Almost no one in the Czech Republic has experienced a pandemic. This is a completely new situation for us, and employers must quickly adapt to the new government regulations and answer employees' questions. Following the spreading pandemic COVID-19, we have prepared for you a brief overview of the rights and obligations that we should fulfill.

Procedure if the quarantine has not been ordered to an employee

The employer should notify the employee who informed him/her of his/her return from the area affected by COVID-19 of his/her obligation to contact his/her general practitioner. The GP decides whether the employee will be temporarily recognized as incapable of work or will be ordered to be held in a quarantine on the basis of a decision of the public health protection authority.

For preventive reasons, the employer may take some of the following measures to keep the employee away from the workplace or from a contact with other colleagues for a certain period of time:

  1. Home isolation – the employer can agree with the employee that the employee will temporarily work outside the employer's workplace. However, the employee is not obliged to accept this measure from the employer.
  2. The employer may make the appropriate shift in the shift schedule and duly inform the employee, i.e. 14 calendar days in advance, unless otherwise agreed with the employee.
  3. If the employer decides not to allocate work to the employee, it is an obstacle to work on the side of the employer and the employee is entitled to a wage or salary compensation equal to his/her average earnings.
  4. The employer may agree with the employee on taking a leave. The employer is obliged to notify the employee of the period of vacation at least 14 days in advance, unless he/she agrees with the employee on a shorter period.

Procedure if the quarantine is ordered to an employee

If the employee is quarantined, it is an obstacle to work on the side of the employee.

In this situation, the employee is entitled to a wage or salary compensation in the same way as if he/she is temporarily unable to work, i.e. 60% of the adjusted average earnings paid by the employer in the first 14 days.

Subsequently, from the 15th day, the sickness benefits will be paid by the state. During this period, the employee is not obliged to perform any work for the employer.

The Employee shall provide the Employer with a “Quarantine Order Notice” issued by the attending doctor or hygienist. By doing so, the employee will also claim the wage compensation from the employer for the first 14 days of the quarantine period.

Parents – Nursing

In the case of a care of a child under 10 years of age who cannot attend the school facility due to the quarantine ordered, the nursing employee is entitled to 60% of the salary daily assessment base (in Czech: “denní vyměřovací základ”).The employer shall submit the application together with the documents for the payment of the nursing allowance to the relevant district social security administration, which pays the benefit.
The nursing allowance can be paid for a maximum of 9 calendar days. The only exception is when the parent is a single parent, in which case he/she can receive nursing care for up to 16 calendar days.

Further development

We highly recommend continuing monitoring the development of the situation and related measures taken by the state. The Ministry of Finance is preparing a so-called “liberalization package”, which should include, for example, a waiver of the fine for late submission of the tax return, a possible postponement of repayments of loans for citizens and small businesses, a waiver of the fine for failure to submit a control report, or an interest-free loan to small and medium-sized businesses.

Of course, we will continue to monitor the situation for you and keep you informed.