12th April 2016

On Posted Workers: Revised Directive - not that big deal in Czech context?

In its document presented at the rountable on labour migration, within the National Convention on the European Union series of public discussions, the Government says the Czech Republic is a net receiver of labor migrants, the only country among the new EU member states. In 2014, there were 17,200 foreign workers placed in the Czech Republic and 10,400 workers were sent abroad. According to OECD, the rate for undeclared work in the Czech Republic varies between 2-10%. The overall macroeconomic and wage impacts of posted workers in the Czech context reach a negligible level.
In the Czech Republic, social dumping, an issue addressed by the proposed changes in the revised Posted Workers Directive, is more of a problem related to agency employment and undeclared work than to posted workers in the services sector, the Government states. The solution to the problém is wage convergence within the EU’s Single Market. Read the document (in Czech). 

The Confederation of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic stated that the revised Directive would affect small and medium-sized enterprises and service providers from the new EU member states and will lead to legal uncertainty. 

Also, Multicultural center Prague in cooperation with the Public Defender of Rights Office (Ombudsman) held a closed hearing on November 27th 2015 with representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Labour Inspection, lawyers, NGOs, and invited international labour experts. Dr. Jan Drahokoupil of the European Trade Union Institute said that the issue of posted workers, despite gaining priority across the EU, is not as prominent in the Czech context because the Czech practice enables easier mechanisms for weakening the employers’ responsibility towards employees. Read more.

Read an article by Euractiv.cz on the position of Hungary and Poland towards the proposed changes in Posted Workers Directive.

View also outcomes of the conference on wage convergence between the old and the new EU member states organized by the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions. Currently, hourly labour costs for the whole economy are at EUR9.9, presentation by the Czech Trade Unions shows. ETUI added hourly wage data for 2000 (hourly wage at EUR3.7) and 2014 (EUR9.4). The Czech Republic depends on effectivity and low labor costs, with its innovation potential remaining unfulfilled, the Confederation of Industry and Trade stated at the conference.   

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic