Employee Vocabulary

monthly salary before distracting taxes, health and social instance
consists of a base pay (salary), extra pay and compensations
rate of gross hourly or monthly salary you will find at your work contract or its attachments

Net (After-tax) Salary

the amount of money you get in cash or to your bank account
your employer has to give you your pay stub (written evidence about your salary)

Overtime and extra pay

As an employee you are entitled to get higher salary for:

hours that you work overtime (25 % more) - if you have agreed that your salary includes possible work overtime, you are not entitled to get extra pay, but you have to agree in advance on how many hours over time you will have (max. 150 hours a year)
work on state holidays (100 % more)
work at night or on weekends (10 % more)
work in a harmful environment

Work overtime

For serious operational reasons, the employer can order you to work overtime, maximum 8 hours a week and 150 hours a year.
Wages agreed in the contract of employment or wage assessment is for 40 hours per week. Everything you work beyond those hours, your employer must pay. Anything above this range (over 150 hours / year and 8 hours / week) is only possible with your agreement.
In both these cases you recieve your hourly wage + at least 25% more. If your employment contract says that your employer does not reimburse overtime ("salary has been agreed with regard to possible overtime 150 hours a year"), it is illegal provision - you cannot receive only basic or minimum wages if you work overtime hours.

Compensation

The amount of money calculated from your average salary that you get for the days you do not work, but you are entitled to get salary (for example the first days of your sick leave, vacation, state holidays, wedding, funeral, doctor’s visit, etc.).

Tax Break (Exemption)

as an employee you can pay lower taxes or you will get a tax credit after the end of a year (if you study, get a pension, you are handicapped, have children and/or dependent spouse, you pay your pension insurance, pay interest on construction loan)
you can ask for more exemptions at one time, but you have to bring a written evidence, that confirms your claim (only one parent claims a tax break for a child)

Security and Protection of Health at Work

your employer must provide you with a training in staying secure while working and how to protect your health
has to inform you about risks of your work, and – if the sort of work requires – provide you with the protective meanings with no charge
as an employee you have right to refuse to fulfil the job that puts either your life or your health in serious danger

Entrance and Exit Medical Examination

the employer can require your medical examination before completion of a work contract; usually by a company’s own doctor (physician)
the check-up is not paid by insurance companies – your employer should pay it for you
at the time of termination of the employment you also undergo the medical examination; the doctor examines your health status and finds out whether you suffered a health damage; it is important for possible later findings of an occupational hazard (an illness that resulted from the employment)

Sick-leave

situation, when you cannot temporarily work from health condition reasons
you are obliged to inform on time your employer or superior that you will not come to work
ask your physician to fill a sick-leave benefit form and get it to your employer immediately. Since 2020, doctors have issued electronically the e-sick leave: the paper part of the sick leave is for you (for further examination by a doctor). The employer will receive information about sick leave electronically from the ČSSZ.
during sick-leave listen to your doctor’s recommendations
during sick-leave you can be checked home anytime – if the control finds out that you don’t comply with medical regime, your sick-leave benefit can be lowered or cancelled, it can lead to the termination of your work contract in the first 14 days of your sick-leave
the sick-leave has to come to an end by your doctor with filling the second part of a sick-leave benefit form; you have to bring it to your employer

Sick-leave benefits

money that you get during your illness instead of salary (approximately 60 % of your salary)
first 3 days you do not get any compensation; next working days up to day 14 you get a compensation from your employer; from day 15 you get sick-leave benefit from your health insurance (max. 380 days)
you are entitled to get sick-leave benefit even if your employment ended and you get sick in 7 days after the ending of your contract

Accident at work

injury you suffered at work or in a close connection with work
you always have to report an accident at work to your superior, no matter if it happened to you or to another co-worker
the employer has to make a written record of all the reported accidents at work; read the record well, especially who was responsible for it

with the recognized accident at work you are entitled to get compensation for

1. missed earnings,
2. cover for necessary treatment expenses,
3. compensation for your suffering (doctor has to approve)

applies also to an occupational hazard – a doctor determines an illness that originated from your employment

Taking Care of a Sick Family Member

period of time you take personal care of a sick family member with whom you live in common household (applicable also when you need to take care of a child younger than 10 years of age when a school facility was closed for example for reasons of epidemic or when the person that normally takes care of the child got sick himself/herself)
from day 1 to 3 you do not get any compensation, from day 4 on you get 60 % of your average salary for max. of 9 days (if you are a single parent max. 16 days)
you have to bring a form filled by the doctor to your employer (if you need to take care of a sick family member for a period longer than 9 (or 16) days you are entitled to get leave from your employer, but you do not get any compensation)

Leave of Absence (paid or unpaid)

a) paid leave of absence:

your presence at your wedding or at wedding of your children
transportation of your wife to the maternity hospital and back
death of your wife, husband, partner or child
your presence at a funeral of your husband/wife, partner, child, parent or sibling
accompanying of a direct family member to the doctor
time of your doctor’s check up or outpatient treatment

b) unpaid leave of absence:

your presence at your parent’s wedding
your presence at childbirth
accompanying of other family members to the doctor
moving (max. 2 days)
looking for a new job (max. ½ day per week during notice period – if the employer has given notice to you, this leave of absence is paid)

Transfer to a Different Work

Your employer has to transfer to different kind work if:

you are not able to fulfil the job for health reasons (because of an occupational hazard that resulted from the employment, you are endangered by such an occupational hazard or you are endangered by an accident at work)
you are pregnant, breastfeeding or mother of a child younger than 9 months (work puts your health in danger)
you work at night and according to a physician’s statement you are not able to, etc.

Your employer can transfer you to a different kind work without your consent, only if:

you violate work discipline
you are under criminal prosecution in the connection with the employment (for example property related criminal activity)
other changes have to be result of an agreement between you and the employer and they have to be added to your work contract in writing

Business Travel (travel called for in connection with work)

If your employer sends you temporarily for a business trip or a different place to work, he has to compensate your travel expenses:

meal allowance (if the change of your work place lasts for more than 5 hours)
travel expenses (according to the tickets or distance)

If your work permit is issued by a Labour Office, there is a place of work given and you cannot go to work to other places

Protection period

period of time when your employer cannot give you a notice
for example: sick-leave, pregnancy, maternity and family leave
does not apply if your contract for limited period of time comes to an end
does not apply if you get notice from organizational reasons

! If you get a notice and you get sick during the notice period, the notice period will be prolonged for the days you were sick.

! If you get a notice while being pregnant (even if you do not know about the pregnancy yet) your notice is not vaild.

Severance pay

If you were given notice because of organizational reasons. (Note: You are entitled to get severance pay even if your employment ends by mutual agreement for organizational reasons. The organizational reasons, though, must be stated in the written agreement!)

if you are immediately terminating employment (quitting) because your employer has not paid your salary 15 days after the due date.

Severance pay equals:

one month of your average monthly salary if you have been employed for up to 1 year
two average monthly salaries if you have been employed for between 1 and 2 years
three average monthly salaries if you have been employed for more than 2 years.

When terminating the job due to a work-related injury or disease your severence payment is 12x your monthly salary.

! From the severance pay you do not pay either social or health insurance, only taxes

Certification of the employment

the written evidence of your employment and its duration
when ending the employment, your employer has to issue this certificate for you even without your request
you can keep the original and your future employer provide with a copy
employment certification must contain: type of work performed, kind of a contract, duration, qualification you reached, information if the reason of the employment termination was serious misconduct, etc.

You will also need proof of your average monthly earnings for Labour Office (it can be issued separately).