Forums For Adjudicating Employment Disputes
There are no special judicial bodies settling employment disputes – such disputes are simply settled by specialised judges in the civil courts.
The Main Sources Of Employment Law
The Czech Republic is a civil law country; the main source of employment law is thus legislation. Employment relationships and the obligations of the parties are governed and regulated mainly by the Labour Code, Civil Code, Employment Act, various governmental regulations, and Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) where applicable.
National Law And Employees Working For Foreign Companies
The mandatory rules under national public law apply to all individuals physically working in the Czech Republic, regardless of their nationality and, where applicable, regardless of the law governing their employment contract. The law applicable to the employment relationship with a foreign aspect is determined according to the rules of international private law.
National Law And Employees Of National Companies Working In Another Jurisdiction
Should there be an employee employed in another jurisdiction by a company which is registered in the Czech Republic, the employment agreement shall generally be governed by the place where the agreement is concluded. The parties have contractual freedom and are entitled to have the agreement governed by the law agreed to under the rules of international private law. However, the rights of the employees shall never be lesser than those that they would enjoy in the country where the work is performed.
In the case of an employment relationship with a foreign aspect (i.e. in the event that the employer´s and the employee´s nationality is different), the law applied would be determined based on the rules of international private law. Under the Regulation of the European Parliament and Council EC no. 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I), an individual employment contract is governed by the law chosen by the parties. Such a choice of jurisdiction may not, however, have the result of depriving an employee of the protection afforded to him by provisions that cannot be derogated from him/her by agreement under the law that would have been applicable in the absence of the choice. In the absence of any choice of law, a contract shall be governed:
- by the law of the country in which or, failing that, from which the employee habitually carries out his/her work in performance of the contract; and
- by the law of the country where the place of business through which the employee was engaged is situated.
Where it appears from the circumstances as a whole that the contract is more closely connected with a country other than that indicated above, the law of that other country shall apply.
Data privacy
The Labour Code stipulates that the employer may not require from an employee information that does not directly relate to performance of work and to basic labour relationship. The employer may not require in particular the information on: i) pregnancy; ii) family and property situation; iii) sexual orientation; iv) origin; v) trade union organisation membership; vi) membership of political parties or movements; vii) religion or confession; and viii) unimpeachability (clean criminal record).
Furthermore, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) also applies directly to employment relationships as the employer is a controller for the purposes of this Regulation in the context of the protection of the employee's personal data. Beyond that, the issue of personal data protection in the Czech Republic is regulated by Act on the Processing of Personal Data.
The employer as the controller is responsible for compliance of personal data processing with the principles of personal data processing and the employer is thus obliged not only to comply with the principles of personal data protection but must also be able to demonstrate this compliance in reality.
An example of personal data that the employer processes about the employee which must comply with the rules of their processing are, in particular, identification data, contact data, operational data, location data or even sensitive data of the employee, which are, for example, health data of an employee.
Legal Requirements As To The Form Of Agreement
The law requires written form of the employment contract and agreements for work performed outside the employment relationship.
Mandatory Requirements
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Trial Period
In the employment contract, the type of work, place(s) of work and commencement date must be specified. Other rights and obligations may be included in the employment contract upon agreement between the employer and the employee.
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Hours Of Work
There is no legal obligation to arrange for a trial period. In the event that one (1) is agreed to by the parties, the trial period needs to be agreed in writing prior to the commencement of the employment relationship (the date on which the employee starts working) and cannot exceed three (3) consecutive months or in the case of a managerial (senior) employee six (6) consecutive months after the day the employment relationship is established. A trial period cannot be agreed after the date of commencement of employment.
Normal weekly working hours may not exceed 40 hours. The working hours of employees working on a (multi) shift rota or underground should be under the law shorter. The employer schedules the working hours and determines the start and end of shifts. The employer schedules the working hours and determines the start and end of shifts. The working hours of employees under the age of 18 years (minor employees) may not exceed eight (8) hours per day.
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Special Rules For Part-time Work
Part-time work (i.e. below the scope mentioned above) may only be agreed between the employer and the employee upon mutual agreement. In regard to certain categories of employees (e.g. female employees who are pregnant or taking care of a child, or employees taking long-term care of a person dependent on their assistance), if such an employee requests to only work part-time or any other appropriate adjustment to the weekly working time or shorter working time, the employer is obliged to comply with such request unless this is prevented by serious operational reasons. Should the employer refuse the request, the employer must provide the employee with written justification. The part-time employee is entitled to be paid a wage or salary according to the scope of the agreed part-time work.
