Background information

The government wants to mitigate the negative effects of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis on jobseekers. The Government Regulation no.103/2021 Coll. on the further extension of the unemployment benefit period during the state of emergency declared in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic follows on from Act no.66/2020 Coll. and Government Regulation no.101/2020, 137/2020 and 186/2020, according to which this benefit was applied until 31 August 2020 (see Case SK-2020-14/292 "Extension of the support period for unemployment benefit" in the COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch database).

Content of measure

The measure replaces the previous measure SK-2020-14/292 . According to the Government regulation no. 103/2021 Coll, the unemployment benefit support period is extended in principle by two months beyond the current legal status for persons whose unemployment benefit support period ended in the period from August 2020 to March 2021, the benefit period is extended by two months. The support period of insured persons whose unemployment benefit period ends in April 2021, it will be extended by an average of 1.5 months and for insured persons, whose original support period ends in May 2021, it will be extended by an average of half a month, as the end support period is proposed for 31 May 2021.

Use of measure

The government assumes that, compared with the current legal regulation, approximately 152,600 more unemployment benefits will be paid in 2021 as a result of new regulation (at average about €450 per month). In March 2021, the increased number of paid benefits is estimated at around 61,600 and in May 2021 at approximately 24,900 benefits. According to the assumptions, in 2021, increased expenditures on unemployment benefits are expected at approximately €68.7 million. The Social Insurance Agency (SP) assisted policyholders during the repeatedly extended period of receiving unemployment benefits. In total, from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, SP paid 91,436 unemployment benefits to policyholders for more than €32 million. (Source: Social Insurance Agency, 21.4.2021).

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Unemployed	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Public employment service Social insurance	National funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Social partners were not involved in preparation of the measure via usual tripartite consultations and neither in the cross-sector commenting procedure.

Views and reactions

Social partners were not involved during the designing and implementation of this measure.

Sources

• 19 March 2021: Nariadenie vlády č. 103/2021 Z.z (www.slov-lex.sk)
• 07 July 2021: Sociálna poisťovňa: Rok koronakrízy (www.socpoist.sk)