Unemployment benefit is a payment for people who lost their job. The Social Insurance Agency (Sociálna poisťovňa) pays this money. Not everyone can get it: you must have paid unemployment insurance (poistenie v nezamestnanosti) for a certain time before losing your job.
Main Conditions
- you are registered as a job seeker at the Labor Office (úrad práce);
- you have paid insurance for a sufficient period in recent years;
- the benefit is paid for a limited time (called the support period).
The amount depends on your previous earnings from which contributions were paid, so it is different for everyone. You apply for the benefit at the Social Insurance Agency, and you register as a job seeker at the Labor Office (úrad práce) — these are two different steps, and you should do both on time. Registering at the Labor Office (úrad práce), besides the benefit itself, gives you access to job offers and retraining courses.