable daily assessment basis (PDVZ) of an employee and/or a self-employed person (SZCO) with mandatory sickness insurance who did not have any assessment basis (VZ) in the reference period as a result of his or her temporary incapacity for work, receiving of maternity benefits, interruption of the mandatory sickness insurance of an employee as a result of her parental leave, interruption of the mandatory sickness insurance of a self-employed person (SZCO) who is entitled to parental allowance, shall be one-thirtieth of the assumed assessment basis (VZ), from which the sickness insurance contributions would be paid for the calendar month in which the reason for the provision of the sickness benefit occurred. Maternity benefits for “chain births” must not be determined from the lower daily assessment basis (DVZ) than the daily assessment basis (DVZ) that had been used for establishment of the previous maternity benefit from the same sickness insurance.
  • Limitation of the probable daily assessment basis (PDVZ) – the same as for daily assessment basis (DVZ).

Cases in which the maternity benefits shall be determined from the probable daily assessment basis (PDVZ) (rather than from the daily assessment basis (DVZ))

• if the employee, the mandatorily insured self-employed person (SZCO) and/or the voluntarily insured person did not have any assessment basis (VZ) in the reference period;
• if the employee who in the current sickness insurance did not reach 90 days of paying the sickness insurance contributions before the reason for the sickness benefit occurred, and in the reference period which is the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for the sickness benefit occurred he or she did not reach 90 days of paying the sickness insurance contributions with other employers;
• if a reason occurred for a self-employed person (SZCO) with mandatory sickness insurance, for provision of sickness benefit on the day of the occurrence of this sickness insurance (the occurrence of sickness insurance due to the end of its interruption shall not be taken into account);
• if a voluntarily insured person with sickness insurance had the voluntary sickness insurance for less than 26 weeks.

Reference period

• if the sickness insurance of an employee, a self-employed person (SZCO) or a voluntarily insured person has lasted continuously from at least 1 January of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred, the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the calendar year preceding to the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred;
• if the sickness insurance of an employee occurred in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred, or in the calendar year in which the reason for the maternity benefits occurred, and the period of the sickness insurance for which sickness insurance contributions were paid was at least 90 days before the day on which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred, the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the period from the inception of the sickness insurance to the end of the calendar month preceding the calendar month in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred;
• if the period of sickness insurance of an employee for which sickness insurance contributions are paid, before the occurrence of the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits was less than 90 days from the occurrence of this sickness insurance, the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred, if the period of the sickness insurance of the employee for which sickness insurance contributions are paid lasted at least 90 days in the previous calendar year, in addition to the period of sickness insurance obtained with the employer where the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred (i.e., the assessment basis (VZ) with the same employer shall not be taken into account);
• the reference period for determining the daily assessment basis (DVZ) for the establishment of the amount of the maternity benefits of a female employee who was transferred to another job due her pregnancy shall be established as of the day of such transfer;
• if the sickness insurance of a self-employed person (SZCO) arose
  • in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the period from the inception of the sickness insurance to the end of the calendar year that is previous to the year in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred;
  • in the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the period from the inception of the sickness insurance to the end of the calendar month that is previous to the month in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred;
  • in the calendar month in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the period from the inception of the sickness insurance to the end of the day that is previous to the day in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred;
• if the sickness insurance of a voluntarily insured person lasted for at least 26 weeks and it occurred
  • in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred, the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the period from the inception of the sickness insurance to the end of the calendar year that is previous to the year in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred;
  • in the calendar year in which the reason for provision of maternity benefits occurred, the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) is the period from the inception of the sickness insurance to the end of the calendar month that is previous to the month in which the reason for the provision of the maternity benefits occurred;
• if the entitlement to maternity benefits occurred for an employee, a self-employed person (SZCO) or a voluntarily insured person in the protective period, the reference period for the establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) shall be established as of the day of termination of the sickness insurance;
• when determining the reference period for the purposes of establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) and for the purposes of occurrence on a sickness insurance of an employee, the occurrence and termination of the interruption of mandatory sickness insurance shall not be deemed occurrence and termination of the mandatory sickness insurance for the purposes of establishment of the 90 days of the sickness insurance for which sickness insurance contributions are paid (i.e., no new reference period shall be established after the termination of the interruption of the mandatory sickness insurance and the 90 days of payment of the contributions to the sickness insurance shall be monitored from the beginning of the employee's sickness insurance);
• sickness insurance of an employee of the same type with one employer, which expired and subsequently arose on the following calendar day shall be deemed continuous (§ 20 para. 1 not being affected) for the purposes of establishment of the reference period for the sickness insurance;
• Periods for which the insuree is not obliged to pay contributions to the sickness insurance as well as periods of periods of interruption of the mandatory sickness insurance shall be excluded from the reference period for the purposes of establishment of the daily assessment basis (DVZ).

