Sick Pay for Self-Employed Individuals in 2026: When Are They Eligible and How Much Will They Receive?

Quick Overview

Sickness benefits for self-employed individuals in 2026 work similarly to those for employees, but only for self-employed individuals who pay into voluntary sickness insurance. Therefore, social security and health insurance alone are not sufficient. As a rule, self-employed individuals must have been covered by sickness insurance for at least 3 months prior to the onset of the need for care, may not work while receiving the benefit, and must submit their application electronically through the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ).

The most important rules are as follows:

• Self-employed individuals may receive short-term care allowance when caring for a sick child or a household member, or when a school or daycare center is closed.
• A prerequisite is participation in sickness insurance for at least 3 months prior.
• The care allowance amounts to 60% of the reduced daily assessment base.
• Short-term care allowance typically lasts 9 days; for single parents, it can last up to 16 days.
• While receiving this benefit, self-employed individuals may not engage in any gainful activity.

Not sure if you’re eligible for care allowance as a self-employed person, or if you’ve set up your health insurance correctly? Have a lawyer review your situation online. We’ll help you quickly determine whether you can receive the benefit and how to proceed with the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ).

What is sick care allowance for?

Caregiver’s allowance is a sickness insurance benefit designed to provide financial support to employees who must temporarily stop working to care for a sick family member or child. Employees with an employment contract who are enrolled in sickness insurance are eligible for caregiver’s allowance. However, starting January 1, 2025, employees working under an agreement on work activity or an agreement on the performance of work, as well as self-employed individuals (OSVČ), will also be eligible for short-term caregiver’s allowance, provided they have been enrolled in health insurance for at least three months prior.

Caregiver’s allowance may be claimed when caring for a sick child under the age of 10 or a child under the age of 10 if, for example, an educational institution is closed (due to an epidemic, accident, or other unforeseen event). In certain cases, care allowance may also be obtained when caring for older children or adult household members, provided their health condition is serious enough that, according to a doctor, it requires care from another person.

The legal framework for caregiver’s allowance is primarily based on the Sickness Insurance Act. This Act specifies who is covered by sickness insurance, when entitlement to the benefit arises, how long the caregiver’s allowance is paid, and the basis on which it is calculated. For self-employed individuals, it is crucial to note that simply being self-employed does not in itself establish entitlement to caregiver’s allowance. What is decisive is voluntary participation in sickness insurance and meeting the statutory conditions at the time the need for care arises.

Self-Employment

Freelance work can take many forms. You might manage websites, alter clothing, or translate—all for many different clients—or you might have a single employer, go to a single office, and use a company email address, yet you don’t have an employment contract; instead, you issue invoices. The latter option ( the so-called “Švarc system”) is essentially prohibited by law, but unfortunately, we often encounter it despite these prohibitions.

Most types of freelance work offer the flexibility to schedule your hours according to your own preferences or take a vacation whenever you want. However, it’s impossible to overlook the fact that friends with employment contracts also have a number of advantages over you. For example, meal vouchers, a company laptop, sick days, and, last but not least, various benefits. The situation has been changing recently, though.

Sick Leave Benefits for Self-Employed Individuals

Until the end of 2024, self-employed individuals were not eligible for sick care benefits, even if they paid into voluntary health insurance. However, starting January 1, 2025, self-employed individuals can receive short-term sick care benefits if they have been enrolled in sickness insurance for at least three months and meet other conditions.

It is precisely this three-month period of participation in sickness insurance that is most often the stumbling block for self-employed individuals. If you’ve recently started a business, switched from employment to self-employment, or aren’t sure when your coverage began, it’s worth checking your status before you need the benefit.

In practice, we often see self-employed individuals automatically assume they’re eligible for the benefit simply because they pay social insurance. But that’s not enough. Sickness insurance—which is voluntary for the self-employed and must be paid on time—is the key requirement for sick care allowance.

Checklist: Are you eligible for sick care allowance as a self-employed person?

Before you submit your application, check the following points:

• You are self-employed and enrolled in voluntary sickness insurance.
• You have been paying sickness insurance for at least 3 months prior to the need for care arising.
• You are caring for a child under 10 years of age, a sick household member, or dealing with the closure of a school or daycare center.
• You have a confirmation from a doctor or, if applicable, from the school or daycare center.
• You are not engaged in any gainful employment while receiving the care allowance.
• You must submit your application electronically via a data box or the ČSSZ ePortal.
• No other person is receiving a benefit for the same child that would preclude your entitlement.

Self-Employed Insurance

It’s not widely known that you can also insure your sick care allowance. All you need to do is browse insurance companies’ offerings and ask around a bit.

You’ll then need to arm yourself with patience and wade through several pages of terms and conditions full of exceptions—and sometimes exceptions to those exceptions. Ultimately, however, you can obtain insurance that will cover the cost of caring for your child if they’re sick, or even if school is closed. This is usually linked to your own commercial life, health, or accident insurance. This way, you can supplement the still relatively low sick child care allowance provided by the government.

Long-Term Care Allowance for Self-Employed Individuals

Long-term care allowance allows you to care for a loved one, typically a family member, who has been discharged from the hospital (after at least a four-day hospitalization) and whose doctor has determined that full-time care is necessary for a period longer than 30 days. This may involve, for example, a young child’s long-term illness, but it may also include a serious post-traumatic condition in an adult that requires care from others.

