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In view of the severity of the current situation regarding the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus (\u201cCoronavirus\u201d), we have prepared a special newsletter containing all important information that may affect your business and your employees.<\/p>\n
Our company has set up a team of people to follow the current situation and evaluate all economic, tax, and legal issues related to the impact caused by the COVID-19 virus.<\/p>\n
I would like to ask you to find about a half an hour to read this article, as it contains some information that may be relevant to you.<\/p>\n
With effect from 16 March 2020, as of 6:00 am, a state of emergency has been declared in the\u00a0territory of the Slovak Republic, by virtue of which all small-trade operations and all operations providing services shall be closed, with the exception of grocery shops, pharmacies and shops providing medicinal devices, chemist’s, post offices, banks and insurance offices, petrol stations, and several other operations. All persons who are returning from abroad shall stay in isolation in facilities defined by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic for a period of 14 days.<\/p>\n
Additional measures and detailed information can be found in Slovak HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of Act No. 124\/2006 Coll. on Occupational health and safety, and on amendments and supplements to certain acts, the employer shall be obliged to apply the\u00a0general principles of prevention in the implementation of measures necessary to ensure safety and health at work, including securing information, education and organization of work and resources.<\/p>\n In order to eliminate the risk of spreading the COVID-19 disease, the employer shall be obliged to\u00a0evaluate the risk at the workplace and, if necessary, shall be entitled to take and implement appropriate measures to protect the health of employees; for example: cancel business trips and company events<\/strong>, secure available sanitary preparations, educate employees, minimize visits to the workplace, isolate employees at risk, order medical examinations, provide the possibility to work from home, etc.<\/p>\n In addition to the aforementioned, the employer shall be entitled, in order to protect the health of\u00a0other employees, to demand from employees that they report their stay in afflicted areas or other facts relevant to health protection. Despite the fact that this information relates to employees\u2019 private lives, in this case the employer\u2019s interest in protecting health at work takes precedence and the employer shall be entitled to request this information from the employees in order to find out whether employees or their family members have visited an afflicted area or whether they have been in contact with a person diagnosed with Coronavirus.<\/p>\n In the event the employer is aware of the fact that an employee has returned from an affected country or was in contact with an infected person, yet continues to go to work, the employee shall be entitled to demand that the employee undergoes an extraordinary medical examination<\/strong> in order to detect the presence of the virus and the employee shall be obliged to undergo such examination. In the event the employer employs employees\u2019 representatives, the employer shall be obliged to discuss this measure with them first.<\/p>\n On the basis of a decision taken by the central crisis management team, all persons who are returning from abroad shall stay in isolation in facilities defined by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic for a period of 14 days.<\/p>\n In the event an employee shows no symptoms of Coronavirus but has returned from an affected country or area, such employee shall monitor their health status during the 14 days following their return. At the same time, it is desirable that the employee informs the employer of his\/her return from such area. If an employee suspects he\/she may be infected yet is showing no symptoms, such employee may, at his\/her discretion, undergo a 14-day home isolation (voluntary quarantine).<\/p>\n An employee who has not visited an afflicted area and is showing no symptoms cannot on his\/her own accord stop going to work, except when such employee has made an agreement with the\u00a0employer to take leave or to work from home.<\/strong> The absence of an employee at work without a just cause shall be considered misconduct.<\/strong><\/p>\n In view of the aforementioned, there are two types of quarantine<\/u>:<\/p>\n A. Mandatory quarantine<\/strong><\/p>\n If an employee is<\/strong> subject to quarantine<\/strong> ordered by the Public Health Authority, the employer shall excuse the absence of the employee at work for the duration of the quarantine. Where an employee is ordered into quarantine, the employer shall be obliged to assign the employee work of a different nature or in a different place (this also includes working from home \u2013 the so-called \u201chome office\u201d).<\/p>\n The employer does not need the employee\u2019s consent<\/strong> in order to assign him\/her work of a different nature as a result of the ordered quarantine.