The State Office of Labour Inspection carries out inspection activities to ensure compliance with labour law and occupational safety and health regulations. The inspections are not carried out randomly but are planned in accordance with Section 4(c) of Act No 251/2005 Coll., on Labour Inspection, as amended (hereinafter as the “Labour Inspection Act”).
Introduction
In this article, we will focus on the inspections of the labour inspectorate by first discussing in general terms how the labour inspectorate carries out its inspection activities and what it focuses on.
We then summarise the results of the inspections carried out in 2024, including the most common deficiencies identified and the actions taken. Finally, we will look at the 2025 inspection activity plan to outline the main areas of focus for the Office and highlight the Office’s expected priorities in the areas of employment, industrial relations and occupational safety.
Generally
The control activities of the labour inspection authorities are concentrated in three areas:
- controls in the field of employment,
- controls in the field of employment relations, and
- controls in the field of occupational safety.
The labour inspection authorities carry out inspections in the field of employment in accordance with Sections 125 and 126 of Act No. 435/2004 Coll., on Employment. Their main priority is to detect illegal employment, including disguised employment mediation that circumvents the legal rules of the labour market. They also focus on compliance with the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination in the exercise of the right to employment, for example by checking job advertisements for discriminatory wording. The labour inspection authorities also monitor employers’ compliance with the compulsory proportion of employment of persons with disabilities (PWD). Another important area of supervision is compliance with Act No. 247/2014 Coll., on the provision of childcare services in a children’s group.
In the area of employment relations, labour inspection authorities carry out inspection activities on the basis of the Labour Inspection Act. The labour inspection authorities supervise compliance with obligations arising from legislation guaranteeing the rights of employees, trade unions or occupational safety and health (BOZP) representatives.
The inspections focus, for example, on compliance with labour law rules on remuneration and wage compensation, rules on working time and rest periods, and the employment of minors and persons caring for close relatives. In practice, authorities most often check the correctness of concluding employment relationships and agreements on work performed outside the employment relationship, compliance with the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination or the legal conditions of agency employment. An important part of the inspection activity is also the supervision of the posting of employees abroad and their working conditions in the context of transnational provision of services.
Also in the area of occupational safety, inspections are carried out in accordance with the Labour Inspection Act. The authorities focus on compliance with the obligations of legal entities and natural persons engaged in business arising from legal regulations to ensure occupational safety and health. The inspections concern not only general measures for safe working conditions, but also the safe operation of technical equipment with a higher degree of risk to life and health, including dedicated technical equipment (DTE), which is subject to special safety requirements.
A new feature brought by 2025 in the area of inspections carried out by labour inspection authorities is the possibility for inspectors to make audio, visual and audio-visual recordings during inspections and before they start, without the knowledge of the inspected persons.
Controls in 2024
In 2024, the labour inspection authorities received 6,553 complaints and, after evaluating them, carried out 3,814 inspections. In 2024, the digitisation of the receipt of complaints was launched, which should lead to easier submission of complaints, e.g. an identified complainant can now see a comprehensive overview of its submissions on the online portal.
The most frequently reported violations were violations of labour law regulations in the area of remuneration and deficiencies in the establishment and termination of employment relationships, as well as possible illegal work, discrimination in the exercise of the right to employment, non-compliance with obligations imposed on employment agencies, violations of obligations in the employment of persons with disabilities and non-compliance with legal conditions in the provision of child care in a children’s group.
In the area of compliance with BOZP regulations, there are not many complaints received in the long term, but most often they concern the issue of work accidents, failure to provide personal protective equipment, failure to provide BOZP training and failure to comply with obligations related to the operation of dedicated technical equipment (DTE).
In the area of employment, the labour inspection authorities identified 245 cases of disguised employment mediation and 169 entities that facilitated disguised mediation. 161 fines were imposed for disguised mediation, for a total of CZK 71.714 million. The fines imposed for facilitating it amounted to CZK 67.198 million. CZK. For illegal work, 798 fines for a total of almost CZK 164 million were imposed. The most frequently identified illegal workers were employers operating in the construction and manufacturing industries.
In the area of labour relations, 3,478 inspections were carried out, during which 6,414 breaches of legal regulations were detected, for which 1,021 fines were imposed, for a total of CZK 40.504 million. Specifically in the area of equal treatment and compliance with the prohibition of discrimination, the labour inspection authorities carried out a total of 623 inspections, of which 107 focused on equal pay for men and women. On the basis of these inspections, a total of 204 violations in the area of equal treatment and compliance with the prohibition of discrimination were detected, of which 43 violations were detected in the area of equal pay for men and women.
