Act No 262/2006 Coll. (Labour Code) and Act No 435/2004 Coll. (Employment Act), as amended, are the main laws regulating the posting of workers to the Czech Republic. These Acts implement the EU framework on posting, including Directive 96/71/EC, its amendment by Directive (EU) 2018/957 and the enforcement requirements of Directive 2014/67/EU. In the following sections you will find a summary of the obligations provided by local legislation and European Law on transnational posting of workers to the Czech Republic.
For an overview of the EU legal framework for the posting of workers, take a look at our guide on EU Posted Workers Directives.
Preliminary obligations for the posting of workers to the Czech Republic
According to Directive 96/71/EC and its national transposition, employers based in EU/EEA countries may post their workers to the Czech Republic for a provision of services, as long as they fulfill preliminary conditions.
Foremost, the posting must be based on an agreement between the posting company and the recipient of services in the Czech Republic. Alternatively, a foreign-based company may post a worker to its establishment or a company belonging to the same group in the Czech Republic. If the posting company is a temporary employment agency, they may post a worker to a user undertaking established in the Czech Republic. In all these cases, an employment relationship between the posting employer and the worker must continue throughout the posting.
The posting of workers gives rise to reporting obligation for the employer, regardless of the duration of posting. Each posting must be notified to the State Labour Inspection Office (SÚIP) through its online registration portal. This obligation must be fulfilled no later than on the day the posted worker starts working in the Czech Republic.
Among others, the registration requires the following data:
- Identification data of the worker;
- Identification data and registered address of the posting employer and the recipient of services;
- Type of service;
- Work location and duration of the activities.
A copy of the documents proving the employment relationship must also be uploaded. Documents in a language other than Czech or Slovak must be accompanied by a Czech translation, for whose accuracy the employer is responsible.
Working and salary conditions applicable during the assignment in the Czech Republic
Pursuant to the Section 319 of the Labour Code, specified Czech employment conditions apply to posted employees. These provisions concern working and rest time, safety, health and hygiene in the workplace, minimum wage, further remuneration, allowances, reimbursement, holiday pay and vacation allowance, among others. In particular, following to the transposition of Directive (EU) 2018/957 the employer’s obligation to provide remuneration to the posted workers has been extended to all compulsory wage components.
Concerning the minimum wage requirements, Czech legislation sets out a statutory fixed minimum wage. However, collective bargaining agreements are also negotiated in some industries.
These Czech provisions apply unless the corresponding rights under the legislation of the sending country are more favourable to the worker.
Social security in the Czech Republic
When posted to the Czech Republic by an employer in an EU/EEA-country, an employee temporarily works in the Czech Republic. Yet he continues to be employed in another country. Under the EU social security coordination rules, employees posted abroad may remain subject to the social security legislation of the sending country, provided that the applicable conditions are met.
Pursuant to Regulation (EC) 883/2004, the posting company must apply to the competent social institution for the issuing of an A1 Certificate for each posted worker. This document states in which country the holder pays for social security contributions. Therefore, posted workers remain under the social security system legislation of the country in which they are employed.
Posting of workers to the Czech Republic lasting more than 12 months and termination of posting
When the period of posting exceeds 12 months, the broader employment conditions applicable to long-term postings apply under Section 319a of the Labour Code, where more favourable to the worker. The posting company may postpone this threshold to 18 months by submitting a reasoned notification through the SÚIP registration portal before the initial 12-month period expires.
The additional Czech rules exclude those concerning the establishment, amendment and termination of the employment relationship. Where one posted worker replaces another performing the same task at the same place, their posting periods are added together when calculating the 12- or 18-month threshold.
If the posting terminates on a different date from the one originally reported, a notification is due. The posting company must inform SÚIP through the registration portal within 10 calendar days of termination. Other changes to the notified information must also be reported within 10 calendar days of the change occurring or the employer becoming aware of it.
Documents’ availability during the assignment in the Czech Republic
Documents necessary to demonstrate compliance with the posting requirements must be available to the inspection authorities. Among others, documents relevant to inspections include personal IDs, work and residence permits where applicable, employment contracts, pay slips and working-time records.
Penalties for non-compliance as defined in the local legislation
The Czech employment conditions applicable under the posting rules must be respected. Breaches of these provisions may constitute administrative offences and entail financial penalties. Among others, failure to fulfil the notification obligation for workers posted under Section 101a of the Employment Act may give rise to a fine of up to CZK 100,000.