Czech draft Labour Code regulates telework compensation and conditions for contract workers

by   CIJ News iDesk III
2023-02-01   08:01
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People who work from home or remotely could receive compensation from their employers. Contract workers could now have holidays and also receive sick pay. Parents of children under 15 or carers would be entitled to part-time work. This is foreseen in a forthcoming amendment to the Labour Code published by the government on its website. Labour Minister Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) will present the proposals at a press conference today.

The amendment was prepared by the Labour Ministry. It transposes two EU directives on predictable working conditions and on the balance between work and family. They concern, among other things, parental leave or work on an agreement. The changes were due to come into force by the beginning of August last year. The Czech Republic has had more than three years to adapt the legislation and put it into practice. The previous government failed to do so. The Czech Republic faces fines. According to the documents for the amendment, the European Commission can demand a one-off payment of at least €1.31 million (currently about CZK 31.2 million) and a penalty of between €1,584 and €95,013 (CZK 37,710 and CZK 2.26 million) for each day until the amendment is corrected.

According to the amendment, so-called contract workers would be entitled to a sick pay when paying the levies. They would also receive leave according to the number of hours worked. The employer should reimburse them if they do not manage to take it. It should also schedule the hours of work of contract workers in advance and send the schedule in writing in advance. If working on an agreement for a company has taken at least six months in the last year, people can apply for an employment contract. They must receive a reply with a justification within a month. Agreement workers should also be paid extra for working on holidays, weekends, at night or in difficult environments. People with children under 15 or caring for relatives should be entitled to part-time, teleworking or other working time arrangements. The employer would have to justify the refusal.

Under the amendment, the employer would be obliged to cover the costs incurred by the worker due to telework. This would include, for example, compensation for the use of one's own tools or equipment as well as a lump sum for electricity, gas, water or heating expenses. It could amount to CZK 2.80 for each hour of work. The Ministry of Labour would update the amount for each year according to the data of the statistical office. The lump sum would be exceptionally indexed if costs rose by at least 20 per cent. Compensation would not be part of earnings and would not be taxed. Contract workers would also be able to negotiate them.

However, according to the documents for the amendment, compensation would not have to be compulsory and employers could only provide it voluntarily. The lump sum could then be included in employers' tax-deductible costs.

The government published the first version of the amendment last September. The Ministry of Labour received hundreds of comments. Employers only agreed to provisions based on the directives. They rejected the extra changes, which include reimbursement of expenses when working from home. The code was discussed by the tripartite. Jurečka recently told journalists that representatives of the government, business and trade unions would conclude a "gentleman's agreement" that the draft would remain in its current form and would not be changed during the discussion in the House or Senate. However, the Finance Ministry also has reservations about the amendment. Among other things, it is against the nursing allowance for contract workers.

The Ministry of Labour has not been able to quantify the potential costs of compensation for telework or leave for contractual agreements. The ministry estimated that "low units of millions of crowns" could be spent from the sickness insurance for the treatment of contract workers.

Source: CTK