Czechia: Vacation entitlement under the “DPP” and “DPČ” alternative working arrangements as of 1 January 2024

In the wake of an amendment to the Labor Code, effective as of 1 January 2024, employees will newly gain a title to vacation also if they entered into a so-called agreement to complete a job or an agreement for the performance of services, on the same terms as those who are in full-fledged employment.

This change applies both to newly contracted and all existing DPP and DPČ, whereas the origination of the vacation entitlement is tied to the concurrent satisfaction of the following two conditions:

1. The agreement with the worker in question has existed for at least four consecutive weeks (i.e., 28 consecutive calendar days). For the purposes of this first condition, it is of no concern whether the worker has actually rendered any performances or not; all that matters is that the agreement was validly concluded and has not been terminated.
2. The worker must perform at least 80 hours of work in a given calendar year, based on a notional work week of 20 working hours (stipulated by way of legal fiction).
   Provided that these conditions are met, the employee becomes entitled to (approximately) 1.5 hours of vacation for each 20 hours of work rendered.

The vacation entitlement shall be calculated using the following formula: number of full (notional) work weeks of service performances / 52 × 20 × allotted vacation (rounded up to full hours).

Whether or not vacation may be claimed (once the two above-mentioned conditions have been met) shall be determined separately for each calendar year and each service contract, i.e., if a worker has entered into several such arrangements, then the vacation entitlement shall be calculated independently for each individual arrangement (DPP / DPČ).

If the working relationship of the given worker terminates before they were able to take all the vacation to which they became entitled during the existence of their contract, then monetary compensation must be provided.

The new rules are aimed at affording better protection to workers who provide their services under alternative arrangements and to bring the terms of such arrangements closer to those of regular employment.

Source:
Labor Code (Act No. 262/2006 Coll.)