The long-discussed so-called flexiamendment, which amends the Labour Code and other legislation, brings a number of important changes in the field of labour relations. With effect from 1 June 2025, the changes and novelties will affect many areas and institutes of employment law, an overview of which you can also find basic information in our information leaflet.
We have also prepared a series of articles on the individual changes brought about by flexiamendment, and in this episode we will take a closer look at the changes concerning the length of the time limits for termination of employment by the employer and the employee’s entitlement to leave for the duration of the dispute over the invalidity of the termination of employee’s employment.
Change in the length of the period for termination of employment by the employer
Flexiamendment has brought many fundamental changes to the process of terminating the employment relationship between an employer and an employee.
Although the most significant change in this area is probably the shortening and changing of the beginning of the notice period, an equally important change is the extension of the time limits during which the employer may unilaterally terminate the employment relationship with the employee as a result of the employee’s breach of obligations arising from legal regulations or for reasons for which the employer is entitled to immediately terminate the employment relationship of the employee. In other words, the employer will now have a longer period of time to investigate the circumstances giving rise to the grounds for termination.
The Labour Code is very protective towards the employee, and the expression of its protective nature is, for example, the restriction of the employer to unilaterally terminate the employment relationship of an employee.
Not only does the Labour Code allow employers to unilaterally terminate the employment relationship with an employee by giving notice or immediately terminating such employment relationship only for the reasons enumerated in Sections and 55 of the Labour Code, but in some cases it also limits the time during which the employer must take legal action to terminate the employment relationship. To this end, the Labour Code provides for an objective and subjective limitation period for the employer.
In the event that (i) the employee commits a violation of the obligations imposed on him by the law relating to his work, or (ii) circumstances arise for which the employer is entitled to immediately terminate the employment relationship of the employee, more precisely:
- if the employee has been convicted of a deliberate criminal offence and sentenced to an unconditional prison sentence of more than one year, or
- if the employee has been convicted of a deliberate criminal offence committed in the course of or in direct connection with the performance of his or her duties and sentenced to an unconditional term of imprisonment of at least six months; or
- if the employee has breached an obligation arising from legal regulations relating to the work the employee performs in a particularly serious manner,
the employer is entitled to terminate or cancel the employment relationship with such an employee only for a limited period of time, depending on when the employer became aware of these reasons (subjective period) and when these reasons arose (objective period).
This time limitation adds legal certainty for the employee and prevents the employer’s arbitrariness by precluding the employer from terminating the employment relationship as a result of historical errors or other facts that occurred long ago.
The Labour Code now provides for a two-month subjective period for the employer to take legal action to terminate the employment relationship, commencing on the date the employer becomes aware of the violation or fact. This starts on the date on which the employer becomes aware of the reason for the termination of the employment relationship.
Flexiamendment extends the subjective period to three months – employers will have one more month to assess the seriousness of the breach, investigate, evaluate and impose consequences.
In parallel, the legislation also provides for an objective time limit, i.e. a time limit which, regardless of the employer’s knowledge, is calculated from the date on which the violation or facts occurred, and sets a deadline for the employer to terminate the employment relationship for these reasons. In other words, if the employer does not become aware of the breach until after the expiry of the objective time limit, or fails to respond to the breach before the expiry of the objective time limit, the employer is no longer entitled to terminate the employment relationship with the employee on those grounds.
Under the previous legislation, this period was 1 year, but with the flexiamendment in force, it has been extended to 15 months.
However, we would like to remind you of the special legal regulation for cases where the employee has breached its obligations abroad; in such a case, the above-mentioned three-month subjective period starts to run only from the date of the employee’s return from abroad.
Please note that if the employee’s breach of duty is the subject of an investigation by a public authority, it is notwithstanding the above that the employee may be dismissed or immediately terminated within three months of the date on which the employer becomes aware of the outcome of the investigation.
Employee’s entitlements for the duration of the dispute over the invalidity of the termination of employment
In the event that the employee successfully claims that the termination of employment is invalid, the flexiamendment now obliges the employer to compensate the employee for unused leave to which he or she has been entitled since the employee notified the employer that he or she insists on continued employment. The flexiamendment thus responds to a previous decision of the CJEU which provides that, in addition to wage compensation, an employee is entitled to holiday pay or compensation for untaken holiday.
Another related amendment concerns the moderation of wage compensation. On the employer’s motion, if the employee should be entitled to wage compensation for a period longer than 6 months, the court may moderate the amount of compensation. In doing so, it will take into account, in particular, whether the employee has been employed elsewhere in the meantime and, now, whether the employee has engaged in gainful activity other than dependent work.
Summary
Flexiamendment brings several major changes that will have a significant impact on the daily functioning of employee relations.
Another significant change is the extension of the time limits during which the employer is entitled to unilaterally terminate the employment relationship of an employee as a result of a breach of an obligation arising from legal regulations related to the work performed or for a reason for which the employment relationship may be terminated immediately.
The new legislation also provides for the employee’s entitlement to leave in the event of an invalid termination of employment and for the taking into account of all the employee’s gainful activity in modifying the entitlement to wage compensation in the event of an invalid termination of employment.
If you have any questions regarding the flexible amendment to the Labour Code or labour law in general, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Mgr. Kateřina Vyšínová, junior lawyer – vysinova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Nikola Tomíčková, junior lawyer – tomickova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Jakub Málek, managing partner – malek@plegal.cz
21. 5. 2025