Press

PSP adopts preventive measures for next waves of pandemic

(ČIA) The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (PSP) met at an extraordinary meeting on June 4, 2020, to adopt preventive measures for the next waves of the pandemic. The adopted proposals for instance order the government to regularly inform the PSP and general public on adopted measures, process a strategy for testing, or make the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic process a system of pandemic levels of alert and introduce it to the PSP by July 30, 2020.

 

A. Babiš: Free movement between CR and SR to be renewed on June 4

(ČIA) Free movement between the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic will be fully renewed on June 4, 2020. This was stated by PM Andrej Babiš (ANO) after his meeting with his Slovak counterpart Igor Matovič.

 

Government approves rules for travel abroad

(ČIA) The government approved a system allocating foreign countries into three categories indicating low, medium and high risk. From May 15, Czechs can travel to countries in the first two categories without restrictions. If foreign countries will have further restrictions on entry into their territory after June 15, travel will be governed by the conditions of the other party. In the next wave of lifting pandemic restrictions, the cabinet allowed events for up to 500 persons from June 8. The government also approved a bill on the registration of beneficial owners without the votes of ČSSD ministers, with the exception of trust funds.

 

ÚMCH and MemBrain develop new device to aid breathing

(ČIA) Scientists from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Czech Academic of Sciences (ÚMCH), in collaboration with MemBrain, have developed a new type of oxygenator. It differs from commercially offered types by the used separation technology, i.e. a polymer membrane that is capable of enhancing oxygen concentration to 45%. The membrane’s advantage is its ability to intercept viruses, bacteria or pollen and thus to ensure a high cleanliness degree of the enhanced air. The oxygenator could help COVID-19 patients. This information was provided by the Czech Academy of Sciences.

 

VšZP agreed with outpatient sector to increase price per point

(ČIA) Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (VšZP) has negotiated new contracts with representatives of the outpatient sector, which will be valid from July 1, 2020. VšZP CEO Richard Strapko assumes that increases in capitalization payments, point prices and higher individual payments linked to qualitative evaluation parameters for ambulance motivational. According to preliminary estimates, VšZP will pay more than 90% of the monthly average in primary outpatient care compared to 2019. A significant percentage consists of health care providers who reached up to 100% of the monthly average in 2019 during a pandemic.

 

SPPF: Plasma centers collect blood from patients treated with coronavirus

(ČIA) Three plasmacentres and three state hospitals in the Czech Republic participated in the international research of a new medicinal product for COVID-19. Therefore, private plasma centres have started collecting blood plasma from patients treated with coronavirus. The Association for Plasmapheresis (SPPF) reported that doctors from Chinese hospitals administered antibody-rich plasma to seriously ill patients, who subsequently improved significantly within a few days.

 

Govt appoints R. Prymula Commissioner for Health Research

(ČIA) Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's (ANO) government approved on May 25, 2020, the establishment of the position government representative for science and research in health care within the Office of the Government and appointed Roman Prymula to the post with effect from June 1, 2020. The most important tasks of the government commissioner will include the creation and submission of the National Concept of Health Research and the overall coordination of issues of science and research in health care with individual central state administration bodies and other entities.

 

MZČR: 66% of infected people already recovered from COVID-19

(ČIA) Based on data from the Institute of Health Information and Statistics, the Ministry of Health (MH) stated that 66% of infected people had already recovered from COVID-19. The share of positive cases in the number of tests performed in the Czech Republic fell to 2.3%. The share of deaths stagnates at 3.5%, with daily deaths declining. Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch (for ANO) said that the priority now is the early detection of local outbreaks of infection.

 

EY: Coronavirus crisis could speed up personalized medicine

(ČIA) Linking, merging and sharing healthcare data dramatically increases the public health benefits of this data. According to an EY survey, the current COVID-19 pandemic proves that health care systems need to be better able to respond to emergencies. The survey also points to the need for innovative methods of more targeted preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic care, as well as the need to share relevant data globally. According to EY, it is necessary to move closer to personalized medicine.

 

EC approves CZK 200m for CR to support COVID research

(ČIA) The European Commission has approved the Czech Republic's support program worth CZK 200m (ca. EUR 73m) aimed at innovations in tackling the coronavirus pandemic. These include medical and other technologies, such as 3D printing systems and logistics applications. The contribution will be provided in the form of direct grants and will cover 75% of the relevant costs. The results of the research will be made available to third parties in the European Economic Area through non-exclusive licenses.

