New law in Czechia will let employees find out if they're paid less than their colleagues

The Czech government is preparing an amendment to the Labour Code that would give employees the right to find out the average salary for their position within a company and to demand an explanation if their own pay turns out to be lower. This was explained in an interview by Petr Hůrka, professor of labour law at the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University in Brno, who took part in drafting the provision.

The amendment implements an EU directive on pay transparency, whose main aim is to prevent people from being paid less simply because of their gender, for instance. According to the expert, there was initially discussion of requiring salary figures to be listed directly in job advertisements, but the idea was dropped as unrealistic: the final salary depends on a specific candidate's qualifications, and it's impossible to list every component of pay and benefits in a short ad. In the end, employers will be required to disclose the salary no later than before the employment contract is signed — previously, this information often only surfaced once someone actually started the job.

How to find out the average salary for a position

Under the new rules, employers will be required to sort all employees into job groups in accordance with Section 110 of the Labour Code — based on the complexity, responsibility and intensity of the work. Any employee will be able to request data from their employer on the average earnings within their group, including bonuses and benefits — pension contributions, Multisport cards, sports allowances, or the right to use a company car for personal purposes.

If it turns out that a person earns less than the group average, they are entitled to demand an explanation. Colleagues' personal data won't be disclosed — but if a group is so small that the average figure effectively reveals someone's individual salary, the employer must justify the refusal to share it and, if the company has a trade union, pass the information on to it instead. The union will then assess whether the principle of equal pay is being upheld and, if it finds a violation, advise the employee to turn to the courts or to a supervisory authority. Where there is no trade union — typically the case at small businesses — employees can turn to the ombudsman, who has the power to request documents from the employer and assess whether its actions are lawful.

If someone believes they are earning, say, 30% less than the usual salary for their position, they will be able to seek justice through the courts. Crucially, the burden of proof will fall on the employer, who will have to demonstrate that the pay gap is justified and not linked to gender discrimination. The expert notes that Czech law already requires equal pay for equal work — the new rule simply makes that right genuinely enforceable.

New rules for couriers and platform drivers

At the same time, Czechia is preparing a law on the status of workers for online platforms such as Bolt and Rohlík — according to trade unions, there are already more than half a million such workers in the country. Currently, the vast majority of them are registered as self-employed, with no employment protections.

The new law would require determining whether a courier's or driver's work actually meets the criteria of so-called dependent labour — and if so, they would fall under the Labour Code. For those who remain self-employed, platforms will be required to ensure transparency in the automated systems used to monitor and assign orders, avoid overloading workers, and provide access to a real person to consult with, rather than only an algorithm.

Trade unions fear that clarifying the criteria for "dependent labour" — covering the organisation of work, supervision, instructions and scheduling — could lead to a mass shift of employees into self-employment in cases where it makes little sense, such as for orchestra musicians or seamstresses. The expert disagrees: if a musician or craftsperson sets their own schedule and takes on jobs as they choose, self-employed status is justified; but if a person must show up at a specific place every day and work fixed hours, they remain an employee regardless of what the contract says.

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Source: novinky.cz