In October 2023, a major amendment to the Czech Labor Code became effective, which introduced significant changes, among other things, regarding the regulation of home office, the rights of employees working on the basis of Agreements to Complete a Job and Agreements to Perform Work, or the delivery of employment documents. Further amendments to the Labor Code will be introduced at the beginning of 2024, when the rest of the amendment will come into force. The changes contained in the amendment introduce new rights and obligations that improve the position of the employer in some cases and the employee in others. But what exactly do these changes affect?
Home office
In order to carry out home office work, an employee must now enter into a written agreement with the employer that governs the performance of home office work. This agreement must be made with each employee separately and, although it may be part of an employment contract or a separate agreement, it cannot be replaced by any other way, for example by an employer's internal regulation. The Labor Code prescribes to have such agreement concluded with the employees working (fully or partially) in home office by November 1, 2023.
The content of the HO-agreement is not specified by law, but we cannot but recommend that it should include, among other things, regulation of scheduling of working hours, the place of work, the method of communication, the assignment and control of work, and the securing of health and safety at work.
If the employer and the employee agree that the employee schedules their working hours themselves, a number of exceptions will apply to home office, such as the absence of compensation for specified personal impediments to work. The maximum shift length in such cases is set at 12 hours. The employer must schedule the working time into shifts for the purposes of determining compensation for temporary incapacity for work and for taking leave.
The employer may order home office work to be carried out for the necessary period of time only on the basis of an order from a public authority, such as the epidemiological measures issued during the COVID period. At the same time, the nature of the work must allow work at home office and the place of work must be suitable.
The reimbursement of costs for home office is also newly regulated, whereby the procedure can be either by proving the actual costs incurred or by paying a lump sum. The application of the lump sum will be based on the amount set each year by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs decree (while the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs may change this amount following factual circumstances), and is set at CZK 4.60 per hour for the year 2023. It can be agreed that no expenses will be paid.
Agreements to Complete a Job (“ACJ”) and Agreements to Perform Work ("APW”)
The amendment brought the conditions of employees working under ACJ/APW closer to those of employees working under a standard employment contract.
The employer is now obliged to schedule and notify these employees of their working hours in writing at least 3 days before the start of the shift (unless otherwise agreed), including in the event of any changes. Working hours and rest periods are then newly regulated in the same way as for employment.
As of the new year, employees working on under ACJ/APW will also have the right to leave. In order to be entitled to leave, they must work at least 80 hours for one employer in one calendar year and their employment relationship must last at least 4 weeks.
Although the employees working based on one of those agreements are still not entitled to salary compensation for important personal and public interest reasons, they may be granted the compensation by agreement or by internal regulation.
If an employee works for one employer for more than 180 days in a 12-month period, they can request a transfer to a standard employment relationship. The employer has the right to refuse this request but must give the employee written reasons for the refusal.
Service of employment documents
The amendment further facilitates service by electronic communication service, i.e. by e‑mail. The employee must still consent to such service, now in the form of a separate written declaration, while the address must not be under the employer's control (it cannot be the employee's work address). When served electronically, a fiction of service of 15 days applies. If the employee does not acknowledge receipt of the document sent within this period before its expiry, it will be deemed to have been served upon its expiry. Documents sent by the employer to the employee must still be signed with a recognized electronic signature, but the acknowledgement of service sent by the employee need no longer contain such a signature.
The employee may withdraw consent to the sending of documents by e-mail at any time in writing.
However, the biggest news is the possibility to deliver all employment documentation via data mailboxes without a prior consent. This is both on the part of the employer and the employee. The condition is that the owner does not make his or her data mailbox unavailable for such service. In the case of service by data mailbox, a delivery fiction after 10 days applies.
From a practical point of view, it should be emphasized that the documents must always be served in the relevant data mailbox of the person. If the employee has more than 1 data mailbox - as a natural person and also as an entrepreneur, the delivery fiction will only apply if the document is delivered to the natural person's data mailbox. Otherwise, the document will be deemed to have been delivered only if the employee logs into the data box where the document was delivered.
In addition to the above, there are also new or amended information obligations of the employer, e.g. on the conditions of service via e-mail, on informing employees posted in another country, or shortening the information period on the content of the employment relationship to one week from the start of work. The amendment also contains other changes to the Labor Code, such as the possibility for pregnant employees to request home office.
As mentioned at the beginning – the changes to employment relations are very significant, and must be taken into account and the current employment contracts and documentation must be adjusted accordingly. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will review and update all documentation to comply with the amended version of the Labor Code.
