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 various changes that flexiamendment brings, and in this part we will take a closer look at the changes concerning the running and length of the notice period.
Change in the beginning of running of the notice period
The flexiamendment introduces a fundamental change, namely a change in the start of the notice period, where instead of the previous legal regulation, when the start of the notice period was fixed on the first day of the calendar month following the date of delivery of the notice to the other party, the notice period will now start from the date of delivery of the notice.
According to the Labour Code, the notice period will end on the date which corresponds numerically to the date on which the notice was delivered, plus the appropriate number of months of the notice period. In this context, the flexiamendment also explicitly provides that if there is no such day in the relevant calendar month, the notice period shall end on the last day of that month. This applies in shorter calendar months.
The change will have a major practical impact on the termination of employment. On the one hand, the parties to employment relationships may not have to worry about the timing of the legal action if they want the notice period to start as soon as possible after the notice is served, but on the other hand, the timing of the notice may be a thorn in their side if one of the parties wants the notice period to end, for example, at the end of a particular month.
Ultimately, however, it will be up to the employer to decide which way to run the notice period, as it is possible to deviate from this regulation by means of an agreement in the employment contract and to maintain, for example, the current notice period regime as it applied before the flexiamendment.
Changing the length of the notice period
The second significant change in the termination of employment is the differentiation of the minimum duration of the notice period in cases of termination of employment by the employer, depending on the reason for termination.
Newly, employers will be able to terminate an employee’s employment relationship more quickly on termination grounds under the provisions of Section 52(f) to (h) of the Labour Code, i.e. if the employee:
- does not meet the employer’s legal prerequisites or requirements for the job or has unsatisfactory performance,
- committed a violation of legal regulations relating to his/her work (gross, serious or less serious but consistent),
- violated the temporary incapacity for work scheme, or
- if there are grounds for which the employer could immediately terminate the employment relationship, with a minimum notice period of only one (1) month after the flexiamendment takes effect, unless the employee and the employer agree otherwise.
The minimum notice period of two months is retained for other grounds for termination, but the notice period is different based on the employee’s agreement with the employer
However, the contractual regulation of the length of the notice period, which differs from the law, must always be the same for both the employee and the employer.
However, if the employer wishes to use the shorter notice period under the flexiamendment, it cannot have a “two (2) month notice period” in the employment contract from 1 June 2025. Such an arrangement would negate the provisions of the Act.
Termination without giving a reason for termination
The controversial innovation that flexiamendment originally promised to bring, which would have fundamentally reduced the protection of employees in the employment relationship, was the introduction of the possibility of termination by the employer without giving a reason.
However, despite the original draft of the act, this controversial point was not approved, especially in view of the fact that the amendment introducing termination without giving a reason was not of a very high legislative quality.
Summary
Flexiamendment brings several major changes that will have a significant impact on the daily functioning of employee relations.
One of the most significant changes introduced by the flexiamendment is the streamlining and acceleration of the process of termination of an employee’s employment relationship by notice, whereby both the start of the notice period is changed and its length is shortened in cases of termination by the employer on grounds of notice pursuant to Section 52(f) to (h) of the Labour Code.
Mgr. Kateřina Vyšínová, junior lawyer – vysinova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Nikola Tomíčková, junior lawyer – tomickova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Jakub Málek, managing partner – malek@plegal.cz
15. 5. 2025