Authors: Dalibor Kovář, František Korbel, Petra Sochorová
Let us inform you about an expected major change in employment law, initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic. It is a long-awaited amendment to the Labour Code and related labour law legislation.
Although the amendment has been in the inter-ministerial comment procedure since 13 September 2022, after which it may undergo changes before being submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, we consider it important to advise you about it now. In fact, the amendment comes directly from the authority charged with employment issues that has probably already discussed many aspects with representatives of employees and employers.
As a result, the amendment is not expected to encounter major resistance in the legislative process. We will keep track of the entire legislative process and will of course keep you informed of the final wording of the amendment. The effective date cannot be estimated yet, it will depend on how fast the amendment will be discussed and considered.
Below is a summary of the key points of the amendment, which in many cases will impose an increased administrative burden on employers. Perhaps only the simplification of electronic signing and delivery of important employment documents agreed by both parties can provide some comfort. In addition to the partial amendments to parental leave and flexible working arrangements, the amendment regulates the following areas:
The amendment brings a regulation of remote work, i.e. home office. Such work may only be carried out under a written agreement between the employer and the employee, unless the employer orders the work to the employee as a result of a measure taken by a public authority, for a necessary period of time, in accordance with the legitimate interests of the employee and on condition that the place of the remote work is suitable for the performance of the work. The draft amendment does not specify who is going to assess the suitability of the place of work. As a result, controversial situations can be expected.
The agreement or written order must include (i) the place of the remote work, (ii) the method of communication between the employee and the employer, the method of assigning and checking the work, (iii) the scope of the remote work to be carried out and the details of the scheduling of working hours, (iv) the method of reimbursement by the employer for costs incurred in performing the remote work, (v) the period of time covered by the agreement, and (vi) health and safety at work issues. The home office agreement may be terminated for any reason or without giving any reason with 15 days’ notice. We consider this revised notice of termination as problematic due to the uncertainty on both sides, the employer and the employee.
The employer will be obliged to cover the costs of the remote work incurred by the employee, while they must not be included in the wage. The flat-rate reimbursement for utilities, etc. must be at least CZK 2.80 per hour.
Currently, the Labour Code divides employment documents into important documents (documents under Section 334 of the Labour Code) and other documents. In order to electronically sign and deliver important documents remotely, relatively strict conditions must be met, which is why many of our clients have decided to continue signing and delivering them in hard copy. However, many other employment documents are not subject to such strict conditions; their electronic delivery and signing is governed by the Civil Code and their digitisation in practice is therefore very simple.
The amendment (finally!) narrows the list of important documents and moves them into the more liberal regime of other documents. After the amendment comes into force, it is expected to be possible to electronically sign an employment agreement, an agreement to perform work (DPČ), an agreement to complete a job (DPP) and amendments thereto or termination by agreement, as well as, for example, an agreement to terminate employment, just as most other employment documents – which means in fact in any way. The level of electronic signature of the parties, the solution used or any other parameters of the signing will not play a role. Once signed, these documents will only need to be delivered to the employee’s own electronic address that has been provided by the employee in writing to the employer for this purpose. Under the new rules, the employee will be entitled to withdraw in writing from an employment agreement, DPČ, or DPP signed in this way within 7 days of the date of delivery, but only unless the employee has commenced performance of the agreement.
It is very unfortunate that the wage assessment – an ideal candidate for exemption from the strict conditions – has remained subject to Section 334 of the Labour Code and, at least legislatively, its electronic delivery and signing is still rather complicated. We assume that, after analysing the potential risks, most Czech companies will still fully digitise it, just like, for example, employment agreements.
The strict conditions continue to assume a mutual advanced electronic signature, probably also as a result of the long-term unsustainable and fragmented decision-making practice of the Czech courts, which often ignore electronic signatures without a qualified certificate and incorrectly label acts signed in this way as invalid. Unilateral termination of employment agreements, agreements to perform work, agreements to complete a job, wage and salary assessments, as well as other documents that are quite marginal in practice will therefore remain difficult to digitise in full. At least, instead of the mandatory confirmation of delivery of such documents, a new constructive notice (in Czech fikce doručení) after 10 days “from the arrival” of these documents will apply, which is extended from the data box to apply to any other electronic communication as well.
The employer will now be obliged to inform its employees about certain facts related to the content of the employment relationship within 7 days of the date of its creation or immediately in the case of changes to its content. The employer will also be obliged to inform the employee about (i) the duration and conditions of the probationary period, (ii) the procedure for termination of the employment and in the event of invalid termination, (iii) the employee’s professional development, (iv) the extent of the mandatory rest period and (v) the social security body to which the contributions are paid. This information duty is quite often already addressed in employment agreements. Template employment agreements or a separate information document will need to be amended accordingly.
Information provided to employees posted to EU Member States will be considerably expanded.
Employees will need to be made aware of the weekly work schedule at least 1 week before the start of the period to which the schedule applies.
Employees will now be entitled to holidays, time off work in the event of obstacles to work on the part of the employer and additional payments for working on public holidays, at night, in difficult working conditions and at weekends.
They will also be able to ask their employer in writing for employment in an employment relationship, to which the employer will be obliged to provide a reasoned response.
In the case of an agreement to perform work (DPČ), half of the fixed weekly working time will be assessed over a period of 26 weeks, with the stipulation that only a collective agreement may extend this period to 52 weeks.
Our long-term objective has been to modernize the legal system and the legal environment. We are members of the ICT Union, we are involved in eGovernment projects and actively participate in legislation and working groups in the field of eGovernment and in training the professional public and the judiciary.
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ employment law and technology law teams provide legal support for comprehensive projects of HR transition to the electronic form of legal transactions, use of electronic identification and paperless operation of organisations without limitation of their size or field of activity.
Please accept our invitation to attend the HAVEL & PARTNERS Academy seminar entitled How to currently digitalise HR, which will be held on Friday, 2 December 2022 at our offices and will also be available online. The seminar will be held in Czech, please have a Czech-speaking representative of your company participate. For more information and to register for the seminar, please click here.