<\/p>\n In the event the employer cannot provide the employee with work of a different nature or work at\u00a0a\u00a0different place, this shall constitute an obstacle to work on the part of an employee.<\/strong> The\u00a0employee shall be obliged to demonstrate such obstacle to work and its duration to\u00a0the\u00a0employer. The relevant medical facility shall be obliged to attest such document demonstrating an obstacle to work and its duration and the employee shall be obliged to inform the employer of\u00a0such obstacle and its expected duration without undue delay.<\/p>\n A physician shall confirm that the person who was ordered into quarantine to be temporarily incapacitated for work<\/strong>. In the event of an employee\u2019s temporary incapacity for work during an\u00a0ordered quarantine measure<\/strong>, the employee shall be entitled to claim compensation from the\u00a0employer during the first 10 days of the quarantine measure<\/u> in the amount of 25% of the daily assessment base during the first three days of quarantine and 55% from the fourth to the tenth day of quarantine (provided that the employee does not receive an income from such employment). From the eleventh day onwards, the employee shall be entitled to a sickness benefit under Act\u00a0No.\u00a0461\/2003 Coll. on Social insurance<\/u> in the amount of 55% of the daily assessment base. Self\u2011employed persons with compulsory sickness insurance, persons with voluntary sickness insurance and insured persons within the period of protection shall be eligible for sickness benefit under the specified conditions from the first day of the ordered quarantine measure.<\/p>\n B. Voluntary quarantine<\/strong><\/p>\n If an employee suspects<\/strong> he\/she may be infected yet is showing no symptoms, such employee may, at\u00a0his\/her discretion, undergo a 14-day home isolation. Pursuant to Section 141 subsection 3 letter b of Act No.\u00a0311\/2001 Coll. of the Labour Code (\u201cThe<\/strong> Labour Code<\/strong>\u201d), the employer may provide the\u00a0employee with time off from work also due to reasons other than those specified in\u00a0the\u00a0provisions of\u00a0Section 141 subsection 2 of the Labour Code<\/u> (obstacle to work on the part of\u00a0an\u00a0employee) with or without wage compensation.<\/strong> The employer can, therefore, agree with the employee on so-called unpaid leave or agree with the employee that the employer will provide him\/her with wage compensation for the duration of the \u201cvoluntary quarantine\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n Another option is to make an agreement<\/strong> with the employee that the employee will take leave during a certain period of time (until the employee receives negative results of the laboratory test).<\/p>\n The employer shall have the following options with respect to the employee:<\/p>\n An employer shall excuse the absence from work of an employee for periods of the employee\u2019s temporary incapacity to work due to quarantine, attending to a sick family member and during periods of caring for a child younger than ten years of age who, for substantive reasons, may not be in the care of a children\u2019s educational facility or school.<\/u> During such periods, an employee shall not be entitled to wage compensation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If there is no ordered quarantine, the employer shall not be entitled to order the employee to work from home via \u201chome office\u201d, unless such method of work performance has been agreed upon, for\u00a0example in the employer\u2019s internal regulation<\/u> or the employment contract<\/u>. If the employment contract does not specify such place of work performance, an agreement with the employee should be made to change it (in writing), as this constitutes a change in working conditions. Working from home under such conditions may only be possible after concluding an agreement with the\u00a0employee.<\/strong> If the employee is already in isolation at home (in order to prevent the spread of\u00a0the\u00a0COVID-19 disease) or if it is not possible to change the contract terms in writing, it is important to document this in another demonstrable way, e.g. via email. Working from home can also be employed to reduce the number of employees at the workplace (to increase the protection of\u00a0employees who commute from longer distances and use public transport, to protect employees who care for the elderly, for employees with children when schools are closed, for employees in\u00a0\u201copen space\u201d workplaces with a higher density of people at one workstation, and for other reasons).<\/p>\n When determining leave, it is necessary to take into account the employer\u2019s tasks and the justified interests of the employee. The employer may request the employee to draw his\/her paid holiday. The\u00a0employer may do so no sooner than 14 days prior to its planned drawing. This period may exceptionally be shortened with the employee\u2019s consent.<\/strong> Since the current situation may be\u00a0considered exceptional, it is possible to shorten this notification period, taking into account the\u00a0circumstances. If the employer and the employee come to an agreement,<\/strong> the employee may start drawing paid holiday immediately.