School closure – since 11th of March to unknown date
The Ministry of Healthcare has banned the students from entering the schools and children from entering the kindergardens.
Link

Shops closure – since 14^th of March, 6:00 to 11^th of April, 6:00 (period may be extended)
The government ruled to close all stores except grocery stores, pharmacies, drugstores, petrol stations and some others. This also applies to services such as hairdressing and beauty salons.

Suspension of EET for an emergency period of three months
Electronic sales records will be suspended for the period of declared emergency and the following three months. Thus, no entrepreneur will have to record his sales and the authorities will not check this obligation. (Act No. 137/2020 Coll.)

Covid-19 and employees

1) Employee returned from a territory affected by the coronavirus (quarantine is not ordered)

The employee should, with regard to Article 102(1) and Article 106(4) of the Labour Code, inform the employer that he or she has returned from a territory affected by the coronavirus.
In the absence of a quarantine order or a temporary inability to work, the following tools may be used to prevent further spread and transmission of coronavirus infection:

The employer can agree with the employee on a temporary work outside the workplace (e.g. homeworking). As it is an agreement, the employee does not have to agree with the work outside the workplace.
The employer makes a suitable relocation of shifts timetable and informs the employee in time, i.e. at least 14 days before, unless agreed otherwise with the employee.
The employer has the right to order vacationing BUT the order must be given min. 2 week in advance, unless he makes an agreement with the employee on a shorter period. The length of ordered vacation is not limited, it may be total 20 days of vacation. In this case the employees are entitled to 100 % of average earnings.
In case the employee is ready to perform work at the workplace and the employer will not give him any work task without a work obstacle on the side of the employee (e.g. the employee does not have an ordered quarantine and is not in temporary work incapability, but the employer only has certain concerns), this situation is considered as a work obstacle on the side of the employer and the employee is entitled to a wage replacement in the amount of the average earnings.
If none of the measures mentioned above is used in a concrete case, it is possible that the employer agrees upon the request of the employee with provision of leave without a wage replacement.

2) Employee is in an ordered quarantine in the Czech Republic

The public health authority decides upon the order of quarantine, its length and termination, and in this respect it is obliged to inform the employer upon his request that the quarantine has been ordered to an employee. In case an ordered quarantine, it is considered as a work obstacle on the side of the employee, when he is entitled to a wage replacement, equally like in case of temporary work incapacity.

The employee has the right to compensation of wage / salary from the employer for the period of the first 14 calendar days of the ordered quarantine. Wage / salary compensation is equal to 60% of reduced average earnings. Subsequently, if the ordered quarantine lasts more than 14 calendar days, the employee is entitled to a sickness insurance benefit – sickness benefit paid by DSSA. According to the approved Targeted Employment Support Program, wage compensation paid to employers will be 80% – MODE A*.
If a quarantine employee complies with all set restrictions and health condition of the employee allows, it is possible for the employee to agree with the employer to work from a place other than the employer’s workplace (usually from home).
The employer cannot order the employee to order vacationing for a period of quarantine unless the employee so requests. If an employee has started to take vacation before being quarantined, ordered quarantine does not interrupt the vacation.

3) Opportunities for employers to save on employee wage/salary

No action scenario: The employees are entitled to salary compensation equal to their average earnings if they do not work.
The Care Benefit scenario – parents caring for children under the age of 13 or handicapped person – see below
The employer has the right to order vacationing BUT the order must be given min. 2 week in advance, unless he makes an agreement with the employee on a shorter period. The length of ordered vacation is not limited, it may be total 20 days of vacation. In this case the employees are entitled to 100 % of average earnings.
The employer and employees can agree to a special regime. This may even be an unpaid leave for employees, if they agree.
Failure to allocate work due to input outages (supplies of raw materials, services, components, documents) – wage compensation for employee is at least 80% average earnings. According to the approved Extended Employment Support Program, if the requirements are met, wage compensation paid to employers will be be 60% – MODE B*.
Failure to allocate work to the remaining employees due to the absence of 30%+ employees (e.g. quarantine, childcare) – wage compensation for employee is 100% average earnings. According to the approved Extended Employment Support Program, if the requirements are met, wage compensation paid to employers will be 60% – MODE B*.
Temporary closure or restriction of operations as a result of emergency measures taken under the Crisis Act (gym, restaurant etc.) – see below
Temporary closure or restriction of operations as a result of a reduction in demand for services rendered or a reduction in product sales – see below

4) What is the salary of an employee if there is a temporary closure or restriction of operations as the result of the emergency measures taken under the Crisis Act (eg in connection with government resolutions – gyms, clothing stores, restaurants)?

