Act on Public Budget Stabilization and Labour Law Issues

Section 39, subsection 2 of the Employment Act (Part thirty-six of the APBS) contains restriction of the right to receive unemployment allowance for applicants whose employment was terminated on the grounds of an especially gross breach of work discipline within 6 months prior to their enrolment in the records. Another change important for employers is the new manner of calculating the amount of the contribution to support employment of handicapped employees contained in Section 78; the contribution shall definitely correspond to the amount of actual wage costs incurred for such employees, including social security and public health insurance premiums paid, subject to a cap of CZK 9,000 applicable to heavily handicapped individuals and of CZK 6,500 for other handicapped individuals. This contribution cannot newly be paid out concurrently with the contribution to creation of new jobs or reservation of socially purposeful jobs.

The provisions of the Labour Code applicable to employment confirmations (Part twenty-seven of the APBS) have changed substantially; pursuant to the new provisions of Section 313, subsection 1, letter d), employers must state in the confirmation whether the employment was terminated due to an especially gross breach of work discipline. This change is in line with stricter regulation of unemployment allowance (for details see below). The rest of the changes apply primarily to sickness allowance in the first two weeks of sickness; however, the applicability is, in the sense given in the provisions of Section 393a, subject to the effectiveness of the new Health Insurance Act (Act No. 187/2006 Coll.), which is to take place on 1 January 2009.