Parental leave follows maternity leave, but before you start it, you can first use the remaining regular annual leave. Both parents are allowed to take parental leave, but in this case only one of them receives the allowance.
The lenght of parental leave
Both father and mother of the child can apply for parental leave, which can take up to 3 years of age of the child; with the consent of the employer, it can be extended by unpaid leave until the child is 4 years old. Parental leave can also be shorter if this is parents´ preferred option. If you decide to extend your parental leave, the employer is obliged to accept, but only up to 3 years of age of your child.
The parental allowance
The parental allowance is provided to one of the parents who takes care of the child daily in the relevant month, so the parents can take turns in care, but maximum up to 3 years of age of the child. Its amount for the kids born or adopted after 1.1.2024 is currently CZK 350,000 at the birth of one child, or CZK 525,000 if two or more children are born. The allowance is paid monthly in an amount that parents can choose, but a maximum of CZK 53,910 per one child. In reality, this means that a mother with a forty thousand monthly brutto income can decide to withdraw the full amount within 13 months (quickest possible) and the monthly contribution will be in this case 28,000 CZK. A mother with a hundred thousand income can withdraw the contribution within 7 months and thus reach the mentioned 53,910 Czk per month. In both cases, the amount of the allowance in the last month is lower to correspond to the total amount of the allowance to which the mother is entitled.
The allowance is paid by the employment office and changes in the amount can be made every three months.
If you take the next maternity leave before you have used up your full parental allowance, you may request a one-off payment of the remaining amount.
The same rules for the parental allowance also apply to parents working as self-employed persons.
Work during parental leave
While drawing parental allowance, you can work for the same employer and for the same type of contract, you can also request a reduction in working hours and the employer is obliged to comply with this request, unless he is prevented from doing so by serious operational reasons. In this case, you do not ask the employer for parental leave, you only arrange parental allowance.
If you sign a contract with another employer, you should not perform the same job without the consent of the current employer with whom you take parental leave.
If you work during parental leave and at the same time receive parental allowance, a child under the age of two cannot attend any official nursery school / kindergarten for more than 92 hours per month (4 hours per day).
During the period of parental leave, when the parent does not perform any employment or activity, it is not possible to apply for a sick leave contribution at the same time.
Working parents
Combining work and personal life is not always easy. In addition, if you take care of children, time spent with the family becomes a priority. It is good to know that as parents (both mother and father of a child) you are entitled to work part-time, unless there are serious operational reasons at your company. Parents should not be ordered to work overtime up to 1 year of age of a child (even if the other parent is on maternity / parental leave). By the age of 8, you should individually agree on each business trip that your employer asks you to participate, even if you have already agreed to the business trips in your employment contract.
Pregnant women or employees caring for a child under the age of 15 may request shorter working hours and, unless compelling reasons prevent it, the employer is obliged to approve such request. They should also accept if you ask to work from home, this applies both to expectant mothers and to people caring for a child under nine or another person who depends on the help of others. If an employer does not grant such a request, they must provide you with a written explanation.
Employers are increasingly aware of employees´ needs related to their family life. Flexible working hours, a home office or, increasingly, part-time work, is also helping a lot when finding the right work-life balance.
Did you miss our previous article? There we have summarized the most important thing you need to know about maternity leave.
