Long the subject of debates, this major amendment to the Labor Code has now been adopted and will take effect already on 1 October 2023.
A major amendment to the Labor Code, which transposes into Czech law the EU Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers and the EU Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union, will come into force as soon as 1 October 2023. However, the effectiveness of selected changes, such as the rules for vacation entitlement of contract workers outside a proper employment relationship, has been deferred until 1 January 2024.
The amendment introduces a number of new concepts that will have to be reflected in existing labor-law documents (contracts with employees). Some of the more substantial changes include the employer’s broader information duties with respect to the substance of the employment relationship; the option to enter into employment contracts and agreements electronically; rules for remote working (home office arrangements); stronger rights for employees who as parents look after their children; or the relaxation of formal rules concerning service of process. In this article, we shall take a closer look at some of the concepts and instruments addressed by the amendment to the Labor Code.
For one, it introduces the possibility to enter into selected labor-law transactions (such as employment contracts, or contracts for services (DPP) or agreements on the completion of a job (DPČ)) using electronic means. The same regime also extends to legal transactions by which the given employment relationship is being changed or terminated. It will thus be possible to execute such acts e.g. via e-mail or via databox, provided that the employee communicated to the employer their electronic address, which must be outside the employer’s reach (i.e., for instance, the employee’s personal e-mail address). However, the electronic conclusion of labor-law transactions is peculiar in that the employee has the right to walk away from such electronic acts within 7 days from the date of service.
Likewise, the information duty of the employer vis-a-vis the employee with respect to the substance (contents) of the employment relationship will be significantly broader than it has been to date. Newly, the employer must advise the employee e.g. of the scope of overtime work, the procedure to be followed for termination, or the career advancement path, where offered by the employer, to name but a few. The employer must provide the employee with this information within seven days from the day on which the employment relationship came into existence. What is more, the information duty now also applies to employees who work under the schemes known as DPP and DPČ.
Speaking of which, these schemes will likewise be subject to substantial changes. DPP/DPČ workers will newly be entitled to vacation. They also come within the purview of the rules governing so-called other serious obstacles to work and so-called obstacles on grounds of a public interest – with the important difference that they will not be entitled to substitute wages based on their contractual compensation. However, they will have the right to leave of absence during the existence of the said obstacles to work. Finally, such workers will have a special right to ask the employer to employ them under a full-fledged employment contract if they’ve worked at least 180 days in the aggregate for the employer over the course of the preceding 12 months. If the employer does not accommodate this request by the employee, it must lay out the reasons in a written response to the employee within no more than one month.
Lastly, remote work arrangements will also be subject to new, changed rules. The performance of remote work will always necessitate a written agreement (barring an order in writing that work shall henceforth be performed remotely, which in turn will be made possible by a measure imposed by the public authorities, and then only for the absolutely necessary time period. The amendment also introduces rules for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by employees in connection with remote working; the employer will pay compensation either in the actual amount (to be duly and sufficiently evidenced by the employee) or as a lump-sum amount (if the parties so agreed, or if an internal policy so stipulates). Having said that, the amendment does allow for the possibility that the employer and the employee agreed beforehand in writing that the employee shall not be entitled to any compensation of expenses in connection with remote working.
With a view to the fact that the new wording of the Labor Code has impact on a number of areas, we advise employers to carefully review their existing labor-law documentation to bring it up to date and ensure its compatibility with the new requirements of the amendment.
Source:
Act No. 281/2023 Coll., on the amendment of the Labor Code (Act No. 262/2006 Coll., as amended) and certain other laws