Who and when does not have to pay social security and health insurance in 2026

Quick overview

• Unemployed on the register of the Social Security Office: the state pays for health care, but you do not pay social security as a “self-payer”.
• Unemployed outside the Unemployment Insurance Office: you pay for your health care as a self-employed person = 3 024 CZK/month, not for social security.
• Employee: both are handled through the employer; small incomes from some agreements may not trigger participation.
• Self-employed: you typically pay social; in 2026 min. advance 5,720 CZK (main) / 1,574 CZK (secondary).
• Long-term stay abroad: for health, the obligation may cease in the Czech Republic, but only if the notification steps with the insurance company are met (otherwise there is a risk of debt).

In 2026, health insurance in the Czech Republic must have a clear payer every month: employer, self-employed, state or you as a PPL (3 024 CZK per month). Social insurance, on the other hand, is usually paid only when you are gainfully employed (employment/OSVČ). If you are not employed or running a business, you do not have to pay social security. An exception to this may be voluntary participation in pension insurance if you want to supplement your insurance period for future retirement. If you’re not sure exactly which category you fall into, or if you’re trying to switch between them, it’s worth checking early – the wrong status can lead to arrears, penalties and unnecessary arguments with the insurance company. We’ll be happy to help you with this: we’ll analyse your situation, explain what you need to report and pay from when, and if necessary, prepare the necessary documents or submissions so that you’re properly set up and covered for the future.

At a glance: who is the insurance payer in typical situations (2026)

What is social security and health insurance

When we talk about who and when you don’t have to pay social security and health insurance, we first need to get the basics straight: social security and health insurance are two different systems with different objectives, different logic and, most importantly, different situations where you are obliged to pay.

Social insurance

Social insurance is, in simple terms, a system that is mainly there to help you when your income drops or you reach a stage in your life when you are no longer working. In practice, it typically means social security contributions, which are mainly linked to pension insurance (i.e. future old-age, disability and survivors’ pensions), state employment insurance contributions and, for employees, participation in sickness insurance (typically sickness or maternity benefits).

While for employees participation in sickness insurance is dealt with in the context of employment, for self-employed persons participation in sickness insurance is voluntary – it is only created by registration and payment. In practice, this means that a self-employed person may pay social insurance (pension and state employment policy contribution) but not pay sickness insurance and then not be entitled to certain benefits.

Health insurance

Health insurance, by contrast, is a system designed to ensure that you have covered and affordable healthcare. It works on a pay-as-you-go basis: premiums fund healthcare ‘now and here’. That’s why it’s essential to know who the payer is at all times. Either you are employed (your employer pays together with your employee), or you are in business (you pay as self-employed), or the state pays for you, or you pay yourself as a person with no taxable income (PIP).

For the layperson, the most important thing is that health insurance must be paid each month, whereas social insurance is typically paid when you incur participation through work or business. Therefore, with health insurance, the question of who must pay and when to avoid incurring a debt is much more often addressed, while with social insurance, the question of when the obligation to pay social insurance arises and what a long period of non-participation (for example, until a future retirement) will do.

When are you obliged to pay social security

The obligation to pay social security depends on whether you carry out an activity that gives rise to participation:

Employee: contributions are handled through the employer

For employees, the insurance premiums (and administration) go through the employer. In practice, however, there are situations where you will not be covered by sickness (and therefore pension) insurance – typically for small incomes from certain agreements. For 2026, the qualifying income for employee participation in sickness insurance is CZK 4,500.

Self-employed: minimum social insurance

The minimum advance payments for 2026 are set at: CZK 5,720 per month for the main activity and CZK 1,574 for the secondary activity (if the conditions of the secondary activity are met). The compulsory participation in pension insurance for self-employed persons in secondary activities arises when their annual earnings exceed CZK 117,521.

If you are not employed and not self-employed, you are typically not obliged to pay social insurance. Social insurance is linked to gainful activity (employment, business) and participation in the system.

This does not mean that it is always advantageous to pay nothing. The important thing is to think about what not paying will do to you in the future: especially with pensions, the period of insurance (the years you were insured) counts , and if you get a long gap, you may have to deal with the problem later on that you don’t meet the required period to qualify or that you have a lower percentage rate.

This is where voluntary social insurance (more specifically, voluntary pension participation) comes into play. This is a legal way to “top up” your insurance during periods when you are not compulsorily participating – typically when you have not worked for a long time, are abroad, or are years short of retirement.

Social insurance for the unemployed

Social insurance is normally linked to gainful activity – employment or business. Registering with the Job Centre does not in itself mean that you will start paying social security as a self-employed person.

But that doesn’t mean it’s meaningless. With unemployment, the social system most often takes an indirect effect: you deal with how your period without work translates into your pension, i.e., the hours you work that later determine your eligibility and the parameters of your pension. That’s why in some situations it makes sense to consider voluntary social insurance – typically when you have a long break, know you may miss out on periods of cover, or are outside the standard schemes.

