1. GENERAL PROTECTION 59
2. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS 59
2.1 Discrimination 59
2.2 Age 60
2.3 Length of service and fixed-term contracts 60
2.4 Part-time work and career breaks 61
2.5 Pregnancy and child care 61
2.6 Carers 61
2.7 Employee representatives 62
2.8 Redundancy 62
2.9 Other 62
3. RESIGNATION 64
4. AVOIDING UNFAIR DISMISSAL 64
4.1 Grounds for dismissal 64
4.2 Permissions 66
4.3 Procedures 66
4.4 Notification/consultation obligations 67
4.5 Duration of notice period 67
4.6 Treatment during notice period 67
4.7 Payment in lieu of notice 68
4.8 Other 68
5. CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH DISMISSAL WITHOUT NOTICE IS PERMITTED 68
6. SANCTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT 69
6.1 Sanctions for unlawful dismissal 69
6.2 Void dismissals 69
6.3 Reinstatement 69
1. GENERAL PROTECTION
The Czech Labour Code contains rather strict conditions governing the dismissal of individual employees who are employed on the basis of permanent employment contracts. The current Labour Code (Act no 262/2006 Coll. as amended) has been in effect since January 2007, replacing the old Labour Code that came into effect in 1965. Unfortunately, the conditions for dismissing employees have generally remained unchanged. Employees are still regarded as the weaker party in the employment contract, which is reflected in the high level of protection they are given with regard to dismissals. A system exists such that all employees are protected against dismissal by the Labour Code, if it is not based on one of the legal grounds stipulated within it (see section 4.1 below). Dismissals on any other grounds or dismissals without grounds are prohibited and, therefore, void. The dismissal of employees must also be in written form and there are certain formal requirements as to the form of delivery.
The Labour Code stipulates that an employer may give notice to an employee only for the reasons explicitly stated within the relevant provisions. In contrast, an employee may give notice to his or her employer for any reason or even without stating a reason.
An upcoming amendment of the Labour Code should come into force as of 1 January 2012. Minor changes are expected in relation to dismissal reasons, the length of the probationary period and the method for agreeing to longer notice periods between the parties.
The provisions of the Labour Code do not stipulate any specific protection for certain categories of employees against dismissal. However, some exceptions apply to members (or former members) of trade unions, who cannot be dismissed without the trade union’s prior written consent (see section 4.4 below). In addition, an employer cannot dismiss certain employees during a so-called ‘protective period’ (see section 2.9 below).
2. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS 2.1 Discrimination
The prohibition against discrimination in the area of employment is generally regulated by the Labour Code, which provides a duty on the employer to ensure equal treatment of all its employees. The Act no 198/2009 on Equal Treatment and Legal Remedies for Protection against Discrimination (the Anti- Discrimination Act) governs the right to equal treatment and protection
of the employer is not possible. The probationary period does not run during days when an employee is sick.
2.4 Part-time work and career breaks
There is no special protection related to part-time employees or career breaks but the principle of non-discrimination applies to these employees as well. The employment may be terminated only based on grounds stipulated by the Labour Code (see section 4.1 below).
2.5 Pregnancy and child care
By s53 of the Labour Code, female employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave, and male or female employees on parental leave are protected within a so-called ‘protective period’.
Pregnant employees can be dismissed by notice of termination of employment if there are reasons for termination without notice, the employer or part of it shuts down, or the employer relocates outside the agreed place of work. Apart from these situations the employee falls within a protective period and it is therefore not possible to terminate her employment. Pregnant employees are protected from termination even if they are not aware of being pregnant.
A female employee on maternity leave and a male employee on parental leave during the time when a female employee would be entitled to take maternity leave (i.e. the first 22 weeks after childbirth) can be dismissed only if the employer (or part of it) shuts down or relocates outside the agreed place of work. Dismissal based on other reasons or immediate termination, are not possible (even if there are reasons for immediate termination of employment). Male or female employees on parental leave (i.e. broadly after 22 weeks following childbirth) cannot be served with immediate termination even if there are reasons given for such termination. However, such employees can be dismissed by notice of termination for these reasons (see section 5 below). There is no other protection in relation to the termination of pregnant employees or employees taking care of a child.
2.6 Carers
Employees who are caregivers have no special protection in relation to employment termination.
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against discrimination in various situations, including termination of employment. The Anti-Discrimination Act recognises the following discriminatory grounds:
• racial or ethnic origin
• nationality
• sex
• sexual orientation
• age
• disability
• religion and beliefs and
• political views.
The Anti-Discrimination Act further considers harassment, sexual harassment, victimisation, instructions to discriminate and solicitation of discrimination as discrimination, and therefore these behaviours are prohibited.
Termination of employment based on any of the above mentioned grounds is prohibited and therefore void.
2.2 Age
By law, the employer must ensure equal treatment of all its employees and treating employees differently as a result of age would be considered discriminatory. There is no additional special protection for employees in relation to their age. Notice of termination may only be given by the employer for reasons stipulated in the Labour Code (see section 4.1 below).
