The Government has announced a number of measures to help parents whose children are at home during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Teleworking is a key element of the Government’s coronavirus strategy.

Parents of a child under the age of 16 – or 18 in the case of a disability – affiliated to the Social Services Compensation Fund or the State Medical Service must first assess with their employer the possibility of implementing remote working. If the employer says ‘no’ the refusal must be well-reasoned.

If they cannot work at a distance, the parents concerned can benefit from paid sick leave, provided that the other parent is not placed in a position of temporary total unemployment. Only one of the two parents can benefit from this arrangement, although this can be split and divided between the parents.

Employers are asked to continue to pay wages. Other insured persons in the Principality must approach their Monegasque health insurance body to consider the applicable arrangements. If remote work can be set up, the specific “Remote work” procedure dated March 12, 2020 applies, see: https://www.gouv.mc/ and
https://service-public-entreprises.gouv.mc/Emploi-et-social/Reglementation-du- travail/COVID19-Travail-à-distance/COVID19-Procedure-de-travail-à-distance. Both these pages are in French only.

If remote work cannot be set up, the employer must declare the work stoppage and home maintenance of his employee using the appropriate form, directly with the CCSS or the SPME as appropriate compensation is made on the basis of this declaration.

The daily payments by the CCSS or the SPME will be made under the following conditions:Only parents of children under the age of 16 on the day of the start of the cessation of school are affected by the scheme. The age limit is set for children under the age of 18 for parents of children with disabilities who are cared for in a specialised establishment, the closure of which would occur. The parent must be affiliated with a Monegasque social security organisation.

Only one parent (or holder of parental authority) may be issued a work stoppage. In this regard, the employee must provide his employer with a sworn statement certifying that he is the only one to request a work stoppage in this context. The work stoppage can be shared between the parents. It is possible to split it by filling in a request for each of the stop periods. The company must not be in a position to put the employee concerned into teleworking during this period: work stoppage must be the only possible solution.

The declaration made by the employer does not trigger automatic compensation for the employees concerned. This is done after verification by the CCSS/SPME and the Labor Directorate of the information filed.