[Czech Republic] Nursing allowance as obstacle to work

Under this obstacle, the payroll accountant or the employer is obliged to excuse the absence of the employee for the following 2 basic reasons:

• Caring for a child under 10 or another member of the household
• Caring for a child under 10
  • due to school closure because of an accident, epidemic or other unforeseen event
  • due to a child being quarantined
  • because an individual who otherwise normally cares for the child has fallen ill, suffered an accident, etc.

What is not a very known fact is the concept of “caring for another member of the household”. The right to time off work arises even if the employee is caring for, for example, his or her adult child (whether the child is attending secondary school or university, or not). However, the stipulation is that the health condition of the person being cared for necessarily requires the care of another person. Thus, a spouse, a mother, an uncle and, given the definition of “shared household”, even a person who is not related to the employee may be cared for. This can be the case for a friend/roommate if all the conditions of a shared household are met, i.e. that the life necessities (groceries, home repairs, etc.) are paid for together.

Example

Two parents are divorced and have 2 children together – one is 9 years old, the other is 17 years old. Both children live with their mother. The father does not live with them. The father, on the other hand, lives in a shared household with his new girlfriend, whom he has not married. The girlfriend has a 14-year-old son from a previous marriage.

For all persons who will be cared for, we will assume that the need for nursing has been confirmed by a doctor.

The father must be excused from work due to:

• taking care of his 9-year-old son always
• taking care for his girlfriend if her condition requires it
• taking care for the girlfriend’s son if his condition requires it

The father, on the other hand, cannot take care of his ex-wife or his 17-year-old son because he does not share a household with him.

The mother must be excused from work due to:

• taking care of her 9-year-old son always
• taking care of her 17-year-old son if his condition makes it necessary

The girlfriend must be excused from work due to:

• taking care of her 14-year-old son if his condition makes it necessary
• taking care of her boyfriend if his condition makes it necessary