On 31 August 2022, the Government approved a set of twenty measures to reduce the bureaucratic burden on entrepreneurs, tradesmen and citizens. This will probably be the first of a series of measures that will be followed by further anti-bureaucratic packages. It should be noted that the Government has not proposed specific amendments to the laws, but only a “package” of proposed changes. Individual ministries are to prepare legislative solutions by the end of this year, so the road to their implementation is still long.

For example, the obligation to schedule the use of leave from work, reports on the end of sick leave sent to the Czech Social Security Administration (“CSSA”), initial medical examinations for certain employees, etc. should be gradually eliminated. 

Abolition of the compulsory annual leave schedule 

One of the first obligations to be abolished relates to the stipulation of article 217 of the Labour Code, where the employer is now still obliged to draw up a written schedule for leave from work. According to the anti-bureaucratic package, the schedule for taking ordinary leave represents an increased administrative burden for employers, the schedule is only an indicative plan for taking leave and does not in itself constitute a determination of the duration of leave, which is why the government is planning to abolish this obligation. 

Reporting the end of incapacity for work 

Furthermore, the employer’s obligation to send a notice of termination of incapacity for work, even if the employee is no longer employed by the employer, is to be abolished. According to the anti-bureaucratic package, this is an unnecessarily burdensome obligation for employers, as this information is obtained by the CSSA from the database (this information is reported to the database by the doctor).

Cancellation of certain initial medical examinations

The most interesting novelty in the anti-bureaucratic package may be the abolition of the obligation of initial medical examinations for jobs classified in the first category according to the risk of health hazards (mainly administrative employees). According to the government, this is an unnecessary administrative burden on the part of employers, as the eligibility of an employee in this category is usually assessed by a doctor automatically “from the table” anyway. At the same time, overburdened doctors would be relieved, too. The Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic wants to abolish medical examinations in the second category as well, but this is not yet on the government’s agenda. 

Author: Roman Burnus, Marek Toráč