The Czech government has allocated over CZK 12 billion to reward healthcare and social services staff for their service during the coronavirus epidemic, as well as approving two compensation programmes to support business owners who have suffered a loss of 50% or more in income. Photo: Minister of Health Jan Blatný at the press conference on March 3. Credit: Vlada.cz.
Czech Rep., Mar 9 (BD) – At a cabinet meeting on Monday, the government approved bonuses for employees in healthcare and social services. CZK 12.2 billion has been allocated from the state budget for the bonuses, which will be paid by the Ministry of Health in April.
Medical staff who work in inpatient care will receive CZK 75,000, similar to the bonus last year. “This is the same level of remuneration that was set for the spring wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. The remuneration for individual employees will depend on the number of hours worked in the period from the beginning of October last year to the end of February this year,” said Health Minister Jan Blatný. Non-medical staff in hospitals who have worked full-time will be paid CZK 30,000. Employees in social services will receive from CZK 15,000 to 50,000.
The government also approved two compensation programmes for business owners whose economic activity has been affected by the anti-epidemic measures. To qualify for both programmes, businesses must have seen a decrease in turnover of 50% year-on-year for the relevant period. CZK 6 billion has been allocated to pay for each subsidy programme.
One of the schemes will provide CZK 500 to 1,500 per employee per day, and the other allows entrepreneurs to apply for 60% of the lost income. Compensation will apply retroactively from January 11th, 2021.
