Social security for employees with regular or irregular income
Any foreign person employed upon a work contract on the territory of the Slovak Republic for the period appointed by the employer or a self‑employed person performing activities on the territory of the SR, is subject to the Slovak social security system and must pay contributions to the compulsory insurance funds as if he/she was a national of the Slovak Republic (for self‑employed person it is mandatory to be insured only if he/she fulfils conditions regarding the income).
The contributions are paid both by the employee and the employer and are deducted automatically by the employer as a percentage of the basis of assessment, which is usually the gross wage. The employer has also the duty to register the foreigner with the Social Insurance Agency (SIA) at least a day before commencing the employment relationship (full or part‑time, temporary or indefinite), and to inform SIA about changes of foreigner’s situation. Self‑employed persons are obliged to contribute to the sickness and pension fund depending on their gain of income in the particular year.
For nationals of the EU/EEA/Switzerland, the EU coordination rules with respect to the social security apply at the same time. When living and working as an employee or a self‑employed person in different Member States of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, each person is subject to the legislation of only one state at a time, which is usually the country where he/she exercises his/her occupational activity. In the case of a worker carrying out work in more than one EU/EEA Member State or Switzerland, he/she shall remain subject to a single legislation only, i.e. it is necessary to determine the applicable legislation among several states of occupation using the portable document A1. Consequently, contributions to social insurance from all states where the occupational activity is performed will go only to one of the states. See more information, including coordination of the social security schemes, in the section Social security coordination within EU/EEA/Switzerland.
Provisions on social security for third country citizens in the Slovak Republic are based on bilateral agreements on social security. Therefore the rules applied depend on the country of origin of the person. For more details, see the section Social security for third country nationals.
Benefits from state social support – one component of the social security system in Slovakia, may be used by foreign nationals with a permanent or temporary residence on the territory of the Slovak Republic upon meeting specific conditions for entitlement (see the section Social security system in Slovakia.