Mandatory testing of employees

By NOVINKY

Dear Clients and Partners,

We would hereby like to inform you that the government has decided on regular mandatory testing of employees for COVID-19, which employers must start on Monday 29 November 2021, at latest. The testing will be conducted under similar conditions as during the spring wave of the pandemic, however, this time, certain employees will be excluded from the obligation and will not be subject to mandatory testing.

The emergency measure issued by the Ministry of Health applies to all employers in the Czech Republic. It also applies to all employees, unless they fall (and are able to prove to fall) under one of the following exceptions:

  • completed vaccination (at least 14 days from the completion of the prescribed vaccination schedule),
  • recovery from covid-19 (maximum 180 days from the first positive test), or
  • negative PCR test or antigen test conducted by a health care professional (in the past 7 days).

Employees who do not have any contact with other people at work do not need to be tested (which also applies to employees working from home).

Employees must be tested on 29 November 2021 at the latest and then on a weekly basis. Antigen tests will be used for the mandatory testing and the tests will be carried out either by the employees themselves (self-testing) or by a provider of health care services.

If an employee tests positive, he/she must leave the workplace at once and immediately inform the employer and a health-care provider who will issue a request for confirmatory PCR test. The period between the positive antigen test and the result of the confirmatory PCR test, during which the employee will absent from work, qualifies as absence for reasons on the part of the employer, and the employee will be entitled to a salary compensation of 100 % of his/her average earnings.

Employers must keep records of the tests conducted which will include testing dates and tested persons. Employers should promptly and sufficiently inform all employees about their obligations related to mandatory testing.

Your LTA team