Dear Clients,

with the increase in the number of summer holidays of employees, the Ministry of Health has issued a new protection measure concerning testing after returning from abroad (full text available here).

The relevant change for employers is the obligation to prevent workers who are subject to the obligation to undergo a SARS-CoV-2 test before or after entering the Czech Republic from entering any of the employer's premises and workplaces.

Persons who are obliged to be tested and who are entitled to be tested in the Czech Republic (and who take advantage of this option) when arriving from countries with a low or medium risk of COVID-19 (and only if they do not use public transport) may be allowed to enter the workplace pending the result of the test. The person shall wear respiratory protective equipment, which shall be a respirator or similar respiratory protective device.

An exception to this condition is made for persons who can demonstrate that they are exempt from the requirement to be tested under the protective measure (e.g. vaccinated persons, persons who have had COVID-19 and are still under protection, etc.).

Thus, in practice, the employee must prove that the employer can allow him or her to enter the workplace by confirming a negative test for the presence of the virus, with the type of test carried out always corresponding to the level of risk of infection in the country from which the employee has returned to the Czech Republic. For this purpose, the employer may require the employee to provide information on whether or not the employee has visited the country at risk. This could be done by an affidavit or an internal regulation that would regulate the notification obligation.

In countries with a high/very high/extreme risk of infection, these workers must also undergo self-isolation following the result of the RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2.

In case of any questions about the above, we of course remain available to you.