A draft amendment to the Czech Labour Code, to transpose European legislation into the Czech legal system, is currently being considered by Czech ministries. As the amendment introduces significant changes that will affect almost all employers, allow us to present you with a brief summary of at least the most important ones.
Remote work
A welcome revision is the fact that the amendment brings about the long-awaited explicit regulation of remote work. Remote work will be possible once the employer and the employee enter into a written agreement, for which the amendment sets forth certain requirements. Existing written agreements between employers and employees on the terms and conditions of remote work will also have to be supplemented with these requirements within 3 months of the date the amendment comes into force. The introduction of compulsory agreements on remote work should unify the currently highly fragmented practice, where only a small number of employers have been using these agreements, while the remainder dealt with remote work via their internal regulations and some did not lay down rules for remote work in writing at all. Under certain conditions, the employee may request remote working from their employer and the employer may unilaterally order the employee to work remotely. Above all, however, the amendment finally introduces clear rules for the reimbursement of costs associated with remote work, which has been the most pressing issue when implementing remote work. A flat rate for the reimbursement of utilities expended is introduced; its value is to be set by law and periodically adjusted by subsequent legislation depending on the increase in given indicators (i.e. the aggregate prices of the commodities and services concerned). Other, incidental, costs are not to be included in the flat rate. Their reimbursement will thus depend on the employee’s ability to prove their existence and amount.
Agreements on work performed outside of employment (“AWPOE”)
Employers should be prepared for stricter rules when employing persons by way of an AWPOE (in Czech “dohoda o provedení práce” and “dohoda o pracovní činnosti”). The amendment will impose a new obligation on the employer to schedule working hours for an employee working under an AWPOE. These employees are now also to be entitled to annual leave, additional pay for working on public holidays, at night, in difficult working environments and on weekends, as well as given rights related to obstacles at work. In addition, in certain circumstances, these employees may ask their employer employ them in a traditional employment relationship or ask to be provided with a reason for the termination of their AWPOE.
Information on the terms of employment
The employer’s duty to provide information to the employee will be extended. For example, the employer will be obligated to inform the employee about the procedure for the termination of employment or to inform them about the furtherance of their professional development. Employers will also be obligated to notify existing employees of the above information within one month of the amendment coming into force.
Electronic communication
The amendment introduces significant changes to the area of service of employment-related documents, which should lead to a substantial simplification of electronic communication between the employer and the employee. A most welcome change is the abolition of the requirement to deliver documents relating to the creation of employment and amendments thereto, as well as agreements on termination of employment or an AWPOE, to the addressee’s own hands – these documents can now be drawn up electronically and then merely sent to the employee’s personal email address. In addition, the requirement to sign documents with a recognised electronic signature is to be abolished, allowing for a simple electronic signature to suffice (i.e. a scanned copy of a signed document will be sufficient). The proposed legislative changes may facilitate employment law-related issues a great deal. For other documents, such as unilateral acts relating to the termination of employment or an AWPOE, recall or resignation of a manager, wage or salary statements or a record of a breach of the temporary incapacity for work regime of an insured person, the stricter service regime will unfortunately remain in place and such documents will still have to be de-livered to the addressee’s own hands. However, under the amendment, the fiction of service, previously only applied to electronic data boxes, will now also apply to any other form of electronic communication. The fiction of service will take effect 10 days after the “delivery” of such documents, for example, to the addressee’s email address.
Other
The amendment also introduces changes in other areas, such as parental leave or the posting of employees to other EU countries in the context of the transnational provision of services.
Entry into force
The amendment is to enter into force on the first day of the calendar month following its promulgation – for the time being, it is estimated that this could happen in the first half of 2023.
We will keep you informed of further developments in the legislative process.
By Alena Cechticka, Senior Associate, and Stepan Gresak, Legal Advisor, Noerr