Employee manual

• Maternity leave is time off work in connection with childbirth and caring for a newborn child for a period of 28 weeks, or 37 weeks in the case of twins or multiple births. Maternity leave (unlike maternity allowance) applies only to women in employment.
• Maternity leave is provided by the employer. The employer must grant requests for maternity leave.
• Upon returning from maternity leave, the employer must assign the employee to her original position and workplace.
• Women begin their maternity leave 8 to 6 weeks before their expected due date. They can choose the specific date within this range themselves.
• If the birth occurs earlier than determined by the doctor and the woman thus uses less than 6 weeks of maternity leave, she is entitled to maternity leave from the date of its commencement until the end of 28 weeks (or 37 weeks).
• If a woman uses less than 6 weeks of her maternity leave for reasons other than early childbirth, she is entitled to maternity leave from the date of childbirth only until the end of 22 weeks (in the case of the birth of two or more children, 31 weeks).
• The basic condition for receiving the allowance is participation in health insurance. It is a part of social insurance, which is paid by the employer for each employee. Participation in health insurance must be for a period of 270 calendar days during the two years preceding the start of maternity leave.
• You can request regular vacation time between maternity leave and parental leave. The request for regular vacation time must be submitted to the employer before the start of parental leave. However, the protection period does not apply during regular vacation time, and the employer may dismiss the employee.

• Maternity allowance (PPM) is a financial benefit paid from health insurance for a period of 28 weeks (196 days), or 37 weeks (259 days) in the case of twins or multiple births.
• Maternity allowance is set at 70% of the reduced daily assessment base. This is calculated from the gross income for the last 12 months, divided by the number of calendar days in the given period. It is also necessary to know the reduction limit derived from the average wage.
• Maternity allowance, being a sickness benefit, is exempt from income tax (along with other sickness and social benefits such as parental allowance) up to 36 times the minimum wage per year.
• Maternity benefit is included in the decisive income for applying the spouse deduction for the other partner.
• If employees receive PPM (i.e., usually during the mother’s maternity leave or the father’s corresponding parental leave) and wish to continue receiving this benefit, they may not perform work for which they are entitled to the benefit. This means that while receiving PPM, they cannot perform the same work from which sickness insurance contributions were paid and from which the amount of PPM was calculated.
• If a woman decides to work for the same employer during her maternity leave, she may do so after a six-week period, provided that the type of work she will perform is different from that which she performed before going on maternity leave. She may also enter into an employment contract with a new employer. In this case, she may perform the same work as in her previous job. However, she must obtain the prior consent of her original employer. Consent is not required if the woman performs scientific, literary, journalistic, educational, or artistic work.
• Students are only entitled to maternity allowance if they were working during their studies prior to becoming pregnant. This applies to employment relationships from which health insurance contributions are paid. If students are not entitled to maternity allowance, they are entitled to parental benefits from the date of birth of the child.
• If the child’s father and mother conclude a written agreement, the father may also take maternity leave. However, this is only possible after the six-week postnatal period. He then receives reduced maternity benefit for 22 weeks (31 weeks in the case of multiple births). The easiest way is to conclude a written agreement directly at the local Social Security Office.
• Mateřská – eDávky – Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení (only in Czech language).

Employed, student, or unemployed women can also apply for a birth grant – a one-time social benefit intended for low-income parents. Net income and the family’s minimum subsistence level are assessed for the purpose of granting this benefit.

The employee arranges herself the following:

• Employees report their entry into the PPM to their employer and the Payroll and Human Resources Department using the form “Oznámení zaměstnavateli o nástupu na peněžitou pomoc v mateřství”, which is part of this manual. The employer then sends this information electronically to the Social Security Administration as soon as possible. If a mother gives birth to twins or more children and wants to take maternity leave for 37 weeks, she must submit copies of the birth certificates of her offsprings to the Social Security Administration after 28 weeks.

The employer arranges the following:

• The employer will attach the completed form Annex to the application for sickness insurance benefits to the employee’s application and submit it to the Czech Social Security Administration.
• If you have a permanent contract, your employer may not, except in cases specified by law, terminate your employment during the so-called protection period – i.e. when you are pregnant or on maternity or parental leave, or temporarily unable to work. If you have a fixed-term contract, the protection period only applies until the end of the employment contract. An exception is made for employees who terminate their employment during pregnancy – the Labor Code sets a protection period of 180 days for them.
• No employer may commence employment with an employee during her six weeks of maternity leave.

• Paternity leave is a health insurance benefit aimed at providing financial security to economically active citizens who temporarily lose their income due to illness or maternity.
• Paternity leave is granted for 14 days in connection with the care of a newborn child to the child’s father or to an insured person (male or female) who has taken the child into care replacing parental care on the basis of a decision by the competent authority. It is also granted to a father whose child was stillborn or died within six weeks of birth.
• The basic condition for entitlement to paternity leave is participation in health insurance, i.e., for example, continuous employment that established participation in insurance at the time of commencement of this benefit (social security contributions are deducted from employment income). For self-employed persons (OSVČ), the condition for entitlement to paternity leave must be voluntary participation in OSVČ sickness insurance for at least 3 months immediately preceding the date of commencement of paternity leave.
• The child’s father must be listed on the birth certificate. The parents do not have to be married.
• In addition to fathers, insured persons (men or women) caring for a child who has been taken into care replacing parental care on the basis of a decision by the competent authority may also be entitled to paternity leave, provided that the child was under 7 years of age on the date of taking into care.
• Paternity leave is granted if it begins within six weeks of the child’s birth or the child being taken into care. Each individual determines the start date according to their needs. If the child is hospitalized for health reasons, either on the part of the child or the child’s mother, the period for starting paternity leave is extended by the number of days of hospitalization.
• Inform your employer that you will be taking paternity leave. Use the form “Oznámení zaměstnavateli o nástupu na otcovskou”, which is included in this manual, to submit your application to the Payroll and Human Resources Department. Your employer will then send this information electronically to the Social Security Administration as soon as possible.
• Otcovská – eDávky – Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení (only in Czech language).

