Finding an employment/arranging for a trade license

Finding an employment

A person who is permanently living in the Czech Republic and is not a retired pensioner, a person constantly preparing himself/herself for the chosen occupation (studying at a high school, college or university) or whose work inability is not changed up to the point not to be able to even be employed, or who does not perform business activities (is not a self-employed person – SEP), should finance his/her needs and expenses for accommodation via a wage which is paid for employment.

You may try to find a job by yourself (advertisements, employment agencies, recommendations coming from your acquaintances, contacting employers directly whether they are looking for new employees), but it is useful to accompany these efforts by registering yourself at the Labour Office at a location where you are permanently residing. The Labour Office may help you to find a suitable job, but you have to cooperate with the Labour Office properly, particularly to appear in front of the Labour Office for previously arranged regular meetings and present requested certificates and documents.

It is also very important that if a person is registered with the Labour Office as an applicant for employment, the authorities shall pay the social security and especially the health insurance for such a person, and therefore such a person is entitled to receive treatment by doctors, to be hospitalized, etc., and the period of being registered with the Labour Office is partially counted as a period of working (for the purposes of retirement insurance). In some cases, the applicants for employment are also being paid certain support amount – unemployment compensation.

You can also look for a job by using these websites, for example (you can also add your own demand for employment):

Other options how to acquire employment are to work under an employment agency ( = work agency)

• An employment agency (a work agency) – in contrast with a personal agency employs the applicants for work who the agency then “hires out” to companies where they perform the same or similar work as the company’s core employees, and such an employee is thus managed by the employees of the given company. However, the worker is still an employee of the work agency and the work agency then pays his/her wage to such worker and then issues invoices through which the work agency charges the company by which the worker performs the work for his/her services. Most often, the services of work agencies are used with less demanding positions (as for the expertise of the work), particularly for blue-collar and part-time positions.
• A personal agency = a private company providing intermediation of work which looks for suitable candidates for given positions with companies for a fee. The companies then employ the candidate themselves for a full-time employment or a part-time employment as their own employees. A personal agency does not employ the candidates, it only intermediates the employment for the candidates with the employer. It is thus important that the candidate becomes an employee of the company. The candidate shall not pay any fee for a registration with a personal agency.

Types of employment agreements

1. Employment agreement (full-time employment – FTE)

• you shall work 40 hours per week / 8 hours a day + 30 minutes as a break for refreshments (this applies to positions which function from Monday to Friday, and it may be arranged otherwise when it comes to operation in shifts or work during interchanging short/long weeks)
• you are entitled to 20 days of paid vacation (per calendar year)
• the termination notice period amounts to 2 months commencing on the 1st day of the following month (unless the parties agree otherwise)
• you shall undergo the so-called trial period for the first 3 months (6 months for managerial positions), and if you are not satisfied at the given position, you can leave at any moment; however, this also applies to the employer who may terminate your employment if it is not satisfied
• your monthly wage has been specified

2. Agreement on working activities (shortened employments – AWA)

• this type of agreement is most frequently used by retired people, mothers who are on maternity leave or by students of colleges/universities whose schedule does not require their presence at school from the morning to the evening, etc.
• you will work 20 hours/week at a maximum (it is entirely up to the agreement between you and the employer whether you work 5x4 hours per day or 4x5 hours a day, or under any other schedule)
• as soon as you work for more than 6 hours during a single day, you are entitled to a 30-minute break
• your wage is specified per an hour
• if you earn more than CZK 3,000 in a single month, your income shall be subject to deductions for the purposes of social security and health insurance
• the termination notice period amounts to 15 calendar days (unless agreed otherwise between the parties)

3. Agreement on work performance (usually for part-time workers - AWP)

• this type of an agreements is most frequently used by students who are attending a daily/full-time form of studies and they can only work during weekends or summer holidays
• you shall work up to 300 hours per year for a single employer
• you can conclude several AWPs with different employers
• the termination notice period amounts to 15 calendar days (unless agreed otherwise between the parties)
• as soon as you work for more than 6 hours during a single day, you are entitled to a 30-minute break
• your wage is specified per an hour
• an income tax in the rate of 15% is deducted from your wage
• if you make more than CZK 10,000 in a single month, your income shall be subject to deductions for the purposes of social security and health insurance

Each agreement shall contain the following information:

• who is your employer;
• your first name and surname, date of birth, address, contact details, account number;
• the name of your work position and potentially also the tasks under this position;
• date of work commencement;
• location of the work performance (ideally a specific address or a town, preferably not the Czech Republic, since you could be sent to work anywhere across the Czech Republic then);
• when and how the wage is paid to you;
• amount of the wage per month or per an hour (gross);
• whether the agreement had been concluded for an indefinite period of time or a definite period of time (1-3 years, and it may be renewed up to 3 times);
• date and location of the agreement being signed, including the signatures of both parties

Arranging for a trade license

If you want to perform business activities in the Czech Republic, you will need to arrange for a trade license. You will need these documents:

• unified registration form (there are 2 types – for legal entities x individuals) – you can download in a valid online version, but you can also pick it up at the Trade Licensing Office (Which one?)
• further, you will need to prove that you have no tax arrears with the Tax Office and no arrears when it comes to social security and health insurance (you only shall provide such evidence if you had already performed any business activities on the territory of the Czech Republic)
• identity card