In the area of BOZP, 7 664 inspections were carried out in 2024, during which a total of 17 479 violations of relevant legislation were detected. During this period, a total of 883 fines were imposed for a total of CZK 38.681 million. The most frequent deficiencies detected were:
- training curricula that do not contain applicable laws and regulations, manufacturer’s specific instructions for operating the equipment, including local operating regulations;
- inadequate risk assessment of work and technological processes;
- failure to establish work procedures to ensure that the principles of safe workplace behavior are followed.
In the field of BOZP, 440 inspections of the causes and circumstances of accidents at work were also carried out, including 26 fatal accidents.
Inspection plan in 2025
In 2025, as in previous years, inspection initiatives will be one of the basic pillars of the planning and implementation of inspection activities of labour inspection authorities – they will be a guide for the focus of inspection activities
In recent years, there has been a significant excess of demand over supply in the Czech labour market, and the Czech Republic has traditionally topped the list of countries with the lowest unemployment in the European Union.
It can therefore be expected that in 2025 there will be a high demand for labour, which will not be met by Czech citizens alone and employers will try to attract labour force from abroad. It is therefore possible that many entities will use disguised employment services or resort to illegal employment of foreigners.
In the area of employment, at least 6,700 inspections will be carried out by labour inspection authorities in 2025, focusing on:
- disguised job placement and facilitation;
- illegal employment;
- compliance with the mandatory share of employment of persons with disabilities and providers of compensation;
- equal treatment and non-discrimination in the exercise of the right to employment;
- provision of childcare services in a playgroup (the playgroup law is expected to be amended in 2025).
In the area of labour relations, at least 3,800 inspections of compliance with the obligations imposed on employers by law will take place in 2025. The inspections will focus on the following areas:
- equal treatment of employees, compliance with the prohibition of discrimination, equal remuneration of employees with an emphasis on equal remuneration for men and women,
- compliance with the minimum wage,
- working hours and rest periods,
- agency employment,
- compliance with the rules on posting employees to work in the context of transnational service provision,
- working conditions of foreign workers, with a focus on the working conditions of temporary protection holders from Ukraine and on the working conditions of workers employed under the Skilled Worker Programme.
In particular, equal pay between men and women is seen by labour inspection authorities as an important area to focus on. Their plan is therefore to carry out at least 100 inspections focusing on this area in 2025. Inequalities in this area are contributing to the widening of the gender pay gap, which has an European average of around 13%, and in the Czech Republic we are still above this average. However, the subject of controls will be the so-called attendance bonuses, where employers, in breach of the prohibition of discrimination, financially favor those employees who are not sick, do not treat a child or other person and do not go to the doctor.
The inspections will also target employers where a working time inspection has not been carried out before or was carried out several years ago. These checks will focus in particular on the keeping of working time records, the provision of uninterrupted rest periods or the employee’s working time scheduling.
In the area of agency employment, the labour inspection authorities will focus on both the employment agencies, e.g. with regard to their authorisation for the relevant form of employment intermediation, compliance with information obligations towards the Ministry of Labour a Social Affairs or comparison of the working and wage conditions of the agency worker and a comparable employee of the user, as well as on the users themselves and their obligations concerning in particular the keeping of working time records or compliance with the conditions for unilateral termination of a temporary assignment.
The inspections will also focus on compliance with the working conditions of posted workers under the Posting of Workers Directive, in which the State Office of Labour Inspection cooperates with the European Labour Affairs Authority (ELA). The inspections will also focus on compliance with the conditions of employment of Ukrainian citizens – holders of temporary protection.
Also in 2025, inspections by labour inspection authorities will focus on the causes and circumstances of work accidents, especially fatal accidents or accidents with hospitalization for more than 5 days. In total, at least 8 700 inspections are to be carried out in the field of BOZP and DTE in 2025.
In 2025, the labour inspection authorities will intensify their activities in prevention and awareness-raising, in particular through the provision of advice, media presentations of inspection results and active participation in professional seminars and events organised mainly by social partners. The inspection authorities will continue to provide free advice or basic information to employees and employers in all areas inspected.
Summary
Labour inspection authorities play a key role in monitoring compliance with labour law, occupational safety and employment. For 2025, their main priorities include intensive checks on illegal employment of Czech citizens and foreigners, detection of disguised labour facilitating and ensuring fair working conditions for posted workers and temporary protection holders from Ukraine.
Emphasis will also be placed on equal pay for men and women, workplace accident inspections and cooperation with the European Labour Affairs Authority (ELA) in international inspection activities.
If you have any questions regarding control activities of labour inspection authorities or labour law in general, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Mgr. Nikola Tomíčková, junior lawyer – tomickova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Jakub Málek, managing partner – malek@plegal.cz
3. 4. 2025