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How to apply for maternity benefit?

What is maternity benefit?

Maternity benefit is provided to an insured person due to pregnancy or care for a new-born child, and to another insured person due to care for a child up to three years of age, or to the father of the child due to care for his biological child during the period up to six weeks after birth (see Paternity Benefit).

Am I eligible for maternity benefit?

Those eligible for maternity benefit are:

  • an employee,
  • a self-employed person who is compulsorily insured for sickness,
  • a voluntarily sickness-insured person,
  • a natural person whose entitlement to maternity benefit arises after the termination of the sickness insurance during the protection period (SK), and

they must also be the mother of the child, or other insured person caring for the child up to three years of age, or the father of the child as the other insured person caring for the child in the first six weeks after birth. Another insured person can be:

  • the father of the child
    • if the mother has died,
    • if the mother cannot or must not care for the child based on a medical opinion due to her adverse health condition lasting at least one month, and she is not receiving maternity or parental benefit,
    • up to six weeks after the childbirth date: this period shall be extended by the calendar days during which the child was admitted to inpatient care in a medical facility for health condition of the child or their mother, if the date of admission falls within a period of six weeks after the birth date,
    • no earlier than six weeks from the date of birth, if the mother is not receiving maternity benefit for the same child or parental benefit for any child,
  • the spouse of the child's mother, if the mother cannot or must not care for the child based on a medical opinion due to her adverse health condition lasting at least one month, and she is not receiving either maternity or parental benefit,
  • the spouse of the child's father, if she cares for a child whose mother has died,
  • a natural person, if they care for the child based on a decision of the competent authority.

What requirements do I have to meet?

The entitlement to maternity benefit is assessed as of the date the reason for this benefit arises. This day is:

  • the beginning of the sixth week before the expected birth date, not earliest then the beginning of the eighth week before the expected birth date, and if you give birth earlier, the birth date,
  • if you are another insured person, the day from which you apply for the granting of the maternity benefit.

As of this day, you must meet the following conditions:

  • you are pregnant (applies to the mother only),
  • you are a person caring for the child,
  • you are a sickness-insured person or you are in a protection period after the end of your insurance,
  • you have at least 270 days of sickness insurance in the last two years:
    • before the childbirth, if you are the mother, or
    • before the day from which you apply for the maternity benefit, if you are another insured person,
    • if you, as another insured person, have been granted paternity benefit and later claim maternity benefit in connection with the care of the same child (not earlier than 6 weeks after the date of childbirth, if the mother no longer receives maternity benefit for the same child or parental benefit), the requirement of 270 days of sickness insurance in the last 2 years will be deemed to have been met.

For these purposes, the following will also be taken into account:

  • the period of any previous completed sickness insurance,
  • the period of an ongoing other sickness insurance (only for mothers),
  • the period of study at a secondary school or university, which is considered as systematic preparation for a profession, provided that the insured person attained the relevant level of education through this study, i.e., the study was successfully completed (only for mothers),
  • the period of suspension of the employee's compulsory sickness insurance due to taking parental leave, and
  • the period of suspension of the self-employed person's compulsory sickness insurance due to the entitlement to parental benefit.
  • the period of sickness insurance of an employee during which the employee did not have the assessment basis for paying sickness insurance contributions due to the fact that the employee did not have an income, including the period of suspension of insurance, is not included in the 270 days of sickness insurance; however, other periods excluded from the decisive period are included (e.g. due to the duration of temporary incapacity for work).
  • if you are an employee:
    • you do not have income for work performed, which is considered the assessment basis paid for the period of providing maternity benefit (it determines for what period the income is paid and whether it is income for work performed), income for the performance of work as a professional surrogate parent is not an obstacle to providing maternity benefit,
    • the payment of sickness insurance contributions by the employer is not monitored;
  • if you are a self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person and you have paid sickness insurance contributions on time and in the correct amount (see Condition of payment of sickness insurance benefits (SK)). This requirement does not apply to employees.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

If you claim the maternity benefit from multiple sickness insurance policies, you must meet the stated conditions for each of them.

How do I apply for maternity benefit as the mother of the child? (if your doctor does not record the expected date of birth in the electronic pregnancy book)?

If your doctor does not record the expected date of childbirth in the electronic pregnancy book, but issues you a paper form for the ‘Application for Maternity Benefit’, the procedure to apply for the maternity benefit is as follows:

1

You apply for the benefit by submitting an Application for Maternity Benefit if you are a mother of the child

If you are pregnant, your doctor (gynecologist) will issue the application for you.

As a rule, the doctor will issue the application at the beginning of the eighth to sixth week before the expected date of childbirth. The doctor will confirm the expected date of birth.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you claim the maternity benefit from multiple sickness insurance policies (e.g., as both an employee and a self-employed person), you must meet the stated conditions for each of them.

