Fundamental rights related to social partners - Czech Republic

Social partners assessed positively social dialogue in the Czech Republic. They considered that exchanges between employers and trade unions worked well, as did the tripartite social dialogue with the government, which spanned from Minister level to a variety of working groups. They explained that CSOs were not directly represented in these tripartite dialogues but that the key concerns they defended, for example the inclusion of persons with disabilities at work, was taken up by social partners themselves.

Social partners considered that the existence of a strong social dialogue had been very important in tackling COVID-19 related difficulties around a number of legal uncertainties calling for clarification, for example in relation to home working. They offered illustrations of such legal uncertainties that complicated the lives of employers and workers during the crisis. For example, the absence of legal provisions on short-time work proved to be a challenge during the economic lockdown. A lack of clarity around the rules surrounding the crossing of borders and freedom of movement of goods and labour was also cumbersome for economic life. The question of whether employers had to prevent entry to the workplace for non-vaccinated workers was also a source of confusion. 

The main difficulties identified by the social partners concerned some legal aspects of the Labour Code. Notably, trade union representatives regretted that Section 24 of the Labour Code imposed the existence of mutual consent amongst all trade unions in a company as a precondition for the conclusion of a collective agreement with the employer, which de facto made them very difficult to attain. It was explained that the number of collective agreements had been declining in recent years. An employers' representative also considered that the Labour Code was unclear on whether or not employers had the obligation to negotiate collective conventions.