Are you expecting offspring? You may be thinking about what will be different and how much your financial situation will change after giving birth. But fortunately, everything can be calculated in advance so that nothing surprises you. Our guide will show you how to calculate your maternity pay and when to start it, as well as who pays it and when.
Do not confuse maternity leave with parental leave. They are sometimes confused. Maternity leave means time off work and a cash allowance for women who have given birth to a child. It lasts 28 weeks by law (37 weeks if you give birth to two or more children). The amount of benefit you receive during this time is based on the amount of your salary to date (or your sickness insurance payments for self-employed) and does not usually represent a significant financial drop.
Tip: To learn more about maternity leave, read our in-depth article on the subject.
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Parental leave is the following period, which can last even up to the fourth year of the child. The allowance during parental leave is uniform throughout the country, totalling CZK 350,000, and it is up to you whether you divide it into one, two or three years. The amount of the allowance depends on this, which is just under CZK 10,000 when spread over the longest possible period and just over CZK 29,000 when taken over the shortest possible period. Most expectant mothers are interested in the calculation of the benefits they will receive during maternity leave.
But let’s go back to maternity leave. You are entitled to 70% of the reduced daily assessment base per calendar day while caring for your baby . The daily assessment base is calculated as the sum of your gross income divided by the number of calendar days (the calculation is usually based on your income for the last 12 months, taking into account excluded days such as sickness etc.). As with ordinary sickness benefit , income is then reduced using three reduction thresholds.
Calculation of the daily assessment base:
Reduction of the daily assessment base for 2025:
The reduction thresholds for 2025 are set as follows:
The wage replacement for working days is set at 70 % of the reduced earnings.
You don’t need to remember any formulas, reduction thresholds or percentages to calculate your maternity leave. A maternity pay calculator can help you calculate the amount of pay during your maternity leave. Such a maternity pay calculator is available, for example, on the MLSA website.
Businesswomen are entitled to maternity pay if they have paid sickness insurance for at least 270 days (i.e. nine months) in the two years prior to taking maternity leave, including at least 180 days (six months) in the last year. This length of payment is intended to prevent the expectant mother from paying sick pay on purpose only when she finds out she is pregnant. She may do so, of course, because of concerns about common illness, but even then she will not be entitled to sick pay until three months after the payments have begun.
The minimum advance payment for sickness insurance for self-employed workers in 2025 is CZK 194. This is the amount you must pay as a sole trader, even if your calculated average is lower. If you pay advances of this amount, you will receive a total contribution of CZK 41,020 (so it is not a monthly payment, but a total payment).
If you do not normally pay sick pay advances and you would consider making a future payment solely for the purpose of claiming maternity pay, it is certainly worth calculating in advance whether it would be worthwhile for you. Take into account the necessary administration around this.
In order to qualify for the maximum maternity allowance, you need a monthly health insurance payment of CZK 3,788. But that doesn’t mean you can start making such high payments when you plan to become pregnant. The maximum possible amount of sickness insurance is 2.1% of the assessment base, i.e. one half of your net profit.
A self-employed person can apply for maternity pay at the relevant district social security office, both in person and electronically. The basis for the application for maternity allowance is issued to the self-employed person by her gynaecologist.
For self-employed persons, as a rule, even ordinary sick leave and subsequent maternity pay is not paid. If you don’t pay the advances and get pregnant, you don’t need to worry. You won’t be out of pocket. There are two scenarios:
Maternity leave is one of the sickness benefits applied for and then paid by the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSA ). Again, there are regular payment dates for these sickness benefits. Maternity pay is always paid retrospectively for the previous month. It applies that the benefit must be paid to you at the end of the following month at the latest. You must contact your district social security office for the specific payment date.
Sickness benefits also include paternity pay ( paid leave for fathers after childbirth) and nursing allowance ( for a child or other family member).
Maternity leave starts on the date of birth set by your doctor. You can go on maternity leave six to eight weeks before this date. It is up to you to start within the period so defined.
Calculating the length of your maternity leave is then easy. Maternity leave lasts 28 weeks, or 37 weeks if you have two or more children. So you just need to add the appropriate number of weeks to the date you start your maternity leave.
Maternity leave lasts for 28 weeks (37 weeks for multiple births) and is for women who have given birth to a child. The amount of maternity pay is calculated as 70 % of the reduced daily assessment base, which is determined on the basis of the gross income for the last 12 months. The reduction is made using three reduction thresholds. For self-employed workers, entitlement is conditional on paying sickness insurance for at least 270 days over two years, with a minimum monthly advance of CZK 194 in 2025. Maternity pay is paid by the Czech Social Security Administration retroactively for the previous month. Maternity leave can be taken 6 to 8 weeks before the planned date of childbirth. If the maternity allowance is not favourable, it is possible to receive parental allowance directly.
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