Dear clients,

The anticipated emergency measure extending the testing requirement to all employees from 17 January 2022 (full text here) has been issued.

New:

­- the employer is obliged to ensure that all employees are tested regularly, at the workplace, using a rapid antigen test designed for self-testing;

­- a frequency of testing of 2 times a week (with the proviso that subsequent testing must take place no earlier than the third day after the previous testing);

­- employees are obliged to take the test - if they refuse:

• the employer notifies the local public health authority, which may sanction the employee, and the employer restricts the employee's meetings with others by organizational measure;

• the worker wears a respirator; maintains, as far as possible given the nature of the work, a distance of at least 1,5 m; eats separately from other persons.

The obligation to test at a frequency of 2 times a week is now explicitly extended to persons who are an organ or member of a legal entity, unless they are also employees.

An employee is also defined as a person who is present at the employer's workplace for the purpose of participating in the employer's activities and who is not subject to the obligation to be tested by another employer or as an organ/member of a legal person.

Exceptions to testing:

­- a person who has had a negative RT-PCR test within the last 72 hours;

­- a person who has undergone a rapid antigen test, performed by a health professional, with a negative result within the last 24 hours;

­- a person undergoing preventive testing with another employer of which he is an employee or with another legal person of which he is an organ or member of an organ.

The employee shall prove the above exceptions, either by means of an EU COVID digital certificate or a certificate from the health service provider or a written confirmation from the employer or legal entity of which he/she is an organ or member of an organ, that he/she is undergoing preventive testing.

Duties:

-­ the employer keeps a record of the tests performed (scope: date, name, date of birth, insurance number and name of insurance company, test result) for 90 days;

-­ the employer sends to the competent public health authority a list of persons who have been tested with a positive result with the same data for which it keeps records + the telephone number of the person tested; this is sent by the employer at the latest on the day after the testing by means of an electronic report.

Positive result:

An employee with a positive result:

­- notifies the employer immediately of the planned absence;

­- leaves the workplace and provides assistance to the locally competent public health authority;

­- the public health authority orders a quarantine of 5 days from the date of the test;

-­ until quarantine is ordered, the employee shall wear a FFP2 respirator and avoid contact with other persons, if possible, but not longer than five days from the date of the test.

The staff member shall be required to undergo an antigen test on the first day of presence at the workplace after the end of the quarantine (testing to be provided by the employer).

If the employee undergoes a RT-PCR test with a negative result after a positive result of the antigen test carried out at the employer's premises, the quarantine shall be terminated.

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