Substitute periods of insurance

Apart from the periods of compulsory pension insurance or voluntary pension insurance (see above), there exist in the Czech pension system the so-called substitute periods of insurance. Pension insurance premiums are payable for the periods of compulsory insurance or voluntary insurance; no such premium is payable for the substitute periods of insurance, but these periods are nevertheless counted towards the years of insurance required for the entitlement to the pension under certain conditions.

Participation in pension insurance due to the substitute periods of insurance applies to:

• Persons who are attending a secondary school or college (hereinafter “secondary school”) or university in the Czech Republic to systematically prepare for their future profession, for the first six years of such studies after attaining 18 years of age before 2010,
• Persons listed as job applicants in the records of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic - Regional Office or of the branch office for the Capital City of Prague (hereinafter the “Regional Branch of the Labour Office”) for the period that they are entitled to an unemployment benefit or retraining benefit, and at most three years, also for the period that they are not entitled to the unemployment benefit or retraining benefit, with such three-year period being ascertained retroactively from the date of the pension entitlement; the period during which they were not entitled to unemployment benefits or retraining benefits prior to attaining 55 years of age is included in this period up to a maximum of 1 year; the period for which they are insured in accordance with Section 6(1)(a) and (2) and the period of gainful employment that, according to a special legal regulation, does not prevent (is not an obstacle to) inclusion and maintenance in the record of job applicants, even if this activity generates insurance affiliation, are not included,
• Persons with medical handicaps involved in theoretical and practical preparation for employment or other gainful activity,
• Persons in military service in the armed forces of the Czech Republic, provided they are not professional soldiers or soldiers in some other service or reserve soldiers in active service before July 2016,
• Persons caring personally for a child up to four years old,
• Persons caring personally for a child under 10 years old who is dependent on the care of another person to the first degree (slight dependency), or for a person who is dependent on the care of a person to the second degree (medium dependency) or the third degree (high dependency) or the fourth degree (complete dependency), provided they live together in the same household; the common household condition is not required if the person is a relative or a social care assistant according to law no. 108/2006 Coll.,
• Beneficiaries of a disability pension for a disability of the third degree [Section 39(2)(c)] from Czech insurance, up to the age that the entitlement to an old-age pension arises in accordance with Section 32;for the purposes of insurance affiliation, beneficiaries of a disability pension for a disability of the third degree [Section 39(2)(c)] are also persons who do not collect such pension although they fulfil the conditions for entitlement to such pension and collect a service benefit according to special laws,
• Persons after ending gainful activity generating sickness insurance affiliation pursuant to a special legal regulation, during temporary work incapacity that they did not purposefully induce, provided such temporary work incapacity arose during the gainful activity or in a protective period pursuant to special legal regulation, during a quarantine ordered pursuant to a special legal regulation during such gainful activity or during a protective period pursuant to a special legal regulation, during the support period with respect to a treatment allowance, during the support period with respect to long term care allowance, during the support period with respect to Fathers Post-Natal Care benefit and during the support period with respect to maternity assistance prior to birth,
• persons who are provided with special protection and assistance under the witness and other persons Act in connection with criminal proceedings.

From 1 February 2018, the Substitute periods of insurance are also the duration of the support period for the paternity post-natal care benefit in the period after the end of gainful employment, which established participation in sickness insurance.

Last update: 23. 8. 2022