Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
Parents taking care of their family members and employees on sick leave will see the benefits they receive from the state increase.
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This stems from an amendment to the law on social insurance approved by the parliament on March 30. It increases the pandemic benefit for the care of a family member (OČR) and pandemic sick pay, and specifies conditions for receiving Covid bonuses, the TASR newswire reported.
Benefits received for longer
Between April 1 and 30, 2021, the pandemic OČR and the pandemic sick pay will equal 75 percent of the daily assessment basis, up from the previous 55 percent. The final sum will be close to the net salary of employees, the Labour Ministry said.
This means that if somebody earns about €900 net, the pandemic sick pay or pandemic OČR may be as high as €866, compared with previous €635, according to the ministry.
At the same time, the period during which people can draw sick pay will be extended, if the applicants meet certain conditions. It will depend on how long the temporary sick leave lasts, and whether the support period expired while a person was on sick leave, which had to be extended due to the Covid crisis and harder access to health care. Another condition is that the performance of a person who returns from sick leave will not drop by more than 40 percent compared to his/her colleagues.
The last two conditions will be evaluated by the doctor appointed by the state-run social insurer Sociálna Poisťovňa, TASR reported.
Bonus conditions specified
The amendment will also make it easier to grant a Covid bonus to people who were infected at their workplace.
“Every employee who contracted Covid-19 while doing an activity with a higher risk of being infected will be entitled to the Covid surcharge,” the ministry explained, as quoted by TASR.
The surcharge will be paid from the day a person started pandemic sick leave, until it ends.
Read more about the coronavirus developments in Slovakia:
Tightened border regime: State orders self-isolation and testing for all incomers as of February 17
Do I have the new coronavirus? How to proceed if you have a suspicion
I encountered a person who is COVID-19 positive. What do I do next? (FAQ)
When will I get my COVID vaccine? FAQs about vaccination in Slovakia
