Social Insurance Agency (SIA) – Basic characteristic

Table of contents

Basic characteristic

The Social Insurance Agency (SIA) was established on November 1, 1994 by Act No. 274/1994 Coll. on Social Insurance Agency as a statutory institution entrusted with the performance of sickness insurance and pension security, which was taken over from its predecessor, the National Insurance Agency. On April 1, 2002, it also took over employer's liability insurance for damage caused by accidents at work and occupational diseases - accident insurance from the Slovak Insurance Agency. Since January 1, 2004, SIA has been providing social insurance based on Act No. 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance, i.e. sickness insurance, pension insurance - old-age and invalidity insurance, accident insurance, guarantee insurance and unemployment insurance.

SIA was entrusted by the Treaty on the Accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union from May 1, 2004 to determine the jurisdiction of legal regulations according to Title II of Regulation (EC) of the European Parliament and Council no. 883/2004 on coordination of social security systems.

Since January 1, 2005, the SIA also carries out activities within the framework of old-age pension savings – primarily collecting contributions, forwarding them to pension management companies and registering  old-age pension savings contracts.

Since January 1, 2015, SIA has also been managing the Central Information and Offer System (CIPS), through which the saver/applicant for a pension from old-age pension savings receives all pension offers from insurance companies and pension management companies from one source, making it easier to compare offers of individual companies. CIPS also serves for the exchange of information between pension management companies, insurance companies and SIA in the payment phase, which prevents excessive administrative burden on savers, insurance companies and pension management companies, and at the same time, serves for the administration of all important information related to the payment of pensions from old-age pension savings.

Authorities of the Social Insurance Agency

• General Director of the Social Insurance Agency,
• The Supervisory Board of Social Insurance Agency and
• Branch Director of the Social Insurance Agency.

The statutory body of the Social Insurance Agency is currently the General Director. The General Director is appointed and dismissed by the Government of the Slovak Republic.

The supervisory and control body of the Social Insurance Agency is the Supervisory Board, which currently has 11 members. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board is the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic. The Supervisory Board is further composed of three representatives proposed by representative associations of trade unions, three representatives proposed by representative associations of employers, three representatives proposed by the government and one representative proposed by interest associations of citizens representing recipients of pension benefits. The members of the Supervisory Board, with the exception of the chairman, are elected and dismissed by the National Council of the Slovak Republic.

The branch of the Social Insurance Agency is managed by the Branch Director, who is appointed and dismissed by the General Director of the Social Insurance Agency. The Branch Director acts on behalf of the Social Insurance Agency in all matters falling under the scope of the branch. The General Director of the Social Insurance Agency is responsible for the activities of the branch.

Organizational components of the Social Insurance Agency

• Headquarters of the Social Insurance Agency and
• Branches of the Social Insurance Agency, which are materially responsible for proceedings in matters of social insurance and in matters of old-age pension savings within a defined scope.

The Social Insurance Agency provides the following benefits under the conditions established in the Act on Social Insurance from the specified five types of insurance:

• Sickness Insurance
  • sickness benefit,
  • nursing benefit,
  • equalization benefit,
  • pregnancy benefit
  • maternity benefit,
• Pension Insurance
  • old age insurance
    • old age pension,
    • early old age pension,
    • widow's pension
    • widower's pension,
    • orphan's pension,
  • invalidity Insurance
    • invalidity pension,
    • widow's pension
    • widower's pension,
    • orphan's pension,
• Accident Insurance
  • accident supplement,
  • accident rent,
  • one-time settlement,
  • survivor's accident rent,
  • lump sum compensation,
  • occupational rehabilitation and rehabilitation benefit,
  • retraining and retraining benefit,
  • pain compensation and compensation for diminished social function,
  • reimbursement of treatment costs,
  • compensation of funeral costs,
• Guarantee Insurance

  guarantee insurance benefit (provided to the employee in the event of the employer's insolvency),

• Unemployment Insurance

  unemployment benefit (provided in case of loss of income from the employee's activity due to unemployment).

The basic source of income of the Social Insurance Agency is insurance premium for sickness insurance, old-age insurance, invalidity insurance, accident insurance, guarantee insurance, unemployment insurance and the solidarity reserve fund paid by insurees, employers and the State. The Act on Social Insurance defines who is the premium payer for individual types of insurance, determines the premium rates, assessment basis, levy of premium, receivables, fines, penalties. The budget and financial statements of the Social Insurance Agency are approved by the National Council of the Slovak Republic.

Act No. 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance gives the right to State supervisory bodies, which are the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, to supervise the implementation of sickness insurance, pension insurance, accident insurance, guarantee insurance, unemployment insurance and old-age pension saving.