INTRODUCTION
With the accession of Slovakia to the European Union, the interest of Slovaks also increased in benefits, the eligibility of which is related to their short-term or long-term employment in one of its countries. It often happens that a person who goes to work abroad, in addition to being aware of the possibility of receiving some benefits from the social security sources of the country in which he is deducting certain legally determined funds from his salary, does not know how to claim his rights, or vice versa, sometimes he has no idea that he also has certain obligations towards the mother country - Slovakia, where he lived and worked before and where part of his family still lives. The valid legal regulation of coordination regulations for Slovakia became known in 2004, i.e. with the entry of Slovakia into the European Union.
1. SOCIAL SUPPORT OF THE FAMILY
O. Matoušek equates family support with family rehabilitation, i.e. defines it as "procedures supporting the functioning of the family..."Currently in Western countries, the prevailing opinion, reflected in the practice of social workers, is that family rehabilitation should be the method of first choice in most cases." (1) Social support in the Slovak language is connected both on a practical and a theoretical level, primarily with provided financial support, which is represented by, for example, social assistance benefits, from compensation contributions, from a social loan, etc. It is therefore a terminologically settled concept, perceived almost always in connection with financial and economic support. (2) The basic principle of state social support is the distribution of state funds based on the principle of solidarity between families with children and citizens without children and between families with higher and lower income levels. State social support is primarily oriented towards life events that are a natural part of the individual or family life cycle. State social support forms part of the social security system. It is oriented towards those life events that form a natural part of the individual or family life cycle (for example, the arrival of a child in the family, caring for a child in the family, raising a child and preparing him for a profession, taking a child into foster care, the death of a family member), or by their presence specifically change the way of life of an individual or family (for example, the presence of a child with a severe disability in the family). The system of state social support consists of several state contributions. According to the frequency of payment, families are entitled to these allowances, which are divided into one-time and recurring allowances.
2. STATE SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEM IN SLOVAKIA
From January 1, 2004, a new reform of the social system began to be implemented in Slovakia, which also included a fundamental institutional reform - the exercise of competences in the field of social affairs and employment services was merged, and on the basis of Act no. 453/2003 Coll. on state administration bodies in the field of social affairs, family and employment services and on amendments to certain laws, new offices of labor, social affairs and family were created. The state support system deals with the support of families in a bad social situation in the form of child allowances, birth allowances, death allowances, etc. As part of state social support, the labor, social affairs and family offices provide, among other things, one-time but also repeated state social benefits. State social benefits - "family benefits" - are benefits financed from the state budget, through which the state contributes to families for the upbringing and maintenance of a child and participates in solving certain life situations (birth of a child, death of a person). The target group of state social benefits are mainly families with children. Entitlement to state social benefits is not conditional on the payment of contributions or the income levels of eligible persons. Entitlement conditions for state social support benefits are met if the eligible person has:
- permanent or temporary residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic,
- the child has permanent or temporary residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic,
- the authorized person's care of a dependent child.
