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Hiring employees in Czechia can be a rewarding experience, but you should know some essential things before you begin the process. Czechia is a member of the European Union, meaning it has implemented EU labour laws, including regulations on working hours, minimum wage, and paid leave.
In addition, Employment contracts must be in writing and include information about the position, salary, working hours, and duration of the contract. It is also essential to know that there are different types of employment contracts, such as fixed-term or indefinite contracts, and that the duration and termination of each type of contract are regulated by law.
Finally, it is crucial to consider the benefits and social security obligations when hiring in Czechia. Employers are required to provide benefits such as sick leave, paid vacation, and parental leave.
Czechia has an excellent remote workforce because of its highly educated and skilled workforce, with many universities and technical schools producing graduates in different fields.
Secondly, Czechia is well-connected to the rest of Europe, with high-speed internet and modern telecommunications infrastructure. This makes it easy for remote employees to work from anywhere in the country and stay connected with their colleagues and clients across the globe.
Finally, Czechia’s strong work culture emphasises professionalism, reliability, and a strong work ethic. This means that remote employees from Czechia are likely to be highly motivated and committed to delivering high-quality work.
Native Teams’ Employer of Record services help you hire and pay your team through an owned infrastructure in Czechia. We handle everything from legal employment to ensuring your team is paid and managed compliantly and with care, without any third parties involved.
Hire your first Czech employee with Native Teams.
When hiring new employees in Czechia, it’s important to follow the labour laws in the section below to ensure a compliant hiring process.
The Labour Code of the Czech Republic regulates employment relationships between employers and employees, providing legal protection and promoting fair treatment.
It covers the legal aspects of dependent work, including individual and collective labour relations, and implements relevant EU directives. The Labour Code also governs certain pre-employment legal relationships and sets out the rights and obligations of both employers and employees.
An employment relationship in the Czech Republic generally requires an employment contract between the employer and employee, unless otherwise provided by applicable law. The employer is responsible for assigning work, paying remuneration, determining working conditions and ensuring compliance with applicable legislation, the employment contract and internal policies.
The employee, in turn, must perform the assigned work during the agreed working hours and fulfil their relevant obligations. Employers are also required to report new employment relationships to trade union organisations within the applicable time limits, supporting transparency and compliance within the workplace.
The Flexinovela amendment introduced an administrative simplification for employers by replacing the previous system of multiple separate submissions to different public authorities with a single electronic monthly employer report.
A fixed-term employment relationship between the same parties may not exceed three years from the start date of the first fixed-term contract and may be renewed no more than twice. An extension of a fixed-term employment relationship is considered a renewal.
If three years have passed since the end of the previous fixed-term employment relationship, that previous period is no longer taken into account when calculating the duration of subsequent fixed-term contracts.
In addition to the distinction between indefinite-term and fixed-term employment, Czech labour law recognises different types of employment arrangements based on the nature and duration of the work.
These include full-time and part-time employment contracts, as well as the Dohoda o provedení práce (DPP) (Job Performance Agreement) and Dohoda o provedení činnosti (DPČ) (Activity Performance Agreement).
Full-time and part-time employment contracts may be concluded for either a fixed or indefinite term. The DPP and DPČ are subject to different terms and conditions and provide alternative arrangements for specific types of work.
An employment contract must specify:
An employment contract may only be withdrawn after the employee has started work. The employer may withdraw from the contract if the employee fails to start work on the agreed date without providing a reason, or if the employee does not notify the employer of the reason within one week.
Download a free employment contract for Czechia through Native Teams.
Under the Labour Code, employers must provide employees with written information and conclude a written employment contract before the employee starts work. Any amendment to, or withdrawal from, the employment contract must also be made in writing. Both the employer and the employee are entitled to receive a copy of the contract.
According to a decision of the Czech Supreme Court, a legal act requiring written form must be documented in writing and signed by the relevant parties.
The standard working week in the Czech Republic is 40 hours, usually distributed across five days at eight hours per day. However, the Labour Code sets shorter maximum weekly working hours for certain groups of employees based on the nature or organisation of their work:
Night work (noční práce) means work performed at night, while night time (noční doba) is defined as the period between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am.
A night worker’s shift may not exceed eight hours within any 24 consecutive hours. If operational requirements make this impossible, the employer must organise the standard weekly working hours so that the average length of a shift does not exceed eight hours over a period of no more than 26 consecutive weeks.
The employer must also ensure that night workers have appropriate social conditions at the workplace.