 

State to send CZK 6.6bn for debt relief of six hospitals

(ČIA) Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (for ANO) signed a budget measure by which the government will send CZK 6.6bn to six state hospitals in Prague and Brno. She said that debt relief for long-term indebted backbone hospitals was the right move. The government approved debt relief for the hospitals on April 27, 2020.

 

ČBA: Banks will join project Smart Quarantine

(ČIA) Banks will join the project Smart Quarantine at the beginning of the 18th week of 2020. They will provide data for the creation of memory maps. The data will be handed over to the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, which will require it based on a consent of infected people. The information was provided by the Czech Banking Association (ČBA). Conditions for the provision of data by banks will be specified by the Information memorandum, which will be published on April 27, 2020.

 

MF: Prices for FFP3 respirators will continue to be capped

(ČIA) Based on the request of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance (MF) is introducing price regulation for FFP3 class respirators. This regulation will apply even after the end of the emergency. Price regulations apply exclusively to respirators with the highest degree of efficiency, in order to ensure the operation of medical facilities and emergency services.

 

MZ starts COVID-19 collective immunity study

(ČIA) The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (MZ) is launching a study of collective immunity to the coronavirus. Examined will be approximately 27,000 people in four regions with a different COVID-19 burden (Prague, Brno, Olomouc and Litoměřice). A separate examination will take place in Litovel and Uničov. The study will begin on April 23. Its goal is to find out how many people recovered from COVID-19 only with little or no symptoms. The first results will be available at the beginning of May. The data will serve for decisions on further steps to reduce impacts of the pandemic.

 

Scientists have tools for studying impact of Covid-19

(ČIA) Czech scientists associated in the initiative Model antiCOVID-19 pro ČR coordinated by think-tank IDEA at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic have designed simulation tools to study impacts of measures against the Covid-19 outbreak. Their epidemiologic models make it possible to better target measures limiting the spread of the infection and ease nation-wide restrictions. According to the initiative, the services of the models are available for the government of the Czech Republic and other state or public-service institutions.

 

MPO: 50,000 requests from self-employed for nursing fees

(ČIA) The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) has registered more than 50,000 applications in two weeks from self-employed persons for so-called nursing allowances. Of the total, the ministry reviewed ca. 10,000 applications, approved 5,000 and returned 5,000 for completion or reworking. The ministry started to pay the subsidy on April 14, 2020. In the first wave, roughly CZK 22m will be paid to ca. 3,000 people. The average amount of subsidy for approved applications is CZK 7,000 per person.

 

GALARD: cotton face masks with nano filters

The tailoring company GALARD Prague temporarily switched their production line from suit and shirts to cotton face masks with nano filters. No matter if you need just a few pieces for your personal use or higher quantities for your company, you can contact Karel Repa for prices and more details. Email: repa@galard.cz, Mobile phone: +420 778 801 802.

 

AKČR: Smart Quarantine is ready for launch in regions

(ČIA) Smart quarantine is ready to run in all regions. This was stated by the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic (AKČR). The goal is to quarantine people suspected of being infected with coronavirus faster and more effectively within three days of the test.

 

PSP extends state of emergency until end of April

(ČIA) The Chamber of Deputies (PSP) has approved the extension of the state of emergency until April 30, 2020. Compared to the originally announced extension until May 11, ODS chairman Petr Fiala considers it a compromise. He believes that the government will present a plan for the next steps to loosen the existing restrictions.

 

Hamáček: Mandatory quarantine after travelling abroad

(ČIA) The cancellation of the blanket ban to travel out of the Czech Republic, approved by the government and effective from April 14, 2020, does not mean an opening of the border. This statement was made by Minister of the Interior Jan Hamáček (ČSSD) who added that the movement-restriction order was still in force. He added that anyone who fulfilled the conditions and travelled abroad would be placed into two-week quarantine after returning. Quarantine exceptions are for commuters working abroad in healthcare, social services, integrated rescue system units and critical infrastructure. Other commuters will be subject to a two-weeks-at-work-and-two-weeks-at-home regime.

 

MZ to allow doctors from third countries to work without exams

(ČIA) The Ministry of Health (MZ) will permit doctors from outside the EU to work in the Czech Republic without qualification examinations. The government approved the measure at its session on April 6, 2020, for the period of emergency and three months after its end.

