On April 17, two Labour Department regulations were published in the Government Gazette regarding measures to support employees in connection with force majeure and the economic crisis.
Force majeure
Special wage compensation measures apply to employees who:
- Are registered with the Social Security Fund (SSF) and eligible for unemployment benefits
- Are required to temporarily stop working during the period from March 1 to August 31, 2020
- Do not receive salary from their employer during the temporary suspension of work
- Have not had their employment contract terminated
If all conditions are met, the employee is entitled to compensation equal to 62% of their daily wage, for a maximum of 90 days during the period from March 1 to August 31, 2020.
All of the above must be directly related to COVID-19 and/or preventive government measures introduced due to the coronavirus, regardless of whether the employer suspended operations voluntarily or due to government orders.
To receive compensation, the employer must prepare and submit (possibly electronically) a certificate/application requesting wage compensation for employees due to force majeure.
Compensation is not paid if the employee applies after termination of employment. If the employment relationship is terminated after compensation payments have already started, payments will stop from the date of termination.
Economic crisis
In the case of work cessation due to an economic crisis, employees are entitled to:
- 70% of salary for up to 200 days if the employee has been laid off
- 45% of salary for up to 90 days if the employee resigned voluntarily
It should be noted that the regulation defines the economic crisis period from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2022.
Compensation applies only to employees who have paid contributions to the Social Security Fund for at least 6 months within the 15 months preceding the application.