FROM 01.01.2024, AN AMENDMENT TO ACT NO.461/2003 COLL. ON SOCIAL INSURANCE, AS AMENDED, WILL COME INTO FORCE, WHICH WILL ALSO ENTITLE GRADUATES OF SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS TO MATERNITY LEAVE.

#103From 01.01.2024, an amendment to Act No.461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance, as amended, will come into force, which will also entitle graduates of secondary and higher education institutions to maternity leave

Prior to the approval of the amendment No 203/2023 Coll., according to Act No 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance, as amended, Section 48(1), only insured women who were pregnant or caring for a child were entitled to maternity benefits only if they had been insured for sickness for at least 270 days during the last two years prior to giving birth.

Amendment No 203/2023 Coll., amending Act No 461/2003 Coll. on social insurance, as amended, also includes the 270 days during which women must be insured for sickness during the period of study at a secondary or higher education institution if the insured woman has obtained the relevant level of education through her studies.

Accordingly, women who, before the amendment came into force, became pregnant or cared for a child immediately after finishing their studies at secondary school or university were not entitled to maternity pay on the ground that they did not meet the condition laid down in Article 48(1) of Act No 461/2003 Coll. on social insurance, as amended, of having been insured for at least 270 days during the previous two years, on the ground that they were not insured for sickness during that period because they had been studying at secondary school or university.

The aim of this amendment was to widen the range of insured women entitled to maternity pay, with particular emphasis on pregnant women or women caring for a child immediately after completing their studies at secondary school or university.

Another objective of the amendment was to encourage young women to become mothers after they have left secondary or higher education.

In order for an insured woman to qualify for maternity benefits, the following 3 conditions must be met simultaneously:

1. The pregnant woman or the woman caring for the child must be insured, i.e. she must be employed or pay voluntary sickness insurance.
2. The pregnant woman or woman caring for the child must have been insured for at least 270 days during the previous two years.
3. The pregnant woman or woman caring for a child must have attained the appropriate level of education, i.e. if the woman gives birth before graduating from high school, she will not be entitled to maternity benefits because she has not attained the required level of education, namely secondary education with a high school diploma.

If all three conditions are met at the same time, a pregnant woman or a woman caring for a child is entitled to maternity allowance, but not to maternity pay. The pregnancy allowance has not been extended to female graduates.

The above-mentioned amendment to the Act was inspired by legislation in the Czech Republic.