Czech Republic: Press briefing on planned employment government support measures

In a press briefing held on 23 March 2020, the Czech government announced the following supportive employment- related measures, most of which are to be implemented at the beginning of April in order to counteract the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

• Employees in mandatory quarantine are entitled to 60% of their average earnings. The Czech state will fully reimburse employers for such costs;
• The employees of employers who have been ordered to close their business premises due to mandatory restrictions introduced by the Czech government are entitled to receive 100% of their average earnings. The Czech state will reimburse such employers for 80% of such costs;
• If the business operations of an employer are disrupted due to a mandatory quarantine affecting at least 30% of its employees, with the result that the remaining 70% of employees are unable to continue to work, the remaining employees are entitled to 100% of their average earnings. In such a case, the Czech state will reimburse employers for 80% of such costs;
• If the production of an employer is disrupted or reduced due to a lack of supplies, the employees are entitled to 80% of their average earnings. In such case, the Czech state will reimburse employers for 50% of such costs;
• If employees do not have enough work for full work days due to a temporary decrease in sales or demand for goods supplied by or services rendered by an employer, the employer may under certain circumstances reduce the salary paid to the employees by up to 40% (an agreement must first be reached with the relevant trade union; if there is no relevant trade union, the employer may introduce an internal regulation, but this regulation can be challenged by employees). The Czech state will reimburse such employers for 50% of such costs;
• Childcare social benefits due to school closures are now extended to apply to children of up to 13 years of age for the entire duration of the state of emergency.