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Written Agreements

An employment relationship is established by an employment contract between an employer and an employee. Such contracts must be made in writing. A written employment agreement must contain the following information:

• The employee's full name, employer's designation and seat if the employer is a legal entity, or the employer's full name and address if the employer is a natural person
• Information on job title and place of performance of work
• Information on the duration of annual leave or the method of determining it
• Information on notice periods
• Weekly working hours and schedule
• Information on salary and the remuneration method, the maturity of wage or salary, paydays and the place and method of payment
• Information on collective agreements regulating the employee's working conditions and the designation of the contracting parties to these agreements

Oral Agreements

An employment relationship is established by an employment contract between an employer and an employee. Such contracts must be made in writing. With no provisions or guidance on oral contracts, best practice in the industry is to frequently utilize or adapt written agreements.

Implied Agreements

An employment relationship is established by an employment contract between an employer and an employee. Such contracts must be made in writing. With no provisions or guidance on implied contracts, best practice in the industry is to frequently utilize or adapt written agreements.

The standard workweek is 40 hours. The length of a shift may not exceed 12 hours. After continuous work for 6 hours at the utmost, employees are entitled to a work break for a meal and rest lasting at least 30 minutes; an adolescent employee must be given a such break after a maximum of 4.5 hours of continuous work.

Employers are required to draw up a written weekly work schedule and inform employees of the schedule or its alteration at the latest 2 weeks before the beginning of the period over which the working hours are distributed.

• Restoration of the Czech Independence Day/New Year - January 1
• Good Friday (date subject to change, Friday before Easter Sunday) - March/April
• Easter Monday (date subject to change, Monday after Easter Sunday) - March/April
• Labor Day - May 1
• Victory in Europe Day - May 8
• Cyril and Methodius Day of Slavic Witnesses - July 5
• Jan Hus Day - July 6
• St. Wenceslas Day (Czech Statehood Day) - September 28
• Independent Czechoslovak State Day - October 28
• Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day - November 17
• Christmas Eve - December 24
• Christmas Day - December 25
• 2nd Christmas (St. Stephen's Day) - December 26

The maximum probationary period cannot be longer than 3 months for regular employees and 6 months for managers. Probationary periods cannot be subsequently extended unless employees take a full day's leave of absence during the probationary period. In this case, the probationary period can be extended for employees to make up the missed time. In the case of fixed-term employment contracts, the probationary period must not be longer than half of the agreed period of the employment relationship.

Employers are not required to include the probationary period in employment agreements; however, it must be agreed to in writing, at the latest, on the day the work commences.

During probationary period, both employer and employee can terminate the employment relationship due to any reason or without stating any reason.

Notice Period

Czech Labor Code states that the minimum notice for dismissal must be at least 2 months. It is same for both employers and employees and can be extended only by written agreement. Notice period takes effect on the first day of the calendar month following service of the notice and ends on the last day of the relevant calendar month. Notice of termination with respect to an employment relationship must be in writing and state the reason for termination.

For fixed-term employment, the contract expires at the end of the agreed period. However, the employer is required to provide notice of the termination at least 3 days before the event. If the employee continues working after the agreed period, and the employer is aware of the performance of the work, the employment relationship becomes indefinite.

Severance Benefits

The Labor Code requires an employer to make redundancy severance payments if the employer either dismisses or terminates employees by agreement due to the following reasons:

• If the employee becomes redundant due to the decision of the employer to change activities, increase efficiency, or restructure
• If the employer's undertaking relocates or closes down

Depending on the duration of the employment relationship, the amount of severance pay can be up to 3 times the employee's average monthly earnings.

Employees are entitled to receive severance pay in the amount of at least 12 times their average earnings:

• If they are terminated because they are not allowed to perform their current work due to an industrial injury, an occupational disease, or due to the threat of an occupational disease
• If their workplace has been subjected to a maximum permissible level of some harmful exposure

Minimum Wage

For the year 2024, the minimum wage base rate is CZK 20,800 (Czech korunas) per month or CZK 124.40 per hour. For many employees in state sector, the guaranteed salary applies, which is higher than the minimum wage. These guaranteed wages are graded according to educational qualifications of employees.

The Labour Code requires that wages be paid after work is performed, at the latest in the calendar month following the month when the employee is entitled to them. On termination of employment, the employer must pay the employee on the next regular payday after the end of the employment.

Overtime, Holiday & Vacation Pay

Employees are entitled to overtime pay of regular wages plus at least 25% of average hourly earnings. They receive 50% of average hourly earnings when overtime work occurs on weekly days of uninterrupted rest. The labor law gives employees a right to extra compensatory time off in exchange for the hours worked overtime.

Night work (between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM) constitutes a premium of at least 10% of average earnings. The employer may only exceptionally order employees to work on non-working holidays. An employee who works on a holiday is entitled to time off corresponding to the time worked or wages plus bonus.

An employee is to be paid regular wages during their annual leave. The employer must provide reimbursement for costs the employee incurred as a result of the employer changing the time of leave or recalling the employee from leave.

Visas

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, 2 types of visas are available for persons who wish to visit and stay in the country: short-term and long-term visas.

Short-term visas are issued for stays with a duration of up to 90 days and categorized as transit (A) or short-stay (C) visas. Short-stay visas of the category C (letter “C” visa) are granted for tourism, health, business, culture, sport, visit (invitation), official (political), study, internship, scientific research, employment, or training.

Long-term visas are granted for stays over 90 days but under 180 days. They are issued as letter “D” visas and used for collecting a permanent residence permit, collecting a long-term residence permit for employment (employee card and blue card), as well as health, culture, sport, visit (invitation), family, study, internship, scientific research, and entrepreneurship.

Work Permits

An employee card is a permit for long-time residence in the territory of the Czech Republic, issued where the purpose of the foreign national’s stay (longer than three months) is employment. A foreign national who has an employee card is entitled:

• To reside in the territory of the Czech Republic and, at the same time
• To work in the job for which the employee card was granted
• To work in the job for which the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior granted consent (in connection with changing employer, changing job, taking up employment with an additional employer or in an additional job).

An employee card can be issued to a foreign national for the duration of the employer-employee relationship according to the submitted documents (for example, a contract of employment) for up to two years, with an option of repeated extension of its validity.

The foreign national must request the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic to grant consent with a change of a job position if they are assigned by a job agency to perform work for a different employer (user) and perform different work or to work at the different establishment than the one the existing employee card was issued for.