You fill in the application and send it to the address of the Social Insurance Agency branch relevant according to:

  • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
  • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
  • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

You can find the contact details here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

2

Fill in and sign the ‘Declaration of the Insured’

on the second page of the application.

3

If you are a mother

who, in order to meet the 270 days of sickness insurance within the last two years before childbirth, requests the inclusion of the period of study at a secondary school or university by which you obtained the relevant level of education (i.e. the study was successfully completed, in the Slovak Republic or abroad), indicate this fact in the Application for Maternity Benefit or notify the branch office in another way. Attach to the application a school confirmation of the periods of study and a photocopy of the document of completion of studies (e.g. certificate of final examination, school-leaving certificate, university diploma) by which you obtained the relevant level of education.

4

If you are an employee, you can submit the application to the employer

who will fill in and sign the employer’s confirmation.

GOOD TO KNOW:

We recommend that you submit the Application for Maternity Benefit immediately after it is issued by the doctor (see Statute of Limitations (SK)).

How do I apply for maternity benefit as a mother of a child from 1 August, 2026 (if your doctor records the expected date of childbirth in your electronic pregnancy book)?

How do you apply for maternity benefit?

1

The entitlement to maternity benefit is proactive; you do not need to submit an application for maternity benefit

Visit your gynaecologist, who will confirm the expected date of childbirth in your electronic pregnancy book. Information about your pregnancy, especially the expected date of childbirth or any changes to it, will be transferred to the Social Insurance Agency's information system no earlier than the last day of the eleventh week of pregnancy, unless the doctor detects the pregnancy later (in which case the data is transferred on the day it is recorded). Based on the received electronic record of the expected date of childbirth, the Social Insurance Agency will proactively (without an application from the insured person) initiate proceedings regarding the entitlement to maternity benefit from the beginning of the sixth week before the expected date of childbirth, or from the date of childbirth if it occurred earlier, from all active sickness insurance policies of the insured person and protection periods existing on the date of the emergence of the reason for providing the maternity benefit. The information will be available to you in your Insuree’s Electronic Account.

2

When is it necessary for you to apply for the maternity benefit by submitting the ‘Application for Maternity Benefit – pregnant woman’ form

  • If you want to apply for maternity benefit from a date other than the start of the 6th week before your childbirth date (for example, you want to claim it from the start of the 8th week before your childbirth date)
  • If you have expressed to the respective doctor a written disagreement with the transmission of your pregnancy data to third parties (public authorities) no later than by the beginning of the 11th week of pregnancy or upon the creation of the electronic pregnancy book, and you wish to apply for the maternity benefit, you must submit a benefit application, as in this case, the proceedings will not begin proactively. You can withdraw your disagreement at any time during the pregnancy. After its withdrawal, the pregnancy data will be transferred to the information system of the Social Insurance Agency. Until the disagreement is withdrawn, you must also report any changes regarding the expected childbirth date to the Social Insurance Agency.
  • If your pregnancy was confirmed by a physician outside the territory of the Slovak Republic.

You can submit the ‘Application for Maternity Benefit – pregnant woman’ form as follows:

  • Electronically

    Via the eServices portal: You can use the service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Application for Maternity Benefit - Pregnant Woman (SK).

    To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

  • In writing

    You can submit the application to the Social Insurance Agency branch relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

    You can find the contact details here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

In certain cases, it is also necessary to attach a certificate from the relevant doctor stating the expected date of childbirth to the form. If you submit the Application for Maternity Benefit via the web form and you want to claim the entitlement from multiple sickness insurance policies, you must submit this application for each insurance relationship separately. When submitting the application electronically, you submit only one application, indicating all insurance relationships from which you are requesting the benefit entitlement to be granted.

How do I apply for maternity benefit as another insured person?

1

You can apply for the benefit by submitting the Application for Maternity Benefit - Other Insured Person / Paternity Benefit, either electronically or in writing

In the application, please specify the date from which you are claiming maternity benefit and its payment.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you claim the maternity benefit via a web form from multiple sickness insurance policies (e.g., as both an employee and a self-employed person), you must submit this application for each insurance relationship separately. When submitting the application electronically, you submit only one application, stating all insurance relationships from which you request the benefit entitlement to be granted.

2

If you are another insured person

  • applying for maternity benefit because the mother cannot take care of the child for medical reasons, attach the medical report to the application;
  • whose entitlement to maternity benefit is conditional on the child’s mother not receiving parental benefit, the proof that the mother of the child does not receive a parental benefits in the territory of the Slovak Republic will be obtained by the Social Insurance Agency branch.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The mother must apply for the cancellation of the parental benefit at the relevant Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family.

Fathers can split the maternity benefit into paternity benefit and maternity benefit: How to apply for paternity benefit.

For more information, see the section SICKNESS INSURANCE — MATERNITY BENEFIT (SK).