Czech Republic: Employers’ Role Regarding Care for Employees in the Area of Professional Development

Author: Klára Šléglová

Having sufficiently qualified and trained employees is one of the most important interests of employers, as it ensures that work performance and results will be of significant quality and reliability. The Czech Labour Code includes mandatory care for professional development among the employer´s obligations to create satisfactory working conditions and identifies the main forms of professional development that employees should be provided with by their employer.

 

Training, Instruction, and Professional Practice for School Graduates

New employees with no qualification for their job must be given adequate training and instruction by the employer. The same applies to employees transferred to a new type of work or workplace (if necessary). Employees are entitled to receive a salary for the time spent in training.

Moreover, the Czech Labour Code also sets specific rules for securing appropriate professional practice for graduates of universities, secondary schools, conservatories, and higher vocational schools, so that the graduates can gain the practical skills and experience needed to perform their work.

 

Improving and Increasing Qualifications

The Czech Labour Code recognises two types of professional development – improving and increasing employee’s qualification.

Improving qualification is an ongoing supplementation of qualification that does not alter its essence and includes its maintaining and reviewing. Employees are obliged to improve their qualification for the agreed work, and the employer can require them to participate in training for this purpose, which shall be remunerated as performance of work. The Supreme Court has held that failure to participate in such training constitutes a breach of employee’s duties.

Increasing qualification is a change in the qualification value, including its obtaining or extending. Contrary to improving, here employers cannot require employees to undergo training or education for the purpose of increasing their qualification; instead, the employer and the employee must reach an agreement on the increasing of qualification. The employee shall be provided with the necessary time-off and salary compensation – the Labour Code even stipulates the number of working days required for specific cases, such as writing and defending the graduation thesis or preparation for the final state exam. The progress in increasing qualification can be monitored by the employer, and the employer may withdraw relief in work if the employee fails to fulfil substantial obligations in increasing qualifications or if they become unfit for their work for which they are increasing qualifications on a long-term basis.

 

Qualification Agreement

In an agreement on increasing qualification, an employer commits to allow the employee to participate in approved training and the employee undertakes to remain employed for an agreed period (5 years at most), with a duty to reimburse the employer for training costs should they breach this obligation. A qualification agreement may only be concluded where the anticipated costs amount to at least CZK 75,000, in which case the employer may no longer require the employee to undergo the training unilaterally. The qualification agreement must be concluded in writing.

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

• Employers are required to provide a salary/salary compensation for the time their employees spend in introductory training or training to improve/increase their qualification under the conditions stipulated in the Labour Code.
• An employee’s failure to fulfil substantial obligations in increasing qualifications can be considered a breach of their duties.
• In a qualification agreement, an employee commits to remain in the employment relationship for an agreed period, whilst an employer undertakes to allow them to participate in training to increase their qualification.