Another novelty brought by the amendment to the Labour Code is the regulation of telework. One of the amendments also concerns the reimbursement of costs related to home office work. You can find out how the costs are determined and what else the amendment regulates in relation to telework in the article.
Telework from 1 October 2023
An employee may only telework on the basis of a written agreement between the employee and the employer. This agreement may be terminated by agreement between the employee and the employer on an agreed date. The agreement may be terminated for any reason or for no reason at all with 15 days' notice, unless the employer and the employee agree on a different length of notice in the agreement. This period shall begin on the date on which such notice is served on the other party. It may also be agreed in the agreement that neither party may terminate the obligation under the agreement.
The telework agreement and its termination must be in writing.
Ordered remote work
An employer may order telework if a measure of a public authority under another law so provides for a strictly necessary period of time, provided that the nature of the work to be performed allows it and the place of telework is suitable for it.
A typical example is the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated emergency measures.
Rules for teleworking during working hours
If the employee and his or her employer agree that the employee will telework during working hours, the following rules apply:
- length of shift must not exceed 12 hours
- the employee shall not be entitled to compensation for wages or salary in the event of other major obstructions to work
- for the purposes of providing compensation for wages, salary or remuneration under the agreement and for taking leave, the following shall apply the distribution of working hours into shifts, which the employer must determine in advance
- adjustments to working time, downtime or interruptions caused by adverse weather conditions do not apply
Reimbursement of expenses when working remotely
The reimbursement of expenses when performing telework is regulated by § Section 190a of the Labour Code.
There are two ways of determining the costs of teleworking:
- reimbursement of expenses demonstrably incurred by the employee in connection with the performance of his work
- lump sum reimbursement of costs
The employer may agree in writing with the employee that the employee is not entitled to reimbursement of expenses in connection with the performance of telework.
Lump sum reimbursement of expenses
If agreed in writing or provided for in an internal regulation, the employer shall provide the employee with a lump sum for each hour of teleworking. Above lump sums shall be determined according to the data published Czech Statistical Office on household consumption for the telework model for one adult in an average household in the Czech Republic per hour.
The specific amount of the lump sum is determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs by decree each time in the regular term from 1 January of the calendar year or in an extraordinary term if there is an increase or decrease in the value referred to in section 190a(3) by at least 20 % compared to the lump sum amount last determined by a decree of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The lump sum shall be rounded up to the nearest ten.
From 1 October 2023 is the lump sum amount set by Decree No 299/2023 Coll., on the determination of the lump sum amount of the reimbursement of expenses for telework for the year 2023 to the amount of 4,60 CZK for every hour of telecommuting you do.
Employees who are remunerated by salary may be provided with a higher lump sum than that provided for in the MoLSA decree. This is not possible for employees of employers listed in Section 109(3) of the Labour Code (salaried employees).
The employer must pay the reimbursement to the employee no later than in the calendar month following the month in which the employee became entitled to it.
Employees working for an employer under a work performance agreement or a work activity agreement are also entitled to reimbursement of expenses for telework if the employer has agreed on this right with the employee.
AVENSIO SW programme
To enter the telework reimbursement, the program AVENSIO SW the following codes have been created and are entered on payroll items (Employee card - Employment relations):
- 2200 (system code 577) - FLAT-RATE REIMBURSEMENT OF HOMEOFFICE EXPENSES
- rate set by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs - currently 4.60 CZK/hour
- Clock is entered in the field Hours, which is rounded up to the nearest whole number in the field Quantity
- No tax, social security or social security contributions are deducted
- 2201 (system code 578) - LUMP SUM. HOMEOFFICE COSTS - ABOVE LIMIT
- the rate is entered manually in the pay code field Rate
- hours entered in the field Hours is rounded up to the nearest whole number in the field Quantity
- tax, social security and social security are paid
- 2202 (system code 579) - REIMBURSEMENT OF ACTUAL HOME OFFICE COSTS
- the rate is entered in the field Rate, the amount in the field Quantity, both by hand
- no tax, social security and social security contributions are deducted
