Changes in the Labour Code unclear, date uncertain
20.10.2010Company: Amcham
The date of effectiveness of the government’s bill of the Labour Code remains uncertain...
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Jaromír Drábek, stated that Parliament would evidently not manage to pass the amendment to the Labour Code by February or March of next year. The bill prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs calculates, in compliance with the coalition agreement, with liberalisation of the employment relationship for a definite period or differentiation of the amount of severance payment pursuant to the length of the employment relationship.
According to the bill, the principal changes will affect working hours accounts and agreements on performance of work. If the act is passed, this agreement could be concluded only in writing and up to 300 hours per year. Contrary to what was originally envisaged, the amendment does not include provisions extending the duration of the probation period.
However, voices supporting the creation of a more complex amendment to the Labour Code, which is at the same time more time-consuming in respect of its preparation, are heard more and more forcefully in the government. At the same time, the parties to the government coalition requested at the end of August that the act begin to apply from January of next year, so that it is possible to carry out the necessary savings in the state budget.