2 options:

208 LC – other obstacle to work on the part of the employer = wage / salary compensation of 100 % average earnings. According to the approved Targeted Employment Support Program, if the requirements are met, wage compensation paid to employers will be e 80% – MODE A*.
If demand/sales are limited and an agreement is reached with a trade union or an internal regulation is issued, partial unemployment can be applied = wage compensation of at least 60% average earnings.

5) What is the salary of an employee if there is a temporary closure or restriction of operations as a result of a reduction in demand for services rendered or a reduction in product sales?

2 options:

208 LC – other obstacle to work on the part of the employer = wage / salary compensation of 100 % average earnings.
An agreement is reached with a trade union or an internal regulation is issued, partial unemployment can be applied = wage compensation of at least 60% average earnings According to the approved Extended Employment Support Program, if the requirements are met, wage compensation paid to employers will be 60% – MODE B*.

* When should the employer claim compensation?

The antivirus program will run from April 6. From then on, applications will be possible. We assume that there will be a delay of only a few days between the submission of an application and the payment of contributions by the Labor Office. For the month of March, the employer will therefore submit an application at the beginning of April.

To qualify for compensation will need to meet several conditions:

The employer strictly adheres to the Labor Code
Obstacle to work arises as a result of COVID-19 contagion
The employee must not be dismissed
It concerns companies in the business sector, employees must be in employment and participate in sickness and pension insurance
The employer must pay the wage / salary and pay the contributions

MODE A: State contribution to employer will be 80% of wage compensation paid by employer to to employee, including contributions (social security, health insurance). However, up to a maximum of CZK 39,000 per employee.
MODE B: State contribution to employer will be 60% of wage compensation paid by employer to to employee, including contributions (social security and health insurance). However, up to a maximum of CZK 29,000 per employee.

To be eligible for the Antivirus Program, you must submit an application. The application form is filled in via the web application: https://antivirus.mpsv.cz. If you need help filling in and submitting an application form, please contact us.

Application including agreement and other documents is submitted by the employer to the relevant workplace according to its registered office (via data box or email with a recognized electronic signature). For administrative simplification, an agreement to provide a contribution from the targeted Antivirus program is generated when the application is created. The agreement is concluded if it is electronically signed by the Labor Office and sent back to the employer through the same channel as it was delivered (data box, e-mail).

Thereafter, the employer is obliged to fill in the cost statement of wage compensation (billing) separately for each month. The monthly billing in the form of PDF file (s) and attached XLSX file is sent electronically via data box or by e-mail with a recognized electronic signature. The employer is obliged to deliver the billing no later than the end of the calendar month following the end of the reported monthly period. Billing template: https://antivirus.mpsv.cz/vyuctovani.

