The legal regulation of obstacles at work is contained in particular in Sections 191 to 210 of the Labor Code. These are situations where the employee cannot fulfill the part of the work obligation consisting in the performance of work, because certain facts arise that make such fulfillment impossible or considerably more difficult. The employee then does not work, even though he was originally supposed to work. The employer is obliged to apologize for the employee's absence from work. The legislation combines various consequences with various obstacles at work (eg extension of probationary period, creation of employee protection period, where the employer can only unilaterally terminate the employment relationship, creation of the right to compensation of wages / salary instead of wages / salary for work, etc.).
The Labor Code distinguishes barriers to work according to whose side the following arose:
1. barriers to work on the part of the employee,
2. barriers to work on the part of the employer.
I. Barriers to work on the part of the employee
Barriers to work on the part of the employee can be further divided into:
- important personal barriers at work, including in particular:
- temporary incapacity for work,
- ordered quarantine,
- caring for a child under 10 years of age or another natural person,
- providing long-term care,
- maternity leave,
- parental leave,
- other important personal barriers at work.
- obstacles of general interest:
- performance of public office (deputy, senator, member of the municipal council, etc.),
- performance of civic duties (witnesses, interpreters, first aid, etc.),
- other acts of general interest (blood donation, participation in camps, etc.),
- leave related to military service,
- training, other forms of preparation or study.
The employer is obliged to apologize for the employee's absence from work for the period when he is temporarily incapacitated for work or quarantined. In the period of the first 14 calendar days, the employee is entitled to compensation of wages / salary in the amount of 60% of his reduced average earnings. Subsequently, it is secured by a benefit from the health insurance system - sickness insurance.
Maternity leave belongs exclusively to the employee (woman) and is provided in connection with childbirth and the care of a newborn child. It is 28 weeks for 1 child, 37 weeks for more children. It usually starts 6-8 weeks before the expected day of delivery. Parents can take maternity and parental leave at the same time.
Parental leave is provided to enhance childcare. The employer is obliged to provide it at the request of the employee. It belongs to a child up to 3 years of age. After maternity leave, the mother is entitled to the father from the birth of the child. Parents can also use it at the same time.
Important personal obstacles at work also include other important personal obstacles at work listed in Government Decree No. 590/2006 Coll. new job.
The employee must notify the employer of all obstacles at work in good time, or without undue delay, and also prove them.
II. Barriers to work on the part of the employer
Barriers to work on the part of the employer include in particular:
- idle time,
- interruption of work caused by adverse weather conditions or natural disasters,
- other barriers to work on the part of the employer.
Downtime occurs when an employee is unable to perform work due to a temporary machine failure that he did not cause, interruption in the supply of raw materials or fuel, missing or incorrect work documents, or for other operational reasons. If the employee is not transferred to another job, he is entitled to compensation of wages / salary of at least 80% of his average earnings.
In the event of interruption of work caused by adverse weather conditions or natural disasters, the employee is entitled to compensation of wages / salary of at least 60% of his average earnings, unless he has been transferred to another job.
In the event of another obstacle to work on the part of the employer, the employee is entitled to compensation of wages in the amount of 100% of his average earnings. One of these cases is partial unemployment, when the demand for the employer's services is reduced and the employer cannot assign work to the employee. In the case of partial unemployment, the employer may agree with the trade union that the wage compensation is at least 60% of his average earnings. If the employer does not have a trade union, the employer can reduce the compensation himself.