Under Czech labour law, rest and meal breaks are not considered working time and are therefore generally unpaid. Employees are entitled to a rest period of at least 30 minutes after six hours of uninterrupted work.
Working hours must be organised so that employees receive at least 11 hours of uninterrupted rest between the end of one shift and the beginning of the next within each 24-hour period.
Employees must also receive at least 35 hours of uninterrupted rest each week.
Full-time employees in the private sector are entitled to at least four weeks of paid annual leave, equivalent to 20 working days per calendar year. Public-sector employees are entitled to a minimum of five weeks of annual leave.
During annual leave, employees are entitled to compensation based on their average earnings, ensuring that they do not lose income while taking their statutory leave.
If an employee is unable to take their accrued annual leave because their employment ends, they are entitled to compensation for the unused leave.
The minimum wage in the Czech Republic is regulated by the Labour Code and relevant government implementing regulations. As of 1 January 2026, the minimum wage is CZK 22,400 per month, or CZK 134.40 per hour for a standard 40-hour working week. This represents an increase of CZK 1,600 compared with 2025.
To calculate the salary and taxes in Czechia, click here.
An employee is entitled to compensation from their employer for the first 14 calendar days of a validated temporary disability that makes them unfit for work, such as due to illness. During this period, the employee receives 60% of their average daily earnings, paid entirely by the employer.
If the disability continues beyond 14 days, the state compulsory insurance system provides sick pay for the remainder of the disability period. The compensation rate is based on the duration of the disability:
A female or male employee may, subject to the applicable legal requirements, request parental leave from their employer for the period they require, up to the child’s third birthday.
In the Czech Republic, the right to maternity and parental leave is not limited to biological parents. It may also apply to employees who assume responsibility for a child in specific circumstances, including when an employee takes a child into their care as a substitute for parental care or takes custody of a child whose mother has died.
For the birth and care of a newborn child, a female employee is entitled to 28 weeks of maternity leave. In the case of multiple births, where two or more children are born at the same time, maternity leave is extended to 37 weeks.
If a child is stillborn, the female employee is entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave.
Under the Sickness Insurance Act, a male employee is entitled to two weeks of paternity leave. Paternity leave may be taken within the first year following the birth or adoption of the child and may be taken in two separate one-week periods.
If a child dies while the female employee is on maternity or parental leave, or while the male employee is on parental leave, the relevant leave entitlement continues for two weeks following the child’s death, but no later than the date on which the child would have reached one year of age.
An employment relationship may be terminated in several ways:
For foreign citizens and stateless persons, an employment relationship may also terminate under specific circumstances, unless it has already ended by another means. These include:
An employment relationship also terminates upon the death of the employee.
Notice of termination must be provided in writing. An employer may give notice to an employee only for one of the reasons expressly set out in Section 52 of the Labour Code. An employee, however, may give notice to their employer for any reason or without stating a reason.
Where an employer gives notice of termination, the reason must be factually specified to avoid confusion with other statutory grounds. The stated reason cannot subsequently be changed.
A notice of termination may be withdrawn only with the consent of the other party. Both the withdrawal and the consent must be made in writing.
The employment relationship ends when the notice period expires. The notice period must be the same for both the employer and the employee and may be extended only by a written agreement between the parties.
The notice period begins on the first day of the calendar month following delivery of the notice and ends on the last day of the corresponding calendar month.
The statutory minimum notice period for termination of an employment relationship is two months. Under the Flexinovela amendment to the Czech Labour Code, the notice period begins on the date the notice of termination is delivered to the other party. The employer and employee may agree on a longer notice period, but it must be the same for both parties.
The Labour Code provides a special procedure for employees who do not accept the termination of their employment relationship. This applies to termination during the probationary period, termination by notice, and immediate termination.
An employee who wishes to continue their employment must inform the employer without undue delay that they insist on remaining employed. “Without undue delay” generally means within a few days and, depending on the circumstances, no later than a few weeks.
If the employee gives this notice, the employment relationship continues while the dispute is being resolved. If the employee does not inform the employer that they insist on continuing their employment, the employment relationship ends when the notice period expires or, where applicable, immediately.
Unemployment benefits are available only to individuals registered as jobseekers with the Czech Labour Office. To qualify, an applicant must have participated in pension insurance through employment or other gainful activity for at least 12 months during the relevant reference period. Persons receiving an old-age pension are generally not eligible for unemployment benefits.
Eligible jobseekers include Czech nationals and EU citizens residing in the Czech Republic who are not currently employed or self-employed. Registered jobseekers may also perform limited work, provided they meet the statutory conditions applicable to such activities.
