Compensation for the transition period

The Government has set the hourly value at three euros – who may now claim money for unused personal assistance hours

In December 2025 the Constitutional Court struck down part of the Personal Assistance Act, and at the end of December the Government adopted a regulation widening the circle of users and removing the cap on the number of hours. It also introduced something that is easily overlooked in practice – compensation for the transition period.

This is money for the hours of personal assistance a user could not use while their entitlement was being decided.

The last obstacle to payment was removed on 27 August 2026, when the Government adopted a decision setting the value of one hour of personal assistance for the transition period at three euros. The decision enters into force on the first day after its publication in the Official Gazette, giving the Institute for Social Work the basis to calculate and pay out. Below we explain who is entitled to the compensation, within what deadlines, and how it is claimed.

What the transition-period compensation is

The transition period begins on 19 December 2025, when the Constitutional Court decision was published, and lasts until the day the new decision on the number of hours becomes enforceable. Hours falling in that period cannot be worked retroactively, so they are paid out in money.

It is not the assistant’s salary, nor money for the service provider, but compensation to the user for the time spent waiting.

Who is entitled to the compensation

Users who already had an assistant

If you were already using personal assistance on 19 December 2025, the Institute for Social Work starts the procedure itself and issues a new decision on the number of hours. You do not have to request it.

You are entitled to compensation only if the new decision awards you more hours than before. The difference in hours is paid, for the period from 19 December 2025 until the new decision becomes enforceable. If the number of hours stays the same or is reduced, there is no compensation.

People who previously could not get an assistant

Under the old rules, an assistant was unavailable to people receiving home care, to people whose parent or family member holds carer status, and to people with a carer under other regulations. The regulation removed those barriers.

For those people the right is recognised as of 19 December 2025, provided they filed their request within six months of the regulation entering into force. Because they did not use the service at all during the transition period, they are entitled to compensation for all the hours awarded.

Children

Previously only a person over 18 could have a personal assistant. The regulation removed the age limit, so children may now qualify too. Both requests – for the service and for the compensation – are filed by the parent or legal representative, subject to the same six-month deadline.

Deadlines

The deadline for the new groups of users expired on 30 June 2026. Anyone who missed it may still file a request today, but their entitlement will only run from the new decision – so as a rule there will be no transition-period compensation. In justified cases it is worth checking whether the missed deadline can nevertheless be excused.

That deadline does not apply to users who already had an assistant. For them the Institute issues the new decision on its own, and they file a request only for payment of the compensation.

The compensation is not paid by itself

The decision on the number of hours and the payment of the compensation are two separate procedures. The decision on the right to the service says nothing about the compensation and does not trigger its payment.

You file the request for payment yourself, with the competent regional office of the Institute for Social Work. The Institute then issues a separate decision determining how many hours you lost and how much you are to be paid.

Important: you do not have to have found a service provider or a particular assistant. In practice, users are sometimes deterred by requests for certificates the regulation does not provide for at all.

Is there a deadline for the compensation request

The regulation sets no deadline. It only directs the minister to prescribe a request form and publish it, together with instructions in which a deadline might be set. That was due at the beginning of March 2026, but the form has still not been published.

This must not operate to the user’s detriment – the request may be filed by an ordinary letter, without a form. We recommend filing it as soon as the new decision on the number of hours becomes enforceable, rather than waiting for the form, because the instructions still to come may set a deadline.

How much the compensation amounts to

The regulation does not set the amount – the value of one hour is determined by a decision of the Government. That decision was due by the beginning of March 2026 and was in fact adopted only on 27 August 2026. The value of one hour of the service for the transition period is three euros, and the decision enters into force on the first day after its publication in the Official Gazette. EUR 7.17 million has been earmarked for its implementation in 2026.

By way of comparison, the State pays providers EUR 11 for an hour worked, but that covers the assistant’s salary and the provider’s costs. The compensation paid to the user covers nobody’s work, so the two figures are not comparable.

An example: if you previously had 40 hours a month and the new decision awards 60, the difference of 20 hours a month is counted. Over five months of waiting that is 100 hours, or EUR 300.

The figures for new users are considerably higher. According to the Ministry, those users have been awarded an average of 211 hours a month and the first decisions were issued during July 2026, so the average transition-period compensation exceeds EUR 4,000. Those whose decisions are not yet enforceable will be paid for each further month in which they were unable to use the service.

The compensation paid is not treated as income and cannot be subject to enforcement, so any pending enforcement proceedings do not reach it.

If you are not satisfied with the decision

You may appeal to the Ministry against any decision of the Institute – both the one on the number of hours and the one on the compensation – and thereafter bring proceedings before the administrative court. If the Institute fails to decide at all within the statutory deadline, you are entitled to appeal in that case too.

Because the amount of the compensation depends on the number of hours awarded, challenging an unduly low allocation is generally also the route to a higher payment.

Practical notes

• Compare the hours – compensation is payable only for the difference between the old and the new number of hours.
• Do not wait to be contacted, or for the form – you file the request yourself, and while there is no form, an ordinary letter will do.
• Ask for a confirmation of filing – it proves when you submitted the request.
• The hourly value has been set – three euros, by the Government decision of 27 August 2026, so there is no longer any reason to delay the request.

If you have received a new decision on your number of personal assistance hours, our office is available to assess your entitlement to transition-period compensation, prepare the request and any appeal, and provide representation in the proceedings.