Labor law has seen a number of important innovations in recent months, which is probably why it will receive a lot of attention at the upcoming Legal Space congress. Attorney Tereza Erényi will introduce us to some of these news not only in April at Seč u Chrudim, but also in today’s interview.
At the Legal Space congress, you will present new sanctions for offenses under the Employment Act. Which ones are they?
As part of my contribution, I would like to draw attention to the new sanctions introduced by the amendment to the Employment Act with effect from 1 January 2024. Sanctions aim at further tightening of penalties for enabling the performance of illegal work and covert employment mediation, i.e. the activities of so-called pseudo-employment agencies, which, on the basis of commercial work contracts, assign employees to other entities, thereby circumventing the legal conditions of agency employment.
There are more new tightenings. The option of the labor inspectorate to impose a penalty of up to 2 years of ban on illegal work or disguised employment mediation is certainly interesting.
In this context, it is important to note that illegal work is not only “black” work (i.e. without a contract, and therefore also taxes and levies) or the employment of foreigners from third countries (outside the EU) without relevant permits, but also the relatively widespread practice of cooperation with Self-employed persons fulfilling the characteristics of dependent work (the so-called black market system). The assessment of whether specific cooperation with the self-employed should be considered a black system then depends on a number of circumstances and the conclusions are not always predictable. According to the amendment, the imposition of a ban on activity will continue to threaten not only so-called pseudo-agencies, but also companies that enable the performance of disguised employment mediation – i.e. service recipients.
The amendment also expands the range of offenses in which the customer of the service is liable for fines imposed by the labor inspection on his subcontractor for offenses in connection with the work of foreigners.
Will these sanctions act as sufficient motivation to comply with employment legislation? Read full interview