 

GfK: People's concerns about impact of epidemic on economy are higher than health

(ČIA) Compared to Czechs, Slovak buyers are more worried about coronavirus infection when shopping. According to a survey conducted by GfK, most worried buyers are aged 60+. Activities at the top of the preventive activities include more frequent hand washing, compliance with government hygiene recommendations, and avoiding places with a higher concentration of people/public places. The survey also shows that Czechs and Slovaks are more concerned about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the economy than on their own health.

 

WHO virus study starts in Norway

Health Minister Bent Høie has announced that Norway is the first country to take part in a major international study that will test promising treatment methods for patients ill with the Corona virus. The study is being coordinated by the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO). John-Arne Røttingen, director of the research council Forskningsrådet, said the study will involve tests of three drug treatments, with both malaria and ebola medicine involved. Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Norway’s role in the international study marks “great recognition” of Norwegian research and Norway’s public health services. The research also aims to determine whether it’s also possible to use various medicines to protect health care personnel and people in high-risk groups. It’s also hoped that successful medicinal treatment can reduce the amount of time patients currently need in hospitals’ intensive care wards, thus freeing up more beds for critically ill patients.

- News in English.no -

 

COVID-19 worldwide statistics

April 1, 2020 - worldwide

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 203 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances: the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan, and the Holland America's MS Zaandam cruise ship. 

Coronavirus Cases:
872,921


Deaths:
43,272


Recovered:
184,594

- link to details -

 

M. Zahradníček: NCTB has cure for coronavirus

(ČIA) The National Tissue and Cell Center (NCTB) can produce billions of cells fighting COVID-19 without significant investment; one billion cells can serve ca. 20 patients. This was stated in an interview for daily E15 by Michal Zahradníček, the co-owner of PrimeCell, a biotechnology company, which NTCTB is part of. He says that the drug's research cost CZK 150m. The laboratory is now waiting for a statement from the State Institute for Drug Control.

 

 

GALARD - volné ústní roušky k odběru

Zakázkové krejčovství GALARD nabízí šité roušky na opakované použití k odběru.

Materiál - kvalitní bavlna k vadných košil, vyrobených na zakázku. Dosud využívají v nemocnicích, složky zácharnného systému a některé firmy pro své zaměstnance nebo rodinné příslušník.

více informací: Karel Řepa - repa@galard.cz, 778 801 802

 

Czech Chamber: Information concerning the occurrence of COVID-19 disease

Outputs of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic meeting on March 25th, 2020

- czech version -

During a non scheduled meeting on March 25th, 2020, the Senators approved and supported all the Government proposals concerning the coronavirus situation as submitted by the Deputies.

For business people, mainly the following new legislation is important:

Law draft on some adjustments in the field of electronic evidence of takings with regards to the announced emergency state

There will be a postponement of the last wave of EET for the duration of 3 months starting on the date of the emergency state termination, therefore, on July 1st, 2020, the earliest.
Law draft on some adjustments concerning the social security with regards to the emergency precautions taken during the 2020 epidemic

The State will pay the care giver’s allowance for the whole duration of the schools closure caused by the coronavirus crisis and that to the parents of children up to 13 years of age who stayed with their offspring at home. The parent will be given 60% of the reduced basis of assessment and that even retrospectively. This allowance will also be given to the self-employed.
Law draft on some adjustments in the field of social security insurance premiums and the financial contribution for the State employment policy and pension insurance with regards to the emergency precautions taken during the 2020 epidemic

The social insurance premiums advances are remitted for the duration of 6 months and, in practice, the insurance premiums to be paid for this year by the self-employed are reduced by half.
Law draft by which the Act No. 592/1992 Coll. on insurance premiums for the public health care insurance as amended is changed

The healthcare insurance premiums advances are remitted for the duration of 6 months and, in practice, the insurance premiums to be paid for this year by the self-employed are reduced by half. The deadline for the income and expenses report submission to the Insurance Corporations is postponed.
The Czech Chamber of Commerce assumes that all the discussed law drafts will be promptly signed by the president of the Czech Republic and therefore this new legislation will soon come into force. More information to the particular draft laws is to be found on the website of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic here (currently in Czech only).

