Last year brought several significant legislative changes in the field of occupational accidents and diseases. The essential novelty is the acquisition of effectiveness Government Regulation No. 276/2015 Coll., on compensation for pain and difficulty in social application caused by a work accident or occupational disease, which finally "germinated" a rather problematic period when it was not entirely clear what procedure to choose when calculating compensation for work accidents.
Before the entry into force of the new Civil Code (i.e. until 31 December 12), non-pecuniary damage to employees was compensated using Decree No. 2013/440 Coll., on compensation for pain and difficulty in social application. Each occupational disease or work accident was evaluated with a certain number of points (the value of one point was CZK 2001). However, with the adoption of the new Civil Code, this decree was canceled on 120 January 1 without any replacement. The new Civil Code defined the general rule for determining the amount of non-pecuniary damage, specifically in § 1, where it was established that in the event of bodily injury, the harmed person must compensate the damage with monetary compensation that fully compensates for all non-pecuniary damage suffered by the injured party, and if it is not possible to determine the amount of compensation, the principle of decency should be used. However, the Labor Code still referred to a by-law that was not issued (did not exist). There was thus a period of "uncertainty", when a part of the professional public was inclined to the opinion that it is not possible to proceed according to the repealed decree, even if the Labor Code refers to it (and therefore the only way is to proceed according to the Civil Code). The second part was of the opinion that he should continue to be compensated under this decree. This solution was, of course, simpler, because the repealed decree contained, in contrast to the Civil Code, precise instructions on how to determine the amount of compensation for non-pecuniary damage to an employee. We were not inclined to this opinion, because it is not possible to proceed according to the repealed legal regulation.
The starting point for this situation was the adoption of Government Regulation No. 276/2015 Coll., effective from 26/10/2015, which once again returns to the proven point assessment when determining compensation for pain and difficulty in social application in the event of work-related accidents and occupational diseases. Compared to the canceled decree, the value of one point is increased to 250 CZK and the point evaluation of most occupational injuries and illnesses also increases. The regulation contains a list of them, and if an occupational injury or disease is not included in the list, it is determined according to the health damage listed in the list, which is the most comparable.
Terminology has been unified with the new Civil Code. The Labor Code continues to regulate compensation property damage or damage a non-property damages in case of damage to health and death of an employee as a result of a work accident or occupational disease. The employer's responsibility is in this case objective, that is, regardless of his fault. The employer does not have to violate any obligation related to safety and health protection at work, but will nevertheless be responsible for the damage or non-property damage caused, if this liability will not acquit.
He can only be acquitted if it is proven that the damage or injury was caused by the employee's culpable violation of the obligations in the field of health and safety, or by the fact that the employee acted recklessly in relation to his qualifications and experience, or by the fact that the employee was drunk or abused addictive substances (and the employer could not prevent the occurrence of damage or injury).
Interestingly, if the cause of the damage frivolity employee (without violating the obligations in the field of health and safety), the employer must by law pay at least a third of the property damage or injury.
The new government regulation definitively resolved the issue of whether or not to compensate occupational accidents and diseases according to the new Civil Code. Therefore, a certain duality will continue to apply, when labor relations and other civil relations have different rules for compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
The same (double track) applies in the case lump-sum compensation for survivors after a death due to an accident. The new Civil Code contains the obligation of the responsible person to make good the damage to the survivors, without setting a lump sum or any financial limit. It all depends on the court in a particular case. However, if death occurs as a result of a work-related accident or occupational disease, a flat-rate amount of CZK 240 is set for the surviving spouse, registered partner (this is also new - in the range of eligible persons) and a dependent child. The parents of the deceased employee will receive the same amount if they shared a common household with him (if both, they will share this amount). In contrast to the Civil Code, the circle of survivors is thus limited (e.g. siblings or other heirs are missing) and the amount is also capped. According to the Civil Code, survivors can receive significantly higher amounts.
Another innovation that last year brought in the field of occupational accidents and diseases concerns the registration and reporting of occupational accidents. The changes, which are effective from January 2015, are related to the adoption of an amendment to Government Regulation No. 201/2010 Coll., on the method of registering injuries, reporting and sending injury records, and now, for example, it is necessary to accurately describe the type of injury in the accident records and injury to body parts with the relevant code, a description of the accident must be provided. If the employer violates the obligations related to the registration and reporting of occupational accidents, he faces significant fines.
There were, of course, more changes in the field of compensation for work accidents and occupational diseases. If you would be interested in the details of all the news in this area, or if you needed a consultation regarding a specific problem, please contact us.
From case law:
The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic also dealt with the issue of occupational accidents last year. E.g. in its decision of 6/8/2015 issued under sp. No. 21 Cdo 5306/2014 considered a case where an employee, after a full-day continuous performance of work duties on a business trip, decided not to start the return journey immediately after completing them, but instead took advantage of the opportunity to spend the night with relatives. On his return the next day in the morning, he was injured in a traffic accident. A dispute arose between the employee and the employer as to whether the injury was a work-related injury or not. The Supreme Court took the position that it was a work-related accident, as the work trip continued, even if the employee did not have the employer's express consent to spend the night with relatives (de facto, he did not have consent to interrupt the work trip). On the contrary, if he decided to continue driving back immediately after completing work tasks and suffered an injury as a result of fatigue, he would have violated his duty in the field of health and safety and the employee himself would be responsible for the damage. In addition, the employer did not explicitly prohibit this form of rest. The employee left in the early hours of the morning, so it is evident here that he did not use the rest for a social visit, and the employer is responsible for the injury that the employee suffered on the way back as part of a traffic accident, as it is an act directly related to the performance of work tasks.