Percentage amount of the maternity benefits – 75% of the daily assessment basis (DVZ) or the daily assessment basis (DVZ) from the first day.

The amounts of the maternity benefits shall be rounded up to ten euro cents.
 

Payment of the benefit

Method of payment

• preferably to the account of the maternity benefits beneficiary in a bank or a branch of a foreign bank;
• at the request of the beneficiary, the maternity benefits shall be paid in cash, i.e., by means of a money order for payment or district circuit (Slovenská pošta, a. s. (Slovak Post Office));
• at the written request of the maternity benefits beneficiary, the maternity benefits shall be transferred to an account of her husband or his wife in a bank or a branch of a foreign bank, if at the time of receiving of the maternity benefits the beneficiary has the right to dispose of funds in this account and if the spouse agrees to this method of transfer; (see Forms).

Deadlines for payment of the benefits

• Benefits are paid until the end of the month following the calendar month for which the maternity benefit is paid (if the documents are delivered on time).

Pre-condition of the benefit payment

• documents should be submitted to the branch of the Social Insurance Agency, as a rule, by the 5th day of the calendar month following the month for which the benefit is paid;
• after a birth of a child, a copy of the document on the birth of a child must be submitted only if the child is not registered in the register in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

Suspension of payment

• The payment of the maternity allowance shall be suspended at the request of the maternity benefit beneficiary at the latest from the maternity payment due in the calendar month following the calendar month in which the application was delivered to the Social Insurance Agency.

Benefit payment period / When it is not Paid

Provision

• for calendar days

Maternity benefit provision period

• Entitlement to the maternity benefit occurs to the mother of the child as follows:
  • from the beginning of the sixth week before the expected date of birth as established by a physician, at the earliest from the beginning of the eighth week before this day or from the date of birth if the birth occurred earlier;
  • from the protective period only from the beginning of the sixth week before the expected date of birth or from the date of birth, if it occurred earlier.
• The entitlement of the mother of the child to the maternity benefits shall expire as follows:
  • as a rule, 34 weeks after the entitlement occurred;
  • even after the 34th week after the entitlement occurred, as follows
    • no longer than 37 weeks after the entitlement to the maternity benefits occurred if the insuree is lonely;
    • no longer than 43 weeks after the entitlement to the maternity benefits occurred if the insuree has given birth to two or more children at the same time and she takes care of at least two of the born children;
  • till the end of the 14th week after the entitlement occurred, if a stillborn child was born;
  • if the child has died during the period of the entitlement to the maternity benefits, the entitlement lasts until the end of the second week from the date of the child's death, in any case no longer than till the end of the 34th, or 43rd weeks after the entitlement to the maternity benefits occurred (not less than 14 weeks).

The period of entitlement to the maternity benefit of an insuree which has given birth to a child may not be less than 14 weeks after the entitlement to the maternity benefit occurred and may not expire before the expiry of six weeks from the date of birth.

• Entitlement of other person arises from the day from which he or she claims the entitlement to the maternity benefit and expires at the end of:
  • the 28th week from the acknowledgement of the maternity benefit;
  • the 31st week from the acknowledgement of the maternity benefit if he or she is lonely;
  • the 37th week from the acknowledgement of the maternity benefit if he or she concurrently cares for two or more children.

A natural person whose sickness insurance has expired during her pregnancy shall be entitled to maternity benefit from the beginning of the sixth week before the expected date of birth as established by a physician or from the date of childbirth if she gave birth earlier and her protective period lasted until the beginning of the sixth week before the expected date of birth as established by a physician or from the date of childbirth.

Cessation of the entitlement to payment of the maternity benefit

• if, according to the medical opinion, the insuree cannot or may not take care of her child due to her unfavourable health condition, the right to the maternity benefit ceases on the day when the child is taken into the care of another natural or legal person and re-occurs from the day when the child is taken from the care of another natural or legal person, the entitlement to the maternity benefit lasting until the end of the total period of the entitlement to the maternity benefit, in any case not longer than until the child reaches the age of three (the period of taking over being not included in the entitlement);
• if the insuree ceased to care for the child for a reason other than her unfavourable health condition, the entitlement to the maternity benefit , the right to the maternity benefit ceases on the day when her care for the child ceased and re-occurs from the day when the child was taken to her care again, the period during which the insuree ceased to care for the child for a other reasons being included in the duration of the entitlement to the maternity benefit;
• the entitlement to the maternity benefit ceases on the day of death of the insuree.