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Earnings
The legislation provides for a minimum salary (minimum remuneration for work). However, the legislation also provides for so called guaranteed salary, which is salary that varies with different positions and should be calculated with respect to the complexity of the work, responsibilities etc. If the agreed pay is lower than the minimum salary (or guaranteed salary), the employee is entitled to claim the difference between the minimum (guaranteed) salary and the agreed salary from the employer. Generally, the minimum salary and guaranteed salary is set annually by statutory order.
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Holidays/Rest Periods
The standard length of paid holiday is at least four (4) weeks per year. Some categories of employees are entitled to a longer guaranteed period of paid holiday (e.g. academic employees of universities).
After a maximum of six (6) hours of continuous work, employees are entitled to a rest period. Minor employees are entitled to a rest period after four and half hours of continuous work. Work breaks are generally not included into the working hours.
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Minimum/Maximum Age
Employment of individuals under the age of 15 and individuals with unfinished compulsory school attendance is (with several exceptions) prohibited. There is generally no legal limit providing for the maximum age of employees. Czech legislation also provides exceptions in relation to the minimum age of employers. With a court approval, an individual younger than 18 years old may run his own business inclusive of all relating actions, such as employing his own employees.
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Illness/Disability
Disabled employees are entitled to special protection. Moreover, the employer is obliged to ensure certain special working conditions for these employees. The employer is obliged to excuse the employee's absence from work during the period when the employee is declared temporarily unable to work.
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Location Of Work/Mobility
The place of work must be specified in the employment contract. The employer may send an employee on a business trip only with his/her consent. When employees perform their work outside their standard place of work, they are entitled to the reimbursement of their travel expenses.
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Pension Plans
The employer makes social security contributions from the employee's wages, including pension contributions. Employers are not obliged to contribute to the pension system; however, employers may decide to contribute to the individual pension schemes of their employees. The contributions can then be deducted from their tax base.
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Parental Rights (Pregnancy/ Maternity/ Paternity/ Adoption)
A female employee is entitled to maternity leave of 28 weeks which can commence as soon as eight (8) weeks prior to the child’s birth. If the employee gives birth to two or more children, she is entitled to maternity leave of 37 weeks.
Maternity leave may not be shorter than 14 weeks and cannot be finished or interrupted during the six (6) weeks following the birth. Both female and male employees taking care of a child under the age of three (3) years are entitled, upon their written request, to parental leave for as long as the employee needs it. The request shall be made by the employee at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the parental leave, unless serious reasons on his/her part prevent it. Furthermore, fathers are entitled to 2 weeks of paternity leave if the legal conditions are met.
An employee being pregnant and/or taking maternity, parental or paternity leave may in some cases protect the employee from termination of employment.
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Compulsory Terms
As stated above, in the employment contract, the type of work, place(s) of work and commencement date must be specified. Further, the employment contract usually contain information regarding the employee’s rights and obligations. The contract may be concluded without this information; however, in that case the employer is obliged to provide the information in writing to the employee within seven (7) days after the employment relationship is established. This information should contain among others, specification of the type and location of work, the amount of paid holiday and the method of determining the length of paid holiday, the duration and conditions of the trial period, if agreed, the procedure to be followed by the employer and the employee when terminating the employment relationship, the duration and length of the notice period, professional development, if the employer provides it, the collective agreements governing the employee's terms and conditions of employment, and the identification of the parties to those collective agreements and the social security body to which the employer pays social security contributions in connection with the employee's employment relationship.
The employer is obliged to inform the employee also in other cases. In the event that the employee is to be sent to work abroad, the employer is obliged to inform him/her of the country in which the work is to be performed, the expected duration of the posting, the currency in which the wages or salary will be paid, the monetary or material benefits provided by the employer in connection with the performance of the work, and whether and under what conditions the employee's return is assured.
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Non-Compulsory Terms
Czech Labour Law is governed by the principles of contractual freedom; therefore, in the employment agreement the parties may stipulate any additional terms and conditions. Nullity of legal acts and provisions of the contract cannot be detrimental to the employee provided that the said nullity was not caused exclusively by him/her.
