Background information

The government announced the state of emergency in the healthcare sector. The main reason was to enable to transfer employees, material and medical devises between hospitals, if needed and to assure the presence at work of healthcare employees.

This would not be possible without the announcement of the state of emergency. The state of emergency is regulated by the Act No. 227/2002 Coll. on state security in times of war, state of war and state of emergency. According to the Act, the state of emergency can be announced for a limited period of time, maximum of 90 days. Some of the fundamental rights and freedoms can be limited, as well.

Based on the Government Resolution No. 366 from 10 June 2020 the state of emergency ended on 13 June 2020 midnight.  

Content of measure

At first, the state of emergency was announced for the state hospitals. On 18 March 2020, it was extended to other institutions (rescue services, public health offices, funeral services). On 28 March 2020 it was also extended to the social service facilities providing healthcare. In order to protect older people as a high risk group, some social services facilities providing non-residential care had to close.

For the healthcare employees the state of emergency means that they are not allowed to assert some of their rights, for instance, to assert the right to strike. They are also not allowed to refuse to come to work.

Use of measure

There are no data available yet on transferred employees, material and medical devices. According to the latest Labour Force Survey data, there were 195,000 employees employed in healthcare and social services in Slovakia in 4rd quarter 2019.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Information on involvement of social partners is not available.

Views and reactions

No information available.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 02 January 2016: Act No. 227/2002 Coll. on state security in times of war, state of war and state of emergency (Zákon č. 227/2002 Z. z. o bezpečnosti štátu v čase vojny, vojnového stavu, výnimočného stavu a núdzového stavu (www.slov-lex.sk)
• 15 March 2020: Pellegrini announced emergency status for state hospitals. What does it mean? (Pellegrini vyhlásil núdzový stav pre nemocnice. Čo znamená toto nariadenie?) (slovensko.hnonline.sk)
• 18 March 2020: Government agreed on extension of emergency status on other subjects in healthcare (Vláda schválila rozšírenie núdzového stavu na ďalšie subjekty v zdravotníctve) (www.dnes24.sk)
• 24 March 2020: Regulation of the Public Health Authority (Opatrenie Úradu verejného zdravotníctva Slovenskej republiky pri ohrození verejného zdravia) (www.uvzsr.sk)
• 28 March 2020: Social Services. Emergency Status. (Sociálne služby. Núdzový stav) (www.employment.gov.sk)
• 09 April 2020: Adopted measures (Prijaté opatrenia) (www.korona.gov.sk)
• 20 April 2020: Labour Force Sample Survey results (Výsledky výberového zisťovania pracovných síl v SR) in the Slovak Republic for the 4th quarter 2019 (Výsledky výberového zisťovania pracovných síl v SR za 4. štvrťrok 2019)
• 10 June 2020: Government resolution No. 366/2020 (Uznesenie vlády SR č. 366/2020) (rokovania.gov.sk)