CORONAVIRUS TASKFORCE UP-DATE-First state aid to employees, entrepreneurs and sole traders – First group – UPDATED 20 April 2020, 6 pm

Information stated below is of general nature and does not necessarily consider specific conditions of your case. For legal assistance in your specific case, please, do not hesitate to contact us.

Please note that the content below is current as at today, i.e. 20 April 2020, 6 pm. The conditions for provision of individual contributions to support the maintenance of employment may be changed. In the case of any changes, this content will be amended.

Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic processed changes in the project of employment maintenance in the case of an extraordinary situation, a state of emergency or a state of crisis (only as the “ES”) and reduction of its consequences (only as the “Project”). They are published in Slovak on following websites: https://www.pomahameludom.sk/ and https://www.neprepustaj.sk/.

FIRST GROUP

Entitled applicants

The first state aid group consists of employers (excluding public administration entities) including self- employed persons, who are employers, and who had to stop of limit performance of their business activities due to measures adopted by the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic and will maintain job positions during the ES (only as the “employer”).

The employer is considered to be:

a) legal person having its registered seat or seat of its organizational unit in the Slovak Republic, or natural person having its permanent residence in the Slovak Republic and at the same time is employing natural person in employment relationship or other similar relationship,

b) branch of a foreign legal person or foreign natural person with labour law subjectivity, entitled to carry out business activities in the Slovak Republic pursuant to the special regulation,

c) legal or natural person performing its business activities pursuant to the special regulation, especially procurement of employment for payment, temporary employment, employment support, provision of professional advisory services, provision of education and training for job-seekers, job-candidates and for employees in the Slovak republic.

Basic conditions for the contribution provision:

What must an employer fulfil?

  • Employer is obliged to pay a salary compensation to employees according to respective provisions of the Labour Code.
  • Employer is obliged to maintain the job position if the employer is obliged to stop or limit its business activity due to measures adopted by the Public Health Authority of Slovak republic
  • Employer cannot terminate employment relationship with employee/employees by the notice or by the agreement for reasons stated in Section 63, par. 1, letters a) and b) of the Labour Code in the period of that two months after the month for which the contribution is provided.
  • Employer is a subject established and performing business activities no later than from 1st February 2020.
  • During contribution provision, the employer can increase number of employees, but no contribution shall be granted for new employees.
  • During contribution provision, the employer cannot allocate the employee for who the contribution is granted to other operational premises, if the employer has more operational premises.

For which employees will the contribution be provided?

  • For the purposes of contribution provision, the term employee means only an employee in employment relationship.
  • Contribution shall be provided only for employees whose employment relationship commenced on 1st March 2020 at the latest.
  • Contribution is provided for an employee, to whom the employer could not assign work due to work obstacle on the part of employer (Section 142 of Labour Code).
  • Contribution shall not be provided for employees whose employment relationship is based on agreement on work outside employment, for the managing director working without an employment contract or shareholder working for its company without the employment contract, cooperating persons – e.g. wife, children, parents who pursuant to the Act on Illegal Work do not have to be in employment relationship, persons working on basis of agreement pursuant to the Civil Code, volunteers.
  • Contribution cannot be provided for the employees who are receiving social security benefits (such as allowance for sick leave, so called PN or care for family member, so called OČR).

Amount of the contribution

When determining the amount of the contribution, 4 situations can occur, depending on the compensation paid to the employee's salary by the employer:

  1. The financial contribution is provided to cover the salary compensation amounting to 80% of the employee’s average salary. This amount shall not exceed 1,100 euros.
  2. The contribution for the employer who paid the salary compensation in amount less than 80 % of employee’s average salary in accordance with concluded collective agreement or written agreement with representatives of employees (Section 142 (4) of the Labour Code), shall be calculated considering actually paid salary compensation. This amount shall not exceed 880 euros.
  3. The contribution for the employer who paid the salary compensation according to the Labour Code in the amount exceeding 80 % of employee’s average salary, shall be paid in the amount of 80% of the employee’s average salary. This amount shall not exceed 1,100 euros.
  4. In case the salary compensation (which was already paid or which will be paid by the end of the relevant calendar month in which the application is submitted) is less than 1,100 euros, the contribution shall not exceed actually paid salary compensation.

Filing an application – procedure

The application form is available on https://www.pomahameludom.sk and also on https://www.neprepustaj.sk (available only in Slovak).

The employer submits the application to the respective Labour Office, determined according to the district where the job positions are maintained. In case the employer has more than one operations, the application shall be submitted to the Labour Office determined according to the district in which the employer has it registered office.

Mandatory Annex to the application is a report for contribution provision. More information on how to complete such report is available in the manual in Slovak language (Manuál k vypĺňaniu výkazu pre priznanie príspevku).

Part of the application consists from a declaration in which the employer declares that:

  • Employer pays to its employees the salary compensation in the amount pursuant to the respective sections of Labour Code.
  • Employer does not claim the contribution for employees in notice period or employee receiving social security benefits due to obstacles to work on the part of the employee.
  • Employer does not request the contribution for employees already receiving other salary contribution/total labour cost within the active labour market measures provided by Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family.
  • Employer does not request the contribution for employees employed after 2 March 2020.
  • During the period of two months after the month for which the contribution is being provided, employer shall not terminate the employment relationship by the notice or agreement for reasons stated in Section 63, par. 1, letters a) and b) of the Labour Code.
  • Employer was not an undertaking in difficulty as at 31 December 2019 (closer information on the undertaking in difficulties is available in Slovak in following link: https://www.pomahameludom.sk/docs/definicia_podnik_v_tazkostiach_web_oplz.pdf
  • Employer meets the conditions stipulated in Section 70, par. 7 of the Act on Employment Services by following:

Employer fulfils tax obligation pursuant to the Act No. 595/2003 Coll. on Income taxes, as amended,

Employer fulfils the obligations to pay advance public insurance levies, social insurance levies and obligatory old-age pension savings contributions,

Employer is compliant with the prohibition of illegal employment for a period of two years prior to applying for the contribution,

Employer does not have unpaid financial obligations towards the Labour Office,

it has not been declared bankrupt or wound up, has not been in receivership and does not have a reimbursement schedule pursuant to special regulations,

There are no outstanding claims of employees arising from their employment,

It is not prohibited to receive subsidies or to receive aid and assistance provided from EU funds, in case the employer is a legal person;

  • There are no outstanding claims against this employer for repayment of aid on basis of former decision of European Commission declaring aid illegal and incompatible with the internal market,
  • Employer started to carry out its business activities on 1 February 2020 at the latest.

The facts declared by the applicant may be subject to ex-post controls.

By confirming correctness and verity of submitted data in the application and its annexes, the applicant shall be aware of consequences due to false declaration of the abovementioned facts, including criminal consequences (Section 221 Fraud, Section 255 Subsidy Fraud, Section 261 Damage to the Financial Interests of the European Union pursuant to the Penal Code No. 300/2005 Coll. as amended).

The application can be submitted by:

a) electronic post (e-mail),

b) electronically by electronic mailbox,

In exceptional case also by

c) post office,

d) personally.

The application for March 2020 shall be submitted until 15 May 2020. The applicant submitting application for April or May shall submit the application by the end of calendar month, following the month for which the compensation is required.

The contribution shall be provided without further delay on basis of the Agreement on provision of financial contribution.