Social security relief for part-time employment

From 1 February 2023, employers will be able to apply a new discount on social security contributions with respect to selected part-time employees. The aim is to support part-time employment for those who cannot work full-time because of their age or difficult life situations.

The monthly relief social security contributions paid by the employer in the amount of 5% (from the current 24.8%) can be applied by the employer on the assessment base of all part-time employees (i) the work hours of each of those employees amounts to at least eight hours but not more than 30 hours per week, (ii) the assessment base on all employees of the same employer does not exceed 1.5 times the average wage and (iii) at the same time, the assessment base of all employees of the same employer allotted to one hour from the hours worked in a calendar month does not exceed 1.15% of the average wage.

The parliamentary bill introducing the changes also specifies other conditions for applying the relief mentioned above. The selected categories of employees also contain persons older than 55 years, parents who take care of children aged under ten years, persons who take care of a relative under ten years who depends on help from another person, persons with health disabilities and persons engaged in job retraining. Relief on social security contributions can be applied in respect of persons aged under 21 years, regardless of the amount of their working time.

Regarding employees who are employed in more than one post by the same employer, social security relief in respect of such an employee can be applied only in respect of one of the employment posts. If the employee works for more employers in the given calendar year, the relief can be applied by only the first employer to apply for the relief.

Moreover, the employer has to notify the Czech Social Security Authority of the intention to apply for the relief via a dedicated form by the deadline for submitting the regular overview of the calendar month in respect of which the relief should be applied. The employer reduces the total amount of the social security by the relief granted in the given month. Furthermore, the employer will be obliged to keep records in respect of all employees for whom it claims the relief. The bill also imposes an information obligation on employees towards their employer. If the relief is applied incorrectly because of a mistake on the part of the employee, the employer can claim the reimbursement of the penalty incurred from the employee.