Anticrisis Shield 2.0 – Solutions in the labor law area
The Parliament adopted amendments to the Act on special arrangements for the prevention and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and the resulting emergencies and other acts. The so-called "Anti-Crisis Shield 2.0" was signed by the President and came into force. What changes in labor law are waiting for entrepreneurs?
Reduction of working time
Shield 2.0 compensates for discrepancies in interpretation of the permissible reduction in working hours. It has been disputed whether it is possible to reduce working time in one way only, i.e. by 20%. The act no longer leaves any doubts - the employer may reduce the working time by up to 20%, but not more than 0.5 full time. Therefore, the employer also has the possibility to apply a smaller reduction of working time.
Shortening the period of employee protection
So far, in order to use the resources of the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund, the employer had to maintain the state of employment throughout the whole period of receiving the subsidy and for a subsequent buffer period equal to the period of receiving the subsidy. Shield 2.0 shortens the period of employee protection by the aforementioned buffer period - it means that the employer must maintain the state of employment throughout the whole period of receiving the subsidy.
Extension of exemption from ZUS contributions
So far, only micro-entrepreneurs were entitled to the so-called "contribution holidays", i.e. total exemption from paying due contributions. Shield 2.0 provides for extending the circle of those entitled to exemption - apart from micro-entrepreneurs exempted in full from paying contributions due for the period from March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020, the payers of contributions who, as at February 29, submitted between 10 and 49 insured persons to social insurance will be exempted up to 50% of the total amount of unpaid contributions shown in the settlement declaration submitted for a given month. The number of insured persons is calculated without taking into account the insured who are juvenile employees employed for the purpose of professional preparation.
Health and Safety training
The legislator has, as a rule, allowed for the possibility of remote pre-training in occupational health and safety. In relation to periodical training, whose date of performance falls during the period of an epidemic emergency or state of the epidemic or within 30 days from their cancellation, this period was extended to 60 days from the date of cancellation of an epidemic emergency or state of the epidemic.
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