The amendment to Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Labour Code“), which was published in the Collection of Laws on 31 July 2024, introduces changes concerning, among other things, the distribution of working hours, minimum and guaranteed wages, remuneration from agreements on work performed outside the employment relationship and the schedule of taking holidays.
With effect from 1 January 2025, it will be possible for the employer to conclude a written agreement with the employee, according to which the employee will schedule his/her own working hours into shifts under agreed conditions. In this case, the employer will no longer be obliged to schedule the employee’s working time and to inform the employee in advance of the written working time schedule. The length of the shift shall not exceed 12 hours even in this case. In addition, the following rules shall apply when such an agreement is concluded:
- The employer shall determine the compensation period (maximum 26 weeks or, on the basis of a collective agreement, 52 consecutive weeks) within which the average weekly working time of the employee in employment must be completed;
- Unless the employer agrees otherwise with the employee, the employer is also obliged to determine in advance a fixed distribution of working time into shifts for the purposes set out in the Labour Code, which include, for example, obstacles at work, taking holidays or business trips;
- An employee is not entitled to wage compensation for other important personal obstacles at work, unless otherwise agreed or provided for by the Labour Code, an implementing legal regulation issued pursuant to the Labour Code or an internal regulation of the employer;
- The obligation under this agreement may be terminated by written agreement between the employer and the employee on an agreed date or may be terminated in writing for any reason or for no reason with 15 days’ notice (or such other period as may be agreed in writing and which is the same for both the employee and the employer), the notice period commencing on the date on which the notice is served on the other party.
Should the employer fail to conclude the above agreement or its amendment in writing, violate the obligations arising from the agreement or violate the obligations when terminating the agreement, the employer is liable to a fine of up to CZK 300,000.
The above agreement can be negotiated in the case of work performed at the employer’s workplace and outside the workplace (i.e. when performing remote work), both with employees in an employment relationship and employees working under agreements for work performed outside the employment relationship.
From 1.8.2024 the following changes, among others, will come into force:
- The guaranteed wage for non-salaried employees has been abolished. The new guaranteed wage will apply only to employees whose employer is the state, a territorial self-government unit, a state fund, certain contributory organisations and educational legal entities under certain conditions. Furthermore, a new calculation for the minimum wage is established. However, these provisions will apply only from 1 January 2025.
- The remuneration from agreements on work performed outside the employment relationship may be agreed upon taking into account any night work, work in a difficult working environment or work on Saturdays and Sundays, provided that the extent of work in these difficult working regimes, which was taken into account when agreeing on the remuneration from the agreement, is agreed upon at the same time and the amount of additional payments according to the relevant provisions of the Labour Code, which would otherwise be granted to the employee for this reason, is agreed upon.
- The employer’s obligation to issue a written leave schedule has been abolished.
If you would like more information in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or guidance for any particular case.