2.3 Length of service and fixed-term contracts
Section 35 of the Labour Code provides that an employer and employee may agree to a probationary period of no longer than three months, provided that this period is agreed in writing before the employment term begins. However, the parties may agree to a shorter period. The agreed probationary period cannot be extended, even with the employee's consent.
The proposed amendment to the Labour Code includes a longer probationary period for managerial employees, of up to six months. However, this amendment will not become effective before 1 January 2012.
In accordance with s66 of the Labour Code, both the employer and the employee may, during the probationary period, terminate the employment contract without stipulating any reasons. They may do so at any time, except within the first 21 calendar days of any sickness, when termination on the part
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• An employee is temporarily unfit to work because of illness or injury, unless he or she intentionally brought on this incapacity or it was caused by inebriation. The protection lasts for the period during which the employee receives treatment in a medical establishment or spa. In the case of tuberculosis, the protective period is extended for a further six months after the employee's discharge from medical treatment.
• An employee is called up to take part in military exercises or extraordinary (special) military exercises. The protection period starts on the day when the relevant call-up notice is served on the employee and lasts during his or her participation in the exercises and for two weeks after he or she is discharged from the exercises.
• An employee has been given long-term unpaid leave in order to hold public office.
• An employee who is performing night shifts is recognised, on the basis of a medical report issued by the employer’s preventive health care facility, as being temporarily unfit to perform it.
If an employee is served notice of termination and only then enters the protective period, the protective period cannot end sooner than the notice period (see section 4.5 below). In these cases, the employment contract is extended and terminates only after the protective period ends, upon expiry of the remaining part of the notice period, unless the employee expressly states that he or she will not insist upon the employment contract being extended. Nonetheless, in certain cases a dismissal during the protective period is admissible and the prohibition will not apply. These exceptions are provided under s54 of the Labour Code, which permits the dismissal of an employee whose employment is terminated in the following circumstances:
• The employer’s undertaking (or part of it) is shutting down or relocating (i.e. relocating outside the employee's place of work, as stipulated in the employment contract).
• There are grounds enabling the employer to immediately terminate the employment of all employees without serving notice of termination because of gross breach of their legal obligations relating to the work they perform. However, special protection applies to female employees on maternity leave and male employees on parental leave during the time when a female employee would be entitled to take maternity leave (i.e. the first 22 weeks after childbirth) (see section 2.5 above).
• The employee commits a breach of their legal obligations arising from legal regulations relating to the work that he or she performs (s52(g) of the Labour Code), with the exception of a pregnant employee or an employee of either gender on maternity or parental leave.
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2.7 Employee representatives
Prior to giving notice of termination, the employer must consult with the trade union. If the dismissal concerns a member of a trade union, stronger protection applies. In such a case, the employer must ask the relevant trade union for prior written consent. If the trade union refuses to grant consent, any subsequent dismissal is unlawful. However, if the other conditions for dismissal are complied with (whether the dismissal is by notice of termination or summary) and the employer proves so before a court, the court may conclude (in proceedings pursuant to s72 of the Labour Code (see section 6.1 below) that the employer cannot fairly (reasonably) be expected to employ such an employee. In such a case, the dismissal will be valid.
In the case of any other forms of employment termination (i.e. agreement on termination, termination of employment during the probationary period, or notice of termination of employment given by the employee), the employer’s only duty is to inform the trade union.
2.8 Redundancy
Rules regarding collective dismissals (s62 of the Labour Code) apply only to certain situations where a particular number of employees are dismissed. These rules apply to the termination of employment contracts taking place over a period of 30 calendar days, based on a notice of termination by the employer for reasons of reorganisation (‘organisational changes’). There is a limit to the number of employees who can be dismissed, which varies depending on the size of the employer's undertaking. The thresholds are as follows:
Number of employees Size of employer's undertaking to be dismissed
10 or more employees 20–100 employees
10% of employees 101–300 employees
30 or more employees 301 or more employees
The thresholds are also met when the employment contracts of at least five employees are terminated by a notice from the employer within a period of 30 calendar days, if the employment contracts with the remaining employees within this threshold are terminated by agreement on the same grounds.
2.9 Other
An employer cannot dismiss certain employees during a so-called ‘protective period’ (s53 of the Labour Code). Protective periods concern the following situations in particular, where:
Dismissal is possible only under specific conditions. These conditions are stipulated in s52 of the Labour Code, in accordance with which the employer may serve notice of termination on its employees only on the following grounds:
• The employer's undertaking (or part of it) shuts down.
• The employer's undertaking (or part of it) relocates.
• The employee is made redundant pursuant to a decision by the employer to effect organisational changes (e.g. a change of technology or a reduction in the number of employees, in order to enhance work efficiency).
