From 1 August 2022, certain provisions of the Labour Code (hereinafter “LC”) will no longer apply to drivers in international road transport. It concerns the restriction of certain labour law standards for drivers, who have been sent from another EU country to the Czech Republic by their employer.

Based on the amendment, article 319 of the Labour Code will not apply to the drivers. These are the stipulations relating to the minimum length of leave, the maximum length of working time and the minimum wage under the Labour Code. The aforementioned provisions do not apply to drivers sent by their employer (a carrier from another Member State) to perform work within the framework of transnational provision of services on the territory of the Czech Republic. Furthermore, carriers, whose drivers perform any of the defined types of transport, are able to avoid the application of the above-mentioned article.

Defined types of transport are understood to mean when the driver exclusively performs bilateral road freight transport for other people’s needs, scheduled, occasional passenger or international shuttle transport. That is, transport where the point of departure and the point of destination are in two countries and the carrier is established in one of them.

It is also a transport activity, in which the so-called ancillary activity is performed. Thus, the Czech Republic is not the origin or destination of the transport, but the loading or unloading of goods or the disembarkation of passengers will take place there. In order for it to be an ancillary activity, the carrier must perform at least 1 ancillary activity when transporting freight to the destination or at least 2 ancillary activities when returning to the point of departure. This exemption has a time limit until 2 August 2023. Thereafter, only drivers whose vehicles are equipped with intelligent tachographs will be able to perform ancillary activities.

Drivers will continue to be covered by the LC in its full wording, if they perform tertiary transport or cabotage. This means transporting animals, goods or people within the country, to which he is posted, or between 2 countries, where he is not based. In such a situation, the same conditions apply as for employees of Czech employers.

Responsibility for compliance with these rules lies with the Police of the Czech Republic, which may require the driver to produce documents proving that the transport was performed within the framework of international road transport and a record of driving times, safety breaks and rest periods.

Author: Roman Burnus, Valérie Kovářová