Labour relations during a state of emergency

In connection with the state of emergency declared on 13.03.2020, questions have arisen for employers and their employees and workers, which have become a cause for concern of various kinds. This article will look at the current topics of recent days in the field of employment law. Should you come across it while looking for a solution to a particular case, please do not hesitate to contact us.

What are the rights and obligations of workers and employers?

1. In discontinued enterprises:

Here there are two hypotheses: cessation of activity by order of a government authority or by order of the employer. An example of the first case is the order of the Minister of Health of 13.03.2020, which suspended the activities of shopping malls, cafes, restaurants (however, they are still allowed to prepare and deliver food to homes!), cinemas, kindergartens, gyms, etc. The whole order can be found here. In this case, the employer is obliged to keep employees away from their workplaces for the relevant period.

In the second hypothesis, the employer shall take a decision on its own and document it in an order suspending the activities of the undertaking concerned, of part of it or of individual employees for part or all of the period of the state of emergency.

Common to both hypotheses is that employees are entitled to their gross wages. If such an order is issued, either by the employer or by a public authority, the former has the right to grant paid annual leave to employees without their consent, including employees who have not yet completed 8 months of service.

At the same time, the employer is obliged to allow the use of paid annual leave or unpaid leave for the duration of the emergency upon request of the following categories of persons: 1. a pregnant employee, as well as an employee in the advanced stage of in-vitro treatment; 2. a mother or adoptive mother of a child under 12 years of age or a child with a disability, regardless of his age; 3. an employee who is a single father or adoptive parent of a child up to the age of 12 years or of a child with a disability, regardless of his age; 4. an employee who has not reached the age of 18 years; 5. an employee with a permanently reduced capacity for work of 50 per cent or more; 6. an employee entitled to protection in the event of dismissal under Article 333(1)(a); 7. 1(2) and (3) of the Labour Code (i.e. employees with children up to the age of 3; employees in employment; employees suffering from any of the diseases provided for in a regulation of the Minister of Health). The time for which the holiday is taken is recognised as length of service.

**The law regulates exceptions for medical personnel, police officers, fire authorities and military personnel.

2. In cases where employees work from home:

The new Law on Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency has given employers, also appointing authorities in public institutions, the right to unilaterally impose employees to work from home. They are encouraged by the government to issue an order laying down the conditions and procedures under which the work from home of employees and workers will be carried out, unless this is impossible in view of the specifics of the work activity itself. For enterprises that continue to operate, see below There are two arrangements for working from home:

• • Homeworking - The employer must specify in the order how the work will be assigned and reported, how the employees will be supplied with the necessary materials and how the handover of the finished product will be carried out. The employer must keep records of employees who carry out homeworking, he is also obliged to provide them with safe and healthy working conditions, even though they are at home. Employees, in turn, are obliged to give the employer access to their workplace, as well as to the inspection authorities of the Labour Inspectorate, in case an inspection is necessary. At the same time, workers must not disturb the peace of their neighbours by the activities they carry out in their homes. Employees shall determine their own rest periods during the day and during the week in general.
• Remote work (so-called home office) - The main difference with the above hypothesis is that here it is explicitly stated in the law that the employment activity is carried out by using information technology. It is the employer's obligation to provide the necessary equipment, including software, an internet connection, a device to communicate with the employee and a monitoring system if one is required (The installation of a monitoring system requires the employee's explicit consent, as their right to privacy must be respected.)The employer is responsible for protecting the privacy of its employees. They in turn must take care to properly store the equipment they have been provided with, and if any damage does occur to it, they are obliged to notify the employer immediately. On the other hand, there is no obstacle to arranging for the use of the employee's own equipment when it is available. The employee is responsible for the protection of the employee's data and must be provided with information on the liability and penalties in the event of a breach of the requirements laid down by the employer. As in the case above, the employer is responsible for safe and healthy working conditions and employees must be prepared to give the employer access to their home as well as to controlling authorities. Employees have the right to organise their own working hours and determine their own breaks in accordance with their employment contract and the law.

3. The sites that continue to operate:

Some businesses continue to operate at this time, for example pharmacies and shops. The main obligation of employers in this case is to take enhanced measures against the epidemic. These include: ventilating and disinfecting workplaces, purifying the air with filters, instructing staff on personal hygiene.The order also states that employees and outsiders with signs of acute contagious diseases must not be admitted, but applying this provision in practice causes difficulties. On the one hand, in order to ascertain a person's symptoms, it is necessary to provide a sick note from a doctor and, on the other hand, data relating to a person's state of health may only be collected and processed in compliance with the special stricter regime under Article 51 of the Data Protection Act.

What can employers do when the volume of work decreases? 

Part-Time - In the event of a reduction in work, the employer may implement непълно работно време , the employer may implement part-time hours for the duration of the emergency. The length of the part-time workday must be at least half the standard workday. This usually means that the part-time working day is 4 hours long. It is the right of employees to be informed of the posts to which the change of working time will apply. They can make requests to the employer in this respect, who must take them into account. Where possible, this process is best done by remote communication so as not to contravene the requirements of the Department of Health with regard to crowding. When reduced hours are paid and reduced pay is paid, the ratio should remain the same as it was for the standard working day.

Leave The employer, or the appointing authority in government establishments, has the right to grant up to ½ of the paid annual leave to employees, even if they have not consented to it. (We are talking here about cases where employment has not ceased.) However, it does not have the power to place employees on forced unpaid leave. Such action allows employees to terminate their employment contracts without notice. If they do agree to use their unpaid leave, it is important that they know that if it is for up to 30 days, it does not interrupt their employment and insurance service.

Work in another establishment - The employer is entitled to assign the employee temporarily to do other work in the establishment (e.g., to sort goods or take inventory) or in another establishment, but in the same town or locality. The employee's consent is not required and the duration of this activity must not exceed 45 working days. The employer should bear in mind that in a number of municipalities group activities are prohibited. The qualifications of the employee should be taken into account (the Labour Code stipulates that where compelling reasons require it, the employer may disregard them),as well as his/her state of health. He is in turn entitled to remuneration for the work performed, which should not be less than the gross remuneration for his main job.

Employment termination - In the event of a reduction in the volume of work or interruption of the work process for more than 15 working days, the employer has the right to terminate the employment of employees. He shall pay them compensation in the amount of the gross wages for the time they were unemployed, but not for more than 1 month. The employer may choose to dismiss only some of the employees, but in this case he must strictly follow the procedure for choosing the persons to dismiss, otherwise the dismissal will be unlawful.