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Maternity allowance is one of the four benefits provided by the Social Insurance Institution under the sickness insurance scheme. And although its name would suggest that it is provided only to women – mothers, this is not the case. In fact, the Social Insurance Act allows another insured person – the child’s father – to take maternity leave.

What conditions does the father have to meet in order to start maternity leave?

• On the day you start maternity leave, you are insured for sickness or are in the protection period after the end of your sickness insurance. The protection period for the insured person is 7 calendar days after the termination of sickness insurance.
• In the two years before taking maternity leave, you were insured for at least 270 days. This period includes not only periods of current sickness insurance but also periods of insurance from sickness insurance policies already completed.
• He declares on a form from the Social Insurance Office that he and the child’s mother have agreed that the father has taken custody of the child. This form can be requested from any branch of the social insurance office. They shall indicate on the form the exact date from which the father takes custody of the child.
• Neither parent may receive parental allowance, which is paid by the relevant Labour, Social Affairs and Family Office. This must be documented by a certificate from the Social Insurance Office.
• The child’s mother may not receive maternity pay for the same child or for a younger child.
• Marriage to the child’s mother is not a condition for the child’s father to qualify for maternity leave. The parents do not even have to prove the existence of a common household.
• If your father has more than one sickness insurance at the same time, if he is both self-employed and employed, the entitlement to maternity pay is assessed separately for each insurance.
• If the father is self-employed, he must have no more than €5 in sickness insurance arrears. If the father is an employee, the Social Insurance Institution does not monitor whether the employer has paid the sickness insurance premiums.
• In addition to the above-mentioned documents, the child’s father must also submit a “Maternity Application” to the social insurance office. If he/she is claiming from more than one insurance, he/she must submit the Application for Maternity Allowance from each insurance separately. As the father (another insured person) and not the mother applies for maternity benefit, the form will not be issued by the attending physician (gynaecologist) as in the case of the child’s mother, but will be provided by the relevant branch of the Social Insurance Institution. The form is not publicly available on the website of the Social Insurance Institution.

Date of entitlement to maternity pay and period of maternity pay

The father may take maternity leave at the earliest 6 weeks after the date of childbirth. If the mother receives maternity leave, the father may take maternity leave after the mother has completed her maternity leave. The father may choose any date for the start of the maternity leave, including when the child is one year old, two years old, etc. The maximum length of the father’s maternity leave is 28 weeks. A single father is entitled to maternity pay for 31 weeks. In the case of caring for two or more children, you are entitled to maternity pay for up to 37 weeks. The length of maternity pay is also limited by the age of the child. The father can receive maternity pay until the child is 3 years old at the latest.

Does a father on maternity leave have to stop working?

Yes, a father on maternity leave can work, but he cannot have income from the job that put him on maternity leave. However, it is not excluded that he may have income from other employment.

If the father is a sole trader or self-employed, he can be on maternity leave and continue his business at the same time. His entitlement to maternity pay will not be extinguished.

How is the amount of maternity pay for the father determined?

The amount of maternity pay is calculated by the Social Insurance Institution in calendar days. The father is entitled to maternity pay equal to 75 % of the daily assessment base. The daily assessment base for determining the amount of maternity pay is the sum of the assessment bases on which the father paid sickness insurance premiums in the reference period and the number of days in the reference period.

From 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2017, the maximum limit of the daily assessment base is set at EUR 58.0603.

The determining period may vary, depending in particular on whether the father is an employee or a self-employed person.

The maximum amount of maternity allowance is from 1.5 2017 in the amount of:

• EUR 1 350,00 in a 31-day month,
• EUR 1 306,40 in a 30-day month.

Maternity pay is paid monthly in arrears.

Father on maternity leave from the perspective of the Labour Code

In accordance with Section 166 of the Labour Code, the mother is entitled to both maternity leave and parental leave. The father is only entitled to parental leave. The father must give the employer at least one month’s notice in writing of the date of commencement of parental leave. He must also give at least one month’s notice of the date on which his parental leave ends. If the child’s father decides to take maternity pay under the Social Insurance Act, he asks his employer to grant parental leave.

The Labour Code does not preclude both parents from being on parental leave at the same time. . Therefore, the mother has the right to remain on parental leave even if the father is on parental leave at the same time. The mother does not have to return to work when the father takes parental leave.

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