The Amendment of the Act on State budget for the year of 2020 was already signed by the President of the Czech Republic, Mr. Miloš Zeman, today. In this case, the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic does not, according to the set legislative procedure, deal with such an amendment.

The approved deficit of the State budget for this year is to increase from the original 40 billion to 200 billion Czech crowns which will, among others, make space for the compensational expenses programs and tax and insurance premiums relieves.

Based on the outcomes of today’s meeting of the Board of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, we update our already published 19 demands by another topic discussed in these last days throughout our membership:

Paying only the VAT resulting from the paid invoices. The Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic should make use of the leeway given by the European directives and quickly prepare an amendment to the Act on VAT which would temporarily introduce, at least for some payments, the so called cash principle of paying taxes. Considering the out of the ordinary problems with cash flow on the side of customers, many companies, especially the small ones, are getting in trouble when a tax resulting from the goods or services provided is to be paid in cases when they were not paid by the customer in the first place.
The President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Vladimír Dlouhý, asked the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the Minister of Finance of the Czech Republic to adjust the Government approved program of State compensations to employers, the so called Targeted Program of Employment Support Antivirus, to better suit the employers. For you, employers, the methodology of requesting the State support will be crucial. CCC, therefore, proposed to MoLSA this evening several changes of this methodology we introduced in order to reach fair program parameters. As an example we present the following two:

According to our analysis of the financial contribution calculated for 1 employee, the ceiling amount would be too low. Although the State is prepared to contribute to wage compensations paid by 50 or 80%, the compensated monthly wage is to be limited by the median value, therefore, by the sum of 31.000 Czech crowns. And that is a problem. The companies paying higher wages – and those do not necessarily have to be above-average ones – would have been given relatively less State contributions.
In the context of the Government’s decision the services of the Czech Chamber of Commerce – issuing of the certificates of origin of goods, ATA Carnets and other accompanying documentation – will be provided in a special regime, i.e., via post only. The Czech POINT office will be temporarily closed. More information can be found here (currently in Czech only).

The Czech Chamber of Commerce also intensively communicates with its regional chambers and tradesmen associations. Together we therefore analyze negative consequences for business people and we summarize all the proposals of possible compensational solutions. Afterwards we will use those in the following discussions with the relevant State bodies.

- Hospodarska komora -

 

CORONAVIRUS Z POHLEDU ZAMĚSTNAVATELE

Doporučení HAVEL & PARTNERS, Autoři: Jan Koval, Veronika Plešková, Ema Drštičková

PDF version

Vzhledem k množícím se dotazům a narůstajícím obavám ve společnosti bychom rádi připomněli, jaké možnosti nabízí v takovýchto situacích zaměstnavatelům zákoník práce a doporučili opatření, jejichž přijetí by mohla být vhodná. Rovněž bychom rádi upozornili na kroky, které naopak ke klidu ve Vaší společnosti pravděpodobně nepřispějí…

 

Rozhodně nechceme tuto nemoc zlehčovat (to nám ani jako právníkům nepřísluší) a doporučujeme tedy pozorně sledovat stránky Státního zdravotního ústavu (zde), ministerstva zdravotnictví (zde), popř. i ministerstva zahraničních věcí ČR (zde), kde naleznete všechny aktuální informace. O tomto by bylo velmi vhodné informovat i Vaše zaměstnance a zdůraznit, že situaci bedlivě monitorujete a v případě zhoršení jste připraveni okamžitě reagovat přijetím vhodných opatření. Mimo to ovšem doporučujeme především zachovávat klid a věcný přístup k situaci a nepodporovat šíření strachu tak jak se to v těchto dnech děje prostřednictvím většiny médií.

Prevence nade vše

Coronavirus je virovým onemocněním, prevencí proti jeho nákaze tedy mohou být klasická opatření, jako jsou:

zvýšená hygiena – je možné poskytnout zaměstnancům dezinfekční prostředky (gely, mýdla), případně roušky;
zdržení se pobytu v místech s vyšší koncentrací osob, např. na sportovních a kulturních akcích – pokud jste měli naplánovaný např. team building či účast na konferenci, doporučujeme toto ještě přehodnotit;
vyhýbání se kontaktu s osobami, které jsou viditelně nemocné;
dodržování zdravé životosprávy doplněné o konzumaci vitamínů atd.
V této souvislosti je rovněž vhodné dočasně omezit pracovní cesty do zahraničí a případně odvolat zaměstnance, kteří byli dlouhodobě vysláni do zahraničí, především do oblastí, které se jeví jako rizikové. V případě, že Vaši společnost často navštěvují klienti či obchodní partneři ze zahraničí, zvažte rovněž omezení takových kontaktů, alespoň dočasně. Opět ale doporučujeme přistupovat k situaci racionálně a vyvarovat se přehnaných reakcí, které by mohly v krajním případě narušit Vaše obchodní vztahy.