Return of the benefit/Lapse

The beneficiary shall be obliged to return the maternity benefit or part thereof from the date from which it did not belong to him or her or did not belong to him or her in the provided amount; if

• the beneficiary has not fulfilled an obligation imposed by law (e.g., she has not proved the decisive facts);
• was receiving the maternity benefit or part of it even though she knew or should have assumed on the basis of the circumstances that it had been wrongly paid or in an amount higher than she was entitled to (e.g., the maternity benefit had been paid by a branch to the beneficiary from a higher daily assessment basis (DVZ) than stated in the decision on the acknowledgement of the maternity benefit; or
• the beneficiary knowingly caused the maternity benefit or part of it had been paid incorrectly or in an amount higher than it was due (e.g., she did not inform the branch that she had also sickness insurance also under the legislation of one of the EU Member States).

If a natural or legal person has incorrectly confirmed the facts that are decisive for the entitlement to the benefit or to the payment of the benefit or to the amount of the benefit, and as a result the Social Insurance Agency provided the benefit incorrectly or in an amount higher than due, such person shall be obliged to reimburse the amounts unduly paid (e.g., the employer incorrectly confirmed higher assessment bases (VZ) in the reference period or did not send registration letters of a natural person proving the beginning and termination of the interruption of the compulsory health insurance in the reference period).

The entitlement to the payment of the maternity benefit or part thereof shall lapse three years from the date on which the maternity or part thereof belonged. The lapse period shall not run at the time of the maternity benefit proceedings and in the period in which a guardian has not been appointed for the party who must have a guardian.

Foreign countries and EU

• If a person with a sickness insurance under the legislation of the Slovak Republic has given birth in the territory of another EU Member State, Switzerland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Iceland and/or the Principality of Liechtenstein (hereinafter the “EU Member State”), i.e., such person is in care of a physician during her pregnancy, which is not in the territory of the Slovak Republic, such person shall claim her entitlement to her maternity benefit directly in the relevant branch of the Social Insurance Agency as follows:
  • by means of a certificate from her attending physician issued in the EU Member State where the birth took place – it must be a certificate which also serves in its country of issue for the purpose of claiming maternity benefit (translation of such a certificate is not required); or
  • if the attending physician in the EU Member State of birth does not issue such a certificate, the claimant should ask the competent institution of the EU Member State in whose territory the birth took place to promptly issue for the purpose of claiming the maternity benefit – usually on SED S 055.
• If the birth occurred on the territory of the state with which the Slovak Republic has a social security contract, and the subject of this contract covers also sickness benefits (e.g., Ukraine), the Social Insurance Agency as the competent institution for the payment of sickness benefits in the Slovak Republic is in principle obliged to accept certificates and forms issued in the Contracting State.

• If the birth occurred on the territory of a state with which the Slovak Republic does not have a social security contract, but this state acceded to the Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement of Higher Verification of Foreign Authentic Instruments, the form issued by the attending physician in such a state must be certified by an apostille – certificate of credibility of a public document by a competent authority (for more information see the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, section Travelling and Consular Info). In the case of a form that had been issued by physician in the territory of a State which has not acceded to the Convention, a certificate of authenticity of a public document is required from the various authorities.

Rights and obligations

Rights of the insuree

• to claim the entitlement to the maternity benefit and to its payment;
• to apply for a certificate of entitlement to the maternity benefit, entitlement to its payment and its amount, confirmation of periods of insurance (through the competent institution of another EU Member State) if she is claiming maternity benefit in another EU Member State in which he is entitlement to this benefit is conditional on the completion of a certain period of the sickness insurance;
• apply for a cessation of payment of the maternity benefit.

Obligations of the insuree/beneficiary

• state the birth number (social security identification number) in the submitted documents;
• to prove the facts to the relevant branch of the Social Insurance Agency, which decisive for the occurrence, duration and cessation of the entitlement to the maternity benefit, the entitlement to its payment and its amount;
• after a written request from the Social Insurance Agency to prove these facts within eight days from the date of delivery of the request, unless different deadline has been specified by the Social Insurance Agency
  • the occurrence of the entitlement to the maternity benefit should be proved in particular as follows:
    • by application for the maternity benefit;
  • the duration of the entitlement to the maternity benefit should be proved in particular as follows:
    • by submitting a document on the birth of a child in the event that the child is not registered in a registry in the territory of the Slovak Republic, preferably before the third day of the calendar month following the birth, otherwise the maternity benefit will be paid one month late;
    • by submitting a solemn declaration of loneliness;
  • the cessation of the entitlement to the maternity benefit and its amount, and/or to the change of the amount of the maternity benefit should be proved in particular as follows:
    • by a document that affects the entitlement to the maternity benefit and its amount (e.g., a document proving the takeover of the child by another insuree, notification of the beginning of the performance of gainful activity by the employee);
  • the beneficiary is obliged to notify the relevant branch of the Social Insurance Agency within eight days of the change in the facts that are decisive for the duration of the entitlement to the benefit, the entitlement to its payment and its amount;
• to submit a document on the birth of a child if the child is not registered in the registry in the territory of the Slovak Republic.