Students do not have to pay compulsory pension insurance, however, the period of study from 1 January 2010 is not included in the time required for pension entitlement. If the student decides that he wants to include the period of study in the insurance period for the right to an old-age pension, he needs to apply for participation in the voluntary pension insurance. Participation is conditional upon payment of at least the minimum amount of voluntary pension insurance. Such a solution is available to students over 18 years of age. In the event that the student decides after completing his studies that he wants to count the period of study, it is possible to pay additional pension insurance for the period of study that would otherwise not be included in the insurance period for the purposes of entitlement to a retirement pension.
With health insurance, the goal is financial security for economically active citizens when they lose their earnings, for example, in the event of illness or parenthood. Until the student becomes gainfully employed, he is not obliged to pay insurance premiums.
In the event that a student works on the basis of one of the agreements on work carried out outside the employment relationship, the situation regarding participation in health insurance is different for different amounts of monthly earnings, because each of the agreements has a different amount of discretionary income. In the case of an employment agreement, the student will be insured if he/she achieves a monthly remuneration of at least CZK 3,000. In such a case, the employer pays the social security premium for him. The same situation occurs in the case of an agreement to carry out work, where the monthly remuneration must reach a minimum amount of CZK 10,000, then the student will participate in the insurance, and the period is counted towards the pension period of the insured person for the right to a pension. The advantage also lies in the situation when the student falls ill, if this happens in the month when he is participating in the sickness insurance, he is entitled to a sick pay.
For the purposes of health insurance, persons performing work on the basis of a work performance agreement are considered employees only if in a calendar month their income reaches an amount higher than CZK 10,000, which is the amount determined by § 7a, paragraph 1 of Act No. 187/2006 Coll. ., about health insurance. As in the case of sickness insurance, the limit of earnings per calendar month is set for health insurance in the employment agreement at the amount of CZK 3,000. Above this amount, the employer is obliged to pay health insurance premiums for the employee.
In the event that the employee does not reach the amount of so-called discretionary income for the agreements, i.e. an amount exceeding CZK 10,000 for a work performance agreement and at least CZK 3,000 per calendar month for an employment agreement, he is not considered an employee within the meaning of the Health Insurance Act and does not result in thus the obligation to pay the insurance premium does not exempt him from the relevant agreement.
Different conditions apply to students. Up to the age of 26, he is considered a dependent child and the state pays health insurance premiums for him if he fulfills the conditions regarding his studies. The condition is that the studies consistently prepare for a future occupation, which applies to studies at secondary schools and universities in the Czech Republic, but excluding long-distance, distance, evening or combined studies at secondary schools, when the child is also gainfully employed.
