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 the changes can be found in our information leaflet.
We have also prepared a series of articles on the various changes that the flexiamendment brings, and in this part, we take a closer look at the changes relating to occupational health examinations and health promotion programmes.
Initial occupational health examinations
Section 32 of the Labour Code in conjunction with the Act on Specific Health Services and the Ordinance on Occupational Health Services stipulates that employers are obliged to arrange for an occupational health examination before the commencement of the employment relationship for all newly hired employees, regardless of which of the categories provided for in Section 37 of the Act on the Protection of Public Health the work they perform belongs to.
Thus, initial examinations are mandatory for both objectively hazardous professions and for not hazardous administrative positions. The exceptions to the obligation to undergo an initial health examination are very narrowly defined and in practice, health examinations for employees recruited for jobs falling into the first category of hazardous work often represent only a formal step that employers must ensure, even though their benefits for both the employee and the employer are insignificant.
However, this will change from 1 June 2025. The obligation to undergo an initial health examination will be abolished for job applicants if the job is classified as a first category of hazardous work. Typically, these are, for example, routine administrative or clerical positions where there is no increased health risk in their performance.
This change is primarily aimed at reducing the administrative and time burden for both employers and job applicants. At the same time, however, the law preserves the possibility to carry out such an examination if it is requested either by the employer or by the applicant themselves.
The obligation to undergo an initial medical examination is maintained for work classified in the second to fourth category of hazardous work or where the work involves an activity for the performance of which the conditions of medical fitness are laid down by implementing legislation.
The same applies to the so-called contract workers (DPP, DPČ), who are not obliged to undergo an initial medical examination for the first risk category of work, but for other categories this obligation is already in place.
Health promotion programmes
The second innovation brought by flexiamendment is the introduction of so-called health promotion programmes. This is not an obligation, but an option – employers can introduce, on a completely voluntary basis, activities aimed at promoting the health of employees in the workplace.
Such a programme can be thought of as, for example, the organisation of seminars on the prevention of civilisation diseases, physical activity during working hours, the promotion of healthy eating or other measures to improve the physical and mental well-being of employees.
The Labour Code thus responds to the long-term trend of emphasis on well-being and healthy working environments and gives employers voluntary tools to systematically take care of the health of their team.
For the sake of completeness, we would like to point out that the health promotion programme does not include measures that the employer is obliged to introduce under Part 5 of the Labour Code governing occupational safety and health.
The question may be why the legislature moved to codify the mere option of employers to promote the health of their employees. After all, there is nothing to prevent employers from doing so today, and many do indeed. It is likely that the legislature will soon turn the option of employers to establish health promotion programs into a duty, and in this way, health promotion programs will gradually be introduced into the legal system.
What will the changes bring in practice?
The abolition of mandatory entry examinations for the least hazardous work positions will simplify the onboarding process and reduce administrative costs, which will be especially appreciated by smaller companies and employers with higher employee turnover. The introduction of health promotion programmes, on the other hand, opens up space for long-term work with the working environment and employee care, whether in the form of benefits, prevention programmes or targeted education.
The changes are therefore a further step towards greater flexibility and efficiency in labour law, while also supporting the trend of employers’ responsible approach to human capital.
Summary
Flexiamendment brings significant changes in employment relations – for example, modification of the notice period, extension of the trial period or extension of protection for employees caring for children.
If you have any questions regarding the flexiamendment to the Labour Code or labour law in general, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Tereza Hrudková, legal assistant – hrudkova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Nikola Tomíčková, junior attorney – tomickova@plegal.cz
Mgr. Jakub Málek, managing partner – malek@plegal.cz
26. 5. 2025