Registering with the Jobcentre can count as replacement time in a pension scheme – but only within certain ranges and limits. Therefore, the ‘gap’ may not automatically be empty.

For example, in our practice we have encountered a client who was several months between jobs and was off the Jobcentre’s records for part of the period. He did not pay social security and assumed that nothing was going on. The problem only became apparent later when dealing with the pension: some periods were missing from the documents and part of the period was not assessed as replacement time to the extent the client expected. In the end, the key was to track down and document specific documents (especially on the course of registration and termination of employment) and to choose the right course of action vis-à-vis the CSSA, including watching the deadlines.

If you too are struggling with whether gaps count towards your pension, or have received a decision from the CSSA that does not meet your expectations, our pension legal advice is in order – we will review the periods counted, the supporting documents and suggest a way forward (including objections and appeals).

When are you obliged to pay health insurance

There’s one basic rule to watch out for with health insurance: premiums must be paid each month for each insured person. Because public health insurance works on an ongoing basis – the system needs to be clear about who pays. If the payer is “lost”, you have a debt, not a zero liability. So what are your options?

1) You are employed: you pay through your employer

If you are employed, health insurance is the easiest to deal with: the employer is the payer and the premium is deducted from your wages (part goes for the employee, part for the employer). The key for you is that the health insurance runs automatically and you don’t have to do anything.

2) You are self-employed: you pay

As a self-employed person, you are the payer. In practice, this means that you pay your health insurance in advance and after the end of the year everything is calculated according to the statement. Importantly, the situation may be different for some self-employed people (e.g. if the business is secondary and the main source of income is employment, or if you are also a state insured person), but the basic principle applies: the self-employed person is the payer and the obligation is self-assessed.

3) You are state insured: the state pays

In many life situations, the state pays for your health insurance. Typical situations are jobseekers on the register of the employment office, dependent children, pensioners, etc. So if you fall into one of these categories, the health insurance runs for you without you having to pay it yourself.

4) You are not employed, not self-employed and not insured by the state: you are a PPL

This is the most common trap in practice. If you are not employed or have a business and you are not in a category paid for by the state, you move into the regime of a person without taxable income (PIP) – that is, a self-payer of health insurance.

When, on the other hand, you do not have to pay health insurance

There are also situations when your obligation to pay insurance premiums in the Czech Republic will cease – typically when you stay abroad for a long period of time, if you comply with the notification obligation to the insurance company (including the relevant declaration).

Health insurance for the unemployed and the Unemployed

For health insurance, the rule that will save you the most money and guesswork in practice is: “unemployed” is not the same as “registered as a jobseeker”. In fact, it is the registration at the employment office that changes the game in health insurance.

When you are registered as a jobseeker with the employment office

Once you are registered as a jobseeker with the Job Centre, the state pays your health insurance for you. This means two practical things: firstly, you are not a PWD at that point, and secondly, you are not obliged to send in health insurance yourself just because you don’t have a job. The registration is reflected in the health insurance system in such a way that the state becomes the payer and you do not take on the role of self-payer.

This is why we always recommend not to underestimate the timing. When you’re in between jobs and hesitating whether to report to the unemployment office at all, the answer from an insurance standpoint is often: yes, otherwise you risk incurring a whole month without a payer.

Be warned: registering with the Labour Office is often linked to other benefits (e.g. sick pay, maternity pay, parental allowance) and the authorities sometimes require additional documentation or issue a decision that does not correspond to your situation. If you have been refused benefits or have been awarded less than you expect, use our socio-legal advice – we will check your entitlement, the calculation and what you need to provide.

When you’re not on the register: a quick route to the OASI

If you are not registered with the employment office, are not in employment or in business, and do not belong to another group for which the state pays the insurance premiums, you move into the tax-free person (OBZP) scheme. And that’s entirely your business: you pay your own health insurance, because the public health insurance system must have a clearly identified payer for each calendar month.

Because the PHC insurance premium is linked to the minimum wage, the amount varies from year to year. For 2026, the sickness insurance premium is CZK 3 024 per month.

Summary

In 2026, the employer, the self-employed person, the state, or you as a UI must be the payer of health insurance each month. If you are on the UI rolls, the state pays health insurance; if you are off the UI rol ls and have no other coverage, you are a UI and pay CZK 3,024/month. (if you are abroad, your obligation in the Czech Republic may be waived, but only after proper notification to the insurance company).

Social insurance is usually only paid when you are working or running a business – if you are not employed or self-employed, you usually do not have to pay it. But beware of longer gaps due to pension (can be solved by voluntary pension insurance). For the self-employed, the minimum advance payments are CZK 5,720 (main) / CZK 1,574 (secondary) and for secondary activities the obligation starts at CZK 117,521/year.