On Friday 8 March 2025, the Chamber of Deputies approved the long-discussed so-called flexiamendment, which amends the Labour Code and other legislation, bringing a number of important changes to labour relations.
Introduction
The amendment was discussed and approved by the government in August last year and was originally expected to come into force on 1 January 2025. However, this plan did not materialise due to the debate over some controversial points as well as the approval of other equally important bills.
If everything goes according to plan, the amendment should come into force on 1 June 2025. The legislative process can be followed here.
A selection of major changes
In this article, we will focus on the key changes introduced by the amendment, as well as some important amendments. The following topics will be covered:
- Trial period,
- Fixed-term employment relationship for so-called deputies,
- Termination of employment,
- Changes in compensation for accidents at work, occupational diseases or the risk of such diseases,
- Payment of wages,
- Pay statement and its delivery,
- Working conditions of selected groups,
- Work of minors,
- Occupational health examinations and health promotion programmes,
- Confidentiality on wage conditions,
- Unemployment benefits and retraining,
- Other amendments adopted.
Trial period
The flexiamendment primarily concerns the modification of the trial period. The maximum length of the trial period has been increased – from three to four months for ordinary employees and from six to eight months for senior employees, while it remains the case that the trial period may not exceed half the agreed duration of the employment relationship.
Another change is the abandonment of the explicit prohibition on additional contractual extensions of the trial period. The trial period may now be extended by written agreement between the employee and the employer, provided that the statutory limits on its maximum length are complied with. Logically, extension is not an option if the trial period has already been agreed to the maximum extent possible.
Additional extensions of the trial period were only possible by law, for the duration of a full day’s absence from work and a full day’s leave. Now, the trial period is to be automatically extended by working days when the employee has not worked a full shift due to obstacles at work, taking leave or unexcused absence. This makes it clear that the trial period is extended by the days on which the employee’s shift falls, not by calendar days.
The extension of the trial period is intended to give the parties greater contractual freedom and provides employees and employers with more time to check whether they want to remain in the employment relationship after the trial period.
Fixed-term employment for so-called deputies
The amendment is also intended to introduce an exception to the prohibition of unlimited chaining of fixed-term employment relationships. The standard rule is “twice and enough”, whereby a fixed-term employment relationship can be extended a maximum of twice, always for a maximum of 3 years. However, these restrictions are now not intended to apply to cases where the employment relationship is agreed as a replacement for a temporarily absent employee during maternity, paternity, parental leave or leave pursuant to Section 217(5) of the Labour Code. However, even in these cases, the total duration of fixed-term employment relationships may not exceed nine years from the conclusion of the first such employment relationship.
Termination of employment
The flexiamendment to the Labour Code brings several significant changes to the regulation of notice periods. The new notice period starts from the day on which the notice is delivered and ends on the day whose numerical designation is identical to the day on which the notice is delivered; if there is no such day, it ends on the last day of the last month of the notice period. Therefore, the time counting rule laid down in Article 333 of the Labour Code shall not apply.
The basic length of the notice period remains two months, however, in the cases referred to in the grounds for notice under Section 52(f) to (h) of the Labour Code, it is reduced to one month. These grounds of termination concern cases of gross and repeated breach of the employee’s employment obligations, and the employer cannot fairly be required to remain in an employment relationship with the employee for longer than one month. In the case of a termination ground under Section 52(f) of the Labour Code, the employee’s conduct does not always have to be culpable, for which the employment relationship should be terminated, but the employee is, for example, no longer practically available to the employer due to his failure to meet the legal prerequisites for the performance of the job. The shortening of the notice period therefore reduces the period during which the employer bears the economic costs associated with such an employee.
In addition, it is stipulated that the employee and the employer may deviate from the statutory regulation of the beginning and running of the notice period only by written agreement, which must be identical for both parties, except for the specific grounds for notice already mentioned.
