The government’s proposed amendment to the Labour Code brings some interesting news, as well as changes that can be described, without exaggeration, as revolutionary.

If the current amendment is adopted, it will significantly change, for example, the method of calculating holiday. The entitlement to holiday would not be determined by the number of days worked by the employee, but by the employee’s weekly working time. The entitlement to holiday would be set in hours. Furthermore, the period during which the employee did not work due to a significant personal obstacle at work should be considered as worked for the purposes of calculating the length of holiday, up to twenty times the weekly working time, but provided that the employee actually worked at least twelve times the period in the given calendar year.

The most essential change concerns the minimum wage, the amount of which has been determined by the government’s decree. The amendment envisages the introduction of an automatic mechanism where the minimum wage level is linked to the average wage level. The amount of the minimum wage would be set at 0.548 times the average gross monthly nominal wage in the national economy for the calendar year before last, which would mean its rapid increase. Increase in the minimum wage would also affect the amounts of the individual levels of the guaranteed wage.

What is also new is the proposal to introduce a so-called shared job. This institute is intended to improve the work-life balance. Two or more employees will be able to use a shared job, ensuring that, based on the work schedule created by them, they fulfil the weekly working time, which may not exceed the statutory weekly limit of forty hours.

Other changes concern, for example, an agreement for work outside employment relationship, temporary assignment of employees, delivery and employees’ return after parental leave.

The proposed effect of the amendment is from 1 July 2019, and the regulation of holiday should take effect from 1 January 2020.

AUTHOR

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  Karel Kotrba

  Junior Associate

  T +420 222 929 301