Remote Working Laws & Regulations in the Czech Republic

Tax and social security related advice was prepared in cooperation with Mazars.

Working from home is governed by labour law regulations, in particular by the Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code.

The Labour Code enables work from home in general for all employees based on a written agreement with employer. The law regulates, among other things, the termination of agreement, reimbursement of costs related to work from home, employer’s possibility to order home working unilaterally and requests for home working for protected employees.

The Labour Code also contains one specific provision that applies to employees who work from home who can, under an agreement with the employer, schedule their working hours themselves. For these employees, the general regulation on setting working hours does not apply (e.g. the employer is not obliged to determine the beginning and end of shifts or to schedule working hours). These employees are generally not entitled to a compensatory wage or salary for certain personal obstacles to work, such as a doctor’s appointment.

Working from home can only be implemented under an individual written agreement with an employee (i.e. in the employment contract or in a separate agreement). However, the Labour Code does not state the mandatory requirements for such an agreement and, therefore, the agreement can be rather simple and the specific conditions of work from home can be determined unilaterally by the employer in an internal policy.

Employers can unilaterally order employees to work from home only if a currently applicable measure of a public authority allows this, and only for a strictly necessary period, if the nature of the work allows it, provided that the home workplace is suitable for the performance of work. In such a case, the employee must specify to the employer the home workplace address in writing at the employer's request without undue delay, or inform the employer that they have no suitable workplace available.

No, in general, employees cannot force an employer to allow them to work remotely since the consent of both parties is required. However, the employer must justify in writing the reasons for refusing a request to work from home from an employee with care responsibilities (e.g. care of a child under the age of nine years, a pregnant employee, an employee solely caring for a disabled person, etc.).

Strictly and legally speaking, yes. According to the Czech Labour Code, the employee’s work is performed at the employer’s expense. Therefore, employers are obliged to provide all employees with the required working equipment and supplies (typically IT and office equipment) regardless of the employee’s place of work. Alternatively, the employer may agree that the employee will be reimbursed for the costs of purchasing supplies.

Yes. Employees perform work at the employer’s expense. Therefore, employers are obliged to provide a remote work allowance to cover the employee’s expenses incurred while performing work (e.g. expenses for work-related telephone calls, internet connection, increased utilities costs such as electricity and heating). There are two possible options: reimbursement of actual costs or a lump-sum allowance for each commenced hour of remote work. In case of reimbursement of actual costs, employees are obliged to calculate these costs and justify them to their employer. It is possible to agree in writing with the employees that they are not entitled to cost reimbursement.

In addition to the above, the employer must also reimburse the employee for the wear and tear of the employee’s own equipment (e.g. chair, desk, monitor) if the employer has not provided the equipment to the employee.

Yes, as mentioned in previous answer, the employer is obliged to provide the employee with remote work allowance. There are two possible options: reimbursement of actual costs or a lump-sum allowance for each commenced hour of remote work. In case of reimbursement of actual costs, employees are obliged to calculate these costs and justify them to their employer. The amount of the minimum lump-sum allowance is set by the applicable legal regulation and in 2024 it is CZK 4.50 per each commenced hour of remote work.

Yes, the regulation of occupational health and safety in the Labour Code (and relevant special legislation) applies regardless of the place of work. Employers are still responsible for ensuring occupational health and safety and can be held liable in the event of an injury while working from home.

The specific occupational health and safety measures that the employer must take depend on the circumstances of the individual case. Employers must consider the nature of remote work and adjust their practice accordingly. For example, employees who work from home should receive instructions on how to correctly set up a workstation and health and safety training related to work from home.

No. The employer has no specific obligations relating to employees who work from home. However, the general obligations of the Labour Code apply. Regarding employees working from home, employers have the same obligations to them as they do to employees working on the employer’s premises including, for example, work-time keeping. The employer may, nevertheless, require the employee’s cooperation to allow the employer to meet its obligations (e.g. fill-in time sheets).

An employee working from home must be insured in the same way as an employee working at the employer’s workplace or another work site. No specific insurance is required for employees who work from home.

Yes, due to the absence of special regulations on work-related accidents and illnesses related to working from home, employees are protected by the regulation on occupational health and safety regardless of their place of work. Employers have the same occupational health and safety obligations and liabilities to these workers as they do to any other employees.

No.