<\/p>\n If an employee has undrawn substitute time-off, it is possible to determine the drawing of substitute time-off under the conditions specified in the provisions of Sections 121 and 122 of the Labour Code. Drawing of substitute time-off for overtime work may in principle only be possible on the basis of\u00a0an\u00a0agreement with the employee<\/strong> (Section 121 subsection 3 of the Labour Code).<\/p>\n Pursuant to the provisions of Section 90 subsection 9 of the Labour Code, the employer shall be obliged to inform the employee of the distribution of working time at least one week in advance and with a validity of at least one week. However, when dealing with the situation via changes in the distribution of working time, such changes in the working timetable are subject to various factors such as the content of the employment contract, provisions on equal and unequal scheduling of\u00a0working time, rest periods, etc. In view of this, it is necessary to first take into consideration the\u00a0wording of the employment law documentation.<\/p>\n Due to other reasons or at the employee\u2019s request, an employer may provide an employee with time off from work with wage compensation for which the employee will later perform additional work as compensation <\/strong>(Section 141 subsection 3 of the Labour Code).<\/p>\n In a particular case, where an employer, upon an assessment of risks and with a view of stopping the\u00a0spread of Coronavirus, does not allow the \u201cemployees at risk\u201d to perform work at the workplace and refuses their entry into the workplace or temporarily shuts down operation, this shall constitute an obstacle on the part of the employer for which an employee shall be entitled to receive wage compensation in the amount of the employee\u2019s average earnings<\/strong> (Section 142 subsection 3 of\u00a0the\u00a0Labour Code), except if a written agreement with the employees\u2019 representatives is concluded pursuant to Section 142 subsection 4 of the Labour Code (agreement on the definition of substantive operational reasons listed below).<\/p>\n This applies, for example, in cases where an employee had scheduled work shifts and the employer informed the employee that he\/she will not designate work to him\/her. The Labour Code does not contain time restrictions on the duration of this obstacle to work and, therefore, it is the employer\u2019s responsibility to decide to what extent this measure shall be applied in the particular case.<\/p>\n An employee shall be entitled to wage compensation in the amount of his\/her average earnings even if the employer is forced to temporarily cease production due to other operational causes (non-delivery of production components, materials, absence of supply services, etc.).<\/p>\n If an employer defined in a written agreement with employees\u2019 representatives substantive operational reasons<\/strong> that prevent the employer from designating work to an employee, this shall constitute an obstacle on the part of the employer for which an employee shall be entitled to receive wage compensation in the amount stipulated in the agreement, at a minimum of 60% of average earnings<\/strong>. This means this claim would have to be negotiated with the employees\u2019 representatives on\u00a0the basis of a separate written agreement on wage compensation lower than the amount of\u00a0the\u00a0average monthly earnings, i.e. the employees\u2019 representatives would have to agree with this reduced claim.<\/p>\n The conclusion of this agreement, if properly written and substantive operational reasons are sufficiently defined, may save the employer up to 40%<\/strong> of the wage compensation costs during this period.<\/p>\n The aforementioned options may also be implemented if the particular employee does not have the\u00a0disease or is potentially infected but the employer, upon assessment and evaluation of the situation, takes the specified measures in order to prevent the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n If you are interested in further options that may be used by employers to mitigate the economic impact, do not hesitate to contact us and we can go through the details individually.<\/p>\n With regard to the current risk of spreading Coronavirus, the Social Insurance Agency informs insured persons that if \u201ca closure of pre-school or social service facilities providing care for children or of\u00a0schools (hereinafter referred to as \u201cfacilities\u201d) takes place as a result of Coronavirus, the insured persons shall be entitled to claim nursing benefit, regardless of whether it was a state-owned or private facility, and this shall be acknowledged as being temporarily incapacitated for work and they shall be entitled to a sickness benefit.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWith regard to the emergency situation related to the outbreak of Coronavirus, the Social Insurance Agency announces that, after the announcement of emergency measures taken by the central crisis management team and in accordance with the decision of the competent authorities to close schools, it shall grant nursing benefit<\/strong> to those who are taking personal and full-time care of a child of up to 11 years of age (10+364 days) throughout the 14-day period during which schools and pre-school facilities will be closed.