It is also worth mentioning the amendment of the provisions of Section 52(d) and (e) of the Labour Code, which regulate the grounds for termination of employment related to the long-term loss of the employee’s medical capacity. Now, the long-term loss of medical eligibility is only included in the grounds for termination under (d) and the employer no longer has to describe the cause of the loss of medical eligibility in detail in the termination notice. A separate reason for termination is specified under point (e) of the provision relating to the attainment of the maximum permissible exposure at the workplace.
Last but not least, we would like to draw attention to the proposed extension of the subjective and objective period in Section 58 of the Labour Code, during which the employer may give notice to an employee for breach of obligations arising from legal regulations related to the work performed or immediately terminate the employment relationship pursuant to Section 55 of the Labour Code. The subjective period is extended from two to three months and the objective period from one year to 15 months.
The termination of the employment relationship is also related to the proposed amendment to Section 69 of the Labour Code, according to which an employee, if successful in a dispute over the invalidity of the employment relationship, is to be entitled to compensation for untaken leave in addition to wages or salary in certain cases.
Termination without giving a reason is not introduced!
Changes in compensation for accidents at work, occupational diseases or the risk of such diseases
The flexiamendment to the Labour Code introduces a new provision § 271ca. In addition, if we speak of an accident at work, this also applies to occupational disease and the threat of such disease
The current legislation allows for the termination of the employment relationship with an employee if, according to a medical report, he or she was unable to perform his or her work due to an accident at work. In such cases, the employee is entitled to a severance payment equal to 12 times his average monthly earnings, which is paid directly by the employer, which may be financially prohibitive for some employers.
The amendment partially abolishes the right to severance pay, but not without compensation. In its place, it introduces a new type of one-off compensation for non-pecuniary damage in the event of a work injury, which will also amount to 12 times the employee’s average monthly earnings. This compensation will be payable at the earliest pay date following the end of the employment relationship or after the final decision on the case has been delivered and, unlike the original severance pay, will be covered by the employer’s compulsory insurance.
If the employer is partially exempted from liability, the amount of this lump sum compensation will also be reduced proportionately. However, employers may provide higher compensation, for example on the basis of a collective agreement, but the amount exceeding the statutory limit will no longer be covered by insurance and will have to be paid by the employer from its own resources.
The Act maintains the existing entitlement to severance pay under Section 67 of the Labour Code in cases where the employment relationship is terminated due to reaching the maximum permissible exposure (for example, when working in a hazardous environment). In this situation, there is no entitlement to a lump sum compensation under Section 271ca, as it is not compensation for an occupational accident or disease, but termination of the employment relationship due to exceeding the permissible limits.
Payment of wages
The amendment to the Labour Code now allows the employer to pay wages, salary or part thereof in a foreign currency in agreement with the employee. This agreement is therefore voluntary and neither party can be forced to make it. Payment in a foreign currency is only possible if the employee has an objective link to the foreign country – for example, if the employee works abroad or lives there permanently and pays his or her living expenses there. The foreign currency must be the one to which the Czech National Bank announces the exchange market rate, as all contributions remain compulsorily converted and paid in Czech crowns.
The current wording of the Labour Code primarily provides for the payment of wages to the employee in cash at the workplace, which does not correspond to the practice where wages are mostly paid into a bank account. The flexiamendment reverses this situation, the Labour Code provides for the main method of payment of wages by non-cash transfer to a bank account. The employee can refuse this method of payment in writing or fail to disclose its bank account number to the employer – under these conditions the employee will continue to be paid in cash.
Pay statement and its delivery
The issue of pay statements is to be newly regulated in such a way that the employee must receive a pay statement from the employer before starting work under the new wage conditions. According to the current regulation, the employer is obliged to issue the pay statement on the day of commencement of work.
The changes should also affect the delivery of pay statement notices, which could now also be delivered electronically under the following conditions:
- the pay statement must be signed with a qualified electronic signature of the employer;
- the pay statement can also be delivered to the employee’s work email address and the employee’s consent to electronic delivery is not required;
- the employee must acknowledge receipt of the pay statement within 15 days, otherwise it is ineffective;
- it must be possible to save and print the pay statement from the interface through which it will be delivered.
