Czech Republic: Know Your Employee Vacation Obligations In The Czech Republic

With summer comes the usual influx of vacation requests. And many Czech employees wrongly believe that they are entitled to determine their own annual leave periods.

Many Czech employees believe that they are entitled to determine their own annual leave periods however, it's actually the employer who has that right, and who schedules in the holidays accordingly.

In practice, it's common for the employer and employee to agree in writing on vacation conditions that suit both sides.

Vacation (leave)

Vacation should be taken by the end of the calendar year in which this leave was accrued. According to the Labour Code, advance notice of at least 14 days is required – and in writing – unless otherwise agreed.

There are scenarios where upcoming vacation is not scheduled by the employer due to obstacles on the employee's side, or due to urgent operational reasons on the employer's side. Where part of the vacation allowance is transferred to the next calendar year due to the above mentioned reasons, or due to the breach of employer's obligation by failing to schedule the vacation to the employee (threat of penalties of up to CZK 200,000), the Labour Code specifies one more obligation to the employer.

The employer must schedule the vacation to the employee by 30 June so that the employee's transferred vacation is drawn out by the end of the following calendar year. Where the vacation is not scheduled by the employer within the specified time, the employee is entitled to determine his/her vacation by himself/herself from 1 July. This is the only situation where vacation is scheduled by the employee. The same rule mentioned above applies for the employee as for the employer.

Vacation after maternity leave

The Czech Labour Code also specifies leave regulations for employees who are concurrently on maternity leave (parental leave for men).

The employee on maternity leave may ask her employer to schedule her vacation so that it immediately follows the end of her maternity leave, and the employer is obliged to comply with this request. If the employee doesn't ask the employer to schedule her vacation, and if parental leave begins immediately after maternity leave resulting in 100 or more total working days missed, the unexpended vacation is reduced in accordance with the provision of the Labour Code.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.