Employee Rights in the Czech Republic

The Labour Code requires employers to provide employees with a written employment contract in order for the employment to be valid. Employment contracts can be in any language and must be agreed upon before the commencement of work. Employers should give a copy to the employee and keep a copy for themselves.
Employment contracts must cover the following details:

• type of work
• place or places of work
• start date

It’s not mandatory to include the employee’s remuneration in the contract (although the amount must be agreed on before the beginning of work). If not included, there has to be a separate agreement stating the monthly gross income in Czech Koruna.

If the employment contract does not contain the legally stipulated information on the rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship, the employer is obliged to inform the employee about them in writing, no later than 7 calenar days from the date of the employment relationship.

• employee’s full name
• company’s full legal name and address
• job title
• place of work
• annual leave
• notice period
• weekly working hours and their distribution (schedule)
• wage or salary details and the remuneration method, including the maturity of wage or salary, paydays, and the place and method of wage or salary payment
• collective agreements regulating the employee’s working conditions, if applicable
• business trips
• benefits
• probationary, if applicable
• personal data processing clause and consent

On the commencement of employment, the employee must be acquainted with the statutory provisions and other rules concerning the safeguarding of occupational safety and health, which he/she must observe during performance of work. The employee must also be acquainted with the collective agreement and internal regulations.
The consent may be required only exceptionally, such as in the case when the employer wishes to process personal data that isn’t necessary to process in order to fulfil legal or contractual obligations. The conditions for termination, the employer’s obligation to assign work to the employee and ensure health and safety at work are all implied terms in every employment contract, which don’t need to be spelled out to be binding.

Terms and conditions of an employment contract may be amended in writing only and by mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. Companies that don’t provide employees with an employment contract in writing may be subject to a fine of up to CZK 10,000,000 by the Czech labour inspection authorities.

Employees are entitled to receive an itemised pay slip by the end of the following month after the work was carried out, stating their pay rate, grade, and pay date. Pay slips must also break down any deductions from the employee’s pay. The pay slip can be delivered in a digital or physical form, and wages must be rounded up.In the absence of an agreement, wages must be paid at the workplace during working hours.

All employees have the right to be treated equally at work with respect to the working conditions, regardless of gender, disability, or any other grounds for discrimination. Employers should give the same benefits, training, and promotion opportunities to all employees and pay the same for work of the same value and conditions.

Employees with a disability have a right to reasonable accommodation of their workplace. Employers have the obligation to secure, at their own expense and by means of technical and organisational measures, the necessary adjustment of the working conditions, adjustment of workplaces, establishment of sheltered working sites, training or instruction of such employees and increase in their qualifications in the performance of their regular employment.

Employers have the duty to care for the employees’ health and safety at work, regardless of whether the employee works in office or from home. Companies have the following duties to comply with:

• instruct and train employees on health and safety rules.
• perform regular internal health and safety inspections.
• provide employees with ergonomic workstations.
• insure employees under the employer liability insurance.
• draw up and implement a risk prevention policy detailing ways that employees can identify, evaluate, and minimize the risks, especially in a home office environment.

Belgian law protects employees against discrimination throughout the employment relationship, including recruitment, working conditions, pay, promotion, and termination. Discrimination is prohibited on grounds such as age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, civil status, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, health condition, religion or belief, political opinion, trade union membership, language, and social origin.

If an employee presents facts suggesting discrimination, the burden shifts to the employer to demonstrate that no unlawful discrimination occurred. Breaches may result in financial penalties and compensation claims.

Belgium has implemented the EU Whistleblower Directive, providing legal protection to individuals who report breaches of EU or national law. Companies with 50 or more employees are required to establish internal reporting channels.

Employees who report concerns in good faith are protected against retaliation, including dismissal, demotion, suspension, or other adverse treatment. Employers must ensure confidentiality and cannot penalise employees for lawful reporting.

Under Czech law, when an employer transfers its activities or part of its business to another employer, employees assigned to the transferred activity automatically transfer to the new employer. All rights and obligations arising from existing employment relationships continue without interruption.

The transfer itself cannot be a reason for dismissal. However, dismissals may still occur for legitimate legal reasons unrelated to the transfer, such as organisational restructuring.

The new employer assumes all employment terms and conditions, including salary, length of service, and accrued rights. Employees are not required to sign new employment contracts as a result of the transfer.

Both the transferring and receiving employers must inform and consult employees or employee representatives in advance about the transfer, including its reasons and expected legal, economic, and social consequences.

If the transfer results in a substantial deterioration of working conditions, employees may terminate their employment and seek statutory severance compensation.

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules apply in the Czech Republic, granting the right to privacy and the right to determine who is to receive personal data.

The employer may process personal data for:

• the purposes of the employment relationship if it is necessary for the decision on whether to establish an employment relationship,
• the performance or termination of the employment relationship or
• compliance with information duties regarding employee representatives under statutory law, a collective bargaining agreement, or a works agreement. Any further use of personal data requires the employee’s direct consent.

Employers controlling data have the duty to keep records of their data-processing activities, particularly with respect to personal data processed systematically and with respect to all employees’ personal data. Companies must also inform employees about the processing taking place and secure the processed data by implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures depending on the type of data processed and its extent.

Companies can transfer personal data within the members of the European Union and the European Economic Area, which adhere to the GDPR rules if they have legal reasons to do so. For data to be transferred outside these parameters, the recipient of the data must ensure an adequate level of protection.

Employers need to have a valid and recognised reason to terminate the employment of an employee. The reasons recognized by the Labour Code are as follows:

• redundancy or layoff caused by organisational changes
• company dissolution or relocation
• employee’s being medically unfit to work or unfit to work due to a work accident, occupational disease, or threat of an occupational disease
• failure to fulfil the performance requirements or achieve results
• breach of work-related obligations and misconduct
• employee’s failing the probationary period
• end of the fixed-term contract
• employee’s losing their capability to perform current work duties due to their long-term state of health
• employee’s breaching in an especially gross manner an obligation to observe the prescribed regime of an insured person being temporarily unfit for work with regard to their obligation (duty) to dwell, during their temporary incapacity for work, at the place of their stay and to observe the time and scope of permitted walks

Some employees are protected from being dismissed during certain periods of their lives, as follows:

• those temporarily unfit for work, with medical proof
• those on pregnancy and maternity leave
• those on paternity leave
• those on parental leave
• those called up for performing a military exercise
• those subjected to full release for the discharge of a public office
• those night workers recognised as temporarily unfit for night work
• those caring for a child under the age of ten or an ill member of the household