At the beginning of December 2023, the long-awaited amendment to the Employment Act was adopted, bringing changes valid as of 1 January 2024. Further novelties included in the amendment will, however, come into force on 1 July 2024. What will the changes consist of? And how to prepare for them?
Already on the first day of 2024, significant changes in the field of employment mediation by work agencies, mainly regarding the conditions for obtaining and losing permits for such mediation became effective. Newly, these permits are issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, not by the Directorate General of the Labour Office. A newly introduced condition for the issuance of employment mediation permits is that both the legal entity and the individuals who are members of the legal entity’s statutory body must have clean records. Simultaneously, the legal entity is to be debt-free and have no record of a fine being imposed on it or its authorised representative within the past three years – a criterion that, if not met, could lead to permit revocation. The refundable deposit paid by the employment mediation applicant increased to CZK 1 million. Current permit holders must top up their previously paid amount to meet the new amount.
One of the important points was the specification of conditions for the withdrawal of the employment mediation permit. Thus, the permit may now be withdrawn in cases of illegal employment mediation, breaking anti-discrimination rules, concealing employment mediation activities or repeated non-cooperation with employment inspection bodies.
Further, the amendment specified the definition of illegal employment; newly, the duration of performing such work does not matter, only the parameters of dependent work do, with the aspect of regularity now irrelevant. In connection with illegal work performance and concealed employment mediation activities, sanctions were tightened: Newly, a sentence of up to 2 years of prohibition of activities may be imposed and employment inspection bodies may impose a fine of up to CZK 1 million for failing to provide necessary information.
From 1 July 2024, changes will become effective, primarily impacting the employment of foreigners in the Czech Republic. The Employment Office will now be authorised to remove a vacant work position from the vacancy register 6 months after its listing. Another possibility is to remove the vacant position from the register if the employer fails to provide the necessary cooperation to fill it. This measure aims at keeping the register up-to-date and corresponding to the real needs of the labour market.
In connection with the register of vacancies that may be filled by foreigners, the labour market test for employee cardholders will also be cancelled. Currently, the labour market test is applied, which ranges from 10 to 30 days depending on the type of work position, within which the vacancy cannot be filled by foreigners.
As of 1 July 2024, the employer’s information duty regarding the employment of foreigners in the Czech Republic will also be fully electronic; the only acceptable form of notification will be via the data box of the employer or his authorised representative. Thus, the current practice will disappear and it will no longer be possible to report the information on a foreigner’s commencement or termination of employment electronically or in writing using a required form. Now, the information will have to be presented in an .xml data file, which will contain all necessary information. In case the employer would like to authorise another person to meet this information duty on his behalf, this authorisation will have to be made via the Administration of Powers of Attorney of the ePortal of the Czech Social Security Administration or the employer would have to register a power of attorney using the respective form at the Employment Office of the Czech Republic. Until 30 June 2024, the current possibilities of meeting the information duty towards the Employment Office may be used; however, from 1 July 2024 on, the only possibility will be the aforementioned electronic way.
The general aim of the Amendment to the Employment Act is to clarify and streamline the conditions for the provision of services by labour agencies, to better define the performance of illegal work and to simplify the employment of foreigners in the Czech Republic in terms of digitalisation.
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