Obstacles to work are situations where an employee is unable to do his or her job - either for reasons on his or her own or the employer's side.

As of 1 June 2025, not only the so-called. Flexinovela of the Labour Code, 590/2006 Coll., which determines the scope and extent of important personal obstacles at work. This regulation is also directly referred to in the Labour Code, in particular Section 199 thereof.

The amendment brings changes to certain types of obstacles to work, and we will discuss these in more detail in this article.

 

Important changes to barriers to work

New definition of husband in obstacles to work

The amendment to the government regulation also introduced an innovation in the form of Section 1a, which for the first time explicitly defines who can be considered a "spouse" for the purposes of work interference.

According to this provision, a spouse is not only a person who has entered into a marriage under the Civil Code, but also a person who has entered into a registered partnership under the Registered Partnership Act. In practice, this means that even registered partners are now equal to spouses in terms of employment barriers.

This change is particularly important for same-sex couples. Registered partners are now legally entitled to the same work restrictions as spouses - for example, time off for the death of a partner or for accompanying a partner to a medical facility.

Deaths

A fundamental change concerns obstacles to work in the event of the death of a close person. In order to qualify for an obstacle to work in the event of the death of a close person, the family relationship to the deceased person or cohabitation with him/her is decisive. A new feature is that the employer grants a full day's leave of absence with wage or salary compensation for attending a funeral. Prior to the amendment, leave of absence with wage or salary compensation was granted to certain groups of relatives only for the necessary period of time, up to a maximum of 1 day. And what about the granting of leave in the event of death?

Leave of absence with pay or salary compensation to the extent of two days + the next day to attend the funeral of these persons shall be provided on death:

• husband,
• the other,
• of the child.

Leave of absence with pay or salary compensation for 1 day to attend a funeral + an additional day if the employee arranges the funeral is due on death:

• parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the deceased,
• Parents, grandparents or siblings of the employee's spouse,
• the spouse of the employee's child or the spouse of the employee's sibling,
• another person who was living in the employee's household at the time of death.

A significant change is the provision of leave of absence without pay or remuneration for up to 5 additional days at death:

• husband,
• the other,
• of the child,
• of a grandchild,
• parent,
• Grandparents,
• siblings

employees.

Example:

The employee's husband died. In this context, she is entitled to a total of 3 days leave with pay or salary compensation (1 day of which is for attending the funeral). In addition, she may take up to 5 additional days of leave without pay.

A staff member's grandmother has passed away and will be making arrangements for her funeral. In this case, she is entitled to 2 days leave with pay or salary compensation - 1 day to arrange the funeral and 1 day to attend the funeral. She may also request up to 5 days of leave without pay.

Conclusion of marriage

There is also a change when there is an obstacle to work due to marriage. When a marriage occurs, the employee is granted leave for 2 days for the wedding itself, 1 day of which is to attend the wedding ceremony. The employee shall be entitled to compensation for 1 day only. If the employee takes 2 days' leave, the employee shall be entitled to compensation for wages or salary only for the day of attendance at the wedding ceremony.

In the event that an employee takes 2 days off work for his/her own wedding, he/she shall be entitled to compensation for the day on which he/she attended the wedding ceremony.

Leave of absence with pay or salary compensation of 1 day shall be granted to an employee to attend the wedding ceremony of his/her child.

An employee may take 1 day of leave without pay or salary compensation to attend his/her parent's wedding ceremony.

Example:

An employee takes leave of absence for the purpose of marriage. As he works from Monday to Friday, he takes leave on Thursday and Friday. The wedding ceremony takes place on Friday. He is entitled to leave without pay or salary for Thursday and with pay or salary for Friday.

The employee is married and works irregular hours. As her shifts are scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays, she takes time off work on both days. She is entitled to leave without pay on Fridays and with pay on Saturdays, as the wedding ceremony takes place on that day.

 

Finding a new job

Employees are entitled to a leave of absence before the end of their employment in connection with the search for a new job:

• with wage or salary compensation for a maximum of 4 days if the employment relationship ends as a result of notice given by the employer pursuant to Section 52(a) to (e) of the Labour Code or on the basis of an agreement for the same reasons
• without wage or salary compensation for a maximum of 2 days if the employment relationship ends on the basis of notice given by the employer under Section 52(f) to (h) of the Labour Code or on the basis of an agreement concluded for the same reasons
• without compensation for wages or salary for a maximum of 4 days if the employment relationship ends otherwise than as specified in the preceding paragraphs.

If the employee uses up the leave of absence according to the above rules, he/she is entitled to another leave of absence without compensation of wages or salary for the necessary period of time for the purpose of using the consultancy services of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, up to a maximum of 2 days. In the case of termination of the employment relationship pursuant to Section 52(f) to (h), then for a maximum of 1 day.

If an employee takes time off work for part of a shift, the entire day of time off shall be deemed to have been taken.

Making it impossible to travel to work

Leave of absence with wage or salary compensation for the necessary period of time, but not more than 1 day, is granted to an employee who is severely disabled when travel to work by private means of transport is prevented by adverse weather conditions, natural disasters or other emergencies.

Prior to the amendment of the Government Regulation, there was only one excuse for this obstacle, namely adverse weather conditions. The amendment thus broadens the list of excuses, which is a positive change for severely disabled employees.

Accompaniment

There has also been a minor modification to the obstacle to work relating to escorting to medical facilities. It has been added to the provision on escorting a family member to a medical facility for treatment or examination that the leave of absence applies to and on the way back from a medical facility. The same applies to accompanying the child to a school counselling centre to determine the child's special educational needs and back.

For the sake of completeness, I would like to add that in the case of accompaniment, the employee is entitled to a leave of absence with wage or salary compensation for the necessary period of time, for a maximum of 1 day, if the accompaniment is of the spouse, partner or child, as well as the parent and grandparent of the employee or his/her spouse. When accompanying other family members, the employee shall be granted leave without pay.

Wage or salary compensation for an employee who schedules his own working hours

An employee who schedules his/her own working hours pursuant to Section 87a of the Labour Code is also entitled to compensation for wages or salary in the event of obstacles to work due to marriage, death of a close person or relocation in the interest of the employer.

Why is the amendment so important?

Government Regulation No. 590/2006 Coll., which determines the scope and extent of important personal obstacles at work, was adopted almost twenty years ago. The current amendment is its first change since the.

That is why it is important that both employers and employees are familiar with the new rules. In practice, it is quite common for employees to take time off work - whether it is a doctor's appointment, a wedding, the birth of a child or a death in the family. The amendment thus has an impact on the day-to-day functioning of working life and should not be overlooked.

 

Author Lucie Kubátová, manager Payroll Academy a Legislative Change Analyst