Working conditions of selected groups
The flexiamendment to the Labour Code brings changes regarding the return of employees after parental leave. According to the amended wording of Section 47 of the Labour Code, the employer should be obliged to reinstate the employee to its original job and workplace if the employee returns to work before the child reaches the age of two. This change strengthens the rights of parents who decide to end parental leave early and ensures their return to their original job. It therefore delays the point at which the employer is obliged to place the returning employee solely under the terms of the employment contract.
It is also worth mentioning the amendment which makes it possible for an employee taking parental leave to perform the same type of work for the employer under one of the agreements as the employee performs under an employment contract.
As part of the modification of the necessary consent for a employee taking care of a child to travel outside the municipality of the workplace / residence, the age limit of the child is moved to 9 years of age (currently 8 years of age).
At the same time, the rights of registered partners will be extended, and they will have the same rights in the event of the death of an employee.
Work of minors
The amendment also amends the provisions of Section 34(2) of the Civil Code and introduces a new Section 244a of the Labour Code, creating an exception to the prohibition of child labour, which must be regulated in accordance with international treaties to which the Czech Republic is bound. Thanks to these amendments, 14-year-old minors may perform light work during the summer holidays, regardless of whether they have completed compulsory schooling, provided that the work in question does not endanger their health, education or moral development.
The amendment also allows light work during the main holidays for minors aged 15, 16 and 17 who have not yet completed compulsory schooling.
Light work is considered to be activities classified in the first category under the Public Health Protection Act that do not involve a disability-limiting activity as defined by the Specific Health Services Act.
It should be recalled that in these cases the conditions of employment of minors, including the prohibition of overtime and night work, should continue to apply. In addition, there is a stricter prohibition on working between 8 pm and 10 pm for minors under the age of 15 and those who have not completed compulsory schooling.
Occupational health examinations and health promotion programmes
The new legislation on occupational medical examinations, based on an amendment proposed by Marian Jurečka, is intended to allow for an optional approach to conducting initial medical examinations for job applicants classified in category one. Thus, if neither the employer nor the employee requires an initial medical examination, the applicant is considered medically eligible until the examination proves otherwise.
The same amendment also proposes the modification of voluntary health promotion programmes to contribute to a higher use of preventive health services by employers – the detailed conditions will be regulated by an implementing regulation.
Confidentiality on wage conditions
One of the approved amendments now explicitly prohibits the negotiation of confidentiality clauses regarding the amount and structure of remuneration in employment documentation. This prohibition is based on existing case law and the opinion of the Ombudsman, according to which such confidentiality is contrary to Article 4a of the Labour Code.
Although employers were often aware of the unenforceability of these clauses, they kept them in employment contracts for psychological reasons to discourage employees from sharing wage information with each other.
However, breach of this prohibition can now be sanctioned by a fine, which strengthens the protection of employees and their right to transparent and fair remuneration. This step is a further measure to ensure equality in working conditions.
Unemployment benefits and retraining
Another amendment approved by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs concerned amendments to the Employment Act – specifically the amendment relates to
- changes to the age limits for determining the length of the support period for unemployment benefits;
- an increase in the percentage of unemployment and retraining benefits; and
- abolition of the reduction in the amount of unemployment benefit for termination of employment without serious reasons.
Other amendments adopted
Last but not least, other approved amendments concerned the loosening of the conditions for entering long-term care or the crediting of the period of study in a doctoral programme and care for a close person.
Summary
The flexiamendment, which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on 8 March 2025, introduces significant changes in employment relations – for example, adjustments to the notice period, extension of the trial period or a guarantee that employees will return to the same job.
However, the legislative process is not over – the amendment still needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the President, and we expect the amendment to enter into force on 1 June 2025. We will keep you informed about further developments in the legislative process.
If you have any questions regarding the flexible amendment to the Labour Code 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
17. 3. 2025