Receiving unemployment benefits is conditional on cooperation with the Labour Office in seeking new employment. Jobseekers must attend scheduled appointments, provide information requested by the Labour Office and participate in employment placement measures. Refusal of suitable employment offered through the Labour Office must be based on serious reasons; otherwise, the person may be deregistered and lose their entitlement to benefits.
Severance pay is calculated based on the length of the employee’s employment relationship with the employer:
The period of employment also includes previous employment relationships with the same employer, provided that no more than six months have elapsed between the end of the previous employment relationship and the start of the subsequent one.
A probationary period is valid only if it is agreed in writing.
As of 2026, the Flexinovela amendment to the Czech Labour Code allows a probationary period of up to four months for standard (non-managerial) employees and up to eight months for managerial employees.
For fixed-term employment contracts, the probationary period may not exceed half of the agreed duration of the employment relationship. Once established, the probationary period may not be extended by agreement between the parties.
During the probationary period, either the employer or the employee may terminate the employment relationship with immediate effect, without observing the statutory notice period and without giving a reason.
The employment relationship ends on the date the termination is delivered to the other party, unless the notice specifies a later termination date.
In the Czech Republic, when an employee creates an invention in the course of their employment, the right to the patent automatically transfers to the employer unless otherwise agreed in the employment contract. The employer must exercise this right within the specified period, typically within three months of being notified of the invention by the employee.
Employers have the right to exercise control over works created by their employees in the course of their employment. This gives employers significant control over the use and dissemination of such works.
The rules are different for works created by contractors. Contractors grant the client a licence to use the work they produce. Unless otherwise agreed, the contractor retains the right to grant licences to other parties, provided this does not conflict with the client’s legitimate interests.
Employment relationships necessarily involve the exchange of information. This requirement arises from both national labour legislation and the specific needs of employers based on their activities. Whether a particular exchange of information is lawful must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Personal confidentiality during employment is not absolute, and the processing of employees’ personal data does not always require their explicit consent.
Labour legislation provides limited guidance on the boundaries of an employer’s control over employees’ personal data. As a best practice, employers should have a transparent privacy and data security policy that is accessible to all employees. The policy should explain:
A non-compete agreement is an agreement between an employee and an employer under which the employee agrees, for a specified period after the termination of employment, not to engage in gainful activity that is identical or competitive with the employer’s business. The restriction may apply for a maximum of one year after the employment relationship ends.
A non-compete agreement may not be concluded with every employee. It may be agreed only with an employee where this restriction can reasonably be required, taking into account the nature of the knowledge, know-how, working methods and technological procedures the employee acquired during their employment.
Any withdrawal from a non-compete agreement must be made in writing and before the employment relationship is terminated.
Transitioning to remote work requires a written agreement with the employee. This can be included in the employment contract or set out in a separate document. Although the Labour Code does not prescribe strict requirements for such agreements, they may be relatively simple. Employers may also establish specific conditions for remote work unilaterally through internal company policies.
The Labour Code allows remote workers to arrange their working hours independently in agreement with the employer. The general rules governing the determination of working hours do not apply to these employees. As a result, the employer is not required to determine the start and end times of shifts or schedule the employee’s working hours.
There are no additional statutory responsibilities for employers solely because an employee works from home. Home-based employees are subject to the same Labour Code requirements and protections as employees who work at the employer’s premises.
Employees working from home must continue to comply with applicable working time requirements. To meet their obligations, employers may require information from remote employees, such as timesheets or records of working hours.
More generally, home-based employees are governed by the same provisions of the Labour Code as employees working from the employer’s premises.
The occupational health and safety requirements set out in the Labour Code and relevant special legislation apply regardless of where the work is performed. Employers remain responsible for ensuring occupational health and safety and may be held liable if an employee is injured while working from home.
The specific health and safety measures required depend on the circumstances of each case. Employers should take into account the particular conditions of remote work and adapt their practices accordingly.
Compared to Western European countries like Germany, France, or the UK, labour costs in Czechia are significantly lower. This allows businesses to benefit from high-quality talent without the higher salary expectations found in more developed markets.
As part of the EU, hiring employees from Czechia means businesses avoid many of the legal and administrative hurdles associated with hiring from non-EU countries. Czech workers can move freely across borders, simplifying mobility.
On top of that, Czechia shares many cultural similarities with Western European countries, making it easier for businesses to integrate Czech employees into global teams.
Native Teams helps you employ and pay your team in Czechia directly through owned entities and infrastructure.
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