On April 9, the so-called ‘flexinovela’ of the Labour Code was approved in the Senate, and we would like to draw your attention to the latest news and important changes in the field of employment law that might be useful for you. In this longer overview, you will find not only an outline of selected themes, but also specific practical recommendations on this amendment to the Labour Code, which is expected to take effect from 1 June 2025 (after its signature by the President).
Trial period
Current regulation:
Up to 3 months for regular employees and up to 6 months for senior employees.
The trial period may not be longer than half the agreed duration of the employment relationship.
The agreed trial period may not be extended subsequently. However, the trial period shall be extended by the number of days’ absence from work during the trial period and by the number of days’ leave.
Amended regulation:
Up to 4 months can be agreed for ordinary employees and up to 8 months for managerial employees.
It remains the case that the trial period may not be longer than half the agreed duration of the employment relationship.
The trial period may be extended additionally within the above limits by written agreement between the employer and the employee.
The trial period shall be extended by the employee’s working days (i.e. the days on which the employee’s shift falls, which may be, for example, a Saturday or Sunday) on which the employee did not work (missed) the entire shift during the trial period due to an obstacle to work, taking a holiday or unexcused absence from work, while ‘counting’ the employee’s working days after the date on which the trial period was originally due to end, which then determines how long the trial period is extended.
What next?
The trial period agreed before the date of entry into force of the amendment is governed by the existing rules and cannot be extended by contract.
In the case of new employment relationships, it is possible to negotiate a longer trial period or to extend it additionally within limits. If this is your aim, consider amending your standard contractual documentation.
Notice period
Current regulation:
The notice period must be the same for both the employer and the employee and must be at least 2 months. The notice period may only be extended by a written agreement between the employer and the employee. The notice period starts on the first day of the calendar month following the delivery of the notice and ends on the last day of the calendar month concerned.
Amended regulation:
The notice period begins on the day on which the notice is served on the other party and ends on the day which coincides in number with that date; if there is no such day/date in the last month of the notice period, the end of the notice period falls on the last day of the month.
The notice period shall be at least one month in the case of notice given on the grounds of the employee’s breach of their duties or failure to meet the requirements for the performance of the agreed work by the employee; in the case of other grounds for notice, the period of notice shall remain at least two months.
What next?
If the termination notice was delivered before the date of entry into force of the amendment, the length of the notice period and its beginning and end are governed by the existing legislation.
Do your employment contracts contain provisions on the length of the notice period and its start (beginning)? If so, this agreement applies in priority, the notice period cannot be shortened!
For new employment contracts, employers should consider adjusting these provisions as soon as the law enters into force.
Termination on grounds of health
Current regulation:
Two different grounds for termination on grounds of health, namely on grounds of occupational injury or occupational disease or on grounds of other causes (general causes on the part of the employee – general illness) with an impact on the employer’s obligation to pay severance pay in the event of occupational injury and occupational disease.
Amended regulation:
A new uniform termination ground is introduced ‘if the employee has lost the ability to continue their work on a long-term basis due to their health condition, according to a medical opinion issued by an occupational health service provider or a decision of the competent administrative authority reviewing the medical opinion’.
In the event of termination of the employment relationship due to an occupational accident or occupational disease (both by termination and by agreement), the employee is entitled to a lump-sum compensation of 12 times the average monthly earnings. The employer is obliged to pay this compensation, but it should now be covered by the employer’s statutory insurance. The existing obligation to pay severance pay is abolished.
A new termination ground under which the employer may give notice to an employee if the employee has reached the maximum permissible exposure at a workplace determined by a decision of the competent public health authority. The employee is entitled to 12 times the severance pay in the event of this ground of termination (severance pay is not covered by statutory insurance).
What next?
It is still necessary to distinguish the cause of the employee’s incapacity for work, in order to assess the employee’s entitlement to a lump-sum compensation (however, disputes concerning the invalidity of the termination of employment due to incorrect identification of the causes of the health reasons will be eliminated).
The date when the right came into existence is the decisive factor: severance pay pursuant to Section 67(2) of the Labour Code as an employer’s expense or compensation upon termination of employment pursuant to Section 271ca of the Labour Code covered by insurance.
Termination of employment for breach of employment obligations
Current regulation:
For breach of employment obligations, the employer may give notice to the employee or immediately terminate the employment relationship only within 2 months from the date on which the employer became aware of the reason for the notice or immediate termination of employment, but always within 1 year from the date on which the reason for the notice or immediate termination of employment arose.
Amended regulation:
The subjective period is extended to 3 months (from becoming aware) and the objective period to 15 months (from the actual cause occurring).
What next?
Always check the time limits if you are considering termination for breach of duty by the employee.
If the grounds for termination or immediate termination arose before the date of entry into force of the amendment, the time limits are governed by the existing legislation.