2.1 Types of family benefits in Slovakia
The Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family currently pays the following family state social benefits:
- child allowance,
- parental allowance,
- allowance and supplement for the birth of a child and allowance for those who have three or more children born at the same time or who have had twins repeatedly within two years,
- funeral allowance,
- contributions to support substitute child care
3. Coordination of family benefits within the European Union and the European Economic Community
With the entry of the Slovak Republic into the European Union on May 1, 2004, the position of the citizens of the Slovak Republic also changed in relation to the possibility of their movement within the states of the European Union. It means, among other things, the possibility to use the basic freedoms of the European Community within the single market. This is mainly about the possibility of free movement of people and services, which also means labor migration. With the accession of Slovakia to the European Union, the Slovak Republic undertook to comply with the legal standards of the European Community. People would not have the courage to exercise their right to free movement if they risked losing or reducing their entitlement to social security benefits. For this reason, the European Community had to develop a mechanism that would allow people to move from one country to another without their social security rights being adversely affected. Community regulations have general legal scope and are directly applicable in all member states. In other words - they are binding in all their parts for everyone and must be applied by national authorities and state administration, institutions competent in the field of social security and national courts. In cases where national legislation conflicts with Community legislation, Community regulations take precedence. A person who has exercised the right to free movement within the European Union cannot be disadvantaged compared to a person who has always had a permanent residence and worked in the territory of only one member state. According to the general rules, an employee performing a gainful activity in one of the member states of the European Union and the European Economic Community must, in principle, receive all social security benefits established by national legislation, which apply to him in the same way as a citizen of the given member state, even if he resides in another member state or if he does not have the citizenship of the member state in which he performs a gainful activity. Coordination is also necessary to eliminate the possibility of overlapping rights to social security benefits in several states due to employment in different states of the Community. A whole series of articles and regulations (Articles 76 and 79, paragraph 3 of the Regulation and Article 10 of the Civil Code) therefore provide for the suspension of one of these rights. To ensure equality of rights, the so-called rule is important. "differential supplement - compensatory allowance". In practice, this means that if the state with the primary right pays benefits in the amount established by its national legislation, and in the event that the other state, according to whose legislation the benefits are higher, has suspended the payment of these higher benefits, the right arises to pay a compensatory benefit to the relevant person to cover the difference. (3)
3.1 Basic principles of coordination of social security systems Equal Treatment Any discrimination based on citizenship is prohibited, including in the area of social security. Article 3 of the regulation establishes that persons residing in the territory of one of the member states to which this regulation applies have the same obligations and rights and receive the same benefits under the legislation of the member state as nationals of that state.
Determination of the applicable legislation - application of the legislation of one state The rules established by the regulation are exclusive, binding and superior to national legislation - both for the payment of insurance contributions and for the provision of benefits. The general rule is that the legislation of the state where the employed or self-employed person works applies, regardless of their place of permanent residence (Article 13 of the Regulation). This rule has exceptions: e.g. in the case of employees sent abroad, civil servants, crews of naval ships or diplomats.
Summary of insurance periods - preservation of rights during their acquisition The Regulation contains provisions which ensure that, where applicable, insurance periods achieved in other Member States must be taken into account in order to acquire the right to benefits. For the area of family benefits, these are articles 64 (funeral) and 72 (family benefits and allowances).
Exportability of benefits - payment of benefits to another member state - preservation of acquired rights Migrant employees and their family members do not lose acquired rights in the field of social security when changing their residence from one state to another. Insurance periods in individual member states are added up and benefits, including family benefits, are paid by the relevant institution of the affected state even if the migrant citizen's residence is in another member state, as Community regulations allow benefits to be exported. (4)
How can you claim family benefits? This question is most often heard in the departments of social affairs and family, if by chance the client (mostly the mother) learns that it is good to admit to the work of the second authorized person (the father of the children) abroad, as the benefits there are higher than in Slovakia and it is worthwhile to admit the job classification, how to do it "in the dark". Despite the initial fear of a lot of bureaucratic administrative "paperwork", after high-quality guidance from social workers, clients realize the importance and advantage of knowing the possibility of applying for family benefits in the sense of coordination regulations within the European Union. Everyone who is subject to coordination regulations can claim family benefits. In accordance with the coordination regulations, the right to family benefits also arises in the EU member state in which employment is carried out, and therefore where contributions to the insurance system of the tax office are made. The competent institutions of the member states are obliged to investigate the determination of the state for the payment of family benefits according to the principles of determination of the applicable legislation. A migrant worker (or SZČO, pensioner...) submits an application to the relevant office in the state of employment. After submitting the application, the relevant office fills in the appropriate form E and sends it to the institution that is competent to confirm the required data in the applicant's state of permanent residence.
Who pays family benefits in EU member states? Slovaks working abroad are entitled to family benefits at the relevant institutions according to the type of family benefit applied for (e.g. tax office, employment offices, health insurance companies, employment agencies, state treasuries, national offices for family benefits, etc.). They are controlled by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt am Main and are the official currency in 13 of the 27 EU countries and six non-EU countries.
