You are currently asking us a lot of questions about the numerous variants of employee absence as a result of quarantine or emergency measures related to the spread of COVID-19. For this reason, we have prepared for you the following summary, which we will keep updating as the situation evolves:

Employment support programme

The government has approved an employment support programme which will compensate for wage costs or part thereof in the form of wage or salary reimbursements provided to employees for the period in which they experienced work-related obstacles caused by quarantine or emergency measures related to the spread of COVID-19. Employers will be able to apply at the Labour Office of the Czech Republic for compensation for wages paid for absences caused by the reasons specified below.

• Employers will be able to claim a refund of the wage or salary compensation paid at the end of the reporting period, i.e. at the end of the calendar month for which the contributions are requested. Employers will thus place their requests for March at the beginning of April.
• Detailed information concerning the support programme and the application process will be published next week on mpsv.cz

Compensation options

Types of absences for which it will be possible to apply for wage cost compensation from the state:

• Scheme A – Employees ordered to remain under quarantine.
  • The employees will be compensated for their wages or salaries at the rate of 60% of average earnings.
  • The employer will be granted the full amount of the wage or salary compensation paid.

• Scheme B – Inability to assign work to employees as a result of the government’s emergency measures.
  • The employer is ordered to close their business by a government resolution.
  • The employees are paid 100% of their wages or salaries in compensation.
  • The employer will be granted 80% of the wage or salary paid.

• Scheme C – Inability to assign work to employees as a result of mandatory quarantine or childcare of a significant proportion of employees.
  • A significant proportion here means in particular 30% of the employees at the company, branch office or any other organisational component, depending on the employer’s situation.
  • The employees are paid 100% of their wages or salaries in compensation.
  • The employer will be granted 80% of the wage or salary compensation paid.

• Scheme D – Limited availability of inputs (raw materials, products, services) required for the employer’s activities as a result of quarantine measures (or generally insufficient production capacities) at their suppliers, including abroad.
  • This includes e.g. agreements proving the origin of source materials, bans on various events or other measures that demonstrably affect the employer’s supply chain.
  • The employees are paid 80% of their wages or salaries in compensation.
  • The employer will be granted 50% of the wage or salary compensation paid.

• Scheme E – Limited demand for the employer’s services or products as a result of quarantine measures at the employer’s points of sale (Czechia and abroad).
  • The employees are paid at least 60% of their wages or salaries in compensation.
  • The employer will be granted 50% of the wage or salary compensation paid.

Home office

Another possibility is that the nature of the employee’s work enables them to work from home. The rules for home office are as follows:

• The employer should sign an amendment to the employee’s employment contract to enable them to work from home
• The employee is entitled to his or her full wage or salary
• According to Section 151 of the Labour Code, the employer is to provide the employee with compensation for expenses demonstrably incurred in connection with the performance of their work. This includes e.g. increased energy consumption because they are using their laptop, printer and heating.

The reimbursement of these costs is exempt from tax, but it is necessary to calculate the actual consumption of the increased costs. These costs are tax-deductible for employers.

Care benefit

The care benefit is one of the six benefits of the Czech health insurance system. Any employee who can’t work because they are taking care of a sick household member is entitled to this benefit. The person being cared for does not have to be a child or even a direct relative. They must, however, demonstrably live in the same household. There are currently discussions about extending the care benefit to parents (or persons with custody of children) while school facilities are closed.

• The government has already approved an extension of the age limit, meaning that while exceptional measures are active, the benefit is also available to the parents of children under the age of 13.
• The care benefit for employees will also be paid after the statutory period of nine days, i.e. for the entire period in which schools and other facilities for children are closed.
• The care benefit will also be paid if the school facility is closed by its founder.
• The care benefit will also be paid if a facility caring for people with disabilities closes; there is no age limit on this provision, but the disabled person being cared for must live in the same household.
• In the case of sole traders (OSVČ), the loss of income caused by childcare will be compensated for by a special programme of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
• This programme also extends the payment of the care benefit to care for people with disabilities in the same household without any age limit if a specialised care facility closes.
• These changes must still be passed by the Parliament, which has declared a state of legislative emergency. Once approved, the benefit will also be paid retroactively.

Support for large enterprises

• Companies with more than 250 employees will have access to a guarantee programme of the Export and Guarantee Insurance Company up to a total insurance capacity of CZK 330 billion (including existing products).

We will keep you informed about new developments, particularly when we learn more about the process for documenting and approving entitlements for wage and salary compensation in the schemes listed above. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need help in any of these areas. Thank you. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that we handle this situation well and that it will be over soon. 😊