The Rules on Employment Contracts and Collective Agreements and Their Power to Shape Employment Relations in Czech Republic

The Rules on Employment Contracts and Collective Agreements and Their Power to Shape Employment Relations in Czech Republic Presented by: Dr. Štefko Date: 16 June 2023 Outline - Czech Labor law is/has got • Codified • Low level of flexibility • High density of mandatory provisions - Re-codified in 2006 + Civil code (2012) - Q: What about contractual liberty? • Section 4 of the Labor Code • Examples Brief History - The democratic revolution in 1989 • Fundamental changes in the political, social and economic life of society - The insufficiency of the existing Labor Code of 1965 - In 2006, an opportunity to implement new principles: Parties should have been permitted to form their mutual rights in accordance with their needs Mandatory Rules - The Czech legislature tried to guarantee • the same level of protection as stated in the Labor Code of 1965 (protection); and • - the ability to widen the room to man oeuvre for both parties (flexibility) Sections 2 and 363 of the Labor Code set forth the following categories of rules as mandatory: • provisions enumerated in Section 363, Par. 2 • definitions of the parties of labor law relationships (e.g., employer, employee or trade unions); • provisions referring to the provisions of the Civil Code (the delegation principle); • regulations regarding remedies; • provisions in which the law is explicitly written; and provisions from which it could be derived. Relatively Mandatory Rules - These are all provisions which: • have already been enumerated in Section 363, Paragraph 1 of the Labor Code of 2006 • - establish a duty of the contractual party or other involved persons, or Parties may depart from the relatively mandatory provisions only to benefit an employee Constitutional Court's Decision - Reasons for abrogation: • too complicated and ambiguous (Section 197 of the decision) • the level of formal ambiguity in the Labor Code • difficulties in establishing a legal certainty (legal certainty being the principle that individuals can understand their duties) - Issued in 12 March 2008 and sub seq. published under No. 116/2008 Coll. Section 4 of the Labor Code - First edition: The Civil Code shall apply to employment relationships under this Act only if this Act expressly so provides. - Current rule: Employment relations shall be governed by this Act; if this Act cannot be applied, the Civil Code shall govern, always in accordance with the basic principles of employment relations. The "Other" Way to Form an Employment Relationship - an employer may hire an employee through the act of appointment only if the employer is financed by a public budget • - the individual has to accept the offer 'Subsidiary' employment relationships • work performance agreements (an employer may free himself from many obligations, less taxation) Permanent and Fixed-term Contracts Employment (Czech implementation) - 8 amendments from 2007 - the contract of employment is concluded for an unlimited period (term), unless the duration of the contract is explicitly stipulated - an employer may hire an employee and repeat the fixed-term employment relationship up to a maximum period of 3 + 3 + 3 years • two exceptions (a replacement for serious business reasons) Principles Behind (Czech regulations) - Unitary regulations - Covering all branches and the whole territory - Rigid regulations - Enacted in 50ies of previous Century - Superiority of the Employer Strikes: Statutory Law - Act on collective bargaining • Strike during CB • 3 attempts to regulate - Other strikes unregulated only under the Constitution - Strikers = no wage - Lock-outs = 50 % of average wage The Current Situation - The mixture of flexibility and security introduced in the Labor Code in 2006 has been rejected - Subsequent legal and paralegal changes increased the flexibility of • Employment agreements • Fix-term relationships • Working time and wages (homework) • Temporary agency work