On 1 November 2020, the Slovak Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs, and Family introduced details of an extended state aid package ‘First Aid +’ to mitigate the negative economic consequences of the second wave of COVID-19. This article provides highlights of the most relevant measures for employers and practical answers to questions about this package.

Who is entitled to apply for the First Aid+ package, what is the amount of contributions and what are the possible combinations

The First Aid+ package includes several measures. Which ones apply to employers?

Most importantly, only employers who managed to keep the job positions are entitled to the following reimbursement from the government set out below:

For Scheme 1: employers who were forced to shut down their operations based on the Slovak Public Health Authority (SPHA) measures.

For Scheme 3: employers who:

3A closed their operations, but were not ordered to do so (e.g. material did not arrive) or

3B did not close their operations but have suffered a drop in revenue of 20% or more.

Who is considered an employer for the purposes of First Aid+? 

Employers who started their activities before 3 September 2020. In addition to a regular company, ‘employer’ in this context also means:

• an organizational unit of a foreign entity (legal and natural) that has employees and is authorized to do business in Slovakia.
• a person (legal and natural) who mainly performs the following activities in Slovakia: paid recruitment activities, temporary employment, supported employment, professional counselling services, education services, and training for the labour market.

The full wording of the definition is available in s3 of the Employment Services Act.

We have already benefited from the first package of state aid. Has the amount of state aid changed?

Yes. Please refer to the table below:

In addition, the employer who has already received the state aid does not have to sign a new agreement. The amount of the contribution will be adjusted by an amendment.

Can we combine measures?

An employer with a single operation can choose only one of the options (i.e. Scheme 1 or one of the Schemes 3A/3B) for one month. On the other hand, if you applied for a contribution under Scheme 1 in October, you can apply for a contribution under Scheme 3A or 3B in November.

Employers may combine Scheme 1 or Scheme 3A/3B if they have two and more operations.

Please note, that if you apply for a contribution under Scheme 3B, the decrease in revenue is always calculated according to the ID number, not according to the individual operation.

We have more than one operation in Slovakia, where should we submit our application for a contribution?

In this case, you need to submit the application where the company is based according to the commercial register (or another register).

As the contribution is paid by the state, do I have to register in the Register of public sector partners?

By the end of 2020, it is assumed that you have met the registration condition. From the beginning of 2021, this assumption will not apply, and you have to register.

When can I apply for the First Aid+ contribution?

You can apply for the period from 1 October 2020 (meaning you can apply for October).

Who can apply and when the contribution will not be provided

Which employees are entitled to reimbursement? 

Employees with an employment contract. The most common cases, where it is not possible to apply are:

• negotiators;
• managing directors or partners without an employment contract;
• people who can work, but do not have to have an employment contract e.g. parents, wife, children of a self-employed person or a single-person company, as defined by the Act on Illegal Employment in s2a;
• volunteers.

We hired new employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Can we apply for a contribution?

It depends on when the employee started work. Employers can apply for reimbursement for employees who started employment no later than 2 September 2020.

Can we apply for a contribution for an employee who has not worked for the whole month?

It depends on the scheme you are applying for. If you are applying for Scheme 1 or 3A, you cannot apply for the allowance during the time when the employee was on sick leave, on leave to care for a family member (i.e. receiving social security benefits), or on holiday.

If you are applying for Scheme 3B and the employee had an obstacle to work on his/her side or took leave on more than 50% of his/her working time fund, then you cannot apply for the allowance.

Can we apply for a contribution to an employee during his/her notice period?

No.

If I receive an allowance for an employee, can I dismiss him/her?

According to both measures, the restrictions only apply to situations where the reason for the dismissal/agreement is the redundancy of the employee or if the employer (or part thereof) is terminated. In this case, termination of employment is prohibited for the period:

• one calendar month after the month for which the contribution is/was provided if the declared state of emergency is/was in place in the month for which the contribution was provided;
• two calendar months after the month for which the allowance is/was provided if no state of emergency has been declared at this time.

Other cases of termination of employment are not subject to the restriction.

We understand that there is a lot of information about the new First Aid+ package and that you will need time to calculate and apply for it.

In conclusion, we add more information about the deadlines to apply for the allowance for October and the following months.

You can apply for the October allowance until the end of January 2021. For subsequent months, the following rule will apply: the end of the month following the month in which the employee's salary was paid. For example, an employee works in December, the December salary will be paid to him in January, so you will have to apply by the end of February.

The full wording of the new rules can be found at www.pomahameludom.sk or www.neprepustaj.sk. They also include measures for regular self-employed or selected self-employed groups that have no other income.