No. All general obligations set out in the Labour Code apply to employees who work from home.

No.

The term “remote work abroad” is not defined by Czech law and Czech law does not regulate or prohibit remote work specifically. As a result, all general rules applicable to remote work also apply to remote work from abroad. This leads to additional considerations and risks for the employer (e.g. delivery of documents, governing law, occupational health & safety, tax and social security considerations).

Generally, Czech law applies even if the employee temporarily works remotely from abroad. However, if an employee habitually works from abroad, the foreign law of the country from which the employee works may apply. The extent to which the foreign law applies depends on whether the parties chose the Czech law as the governing law for the employment contract (in which case the application of foreign law is limited). Therefore, it is important to assess each case individually.

If a Czech employee works for their Czech employer remotely from a foreign country, it is generally possible for the employee to remain in the Czech social security and health insurance system if an applicable social security agreement allows it. This is the case for employees who worked in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) or in the UK. It would also apply to a country with which the Czech Republic has concluded a Social Security (Totalisation) Agreement, but we advise to always check if the Social Security Agreement also applies to health insurance coverage.

The employee and the employer must apply for a Czech A1 Certificate/ Certificate of Coverage to confirm that the Czech social security and health insurance (if relevant) is the applicable system during the period of remote work. The Certificate is time limited.

If the Czech employee wants to work remotely in a country that does not have a Social Security Agreement with the Czech Republic, the employer should carefully review if there is any requirement for the employee (and Czech employer) to participate in the social security and/or health insurance system of the foreign country.

The above rules apply in a similar way to non-Czech employees working remotely for Czech employers from a foreign country. If the primary residence of an employee is located outside of the Czech Republic, this fact may influence the determination of the applicable social security system.

It is necessary to review the applicable Double Tax Treaty to determine if an employee of a Czech company working remotely in another country on a short-term basis is taxable in that country. In most cases, if a Czech tax resident spends less than 183 days in the other country in any 12-month period or calendar year (this varies according to the relevant Treaty), the individual will not be taxable in the other country, but all conditions for tax exemption of the income in the other country mentioned by the relevant Treaty must be met (e.g. Czech company did not have a permanent establishment/branch in the foreign country, the employment costs were not re-invoiced to an entity in the foreign country).

If the employee became taxable in the other country, the mechanism stated in the Double Tax Treaty (e.g. exemption of the income from Czech taxation or possibility to credit the foreign tax paid against the calculated Czech tax due on the income) should be applied to eliminate/reduce the double taxation. These rules also apply to employees who are not Czech tax residents and are not tax residents of the country where they work remotely.

The personal situation of each employee working remotely in another country also needs to be reviewed to confirm if an employee remains a Czech tax resident/resident of another country while working remotely in the foreign country.

If the employee works remotely in a country that does not have Double Tax Treaty with the Czech Republic, it would be necessary to review the other country’s domestic tax law to determine if the  employee would become taxable there and if the scope of taxation covers only the employment income received while working remotely in the country or if it looks at the Czech employee’s full worldwide income.

Nationals of the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland and some UK nationals with enhanced rights under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement (EU National) are generally allowed to live and work in other EU/EEA countries and Switzerland without a visa or residence permit. Similar preferential treatment applies to their family members.

However, if (1) an EU National wishes to work in a country outside of the EU, EEA and Switzerland or (2) if the employee is a third-country national and works in the Czech Republic based on a Czech residence/work permit, it is important to verify whether the employee needs a valid residence permit and/or work permit to be able to work legally in that country. We advise always checking such requirements with a local legal counsel.

Lastly, employees who are third-country nationals and reside and work in the Czech Republic based on a Czech residence permit must always fulfil the purpose for which their permit was issued. Longer stays outside the Czech Republic (e.g. two months) may suggest that the third-country national does not fulfil the purpose of the Czech permit, which may result in cancellation of their permit by Czech authorities. Therefore, it is recommended that the period of remote work abroad be monitored and limited to avoid this risk.

There is still an absence of occupational health and safety regulation for home office even after the amendment of the Labour Code in 2023. The law is silent on the issue, and thus an employer’s ability to fulfil OHS standards for home-office employees remains a complicated issue.

Similarly problematic is the lack of regulation of remote work from abroad. The requirement to comply with the general statutory rules triggers additional considerations and risks for the employers who want to allow their employees to work remotely from abroad.