• The employee is no longer able to perform his or her work in the long term, because of the state of his or her health. This must be in accordance with a medical report issued by the employer’s preventive health care facility, as a result of an occupational injury or disease, or the threat of such a disease.
• The employee is no longer able to perform his or her work in the long term, because of the state of his or her health, in accordance with a medical report issued by the employer’s preventive health care facility.
• The employee does not meet conditions stipulated by law for the performance of the agreed work or, through no fault of the employer, the employee does not meet the requirements (provided by the employer) for proper performance of such work. If the employee's failure to meet the requirements results from unsatisfactory work, the notice of termination may be served only if, during the previous twelve months, the employer asked the employee in writing to eliminate the deficiencies, and the employee failed to do so within a reasonable period of time.
• There are grounds upon which the employer might immediately terminate the employment contract without notice (see section 5 below).
Additionally, the employer may do so if there is a serious or systematic, but less serious, breach of legal obligations concerning the work performed by the employee. In the case of systematic breaches, notice of termination may be served only if, during the previous six months, the employee was warned in writing about the possibility of termination based on such breaches.
Entitlement to severance pay is regulated by the Labour Code. In the case of an employee being dismissed for organisational changes, he or she is entitled to mandatory severance pay amounting to a minimum of three times his or her average monthly earnings. If the employee is being dismissed because of an occupation-related disease or a work injury, he or she is entitled to mandatory severance pay amounting to a minimum of twelve times his or her average monthly earnings.
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The provisions relating to unfair dismissal are contained in Part 4 of the Labour Code (s48 and subsequent provisions). These provisions are mandatory and contracting out is not permissible, although some exceptions apply where the law expressly provides for it.
3. RESIGNATION
Czech law does not recognise a resignation as being a dismissal. However, if an employee resigns under pressure, a court may declare such an act as unlawful because it was not undertaken freely.
Under Czech law, an employee can resign (terminate the employment contract) on the following grounds:
• An employee may terminate his or her employment on any grounds or without stating any grounds. The employee must comply with a minimum notice period of two months. The notice period commences on the first day of the calendar month following the delivery of the notice of termination to the employer. Employment terminates only after lapse of the notice period.
• An employee may also terminate his or her employment contract
immediately, if there are grave conditions, as stipulated by the Labour Code. These are as follows:
- the employer has not paid the employee his or her salary, salary compensation or any part of it within 15 days of the day they were due, or
- in accordance with the medical report issued by the employer’s preventive health care facility, the employee can no longer perform his or her work without seriously endangering his or her health, and the employer has not transferred him or her to a suitable job within 15 days of the submission of such a medical report.
4. AVOIDING UNFAIR DISMISSAL 4.1 Grounds for dismissal
In accordance with the Labour Code, the parties to an employment contract cannot modify the grounds for dismissal, even with the employee’s consent. Any mutual agreements in this regard are unlawful and, instead, the relevant mandatory provisions of the Labour Code will apply automatically.
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If an employee to whom a document is addressed is not at home, the document must be deposited on the premises of the postal services’ operator or at the municipal authority. If the delivery is unsuccessful, the employee will be given written notice of this and invited to collect the document within ten working days. At the same time, the employee will be advised from which day and at what time the document may be collected. When the ten working days expire, the documents will be considered as having been delivered.
If an employee rejects the delivery, then the document will be regarded as being ‘technically delivered’. In this situation it is recommendable to have eye-witness accounts of the employee’s rejection, and the eye-witnesses should confirm it in writing on the rejected document itself.
4.4 Notification/consultation obligations
In general, no notification or consultation is required for individual dismissals. However, prior to giving notice of termination or immediate termination, the employer must consult with the trade union, if there is one. Consultation alone is sufficient to meet the legal obligations and there is no need to reach an agreement. An exception applies for members (or former members) of trade unions.
Even though the Labour Code does not expressly stipulate it, written notification on employment termination during the probation period should generally be delivered to the other party to the employment contract at least three days in advance of termination of employment. However, breach of the three-day deadline will not result in the termination during the probation period being unlawful.
4.5 Duration of notice period
The statutory notice period is a minimum of two months and this can be extended by the mutual agreement of the contractual parties. In such a case the agreed notice period must be the same for both parties.
The notice period commences on the first day of the calendar month following the delivery of the notice of termination to the employee. It expires on the last day of the relevant calendar month (with some exceptions, e.g. a dismissal before a protective period. See section 2.9 above).
4.6 Treatment during notice period
During the notice period the employment contract still continues and the ordinary rights and duties of both parties still apply. The employer must assign the employee work based on the employment contract and pay him or her
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Mandatory severance payments may be increased by mutual agreement between the contractual parties, by a collective agreement, or by an internal regulation issued by the employer.
4.2 Permissions
In general, no permissions are required for individual dismissals except with regard to employers that have trade unions, in which case consultation is necessary (see section 4.4 below).
4.3 Procedures
Prior to a dismissal an employer must take into consideration many factors and