Even as a self-employed person, you can care for a loved one, because self-employed individuals are also eligible for long-term care benefits if they have been enrolled in health insurance for at least 3 months immediately preceding the start date of the long-term care benefits. While receiving this benefit, you may not engage in any gainful activity as a self-employed person.

Agreement with Your Employer

If you have been working for a single employer on a long-term basis under the so-called “Švarc system,” you can try to negotiate with them to see if your mutual agreement could include a regular lump-sum payment, even during vacation or while caring for a child. Such an arrangement requires mutual trust, and you probably cannot expect it to cover your child’s ten-day illness every month; however, a accommodating employer might be open to a similar agreement. After all, by not having to pay social security and health insurance contributions on your behalf, they save many thousands of crowns each month.

Sick Pay for Self-Employed Individuals in 2026

A package of amendments took effect in January 2025, bringing sick pay for self-employed individuals closer to the standard previously available only to traditional employees with employment contracts. Let’s take a look at how the entire system works.

How to Apply for Sick Care Allowance for the Self-Employed

The first hurdle is usually the paperwork. A doctor who prescribes home care for a child will issueaso-called“Decision on the Need for Care.” A school or preschool will issue a confirmation only if the facility is closed. You attach both documents to a single electronic form submitted via a data box or the ČSSZ ePortal. Starting in 2025, the authorities will no longer accept printed forms (except in the event of system outages).

The administration has thirty days from the date it receives all documents to pay the benefit. It is helpful to track the status of your application in the client zone of the ePortal, where you can see whether the doctor or school has actually sent everything required.

If the ČSSZ returns your application, requests additional information, or does not pay the benefit in the expected amount, do not let the matter drop. We will help you review the supporting documents, the wording of the application, and the next steps to ensure that an unnecessary administrative error does not result in the loss of your entitlement.

From our experience: A client who worked as a graphic designer didn’t start paying health insurance premiums until her child started preschool and began getting sick more often. When she applied for sick leave benefits a few weeks later, she ran into the requirement of prior insurance coverage. It was too late to rectify the situation retroactively, but we set up a plan for her so that she would not lose her entitlement to the benefit the next time her child fell ill.

Calculating the Amount of Childcare Allowance for Self-Employed Individuals

The basis for calculating sick care allowance is the reduced daily assessment base. For self-employed individuals, this is based on the monthly bases from which they paid health insurance during the reference period. The reference period is generally the 12 calendar months preceding the month in which the need for care arose. For the year 2026, the reduction thresholds for sickness insurance are 1,633 CZK, 2,449 CZK, and 4,897 CZK. Sixty percent of the reduced base is then paid out as nursing care allowance.

In practice, this means that the lower the sickness insurance contributions a self-employed person pays over the long term, the lower the benefit they can expect. The minimum payment may ensure participation in the insurance program, but it may not provide sufficient income replacement in the event of an actual loss of work.

Duration of Benefits and Alternating Caregivers

The government pays short-term care allowance for a maximum of nine calendar days. For single parents caring for a child under sixteen, this period is extended to sixteen days. In the event of a longer illness, another family member may take over caregiving duties, but the law allows only one substitution. If the child is temporarily hospitalized, the benefit period is suspended and resumes only after the child returns home.

Exception to the Three-Month Waiting Period

If you begin paying voluntary sickness insurance within seven days of the end of your previous employment, during which you were already insured, the protection period applies and the three-month waiting period is waived. You are thus immediately eligible for sick care benefits. This rule is especially beneficial for new self-employed individuals who are transitioning seamlessly from employment to self-employment.

How much should you pay to make it worthwhile?

Starting in 2025, the minimum voluntary insurance premium is 243 Kč per month. However, it’s important to note that the benefit is “calculated” based on your actual insurance base, not the minimum premium. If you increase your base to, say, 30,000 Kč, you’ll pay 2.7%. A reasonable calculation therefore depends on how often illness occurs in your family and whether you can afford to cover a short-term loss of income from your savings.

Caregiver’s Allowance Along with Other Benefits

You cannot receive nursing allowance if another person is receiving maternity benefits or parental allowance for the same child and that person is not ill or hospitalized. In short, the government does not want “duplicate” benefits.

While receiving sick care allowance, you are also required to refrain from engaging in any gainful employment. In practice, this means not only refraining from issuing invoices but also suspending any marketing or administrative activities aimed at generating income. Violations may result in retroactive withdrawal of the benefit and a penalty.

Summary

In 2026, a self-employed person may receive short-term nursing care benefits if they have been enrolled in voluntary health insurance for at least 3 months prior to the onset of the need for care. The benefit applies primarily when caring for a sick child or a household member, or when a school or daycare center is closed; it typically lasts for a maximum of 9 calendar days, and up to 16 days for single parents. The amount of the care allowance is 60% of the reduced daily assessment base; for 2026, the reduction thresholds are 1,633 Kč, 2,449 Kč, and 4,897 Kč. Applications are submitted electronically through the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ), and self-employed individuals may not engage in gainful employment while receiving the benefit. Self-employed individuals may also receive long-term care allowance if they meet the conditions, typically when caring for a loved one following hospitalization or in cases of a long-term need for full-time care.