The government plans to start the payment of three minimum monthly salaries to employees of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises as part of its economic support package designed to cushion the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The government has received applications from about 237,000 employers.
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[close]The EU Vice President responsible for democracy and demography, and the Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner joined the EU employment and social affairs ministers via video conference for an Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council meeting. EU social partners also participated in the meeting. They discussed the national measures taken or foreseen to mitigate the negative consequences of the crisis on labour markets and the economy. Everybody agreed that it was extremely important during the recovery for Member States to prioritise supporting workers and their incomes, and to reinforce social protection measures.
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[close]Many undocumented workers, migrants among them, are unable to access social assistance because of their lack of a legal work contract. These people are falling deeper into poverty as the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are felt.
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[close]A study of universal basic income has concluded that it boosts recipients’ mental and financial well-being, as well as modestly improving employment. Finland ran a two-year universal basic income study in 2017 and 2018, during which the government gave 2,000 unemployed people aged between 25 and 58 monthly payments with no strings attached. The study compared the employment and well-being of basic income recipients against a control group of 173,000 people who were on unemployment benefits.
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[close]From May 11, Lithuania is allowing entry for Polish employees, research staff and business travellers without imposing quarantine requirements. The government stated the strategic partnership with Poland has remained unimpaired by the recent restrictions connected with the coronavirus epidemic.
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[close]In the context of the crisis, the government has introduced special rules on short-time work (‘Corona-Kurzarbeit’). The intention behind the short-time work scheme is a temporary reduction of normal working hours to avoid unemployment and support workers’ wages while at the same time allowing companies to adapt working hours to a temporary drop in demand. If a company wishes to implement this scheme, it must first be discussed either with the works council or with affected employees. On 25 May, the social partners agreed to extend the ‘Corona-Kurzarbeit’ for a further three months and to change some of its provisions.
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[close]Figures released for March show that unemployment rates have risen from 5.4% to 16.5% when adjusted to take account of those who have become unemployed as a result of the crisis. The recently published government draft stability programme is predicting a peak of 22% unemployment in the second quarter of the year, before gradually reducing as containment measures are eased. The government has responded by introducing three key payment schemes: the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment, the temporary wage subsidy scheme and the short-time work support, the latter of which is available to those who continue to work but who are working reduced hours because of the crisis.
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[close]Unemployment stagnated at 2.0% in the first quarter of 2020. Both the numbers of employed and of unemployed dropped, and the number of economically inactive people increased, according to the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). Total employment in the first three months of 2020 decreased by 28,100 persons, or 0.5%, compared to the same period in the previous year.
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[close]By 26 April, companies had registered short-time work for 10.1 million people, and there were 2.1 million unemployed workers in the corona crisis. These unexpectedly high figures were announced by the Federal Employment Agency.
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[close]The unemployment rate dropped steeply to 8.4% in March, the lowest for almost nine years, data showed, as people stopped looking for work due to the coronavirus emergency. February's jobless rate was revised down to 9.3%. Some 27,000 jobs were lost in March compared with the month before, but 267,000 fewer people were looking for work than in the month before.
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