On September 12, 2023, the Chamber of Deputies approved the long-awaited amendment to Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labor Code (hereinafter referred to as "Labour Code"Or"ZP"), which was returned to her by the Senate. On September 19, 2023, an amendment was published in the Collection of Laws. It will take effect for the most part on October 1, 2023. In this article, we will briefly discuss some of the main changes that await us.
Overtime in healthcare
In recent days, this amendment has been discussed the most precisely in connection with overtime in the healthcare sector, and also with regard to what the situation was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Legislators "restored" the previously repealed Section 93a of the Labor Code, which regulates additional agreed overtime work beyond the scope specified in Section 93, paragraph 4 of the Labor Code. This enabled the listed professions to agree in writing with the employer on additional overtime work up to an average of 8 hours per week. However, the employee cannot be forced to perform other agreed work and must not be exposed to any harm if he refuses to perform it.
Agreements on work performed outside the employment relationship
The amendment has one of the most significant impacts on the so-called agreement holder. Employees working on the basis of agreements will be entitled to vacation and time off due to all permissible obstacles on their part. They will also be entitled to additional payments, e.g. for working on a holiday.
Electronic delivery of documents
The delivery of documents is awaiting simplification. Until now, so-called important documents according to § 334 ZP could only be delivered electronically if strict conditions were met. The amendment deleted several documents from the list of important documents, therefore, according to the new wording of the Labor Code, these conditions will be waived in certain cases. Electronic delivery of documents to the employee will only be possible if the employee has given consent to this method of delivery in a separate written statement.
Remote work
The expansion of home offices not only during the pandemic contributed to the modification of this part of the Labor Code. Remote work will require a written agreement between the employee and the employer, and the employer will not have to comply with the employee's request in all cases.
The amendment contains a number of other changes, but we consider these to be the most significant.
Source: leagle.one
Mgr. Lucie Špičková, a lawyer
Eva Hrdličková, legal trainee