Antivirus – Employer Manual
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS	APPLICATION	BILLING	CHECK (FOLLOW-UP)
	Identification data	The existence of an employment relationship	The Labor Office of the Czech Republic will ensure a consistent continuous, but especially follow-up inspection.
	The person’s authority to represent employer	Affidavit – compensation paid and made contributions	During the inspection, the employer will prove especially:
	Proof of bank account	Affidavit – the existence of an obstacle to work and its duration	* Employment contracts, * Internal rules governing obstacles to work, agreements with trade unions authorizing to pay a reduced wage compensation in accordance with the LC, * Order quarantine employees, obstacle to work as a result of childcare, * Payroll and attendance records proving the emergence of obstacles to work and the payment of the relevant wage compensation in accordance with the LC, Statements of accounts showing the payment of wage compensation employees and payment of levies, in the event of downtime (Section 207 (a) of the LC) or Partial unemployment (§ 209 LC) the employer will also submit documents proving the termination of orders, reduction of sales, restrictions on transport, etc., ie, the fact that there was actually an obstacle to work on the part of the employer.
		Affidavit – paid wages that are subject to billing, not covered by other public budgets
		The affidavit is part of the bill, by confirming the bill (electronic signature, inserting into the data box) the employer automatically signs the affidavit.
		In case of Mode A, the relevant crisis measure (government resolution), resp. extraordinary measure of the Ministry of Health or of the Regional Hygiene Station, according to which he was forced to close operations or restrict its activities. The employer shall give only the number of the relevant document.

6) The Care Benefit

The following rules apply during school closure due to Covid-19:

If the employees have children <13 years old (handicapped children attending school without age limitations), whose schools have been closed, one of the parents has the right to:

no work
reduced salary compensation provided by Social Security Office (i.e. no contribution of employer) – special formula is applied(The basis for calculating The Care Benefit is the average daily income for the relevant period. This is further regulated according to the Sickness Insurance Act by means of three reduction limits, thus obtaining the so-called reduced daily assessment base. The Care Benefit is paid for calendar days (from day one) and is 60% of the reduced daily assessment base)
The care benefit for employees will be reimbursed as long as there are closed schools and other similar facilities.
It is now possible for carers (mostly parents) to take turns in care more than once, and the number and manner of such turns is unlimited.

Upon the closure of a facility designed for the care of handicapped persons, there is also a claim to the care befit without age restriction of the handicapped person.

Even if the founder decides to close the facility due to an epidemic, the employee is entitled to the care benefit.

How to apply?

The parent receives a form from the school facility, which he / she will fill in and sign (part B in the document) and transmit or electronically send (photo, scan the form) to his / her employer.
Application form: HERE.
The employee applies for the payment of the care benefit with the Application form for nursing care for a child up to 10 years of age due to the closure of the educational facility (school), which will issue the educational facility (school) in which the child attends.
1. Part A. of the form fills the school / other facility
2. Part B of the form is completed by the parent
  1. electronically received form from the school / other facility the parent can without undue delay forward the technically appropriate way (by e-mail) for information to their employer (as proof of obstacle at work – “excuse”)
  2. however, in order to apply for a nursing allowance, the parent must complete, sign and send the electronic form sent by the school, either:
    1. completely electronically, if it has the technical means (qualified electronic signature),
    2. however, if the parent (applicant) does not have an electronic signature, he / she can print, fill, sign, scan (or take a picture) and send it electronically to the employer by e-mail,
    3. or may print, complete, sign and hand over the form physically to the employer.
  3. IMPORTANT: the day from which the parent will request the care has to be indicated by the parent in Part B – If the parent does not mark the, the day indicated on the form as the day of closure of the child / other facility will be considered as the beginning of the support period.
3. Part C of the form shall be completed by the employer
  1. 1. electronically delivered application form from an employee an employer submits electronically to the DSSA together with documents for calculating the benefit, ie either with an electronic signature or a data box (to the address of the electronic registry),
    2. or physically delivered and signed form with documents for calculating the benefit sent to DSSA by post
It is also necessary for an employee to hand over the form “Statement of childcare due to the closure of an educational institution” to the employer at the end of each calendar month. In this form, he / she will fill in the days in which he / she took care of the child. It must therefore be clear when they were at home with children or the disabled and when they went to work.
Application form: HERE

Notes:

If one parent receives a parental benefit or maternity benefit, the other parent may receive the care benefit for the other child. However, it is not possible for the same child to receive a parental benefit (mother) and the care benefit (father).
The caregiver can receive only one benefit per household. It doesn’t matter how many children you care for.
Any person other than parents can apply for the care benefit if they live with child in the same household and participate in sickness insurance (employment, not agreements).
Only employees for whom the employer pays the insurance are entitled to the care benefit.

Covid-19 state measures and employees/employers