The amendment to Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code (hereinafter referred to as the “Labour Code“) brings a number of changes, including the modification of the conditions for remote working. Teleworking is defined as the performance of work from a place agreed with the employer other than the employer’s workplace. The following obligations are connected with the performance of telework.
Obligation to provide written justification for not complying with the request of certain employees to telework
If the employer is asked to allow remote working:
- a pregnant employee,
- an employee caring for a child under the age of 9, or
- an employee who is predominantly a long-term carer himself or herself of a person who, according to a special legal regulation, is considered to be dependent on the assistance of another natural person in Grade II (moderate dependence), Grade III (severe dependence) or Grade IV (total dependence),
and the employer does not comply with the request, the employer must give reasons in writing for not complying with the request.
If the employer fails to provide such justification, he or she may be fined up to CZK 200,000.
The obligation to provide written reasons for not granting a telework request will apply only to the employees listed above. Thus, if an employee who does not fall within the above list requests to telework, the employer is not obliged to justify any refusal to grant such a request.
Necessity of a written agreement
The performance of telework will be possible (with exceptions related to the employer’s ordering of telework in exceptional cases regulated by the Labour Code) only on the basis of a written agreement between the employer and the employee.
If a telework agreement is not concluded in writing, the employer may be fined up to CZK 300,000.
Content of the telework agreement
The proposed regulation does not list the essential elements of a telework agreement. However, it may be appropriate to provide for the following, for example:
- a teleworking location, or more than one such location (for example, the employee can telework from home and from a cottage),
- the extent of the telework,
- the duration of the telework,
- whether the employee’s working time is scheduled by the employer or whether he or she schedules it himself or herself, or a combination of these methods,
- details of the working time records,
- the manner in which communication between the employee and the employer will take place, including the manner in which work will be assigned to the employee,
- how the work will be controlled,
- the method of reimbursement of costs incurred in connection with the performance of telework,
- the method of ensuring health and safety at work, including continuous inspection of the place of work to ensure safety and
- the protection of the health of workers at work, taking into account the risks to their life and health that may be involved in carrying out work at the place of work,
- the possibility for the employer or a person authorised by the employer to enter the place of work in the dwelling in order to clarify the cause and circumstances of the occupational accident.
For the purposes of the inspection, the labour inspector will now be authorised to enter places other than the employer’s workplace, with the consent of the employee and other persons concerned who live in the place, if telework is carried out there.
Specifics relating to teleworking when the employee schedules his working time
If it is agreed that the employee will schedule his/her own working hours, the following will apply:
- adjustments to the working time, downtime or interruptions caused by adverse weather conditions shall not apply; however, the length of the shift shall not exceed 12 hours,
- in the event of other important personal obstacles to work, the employee is not entitled to wage compensation, unless the implementing legislation pursuant to Section 199(2) of the Labour Code provides otherwise,
- for the purposes of providing wage compensation or remuneration from an agreement pursuant to Sections 192 and 194 of the Labour Code and for taking leave, the established working time distribution into shifts, which the employer is obliged to determine in advance for these purposes, shall apply. If the employer violates this obligation, he may be fined up to CZK 1,000.
Reimbursement of expenses for teleworking
The employer will be able to agree in writing in advance with the employee not to provide reimbursement of all or part of the costs of the telework. In the absence of such an agreement, the employer will be obliged to reimburse the employee for the costs of the telework. These costs shall consist of:
reimbursement of costs incurred by the employee in connection with the performance of telework, which the employee has demonstrated to the employer, or
a lump sum, the minimum amount of which is set by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
However, the lump sum may only be granted if agreed in writing or provided for in an internal regulation.
Employees performing work for an employer on the basis of a work performed or work activity agreement will not be primarily entitled to reimbursement of costs related to telework. However, the employer will be able to agree with these employees that they will also be reimbursed in accordance with the above rules.
Termination of a telework agreement
The obligation under the telework agreement can be terminated:
- by written agreement between the employer and the employee on an agreed date,
- by written notice for any reason or no reason, with a 15-day notice period beginning on the date on which the notice is delivered to the other party. In the context of a telework agreement, it will be possible to agree on a different length of notice period, which may be either longer or shorter. However, in any case, the length will have to be the same for both the employee and the employer. The employer and the employee will also be able to agree in the telework agreement that the obligation under the agreement cannot be terminated by either party.
The unbundling of the telework agreement will not affect the duration of the employment relationship between the employee and the employer.
Failure to comply with any of the obligations related to the termination of the telework agreement will result in a fine of up to CZK 300,000.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or guidance for any particular case.
If you would like more information in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact us.