New employment law developments in Czech law effective from 1 January 2022

Estimated reading time 4 minutes

As of 1 January 2022,  several significant changes in the field of employment law have been adopted, including changes to the minimum wage and work-life balance. In this article, we assess these changes and their impact.

Increase in the minimum wage

One of the main changes that have been introduced is an increase in the minimum wage. From 1 January 2022, the minimum wage is now set at CZK 16,200 (around EUR 660) gross per month.

The levels of guaranteed wages for more qualified (skilled) jobs have also increased. These levels set the lowest price workers can be paid, according to the complexity, responsibility and exertion of the particular work, and are divided into eight groups. For example, the first group, whose minimum remuneration is CZK 16,200 per month, includes roles such as cleaners, luggage carriers and other unskilled workers.

In the last group (the eighth group), whose minimum remuneration is CZK 32,400 (around EUR 1,320) gross per month, examples would be experts involved in the financial sector, business strategy of organisations or top scientists.

What is the impact of an increased minimum wage?

Generally, the increase of guaranteed wages in higher levels does not have a huge practical impact, because the market standard is much higher. For example, very skilled employees in the private sector normally receive around three times more than the guaranteed level. However the increase in minimum salary and minimum guaranteed wages will have particular impact on lower categories of first, second or third guaranteed level workers.

Work-life balance changes

Measures have been introduced as a first step to implementing the EU directive known as the "Work-life" Balance Directive.

Paternity leave

The time for which it will be possible to receive paternity care has been extended in the Czech Republic. Until the end of 2021, the length of paternity leave was one week, but as of January this year, it has been extended to two weeks, which cannot be interrupted and should be used in the first six weeks after childbirth.

The amount of paternity pay is based on the father's wage and is 70% of the average daily income (capped at some amount). The paternity pay is paid by the Czech social security administration, not by the employers.

Time off work to care for sick children

In order to facilitate the care of sick children, starting from 1 January 2022, the group of family members entitled to take time off and receive social security support for the care of a sick child has been expanded. Previously, the requirement for qualifying for such benefit was that the family member had to live together in a common household with the sick child. Under the new law, the requirement of the common household has been abolished. In practice, this will especially make it possible for grandparents to take time off to care for a sick child even if not living together.

Find out more

This article was produced by Tereza Erényi, Attorney at Law at PRK Partners s.r.o, Czech Republic, a CELIA Alliance member firm.

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