Registering with the Labour Office (for the purpose of support during unemployment and further social benefits)

To get registered with the Labour Office, you will need these documents:

• identity card
• U1 portable document (U1 PD) – form E301 and a structuralized electronic document (SED) - U002 and U004 – these are confirmations for persons regarding the periods which will be considered for the provision of any support during unemployment
• U2 portable document (U2 PD), form E303 – this is a confirmation regarding the continuance of claims to receive any support during unemployment
• employment agreements confirming latest employments
• confirmations on the termination of such employments
• payslips for the period of staying abroad

https://www.uradprace.cz

If you are registered with the Labour Office, you can also apply for these social benefits:

Support during unemployment – a social benefit paid from the public social support system

The fact that you have lost your job does not automatically mean that you are entitled to support during unemployment. You have to apply for being granted this social benefit at the relevant labour office, and then your application is either approved or dismissed. Support benefits during unemployment are mainly intended for the purposes of bridging the period during which the applicant is looking for a job in cooperation with the Labour Office of the Czech Republic.

The applicant for employment is entitled to support benefits during unemployment if he/she applies for such support benefits at the relevant branch of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic with which he/she had registered and if he/she meets the conditions specified by the Act on Employment. The fundamental condition for the emergence of an entitlement for the support benefits during unemployment is spending at least 12 months being employed or performing another gainful activity for the purposes of the retirement insurance during a specific period (the last 2 years prior to being included in the list of applicants for employment).

The condition of a previous employment may also be fulfilled by counting a replacement period for employment which is represented by one of the following:

1. preparation of a disabled person for work,
2. receiving disability pension for 3rd degree disability,
3. personal care for a child of up to 4 years of age,
4. personal care for an individual who is under special legislation considered to be a person depending on an assistance of another individual in the II. degree (medium dependency), III. degree (serious dependency) or IV. degree (complete dependency) if such a person lives with the applicant for employment continuously and they pay their expenses jointly; these conditions are not required if this is a person who is considered as a close one for the purposes of the retirement insurance,
5. performance of a long-term volunteer service on the basis of a volunteer agreement concluded with a dispatching organization to which the Ministry of Interior granted accreditation, or performance of a public service on the basis of a public service agreement if the extent of the performed service exceeds on average at least 20 hours per calendar week,
6. personal care for an individual younger than 10 years who is under special legislation considered to be a person depending on an assistance of another individual in the I. degree (light dependency),
7. the period of a temporary incapacity for work or an ordered quarantine for a person after the termination of gainful activities which established his/her participation in the sickness insurance system under the Act on Sickness Insurance, if such a person did not cause the temporary incapacity for work deliberately and if this temporary incapacity for work or the ordered quarantine emerged during this gainful activity or during the protective period under the Act on Sickness Insurance.

What amount of support benefits during unemployment will you receive?

For the calculation of your benefit amount, it is decisive whether you have worked for at least 12 months during the last two years. If you did, your support benefits during employment shall be calculated from the average amount of your salary and you are entitled to:

1. If the employment was terminated for serious reasons, you are entitled to 65 % of the average salary during the first two months, then to 50 % of the average salary for the following two months, and then you shall receive 45 % of the average salary for the rest of the period.

2. If the employment under the AWA or AWP was terminated, or if the termination notice was not based on serious reasons, you are only entitled to  45 % of the average salary for the entire period of support benefits during unemployment being paid to you.

The maximal amount of support benefits during unemployment equals CZK 19,389. If the applicant for employment participates in a requalification course, he/she is entitled tot the amount of 60 % of the net wage for the entire period of the requalification course, and the maximal amount of support benefits increases to CZK 21,729.

For how long will the support benefits during unemployment be paid?
In accordance with the legislation and relevant regulations, the duration of the period for which the support benefits during unemployment are being paid differs on the basis of the age of the applicant. The legislation takes into account that older people and particularly people who are close to the retirement age have bigger problems to find a new job, and thus the support benefits are provided for a longer period of time:

• Less than 50 years of age = public support benefits are paid for 5 months
• Between 50 and 55 years of age = public support benefits are paid for 8 months
• Above 55 years of age = public support benefits are paid for 11 months

In order to apply for this benefit, you will need these certificates and documents:

• U2 form
• identity card
• a form titled ‘Application for unemployment benefits’ (the application cannot be submitted separately, only in combination with an application for the intermediation of employment)
• records of payments for retirement insurance
• confirmation on employment (credit sheet) or a document proving the performance of another gainful activity
• confirmation by the employer regarding the amount of the average salary

Link to the forms provided by the Ministry for Work and Social Affairs: https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/formulare#oblast-zamestnanosti

 

Subsistence allowance – a social benefit for those in material need

You shall apply via a relevant form with which you shall present the following:

• identity card (for each considered person)
• lease agreement, accommodation agreement, agreement on the provision of a social service (asylum housing), etc.
• document proving the amount of income
• records of payments and documents proving the amount of expenses for accommodation (advance payments specified by the supplier of electricity and gas, invoices for electricity and gas and other fuels)
• excerpts from bank accounts, or bank accounts of all collectively considered people

Link to the forms provided by the Ministry for Work and Social Affairs: https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/-/zadost-o-prispevek-na-zivobyti

Accommodation allowance (housing allowance – a social benefit within the public social support program, and the housing supplement - a social benefit for those in material need)

You shall receive the housing allowance if you spend more than 30% of your income (35% in Prague) for accommodation, unless that 30% (35% in Prague) is not higher than the normative expenses for accommodation.

