Government ministers in the Czech Republic are discussing a bill that would exempt smaller companies that were heavily impacted by the pandemic from three months of social insurance payments. Social Affairs Minister Jana Maláčová said that a formal proposal on the bill to be discussed next Monday could be approved the same day. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said that firms that kept more than 90 percent of their employees after February 2020 would be eligible and that the only question now was whether to include companies up to 25 employees, or up to 50 employees. Larger companies are being offered a deferral of social insurance payments until October, which in practice means they will be charged only a nominal penalty for paying late.
