8 Most Common Mistakes When Applying for Kurzarbeit

Employers encounter a misunderstanding of some guidelines when filling out wage claims, and therefore often make significant mistakes.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs states that up to two-thirds of applications do not contain correct information or are incomplete. Labour offices then return such requests for correction, and the whole process of claiming wages is delayed.

Jiřina Maxová, payroll accountant of the accountancy and tax office of Connect Economic Group s.r.o. has summarized instructions on what to look out for and how to prevent the 8 most common mistakes.

So what should you avoid to have your application for a wage allowance approved without undue delay?

1. Be careful to fill in all the required information!

The Labour Office of the Czech Republic cannot then unambiguously identify which specific subject it is.

Check that you have filled in the correct ID number of the applicant – sometimes the ID number can be filled in automatically after filling in the applicant’s name. If it is filled in incorrectly, the applicant cannot be awarded a contribution!

Also, don’t forget to fill in the bank account number where you want to send the contribution.

2. Don’t forget to enclose proof of opening a bank account

Submission of proof of account opening is a mandatory part of all applications. This ensures that the money is paid into an account that is demonstrably the account of the recipient of the contribution.

3. Do not rename documents that have already been generated.

Each generated document name is unique and is associated in the system with a specific applicant for automatic identification.

4. Send requests only with your data box, or the data box of a person who is authorized to conclude an agreement with the Labour Office of the Czech Republic.

If you have made a mistake here and sent the request to someone else’s data box and this person has not been authorized, you must also document the authority of this sender to conclude an agreement with the Labour Office of the Czech Republic (or other actions, such as submitting a bill). Otherwise, you must send the request, agreement and statement directly to your data box, because you are an applicant for a contribution to the compensation of your employees’ salaries.

5. Send all documents together (application, agreement, proof of account, or power of attorney)

The documents are interlinked and if one of them is missing, the application cannot be approved. The capacity of the mailbox environment is set to handle sending all files in a single data message.

6. Send only the final version of the application, not your working version (pending application)

In contrast to the working version, the final version of the application is provided with identification marks and, in the case of measures, by electronic signature or sending via a data box, it is considered to be the original.

7. Do not forget the power of attorney

If you have authorized another person to enter into an agreement and administration so that it can be clearly demonstrated that the person listed in the applicant’s contacts is authorized to act on the application and to communicate with the Labour Office.

8. If you send the application by email, do not forget the electronic signature!

If the documents, ie the application, the agreement, the document on the establishment of the account and possibly the power of attorney, are sent to the Labour Office of the Czech Republic by e-mail, the application and the agreement must always be provided with an electronic signature! Alternatively, at least the message sent must be signed with an electronic signature.