Managing Staff/Employees

An important area of human resources management is acquisition and selection of employees, their motivation to desired employment performance, education and development of employees. Entrepreneurs in the area of human resources must proceed in compliance with a number of legal regulations.

Legal requirements

All legal regulations are subject to the Labour Code, Act on Employment, Act on Collective Bargaining and the relevant implementation procedures to the above acts.

Acquiring and selecting employees

With regards to the conclusion of an employment contract, an employer must observe some duties defined by the Labour Code, or those stipulated in special legal regulations.

Special conditions apply to specific groups of employees that the customer must respect. These groups are children, youth, women, and handicapped persons.

The basic employment and legal relationships include employment contract and legal relationships based on contract for work completed outside of employment.

Social Insurance

The social insurance system includes basic compulsory pension insurance and sickness insurance. Apart from social security premiums, contributions to the state employment policy are also collected within the scope of the system. The following document contains basic information on the system of social insurance including key legislative changes since 2006, an evaluation of the basic indicators of social insurance and medium-term and long-term projections.

Remuneration

The Labour Code defines common remuneration principles for all groups of employees, such as protection against unreasonably low wages (salaries), and against discrimination in remuneration.

Laying off employees

An employment contract may end above all based on a legal act toward its termination, made by one of the participants (employee or employer); an employment contract may be terminated based on an agreement on termination of employment, notice, immediate cancellation, or termination in the probation period. An employment contract agreed for a definite period of time ends unless it was terminated prior to the agreed upon time period in a different manner subject to the Labour Code, at the time of expiration of the agreed upon period.

Employment in the EU conditions

Citizens of the EU member states and their family members are not considered foreigners from the point of view of the Labour Code and, in compliance with the Labour Code they enjoy the same position as the citizens of the Czech Republic. Therefore, they do not need a work permit to work in the territory of the Czech Republic.

Employing foreigners

Legal and employment relations between a foreigner and an employer are governed above all by the Labour Code and related procedures, similarly to employees – Czech citizens. However, in this case, the legal and employment relationships between the employer and the employee may be modified differently, according to legal regulations on private international law. Conditions of employment are further identified by the Act on Employment, according to which foreigners may be employed in the territory of the Czech Republic if the future employer received an authorisation to acquire employees from abroad and the foreigners were issued individual employment permits (if such permits are needed) and a residence permit.

Human resources management also requires that the employer adheres to social and legal standards, such as the principle of non-discrimination, equality of the sexes, safety and health protection at work.

Resources

The following governmental and non-governmental institutions and web portals offer further information and useful services related to the area of social security and work conditions.

EURES, the European job portal, offers employers information and support on recruiting across the EU. As well as assisting jobseekers, it helps entrepreneurs find workers from across the EU. In border regions, EURES provides information on cross-border commuting and helps workers and employers with problems that may arise.

Personalised help and advice

The Enterprise Europe Network is an extensive network (with 600 host organisations and 4 000 full-time staff) providing information and advice to entrepreneurs through its local partners.

Legal texts

Document created in co-operation between Your Europe - Business (EU portal for companies) and BusinessInfo.cz.