Czech Legal Updates: October 2026

The minimum wage is in the Collection of Laws. Next year's budget has no reason to wait

On 24 September 2026, Communication of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs No. 171/2026 Coll. was published. For the standard weekly working hours of 40 hours, the monthly minimum wage for 2027 is CZK 24,900 and the hourly minimum wage is CZK 148.30. Compared to this year's CZK 22,400, this is an increase of CZK 2,500 per month; for one employee on the minimum wage, this means an additional CZK 30,000 per year in gross wage alone, excluding social security and health insurance contributions.

At the same time, the communication announced the lowest levels of the guaranteed salary in four job groups — CZK 24,900, 29,880, 34,860, and 39,840 per month — and the range of the allowance for work in difficult working environments from CZK 1,245 to 3,735 per month. The guaranteed salary applies only to the public sector; for private employers, the only binding minimum is a single figure, namely the minimum wage. The communication itself points out that the levels of the guaranteed salary will not apply if an amendment to the Labour Code, which currently only exists as a government draft (Chamber of Deputies Press 300), comes into effect as of 1 January 2027.

This implies three specific steps for companies. Review the wage statements of employees who are currently just above the minimum — after the January increase, they will fall below it and will need an adjustment. Check agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship (agreements to complete a job and agreements on work activity) where the remuneration is agreed at an hourly rate. And verify collective agreements and internal wage regulations that refer to the minimum wage as a multiple.

You cannot get to shares by disqualifying a member of the board of directors

By a resolution dated 29 September 2026, Case No. 27 Cdo 866/2026, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal in a matter that repeatedly occurs in practice with joint-stock companies with restricted transferability of shares. The petition to disqualify the chairman of the board of directors from office was already dismissed by the regional court, and the high court confirmed its decision; the Supreme Court then rejected the appeal as inadmissible. The petitioner was not a shareholder — he held powers of attorney and future share purchase agreements from shareholders and wanted to enter the company. However, the board of directors refused to grant consent to the transfer of shares on behalf of the company and, at the same time, was acquiring treasury shares. The petitioner therefore sought the disqualification of the chairman of the board of directors from office.

In doing so, the Supreme Court emphasized two conclusions worth remembering. First: a shareholder's proxy does not have their own "important interest" in disqualification merely because they paid a substantial amount of money for the powers of attorney and the future purchase — that is a matter of their relationship with the shareholders, not a ground for disqualification. Second, and more importantly: the concept of disqualification promotes the public interest in ensuring that offices are not held by persons who have seriously breached their duties, and it cannot serve to bypass the regulation of restrictions on the transferability of shares, nor to remove a member of a body who refuses to grant consent to the transfer on behalf of the company.

Practical conclusion for acquisitions of minority stakes: if the articles of association condition the transfer of shares on the consent of a company body, this condition must be resolved commercially or through the path prescribed by the articles of association and the law. Proceedings under Section 63 of the Business Corporations Act will not replace this obstacle — and an unsuccessful petition costs money: the reimbursement of the costs of the appeal proceedings alone amounted to CZK 7,344.70 for each of the two parties, totaling CZK 14,689.40.

You can calculate the contribution parameters for 2027 today

At the end of September, Government Regulation No. 177/2026 Coll. was published, which comes into effect on 1 January 2027. It stipulates that the general assessment base for 2025 is CZK 48,900 and the conversion coefficient for its adjustment is 1.0565. The average wage for social security and tax purposes for 2027 is derived from these two figures — after multiplication, it comes to CZK 51,663.

A number of parameters that payroll departments work with are linked to this value. Consequently, some of them can already be calculated today: the maximum assessment base for social security (as 48 times the average wage) comes to CZK 2,479,824, and the threshold for the higher personal income tax rate (as 36 times the average wage) comes to CZK 1,859,868 per year, i.e., CZK 154,989 per month. For minimum advances for self-employed persons (OSVČ) and the threshold income for small-scale employment, we recommend waiting for the ČSSZ tables due to rounding rules. However, for companies building next year's budget, there is no point in waiting with the entire payroll section.

Briefly on other monitored developments

Information is circulating on the internet that an amendment to the Business Corporations Act introducing electronic general meetings came into effect on 1 October 2026. This information does not correspond to the current state of affairs — the Business Corporations Act remains effective as amended in July 2024, and no later version exists. However, let us add that for joint-stock companies, Section 398 of the Business Corporations Act already allows voting at a general meeting and decision-making outside it using technical means, including correspondence voting, provided that the articles of association permit this and the conditions allow for the verification of the voter's identity. For limited liability companies (s.r.o.), the law regulates decision-making outside the general meeting separately and permits it unless excluded by the memorandum of association. Therefore, you do not need to wait for the amendment.

Deadlines from previous editions continue to run. For funds, the obligations under Amendment No. 130/2026 Coll., effective from 1 September 2026, apply. The act itself stipulates that only ten explicitly listed amending points will not come into effect until 16 April 2027. Thus, the vast majority of obligations are already running, and the amendment also contains transitional periods for adapting documentation, which must be verified for each specific fund — waiting until spring 2027 to revise statutes and delegation agreements would be a mistake.

Providers of AI systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video, or text content and were placed on the market before 2 August 2026 must ensure machine-readable marking of outputs by 2 December 2026.

For critical infrastructure, Decree No. 178/2026 Coll., on the critical infrastructure portal, has been effective since 1 October 2026. It stipulates the form of the information entered and the technical and organizational conditions for using the portal, through which incidents can also be reported. The obligations for self-assessment and incident reporting themselves continue to arise from the Critical Infrastructure Act.

Deadlines for companies to watch in the next 90 days

Summary

October is the month when next year's costs are decided. Both the minimum wage and the contribution parameters are already in the Collection of Laws, so waiting for interpretations and tables only reduces the time available to adjust wage statements. The September decision of the Supreme Court is then a reminder for anyone buying a stake in a joint-stock company with restricted transferability: the consent of a company body is an obstacle that must be resolved in advance, not bypassed through court proceedings.

That is why our Prague-based legal team regularly prepares Legal News for Companies in the Czech Republic. Without unnecessary legal theory. With an emphasis on what the change means for your business and what needs to be done.

ARROWS law firm integrates employment law, corporate agenda, fund regulation, and taxes into a single perspective, so that the client does not receive several separate opinions, but a single decision with business sense. We will ensure the revision of wage statements and collective agreements before January, the structure of share acquisitions including handling the consent of corporate bodies, the revision of fund documentation, and representation during audits. Thanks to the ARROWS International network, we also coordinate cases with a cross-border element; for professional liability, ARROWS law firm is insured with a limit of CZK 350,000,000. Write to us at consultation@arws.cz and we will go through your specific situation with you.

Related editions for the same month: [ADD LINK — Legal News for Companies in Europe: October 2026] and [ADD LINK — Legal News for Companies Worldwide: October 2026]. You can find the archive of all editions at Legal News for Companies in the Czech Republic.