#ALERT: Bill regarding verification of negative test results and COVID-19 vaccinations

Finally, there is the long-awaited bill regarding verification of negative test results and COVID-19 vaccinations. These are solutions that we have been talking about for a long time and, in our view, even without a change in the law, have been and still are allowed.

The legislation decides that in the interest of safety an employer will be able to request information about a negative test result, while a covid passport will waive this requirement!

The bill also provides for possible action against employees who refuse to take a test or provide the data. The question is whether this is a closed catalog and whether employers will be authorized to take other actions that they deem effective!

We describe the highlights of the bill below:

1.Employers will be able to require employees (individuals employed under civil law contracts) to provide information about having a negative coronavirus test result (taken up to 48h before presentation). The employee will be required to provide this data whenever requested by the employer. As a general rule, the employee will provide this data in the form of a statement. The employer will be able to request that the data be documented by showing a negative test result.

2. Employees (and those employed under civil law contracts) will be able to test for SARS-CoV-2 free of charge. The tests will be financed from public funds. This solution will provide a universal possibility to test employees.

3. If an employee provides information to the employer that he/she has recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection or has a COVID-19 vaccination, he/she will be exempt from the obligation to provide information about having a negative test result. The employer will be able to request that the data be documented by showing a medical certificate of having had the illness or a certificate of vaccination.
In practice, verification will be done through a provided application scanning the so-called covid passport.

4.The employer will be permitted to retain relevant data for the period necessary to fulfill the purpose of the regulation (i.e. as long as is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace), but no longer than the expiration of the state of epidemic threat or state of epidemic.

5. If an employee refuses to provide information, the employer will treat such employee as not having a negative test result/convalescent status/COVID-19 vaccination.

6. In the case of an employee who has provided information about having no test (no convalescent status/no vaccination) or has refused to provide the information, the employer will be able to:

• make a change in the workplace or other place designated for performance of work, including the manner in which employees perform their work;
• make changes to the employees’ work time systems or schedules;
• instruct the employee to perform work outside the workplace specified in the contract, within the same locality, or assign the employee to another type of work for remuneration corresponding to the type of work, not lower than the previous one.

7. The employer’s actions will not constitute a violation of equal opportunity in employment.