Agreement on the scheduling of working time by the employee (so-called self-scheduling) (already from 1 January 2025)
Current regulation:
Until now, it was possible to agree on individual scheduling of work time only for those employees who worked remotely, i.e. outside the employer’s workplace.
Amended regulation:
Employers and employees may now agree that employees will schedule their own working time. This also applies now to employees who perform work at the employer’s workplace.
What next?
When making use of this institution (and after considering its appropriateness, in particular with regard to the type of work and the specific needs of the employer), it is essential to respect the principle of equal treatment, i.e. to provide equal rights to employees who are in the same or comparable position (situation). It is also important to look carefully at the content of the agreement itself (which applies equally to teleworkers, e.g. home office workers).
Work during parental leave and after its return
Current regulation:
An employee in another basic employment relationship (i.e. on a temporary employment contract and a permanent employment contract) with the same employer may not perform work that is of the same type.
If a female employee starts work after maternity leave or an employee starts work after maternity leave or parental leave within the scope of the period for which the employee is entitled to take maternity leave, the employer is obliged to place them in their original job and workplace (the so-called “the same chair”).
Amended regulation:
This restriction will now not apply to another legal relationship based on a work performance agreement or a work activity agreement concluded during the period of parental leave or part thereof.
The employer is obliged to reinstate the employee to their original job and workplace if they start work after the end of maternity leave or paternity leave and parental leave before the date on which the child reaches the age of 2.
What next?
During the period of parental leave, the employee may perform the same work for the employer as agreed in the employment contract, even on a full-time or part-time basis.
Fixed-term employment
Current regulation:
The duration of a fixed-term employment relationship between the same parties may not exceed 3 years and may not be repeated more than twice from the date of the first fixed-term employment relationship. A renewal of a fixed-term employment relationship shall also be deemed to be a repetition of the fixed-term employment relationship. If a period of 3 years has elapsed since the end of the previous fixed-term employment relationship, the previous fixed-term employment relationship between the same parties shall not be considered.
Amended regulation:
If the employee is temporarily absent during maternity, paternity and parental leave and holidays, a fixed-term employment relationship may be agreed without limitation on the number of repetitions.
What next?
Repeated extensions can also be applied to fixed-term employment relationships concluded before the date of entry into force of the amendment.
Wages
Current regulation:
On the day of commencement of work, the employer is obliged to issue the employee with a written wage slip containing information on the method of remuneration, the date and place of payment of wages (if these details are not already covered in the contract or internal regulations provided to the employee). If there is a change in the facts set out in the pay slip, the employer shall notify the employee in writing no later than the day on which the change takes effect.
Wages shall be paid during working hours and at the workplace, unless other times and places of payment have been agreed or unless otherwise provided for in the Labour Code.
Amended regulation:
The new requirement is to provide the employee with the pay slip (and changes to it) already ‘before the start of work’.
Wages are primarily paid into a bank account designated by employees and must be available to employees no later than on the employer’s regular pay date.
Situations where wages may be paid in foreign currency have been expanded.
An employer may now also deliver a wage slip to an employee by work email, but in such a case, service is only effected when the employee acknowledges receipt in writing to the employer; if the acknowledgement of receipt is not received within 15 days of the date of dispatch, the service is considered incomplete.
Employers may not restrict employees by agreement from, in effect, discussing amounts and structure of their wages, salary or remuneration with others.
What next?
It is now not sufficient to serve the employee with the wage slip/statement during the first day the employee starts work, but it must be served before the employee starts work.
Consider removing any agreements or stipulated obligations of confidentiality with respect to employees and their wages or you may be fined up to CZK 100,000.
Calculation of average earnings (description of how to calculate average gross monthly earnings when an employee’s weekly working time changes)
Current regulation:
The existing legislation did not address the procedure for changing the weekly working time during or after the reference period.
Amended regulation:
The employee’s average hourly earnings are multiplied by the employee’s weekly working time applied during the reference period and by a coefficient of 4.348. If there is a change in the weekly working time during the reference period, the weekly working time shall be calculated by dividing the sum of the products of the individual weekly working times in hours and the calendar days over which those weekly working times were worked by the total number of calendar days in the reference period; the resulting value shall be rounded up to the thousandths.
What next?
If the weekly working time changes during the reference period (e.g. in case of a monthly salary of 40 thousand CZK from full-time to one half in the 2nd and 3rd months), the employee’s weekly working time is calculated as the product of the sum of the products of the weekly working time in hours claimed and the number of calendar days for which it was claimed and the total number of calendar days in the reference period: [(40 × 31) + (20 × 61)] / 92 = 26,739 hours. The employee’s weekly working time calculated in this way is then used in the calculation of the average gross monthly earnings pursuant to Article 356(2) of the Labour Code: 238 (GVA) × 26,739 (average TPD) × 4,348 (statutory coefficient) = CZK 27 670.
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