Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides
information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway
which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Czechia: Time off for job search
Phase
Government Regulation No. 590/2006 Coll., on the range and extent of other important personal obstacles to work
Act No. 262/2006, Coll. Labor Code
Native name
Nařízení vlády č. 590/2006 Sb., kterým se stanoví okruh a rozsah jiných důležitých osobních překážek v práci
zákon č. 262/2006 Sb., zákoník práce
Type
Time off for job search
Added to database
08 May 2015
Article
Point 11 of the annex
§199 of Act No. 262/2006, Coll. Labor Code
Description
Time off for job search with refund of wages is provided to a maximum of one half day per week before the termination of employment due to reorganisation, during the notice period of two months. Time off may be accumulated and taken in 'one-go' with the consent of the employer.
This article is valid both for individual and for collective dismissals (within 30 days dismissals of at least 10 workers in companies with 20-100 employees, at least 10% in companies with 101-300 employees, or at least 30 workers in companies with more than 300 workers) and for all types of contracts (fixed-term contracts, permanent contracts, full-time and part-time contracts).
Commentary
Government Regulation No. 590/2006 Coll. provides further details on specific cases mentioned in the paragraph 199 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labour Code, which regulates personal obstacles to work.
Additional metadata
Cost covered by
Employer
Involved actors other than national government
National government
Involvement (others)
None
Thresholds
Affected employees: 10 Company size: 20 Additional information: No, applicable in all circumstances
Sources
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities/Héra (2011), Selected companies’ legal obligations regarding restructuring
Ius Laboris (2011), Individual Dismissals Across Europe, Brussels
Eurofound (2015), Czechia: Time off for job search, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin,
https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/time-off-for-job-search/czechia
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), alongside a new classification of restructuring events involving changes in company location.
Employers increasingly use tools such as email, SMS and messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal to communicate with employees. While these technologies offer both efficiency and convenience, their use in communicating sensitive information, particularly for notifying employees of dismissal, raises legal concerns. This article explores the legal framework on dismissals across the EU, with a special focus on the use of digital means for communicating employment dismissals. Drawing on examples from various Member States, it examines the legal validity of digital dismissals.
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, these companies are among the highest paying, with Eurostat data from 2022 indicating that workers in ICT had the second-highest median gross hourly earnings (surpassed only by earnings in the financial sector).[1] These layoffs were a shock, especially as the biggest companies had hired extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic. What happened in the two years after this redundancy wave – was that the end of the cuts or did the companies start expanding again?
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure of production lines in Europe. A number of European car manufacturers and suppliers announced their intention to make large-scale redundancies and change long-standing collective agreements on job security and wages, while workers raised concerns amid demonstrations and industrial action.