In its judgment of 20 July 2020, Case No. 21 Cdo 3955/2018, the Supreme Court concluded that irrespective of the region, where employees perform their work, and its social and economic conditions (e.g. housing costs, transport costs), employees performing the same work or work of equal value are entitled to the same remuneration. This means that a driver working for the Czech Post in Olomouc is entitled to the same pay as a driver doing the same job for the Czech Post in Prague.

Although the Czech Post argued that the work of a driver in Prague is more difficult, more responsible and more strenuous than the work in Olomouc, the Supreme Court ruled that the work is comparable.

The Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the Supreme Court in its resolution I.ÚS 2820/20 of 31 August 2021 and concluded that it is primarily the task of the legislator, not the courts, to reflect socio-economic differences in wages in different regions, and that the current legislation is unambiguous, i.e.: “all employees of an employer are entitled to the same wage for the same work.”

In the event of unequal pay, employees performing the same work or work of equal value are entitled to equal pay, including retrospective pay for the last 3 years.

The company Rovná mzda s.r.o. has offered to help current and former employees of the Czech Post to claim evening-up of their wages. Hundreds of Czech Post employees took advantage of the offer and are currently litigating against Czech Post. The company Rovná mzda s.r.o. assumes that employees are entitled to CZK 80,000 to CZK 100,000 for the last three years; the wage compensation can cost the Czech Post up to hundreds of millions of crowns.

How do you set wages and remuneration across regions? Are you sure that you compensate your employees equally and that any differences are justified in a way that will stand up to judicial review? If you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to advise you.