• Parental leave is granted by the employer on the basis of a written request from the employee until the child reaches the age of three. Submit your request for parental leave to the Payroll and Human Resources Department.
• The mother is entitled to parental leave after the end of her maternity leave, or she can choose to take regular leave before her parental leave. The father is entitled to parental leave from the date of the child’s birth.
• During parental leave, you are entitled to protection against dismissal by your employer.
• During parental leave, a woman (or a man) receives parental allowance, which compensates for lost income during the period when the parent is caring for the child.
• The length of parental leave does not have to correspond to the length of time for which parental allowance is received.
• Employees on parental leave may perform the same work for the same employer as before taking parental leave, based on an Agreement to Perform Work or Agreement to Complete a Job.
• When returning from parental leave, the employer must assign the employee to their original position and workplace before the child reaches the age of two. Between the second and third year of the child’s age, the employer must assign the employee to the same job as specified in the employment contract. If you want to stay at home with your child even after their third birthday, you can agree with your employer to take unpaid leave – however, they may not agree to this and may terminate your employment.
• IEM offers its employees part-time positions to help them balance their family and work lives. Flexible working hours are often possible in agreement with the employee’s supervisor. In some cases, remote working arrangements are possible.
• There is a nursery at our campus: Atomík Mateřská škola Atomík and a children’s group called Molekula.

• Parents who provide full-time and proper care for a child under the age of 3 who is the youngest in the family are entitled to parental allowance. Full-time and proper care of children also includes situations where your child, if under 2 years of age, attends a nursery, kindergarten, or children’s group for a maximum of 92 hours per month. If your child is over 2 years of age, attendance at these facilities is not monitored.
• Parents (either mother or father) have CZK 350,000 at their disposal (CZK 525,000 for multiple births), which they can spread over a maximum of 31 months.
• Benefits are paid by the Employment Office gradually, in regular monthly instalments retroactively.
• If you are not entitled to maternity leave, you can claim parental allowance from the month in which the child is born after receiving the child’s birth certificate.
• The amount of parental allowance depends on how long you want to receive it. It also depends on how much the parent earned before starting parental leave.
• The maximum amount of parental allowance depends on the amount of maternity allowance received. The maximum monthly parental allowance corresponds to a maximum of 70% of 30 times the daily assessment base (i.e., 70% of monthly income).
• The amount of parental allowance can be calculated based on the daily assessment base of the parent who is listed on the parental allowance application. If the daily assessment bases of both parents are listed, the monthly amount is calculated based on the higher base. It is not necessary for the parent whose daily assessment base was used for the calculation to receive the parental allowance.
• The total amount of parental allowance must be withdrawn before the child reaches the age of 3. Otherwise, the parent will lose the remaining money. The minimum period for which parental allowance can be withdrawn is 6 months.
• A parent whose entitlement to parental allowance has expired due to the birth of another youngest child in the family or due to the entitlement to maternity allowance for another youngest child in the family is entitled to a one-off payment of the unused amount for the older child.
• Parental allowance is applied for at the relevant social support department at the Employment Office. Applications can be submitted no earlier than two months before the end of maternity leave. The parental allowance can be claimed retroactively for a maximum of three months from the date of application.
• There are more ways to claim the parental allowance:
  • by submitting an ONLINE application via the Jenda Client Zone. In addition to submitting your application, you can track the status of your application or make changes (e.g., change the monthly amount of parental allowance). Changes can be made once every 3 months.
  • in person or at the reception desk of the relevant contact office,
  • by post to the address of the relevant contact office,
  • by email signed with a guaranteed electronic signature to the email address of the relevant contact office,
  • data box to the data box of the relevant contact office.

• When an employee receives parental allowance, they can freely earn additional income from the employer they worked for before going on parental leave. Furthermore, it does not matter whether they are employed full-time, part-time, or on a temporary basis. This means that if you are on parental leave and receiving parental allowance, you can earn additional income without restriction in accordance with applicable laws.
• Parental allowance is not included in the decisive income for applying the spouse deduction for the other partner.
• Rodičovský příspěvek | ÚP (only in Czech language).

• During maternity leave and parental leave, a woman is covered by health insurance as a person caring for a child and also if she is a recipient of parental allowance.
• Furthermore, the state pays health insurance premiums if you personally and properly care for at least one child under the age of seven or at least two children under the age of 15 on a full-time basis. In this case, however, you cannot have income from gainful employment.
• The state pays health insurance premiums only for women on parental leave. However, it is theoretically possible for a woman to be on parental leave and her partner to be the recipient of parental allowance. In that case, the state would pay premiums for both parents.
• After birth, the child is automatically enrolled in the health insurance of one of the parents.