An amendment to the Labor Code (Coll. No. 311/2001 Coll.) is coming, which will allow the child's father to become entitled to the maternity benefit of another insured person (the father) from social insurance during paternity leave in the scope of 2 weeks (14 calendar days) in a period of six weeks after the birth of the child (regardless of whether the child's mother receives maternity or parental allowance).

The right to paid paternity leave is not an obligation, it is an option.

Compared to the current legal arrangement, the currently comprehensive period of 28 weeks of entitlement to maternity leave of another insured (father) can be divided into two maternity leave periods (e.g. 2 weeks and 26 weeks when caring for one child).

This means that right after the birth of the child, the father will be able to claim a benefit for a maximum of two weeks, and he can claim the rest later.

In order for the father to be entitled to this benefit, he must meet the eligibility conditions:

• in the last two years, he has paid health insurance for at least 270 days
• at the same time, he does not receive a parental bonus

Maternity allowance during paternity leave will not be paid by the employer, but will be financed by health insurance.

The amount of maternity benefit during paternity leave will depend on the amount of the father's assessment base from which he contributed to the health insurance fund

The amendment to the new wording of the draft law, which was approved by the government on 26/05/2022, should be effective after being signed by the president from October 2022.