<\/strong> Before the end of this period, the Social Insurance Agency will announce, on the basis of further developments, how the parents should proceed if the schools\/pre-school facilities remain closed,\u201d<\/em> said Peter Vi\u0161v\u00e1der, the spokesperson of the Insurance Agency.<\/p>\n The forms in Slovak can be found here:<\/p>\n Application for nursing benefit for <\/strong><\/a>Coronavirus<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0(pdf)<\/p>\n Application for nursing benefit for <\/strong><\/a>Coronavirus<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong>(word)<\/p>\n Forms in English and German:<\/p>\n New form for nursing benefit from the Social Insurance Agency<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Neues Formblatt \u2013 Pflegegeldantrag von Sozialversicherungsanstalt<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n With regard to the need to eliminate the spread of the disease, specific procedures have been adopted that relate to the application of claims for nursing benefit and sickness benefit for suspected or diagnosed cases of Coronavirus. These procedures can be found on the website<\/strong><\/a> of the Social Insurance Agency.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic together with the Financial Administration are gradually introducing measures to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. In particular, the following measures have been adopted in recent days:<\/p>\n If the taxpayer fails to meet the deadline for income tax return filing or if the taxpayer perceives other obstacles as a result of the current situation, the taxpayer may request to\u00a0waive the missed deadline.<\/strong> The Financial Administration shall take into account justified requests to waive the missed deadline.<\/p>\n We recommend using the legal possibility of extending the deadline for the filing of the tax return by three months or by six months in the case of foreign income. Announcement of extension of the deadline shall be filed by taxpayers\u00a0by 31 March 2020 by electronically filing the prescribed form.<\/b>\u00a0The template for the deadline extension announcement can be found\u00a0HERE<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and more information can be found\u00a0HERE<\/b><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Starting on 16 March 2020, the Financial Administration offices shall operate under modified office hours \u2013 the filing offices will be open on each business day from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM and client zones will be open on opening days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.<\/p>\n More practical information can be found on the FA portal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Financial Administration will not sanction natural and legal persons in the event of their non\u2011compliance with the legal deadline for the income tax return filing if the taxable person meets this obligation by 30 June 2020. <\/em><\/strong>The Financial Administration will not sanction them for late submission of\u00a0the announcement on withholding and levying taxes and on non-payment of this tax in\u00a0the specified period if the taxable person meets these obligations by 30 June 2020.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n More practical information can be found on the FA portal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Based on the information provided by the press department of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic on 16 March 2020<\/strong>, the following proposals for measures<\/a>,<\/strong> which require the legislation to be changed and which will be negotiated in the near future by the new government and parliament, were submitted during discussions and requests with business associations.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic has prepared proposals for measures to help the economy amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus<\/strong><\/p>\n This material was based on suggestions received from individual employer and business associations and unions. We tried to describe the listed measures in such a way as to take into account as much as possible several comments on the same subject. It was not always possible and not all measures could be included in the material due to their potential contradictions or\u00a0exceptional detail. A number of themes and suggestions are set out in broader concepts in order to include as many comments taken into account as possible.<\/em><\/p>\n For more information, please click HERE<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\nEmployment law<\/h1>\n
Preventive measures of the employer<\/h2>\n
Quarantine<\/h1>\n
Employer\u2019s options and employees\u2019 claims<\/h2>\n
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Measures of the Social Insurance Agency regarding Coronavirus<\/h1>\n
Sickness benefit<\/h2>\n
Nursing benefit<\/h2>\n
Taxpayers<\/h1>\n
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Proposals for additional measures for self-employed individuals and taxpayers<\/h2>\n
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