You get stuck in quarantine while on vacation or on a business trip. What to do?

When you test positive for the presence of the coronavirus, the public health authority or your general practitioner will order you to quarantine. At the same time, he is obliged to inform your employer at his request that you have been ordered to quarantine. You also have the same obligation towards the employer, but not at his request. You must actively notify him that you are going into quarantine. So what are you entitled to? And what if the quarantine catches you abroad?

It is an obstacle on your side

The moment you go into quarantine, it is an obstacle to work on your side as an employee. In this case, you are entitled to compensation for wages or salary in exactly the same way as if you were unable to work. Thus, during the first 14 calendar days of the quarantine, you have the right to compensation of wages or salary from the employer.

You are entitled to wage or salary compensation from your employer not only for working days, but also for holidays for which you are otherwise entitled to wage compensation or for which your salary is not reduced.

In such a case, a doctor or hygienist will issue you a "Notice of Quarantine Order", which you will present to your employer.

During the duration of the quarantine, your employer cannot order you to take a vacation. But if you are taking vacation and you are ordered to quarantine during it, the vacation is not interrupted.

What if you are quarantined abroad?

The situation is a bit more complicated if you are stuck in quarantine abroad, for example while on vacation. You are preparing to go home on Saturday, you are taking a test for the coronavirus, and on Monday you have to start work after your vacation. However, the test comes out positive and instead of going home to the Czech Republic, you go to quarantine in the country you are currently in.

The procedure is not clear here. It really depends on whether they are European Union states or states with which the Czech Republic has concluded a bilateral agreement or not.

EU countries have a uniform procedure

If you are quarantined in an EU country or in a country with which the Czech Republic has a bilateral agreement, the situation is better for you. It is essentially the same as when you are ordered to quarantine in the Czech Republic.

The employer is obliged to excuse your absence from work, and for the first 14 days of the quarantine, you are entitled to a wage or salary compensation from the employer.

If you are in quarantine in an EU country, the procedure is according to common European rules. These dictate that the employee receives a confirmation of the ordered quarantine in the place where he currently resides. He then sends this confirmation to the employer (ie in this case to the Czech Republic) and the employer pays him the wage compensation on the basis of this confirmation.

It is more complicated in countries without an agreement

However, if you are stuck in quarantine in countries that are not EU member states, and the Czech Republic does not have a bilateral agreement with them either, the rules are different.

If the quarantine lasts even after the end of the holiday, you are of course obliged to comply with it and you are not allowed to return home. In this case, of course, it is not a violation of work duties and the employer must excuse your absence from work.

However, this does not apply to wage compensation. If the Czech Republic does not have a legal arrangement for the mutual recognition of documents issued in the area of ​​health insurance benefits by the authorities of another state, then, unlike the quarantine in the EU, there is no automatic recognition of the right to compensation of wages or salary in this case.

The situation will be assessed individually and probably only after your return to the Czech Republic. You will supply the hygiene station with a health report, a quarantine document and possibly other documents, if you have them. Subsequently, it will be assessed whether, under these circumstances, you would have been ordered to quarantine in the Czech Republic as well. And your entitlement to health insurance benefits will depend on this.

For the sake of completeness, we add that in order to be entitled to compensation for wages or salary, you must also meet the conditions for entitlement to sickness benefits as an employee on the date of quarantine.

What if you are quarantined on a business trip?

A number of professions are associated with travel, and it can easily happen that your boss sends you on a business trip abroad, and you test positive there and you are ordered to quarantine there.

In general, during a business trip, the employer is obliged to reimburse you for expenses incurred in connection with the performance of work.

If you are ordered to quarantine abroad during your work trip, this is not a reason for your employer to interrupt or terminate your work trip. So your work trip continues, you just have to inform your employer about this change without delay. The employer then has to take steps himself, such as canceling the reservation of the return ticket, additional accommodation in another city, where of course you will not arrive due to the quarantine, etc.

During the quarantine, your employer cannot interrupt or terminate your work trip. And it cannot therefore stop providing you with travel reimbursements. They also have to pay for your accommodation, for example. And you are also entitled to food allowance during the period of quarantine on your work trip. This is not tied to the performance of work, but to the duration of the business trip.

However, reductions may occur

Depending on whether you are provided with meals, the amount of the meal allowance may be reduced. If you are provided with free meals in the sense of breakfast, lunch or dinner, then the foreign meal allowance is deducted according to the Labor Code.

If you incur necessary incidental expenses during the quarantine that are related to your work trip, you can also request reimbursement for these expenses. However, this is assessed individually according to the specific case.

You are required to remain in quarantine until the relevant public health protection authority decides otherwise. And then, depending on the situation, the employer can decide whether to end your work trip and you will return home, or whether you will continue your work trip.