Co s italskými výletníky?

Itálie, především pak její severní regiony, které jsou velmi populární pro své lyžařské možnosti a kam možná zamířili/zamíří někteří z Vašich zaměstnanců, je v tuto chvíli jedním z ohnisek nákazy. Máte právo po zaměstnancích chtít, aby již naplánovanou a schválenou dovolenou zrušili nebo aby návštěvu takového regionu hlásili?

Zákoník práce s takovýmito situacemi příliš nepočítá. Pokud jde o zrušení již naplánované a schválené dovolené, tuto je zaměstnavatel oprávněn zaměstnanci zrušit, respektive změnit dobu jejího čerpání, případně i zaměstnance z dovolené odvolat, musí nicméně hradit náklady, které v tomto smyslu zaměstnanci vzniknou. Než tedy přistupovat k tomuto razantnímu kroku, doporučujeme se zaměstnancem o jeho dovolené promluvit a případně se rovnou domluvit na tom, jak bude řešena situace po jeho návratu (viz některá z možností níže).

Co se týče zjišťování destinace dovolené zaměstnance, toto nejste jako zaměstnavatel oprávněni zjišťovat a zaměstnanec Vám tedy toto sdělit může, ale nemusí. Za současné situace se ale jeví jako vhodné požádat zaměstnance, aby v případě, že plánují navštívit sever Itálie či jiné rizikové destinace, toto zaměstnavateli oznámili.

A jak tedy postupovat v případě, že se dozvíte, že se některý z Vašich zaměstnanců z rizikové destinace vrátil či se z ní vracet bude?

práce z domova: V případech, kdy to povaha práce nevylučuje, se jeví jako vhodné využít institut práce z domova (pouze na základě dohody, zaměstnanec k tomuto nemůže být nucen);
nařízení čerpání dovolené: Pokud víte o plánované dovolené zaměstnance déle předem, je možné nařídit mu čerpání dovolené i podobu 14 dnů následujících po zamýšleném návratu (toto ale musí být nařízeno alespoň s 14 denním předstihem);
poslat zaměstnance na překážky v práci: Zaměstnance můžete rovněž tzv. „poslat na překážky“, tedy mu nařídit, aby se po určitou dobu nedostavoval na pracoviště. V takové situaci mu ovšem náleží od zaměstnavatele náhrada mzdy ve výši 100% průměrného výdělku;
„neplacené volno“? Zaměstnanci nemohou být nuceni, aby z důvodu svého pobytu v Itálii či jinde v potenciálně rizikové oblasti byli na překážkách v práci na straně zaměstnance (tzn., aby si brali tzv. neplacené volno); na něm se lze pouze (písemně) dohodnout;
mimořádná zdravotní prohlídka? Další možností je poslat zaměstnance na mimořádnou lékařskou prohlídku k Vašemu poskytovateli pracovnělékařských služeb. Této se zaměstnanec musí podrobit, doporučovali bychom nicméně tento krok dopředu s Vaším poskytovatelem zkonzultovat a ověřit, zda bude schopný (a ochotný) zaměstnancům test na přítomnost coronaviru provést, popř. zda se zaměstnanec nemá rovnou dostavit na specializované pracoviště určené v daném regionu.
V souvislosti s coronavirem je hojně skloňováno také slovo „karanténa“. Karanténa, tak jak ji zná zákoník práce, může být nařízena pouze ošetřujícím lékařem a zaměstnanci pak náleží nemocenské stejně jako v případě dočasné pracovní neschopnosti. Nemůže se tedy jednat o rozhodnutí zaměstnavatele.

Věříme, že Vám výše uvedené pomůže zvládnout současnou situaci a nebude mít vliv na úspěšnost Vaší společnosti v roce 2020.

V případě jakýchkoliv dalších otázek je Vám náš pracovněprávní tým rád k dispozici! jan.koval@havelpartners.cz 

 

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