In an effort to prevent a significant spread of coronavirus, the Government of the Czech Republic has taken a number of exceptional measures that resulted in the reduction of economic activity of many companies. These included, for example, the compulsory closure of selected establishments, the closure of schools, or the closure of borders. These measures along with the coronavirus pandemic lead to the significant reduction of the Czech economy´s performance. In order to minimize the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Government of the Czech Republic and the Parliament have decided to adopt several instruments as Antivirus program C that should help the affected companies.
One of the key areas for keeping the Czech economy in good condition is the area of employment. Maintaining employment is essential from the point of view of citizens, employers, and the state. The main government instrument in the field of employment is the Antivirus program. The program aims to maintain a high employment rate through state contributions to the remuneration of those employees whose jobs were significantly threatened by the crisis.
There are three regimes existing in the Antivirus program.
Regime A, by which the Labour Office of the Czech Republic contributes to the compensation of wages of employees in quarantine and employees from compulsorily closed establishments.
Regime B, by which the Labour Office of the Czech Republic contributes to wage compensation for those employers indirectly affected by the crisis.
Regimes A and B were extended until the end of August 2020 and the Chamber of Deputies approved a new form of support – the so-called Regime C, which consists of waiving payments of social security contributions, for the time being for the months of June, July, and August.
Our experts summarized answers to a few most frequently asked questions regarding Regime C:
Who can apply for Antivirus C?
- Employers employing a maximum of 50 employees who are covered by insurance
- Employers whose number of employees found in each of the months for which it is applied (i.e. June, July, and/or August) did not decrease by more than 10% compared to the number of employees in March 2020. Employers also have to maintain 90% of the volume of wages compared to March 2020. Meeting these conditions will be assessed separately for each month.
- Employers who paid employee insurance in time. In addition, they cannot draw funds from Antivirus Regime A or B in the respective calendar month.
Are employees with a maximum assessment base also included in the assessment base calculation?
Yes. According to the Act on Social Security Premiums and Social Security Contributions, the maximum assessment base is set only for the payment of insurance premiums. Not for inclusion in the assessment base.
Can employers also apply for relief to employees working on the basis of a document other than an employment contract?
No. In this sense, employees working on the basis of a contract for work other than employment (DPP or DPČ) or executives are not considered as employees for whom it is possible to draw this relief. Their income is not considered for the purposes of participating in Regime C.
Can employers apply for a remission of premiums if the company was established after the state of emergency has been declared?
In this case, the premium cannot be remission, as in March the company did not employ any employee(s) participating in the insurance.
If there are any other questions regarding this problem that have not been answered yet, please contact our experts at the email address: antivirus@asbgroup.eu.
For more useful information read our payroll news or ASB Group news.
Klára Cowan
Head of Payroll
ASB Czech Republic
E: kcowan@asbgroup.eu
Jiří Bosák
Corporate Services Manager
ASB Czech Republic
E: jbosak@asbgroup.eu