News from the field of labour law

We would like to inform you about the latest changes in the area of labour law, which came into effect on  01.01.2024.

Here is a brief overview of the most important changes:

• employees working on the basis of agreements on work performed outside the employment relationship (agreements to perform work, agreements to complete a job) now also have the right to leave. At the same time, for the purposes of leave, the weekly working hours shall be 20 hours per week. The general conditions for entitlement to leave shall also apply to these employees;
• the definition of uninterrupted weekly rest has been modified and the employer’s obligation to provide such rest has been clarified in terms of wording, i.e. the employer’s obligation to provide employees with such rest has been explicitly enshrined. Newly, the employer is obliged to provide an employee over the age of 18 with an uninterrupted rest period of at least 24 hours per week, along with an uninterrupted daily rest, which must immediately follow one another; the total duration of these rest periods represents an uninterrupted weekly rest. The employer will be obliged to provide a juvenile employee with an uninterrupted rest period of at least 48 hours per week. Again, the Labour Code provides for exceptions.
• new comprehensive regulation and changes regarding the issue of time off from work related to an event for children and young people, both in the Labour Code and in related laws, all with the main aim of simplifying and streamlining processes. The new legal regulation of the procedures for exercising an employer’s claim (filing an application) for reimbursement of wage compensation provided is contained in the Act on the Organisation and Implementation of Social Security;
• The Labour Code newly enshrines a special legal regulation of guarantees for wages and remuneration from agreements, i.e. the contractor´s guarantee for wage claims of the subcontractor’s employees, up to the minimum wage;
• changes have been made in the area of employment, in particular in relation to illegal work and its sanctioning, agency employment, including stricter conditions for obtaining employment intermediation permits and sanctioning of disguised employment intermediation/facilitation of disguised employment intermediation;
• the amount of data for the purposes of travel allowances provided to employees has been updated on the basis of Decree No.398/2023 Coll., on the change in the rate of basic reimbursement for the use of road motor vehicles and meal allowances and on the determination of the average price of fuel for the purposes of providing travel allowances for 2024.
• minimum wage has been increased. The monthly minimum wage for a fixed working week of 40 hours per week has been increased to CZK 18,900 and the minimum wage per hour to CZK 112.50. For other lengths of the fixed weekly working hours, according to the recalculation, the amount of the minimum wage per hour is CZK 116.10 for the fixed weekly working time of 38.75 hours and CZK 120.00 for the fixed weekly working time of 37.5 hours. In addition, the lowest level of the guaranteed wage has been increased in work groups 1., 2., 3. and 8.;
• the amount of the lump sum reimbursement of the costs for remote work has been updated on the basis of Decree No.397/2023 Coll. on determining the amount of the lump sum reimbursement of costs for remote work for 2024, and it now amounts to CZK 4.50;
• there has been an increase in average earnings that are decisive for the calculation of the compensation for survivors’ maintenance costs or increased according to the implementing labour regulations issued to implement Act No. 262/2006 Coll. and Act No. 65/1965 Coll. by CZK 360 (i.e. the compensation for loss of earnings has been indexed), on the basis of Government Decree No. 338/2023 Coll. on the adjustment of compensation for loss of earnings following the end of incapacity for work caused by an occupational accident or by an occupational disease and on the adjustment of compensation for maintenance costs of survivors under labour law (decree on the adjustment of compensation).

In case of specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, we are always at your disposal.

Team WTS Alfery, Alfery Hrdina Advokáti