Types Of Agreement
A employment relationship may be established either by a standard employment contract (establishing the employment relationship) or by agreements for work performed outside the employment relationship (such as Agreement on Work Performance or Agreement on Working Activity), the latter providing for fewer working hours and different formalities and conditions.
Secrecy/Confidentiality
a. Generally, the law does not impose an obligation of confidentiality on employees except for a specific group of employees working for public authorities. Members of trade union organisations, work councils or representatives concerned with occupational health and safety protection are entitled to require certain information from the employer. These employees are obliged to keep such information confidential. In addition, certain state employees are obliged not to reveal secret and/or confidential information.
Without the employer’s consent, no production equipment and/or other devices used at work, including computers and telecommunication devices, may be used by the employees. The employer shall be entitled to control compliance with the prohibition under the preceding sentence in a reasonable manner.
Unless there are good reasons connected to the special nature of the employer’s activities, the employees’ privacy in the workplace and common premises must not be encroached upon by open or hidden surveillance cameras (monitoring), interception and recording of telephone calls, checking emails or post addressed to the employees. If the employer has a good reason based on the specific nature of the employer's activities that justifies the introduction of control mechanisms, the employer shall directly inform the employee of the scope of the control and how it is to be carried out.
Regardless of the type of workers, a special statutory protection of trade secret applies; employees are under an obligation not to reveal certain confidential information if this is set out in their contract.
Ownership of Inventions/Other Intellectual Property (IP) Rights
Under the Copyright Act, the intellectual property rights to all inventions created by the employees in the course of their work performance for the employer are owned by the employer unless agreed otherwise. The employee has certain moral rights (e.g. a right to claim authorship) over the invention, but the property rights to such inventions or other subject matters protected by intellectual or industrial property rights are exercised by the employer unless agreed otherwise.
Pre-Employment Considerations
The selection of individuals with regard to their qualifications, skills etc. is within the employer's competence (unless otherwise provided by law). Before the commencement of an employment relationship, the employer may require from the individuals seeking employment only information (data) related to the conclusion of the employment contract in question. Before an employment contract is concluded, the employer shall acquaint the individual with rights and obligations which would arise from the contract as well as with the working conditions and the remuneration conditions under which the work would be performed. The individual must also be informed of other obligations arising from statutory provisions and relating to the subject-matter of the contract.
In cases provided for by special legislation, the employer is obliged to ensure that a natural person undergoes an initial medical examination before entering into an employment relationship.
Hiring Non-Nationals
EEA and Swiss nationals and their family members are automatically entitled to work in the Czech Republic under the same conditions as Czech nationals (subject to certain exceptions).
Non-EEA nationals are entitled to the same employment rights as nationals/EEA and Swiss nationals only if they hold a residence and working permit for the Czech Republic or an employee card. Non-EEA nationals may only be taken on for those vacancies registered with the Labour Office which have been offered to Czech nationals as open positions and cannot be filled. The employer needs to notify the Labour Office in advance and discuss with the Labour Office the intention to employ those foreigners.
Highly qualified non-EEA nationals may apply for a so-called “blue card”, which allows them to seek employment in the Czech Republic more easily. Also, non-EEA nationals who dispose of a “blue card” or working permission can be sent on a business trip under the same conditions as the Nationals and EEA nationals.
In some cases, no residence and working permit, blue card or employee card is needed (e.g. for non-EEA nationals who have permanent residency in the Czech Republic, those who are studying in the Czech Republic etc.).
Hiring Specified Categories Of Individuals
Employers with over 25 employees are required either to employ disabled persons (constituting at least 4 % of their workforce) or purchase special products produced by other employers who employ more than 50 % of the disabled or pay a special charge or combine the previously mentioned methods.
Outsourcing And/Or Sub-Contracting/Temporary Agency Work
The law imposes certain mandatory requirements for contracts concluded between an employment agency and a user company as well as for the temporary assignment of employees.
The employment agency and the user company must ensure that the working conditions and the remuneration of the temporarily assigned employees are not worse than the conditions of the user’s employees performing the same and/or similar work.
In addition to the case of an employment agency, an employer may also assign its employees to another employer. The agreement on temporary assignment may be concluded between an employer and an employee six (6) months after the commencement of the employment at the earliest. Remuneration for temporary assignment is forbidden.