You shall receive the housing supplement if you are receiving the subsistence allowance but your entire income after the payment of the expenses for food and other necessary items is not enough to be able to pay for accommodation. If you do not receive the subsistence allowance, the Labour Office may grant you the housing supplement if the income does not exceed the 1.3multiple of the subsistence amount.

These documents are necessary to submit together with the application:

• identity cards for all listed people or birth certificates for children under 15 years of age
• document proving the amount of quarterly income
• declaration of people who do not have any income decisive for the entitlement to the benefits
• document proving the amount of expenses for accommodation
• employment agreement or confirmation on the receival of unemployment benefits if the applicant for the benefit or any of the collectively considered people is a citizen of another EU country and he/she did not have permanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic as of the day of submitting the application, or less than 365 days have passed between the permanent residence report in the Czech Republic and the day as of which this allowance is being requested to be granted
• document proving the permanent residence report on the territory of the Czech Republic which shall be older than 365 days if the application or any of the collectively considered people is not a citizen of the Czech Republic

Link to the forms provided by the Ministry for Work and Social Affairs: https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/-/prispevek-na-bydleni

 

Extraordinary immediate assistance (a social benefit for those in material need)

The extraordinary immediate assistance is a one-time benefit, with some exceptions, and a benefit to which no right arises, while a person is only entitled to it when the person is recognized by the relevant branch of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic as a person in material need due to the fact that the person had got himself/herself into one of the following six social situations specified in legislation:

• there is a danger of damage to health (my income is lower than the amount of the existence minimum, i.e. CZK 2,490),
• serious emergency event (e.g. natural disaster, fire),
• necessary expenses for example for administrative fees, or for a place to spend the night,
• for education or leisure activities of a dependent child,
• for the acquirement or repair of a necessary fundamental household equipment,
• there is a danger of social exclusion (e.g. after being released from prison).
• In legitimate cases, the benefit may be granted repeatedly.

These are the necessary documents:

• identification document for all specified people (identity card or birth certificate for children under 15 years of age)

Link to the forms provided by the Ministry for Work and Social Affairs: https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/-/mimoradna-okamzita-pomoc

 

The following concepts are related to the topic of social benefits:

The definitions of the subsistence minimum and existence minimum

• Subsistence minimum is a minimal level of monetary income recognized by society for the purposes of ensuring subsistence and other basic personal needs.
• Existence minimum is a minimal level of monetary income which is considered to be necessary for the purposes of ensuring subsistence and other basic personal needs at the level which enables survival. The existence minimum cannot be used for a dependant child, a person receiving retirement benefits, people with disability in the 3rd degree and people older than 68 years of age.

The definition of a collectively considered person
Collectively considered people include parents and dependent children under 18 years of age, wives and husbands, partners, parents and non-dependant children under 18 years of age, parents and their children above 18 years of age if they are using an apartment with them and are not considered with other people, and then also other people who are using a flat collectively with the exception of people who prove that they do not live with each other permanently and do not pay their expenses jointly.

 

Parental allowance – a social benefit of the public social support system for which you can apply at the Labour Office – Department of the Public Social Support

The parental allowance is a benefit for a parent who takes care of the youngest child in the family personally, properly, for the entire day and for the entire calendar month. The claim to parental allowance belongs to a person who takes care of the youngest child in the family personally, properly, for the entire day and for the entire calendar month, up to the drawing of amount CZK 300,000 up to 4 years of age of such a child at the latest. If there is more than one youngest child in the family, i.e. two or more children were born together, the parent is entitled to draw an amount of up to CZK 450,000.

If the parent had drawn any benefit similar to parental allowance for the youngest child in the family in another country, such amount paid by the foreign country shall be deducted from the total amount of the parental allowance for the same child. 
The condition of permanent residence and address on the territory of the Czech Republic shall be fulfilled for both the beneficiary and the child for which the parental allowance is being drawn.

The claim to parental allowance ceases to exist upon drawing the total amount of the parental allowance, upon the child reaching 4 years of age or by the last day of a calendar month preceding the month in which another child became the youngest in the family (i.e. another child was born in the family or a younger child was taken into care), which also applies to a case that there is parental allowance applicable for such born child from the moment of his/her birth in the same amount as was applicable to the older child up to that moment. It is necessary to notify the relevant authorities of this change in order that no overpayment arises in relation to the parental allowance.

These are the documents necessary to submit together with the application:

• birth certificate of the child and the parent’s identity card
• confirmation on the period of receiving monetary assistance in maternity or sickness benefits
• confirmation on the amount of daily assessment basis (in the latest employment)

Link to the forms provided by the Ministry for Work and Social Affairs: https://www.mpsv.cz/web/cz/-/rodicovsky-prispevek