Employment records at Agreements to perform work

As already well-established in practice, one of the basic duties of the employer is to issue an employment record to the employee after his/her employment relationship is terminated.

However, the majority of employers still think this duty applies only in relation to employees who concluded an Employment Contract and they do not issue the employment records in case of Agreements to Complete a Job and Agreements to Perform Work. Nevertheless, such practice is miles away from the right procedure pursuant to the Labour Code. 

In accordance with Section 313 (1) of the Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labour Code, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Labour Code”), it applies that the employer is obliged to issue an employment certificate to the employee when employment, Agreement to Complete a Job or Agreement to Perform Work is terminated, and to specify as follows:

• Employment information whether it was employment, Agreement to Complete a Job or Agreement to Perform Work, and its duration;
• Type of works performed;
• Achieved qualification;
• Worked time and other facts decisive to achieve the highest admissible exposure time;
• Whether deductions are made from the employee´s salary, in whose favour, amount of receivable due to which deductions are to be made, amount of deductions made so far and order of receivable;
• Information concerning the considerable time of employment in the 1^st and 2^nd occupational category for a period before 1 January 1993 for purposes of pension insurance. 

The Labour Code states explicitly that the duty to issue an employment record applies not only to employees with Employment Contracts but also to employees with agreements for works performed beyond employment. The above-mentioned nuisance was caused, without doubts, due to an amendment to a legal regulation whereas Section 313 of the Labour Code, wording valid by 31 December 2011, required issuance of an employment record only for Employment Contracts and for Agreements to Perform Work. Employees who worked at the employer based on Agreements to Complete a Job by 31 November 2011 did not have to receive employment records. 

Another reason why employers act in conflict with the law is the existence of many Internet articles and discussions stating that in 2017 there will be a fundamental change (“Employment records will change in 2017”) whereas it is advised that employees working based on Agreements to Complete a Job will not necessarily receive employment records in case of termination unless they participate in sickness insurance based on such agreement. In such case it concerns notorious Agreements to Complete a Job with remuneration up to CZK 10,000 monthly (Section 7a of the Act No. 187/2006 Coll., on Sickness Insurance, as amended). However, the above-mentioned reports are currently only a hoax.

A conceptual amendment to the Labour Code, which was supposed to introduce the above-mentioned changes, is still at a stage of the 2^nd reading in the Chamber of Deputies and we can evidently not expect it would be ever adopted. Neither in 2017 nor at the time when this article was written was there a change in the field of issuance of employment records and the employer´s duty applies in relation to employees with Employment Contracts as well as to all the employees with Agreements to Complete a Job or Agreements to Perform Work. 

Non-issuance of an employment records may be considered as an offence or administrative offence in the meaning of the Act No. 251/2005 Coll., on Labour Inspection, as amended, for which a penalty up to CZK 2,000,000 may be imposed (Section 12 (1) (a) and Section 25 (1) (a) of the Labour Inspection Act).