4. COMPETENT AUTHORITIES, INSTITUTIONS, LIAISON BODIES
When applying the coordination regulations in practice, the individual countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area communicate with each other through the relevant offices, institutions and liaison bodies.
In the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic is the competent authority for the area of social security and within it for the area of state social benefits. In the Slovak Republic, the relevant institution for the implementation of the state social benefits agenda is the Office of Labor, Social Affairs and Family. The liaison body in the Slovak Republic for the area of state social benefits is the Center for Social Affairs and Family Work in Bratislava.
CONCLUSION
The contribution provides information on the basic types of family benefits in Slovakia, following on from the implementation of family benefits in the sense of coordination regulations within the European Union through the state administration body - Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. Family allowances are currently very frequent and often discussed in public. Nevertheless, awareness of their content in relation to each other and conditionality, and in the context of other social security institutions, is not always accurate and complete. Without exaggeration, it can be said that not only citizens themselves - benefit applicants - but also professional workers working in the social field have a difficult time navigating the wide tangle of regulations. We assume that the analysis of some facts in this article will help the readers to understand that with the entry of Slovakia into the European Union, every Slovak got the opportunity, in addition to the opportunity to obtain a job classification in each of its member states, also the opportunity to claim family benefits in the sense of the coordination regulations and that the phase itself from submitting the application to their final provision is not as difficult and impossible as it seems to many at first glance.
Author: PhDr. Tatiana Zdravecká
(1) Cf. MATOUŠEK, O. et al.: Methods and management of social work. Prague: Portal 2003, p.196. (2) Cf. LEVICKÁ, J. et al.: Social work I.. Trnava : 2007 p. 145. (3) Cf.: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the Slovak Republic – HEADQUARTERS OF LABOR, SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND THE FAMILY: Coordination of family benefits within the European Union, pp. 14-16 (4) Cf.: MPSVR: Family benefits in the sense of the coordination regulations of the European Community, 2/2005 for labor, social affairs and family offices, p.14-15
LIST OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Levická, J.: Social work with the family. Trnava: Mosty, 2004. ISBN 80-89074-93-6 Levická, J. et al.: Social work I.. Trnava: Oliva 2007. ISBN 978-80-969454-2-9 Levická, J. et al.: Social work II. Trnava: Oliva 2009. ISBN 978-80-89332-06-9 Marušiak, J.: European Union. Bratislava: Belimex, 2003. ISBN 80-89083-41-2 Matoušek, O.: The family as an institution and a relational network. Prague: Slon, 1993. ISBN 80-901424-7-8 M Matoušek, O.: Dictionary of social work. Prague: Portal 2003. ISBN 80-7178-594-0 M Matoušek, O. et al.: Methods and management of social work. Prague: Portal 2003. ISBN 80-7178-548-2 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the Slovak Republic: Family benefits in accordance with the coordination regulations of the European Community, Guideline no. 1/2005 for labor, social affairs and family offices, Bratislava 2004. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the Slovak Republic: Family benefits in accordance with the coordination regulations of the European Community, Guideline no. 2/2005 for labor, social affairs and family offices, Bratislava 2005. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the Slovak Republic: Family benefits in accordance with EC coordination regulations, Personal scope of the regulation assessing the situations of "single mothers" and "mixed marriages", forms E 401, Guideline no. 1/2006 for labor, social affairs and family offices, Bratislava 2006. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the Slovak Republic – Headquarters of Labour, Social Affairs and Family: Coordination of family benefits within the European Union, Bratislava 2004. Act of the NR SR no. 627/2005 Coll. on contributions to support substitute care Act of the NR SR no. 600/2003 Coll. on child allowance and on amendments to certain laws Act of the NR SR no. 571/2009 Coll. on parental allowance and on amendments to certain laws
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Bakajová, J., Integration, coordination in the EU. In: http://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Európska_únia (29/02/2008) Jakubek, R., General information about the European Union. In: http://www.euroinfo.gov.sk/index/go.php?id=288 (31.1.2007)