New Obligation of Employers Related to Employees Returning to Slovakia

On 17 September 2020, a new regulation, applicable as of the next day, was issued by the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic (Regulation OLP/7310/2020, available here in Slovak, the “Regulation 1”), updating the earlier regulation on the obligations relating to pandemic. Under this regulation, in particular the following obligations apply to individuals entering the Slovak Republic:

  • Any individuals entering the Slovak territory, who within the last 14 days prior to their return visited one of the “risky countries” (a binding list is available in the Annex of the Regulation 1) belonging to the European Union,
    • Are obliged to undergo home isolation until they receive a negative COVID-19 test;
    • Are obliged to undergo a COVID-19 test at the latest on the fifth day of their home isolation;
    • May end the home isolation on 10th day, if its course was asymptomatic (even if they have not received negative results of the underwent COVID-19 test until that day);
    • Are obliged to register their entrance without undue delay via http://korona.gov.sk/ehranica and prove to the law-enforcement authorities fulfilment of this registration during their stay in Slovakia.

Alternatively to the above obligations for registration and home isolation, individuals returning from EU risky countries are allowed to present a negative COVID-19 test upon their arrival instead, if performed abroad and not older than 72 hours. In such case the abovementioned home isolation and testing process is not mandatory.

  • Any individuals entering the Slovak territory, who within the last 14 days prior to their return visited one of the “risky countries” not belonging to the European Union, are subject to the same obligations as stated above, however
    • They are not allowed to end the home isolation on the 10th day (i.e. a negative COVID-19 test is always required to end their home isolation);
    • They are not allowed to use the alternative described above (presenting a negative COVID-19 test performed abroad).

A broad range of exemptions apply, which we recommend evaluating on case-by-case basis, if needed (e.g. the above do not apply to freight and bus drivers, employees of providers of critical infrastructure elements, certain types of state employees, certain types of students or individuals with temporary/permanent residence in Slovakia working within 30 kms from an opened state-border crossing, etc.).

Under an additional regulation (Regulation OLP/6911/2020, available here in Slovak, the “Regulation 2”), applicable already as of 01 September 2020, employers (and other “operators” as understood by respective laws) are obliged to supervise the fulfilment of the obligations applicable to its employees before the employees are allowed to enter the workplace/employer’s premises. More specifically, employers must (when employees are entering the workplace/premises) require from their employees/individuals working under a similar relationship (e.g. under agreements outside the employment relationship as recognized by law)/self-employed individuals (freelancers) to evidence that their obligation to undergo the home isolation ceased to exist, by

  • a negative COVID-19 test (performed in Slovakia); or
  • a confirmation on crossing of the Slovak state border older than 10 days (both following the conditions as set in the Regulation1).

Of course, if the concerned individual was subject to any of the exemptions mentioned in the Regulation 1 (and thus not required to undergo a home isolation at all when entering the Slovak territory), evidencing of existence and applicability of a particular exemption is sufficient as well.

If the concerned individual is not able to evidence the above, the employer is obligated to inform the respective regional Public Health Authority on this fact and deny that individual entrance to all areas of the workplace or premises.

The Regulation 2 explicitly states that employers are not obliged to require the evidencing of the above obligations from all of its employees (i.e. it is not an absolute obligation), but only if there is reasonable suspicion that such obligation of the employee exist (e.g. when employees are returning from a business trip). It is presumed though that employers will make a due (reasonable) effort to find out, which of its employees are subject to the mentioned home isolation obligations.

Various practical aspects are still unclear or questionable in relation to proper fulfilment of the above employers´ obligations (e.g. what can be considered as “a confirmation on crossing of the state border”, when there is/is not a “reasonable suspicion”, etc.). As a fine of up to EUR 20,000 may be imposed by the regional Public Health Authority, if employers do not follow these new obligations, it is advisable to have proper monitoring and reporting mechanisms in place.

***

This legal information was prepared in September 2020 exclusively for the purpose of providing general information and should not be viewed as a legal advice. The aforementioned overview is not comprehensive, but only provides a brief summary of the relevant legal regulation. If you have any questions regarding this topic, please do not hesitate to contact us.