Michal Dobiáš has been advising expats and foreign clients since 2010, and since 2015 he has been doing so as a fully qualified attorney registered with the Czech Bar Association. He is an expert in the field of wills and estate planning, including cross-border wills and intestate matters under the 650/2012 EU regulation). In his practice he helps foreigners to structure their (often cross-border) last wills and testaments, and renders advice to foreign clients on the establishment of Czech foundations and trusts. Michal also has very extensive experience in the protection of clients’ rights in the course of the inheritance proceedings (which includes locating the property, representation in the proceedings themselves and negotiating settlements with other heirs). He is further responsible for the employment law team which handles all types of labor contracts and employment litigation for expats and foreigners in the Czech Republic. In addition to his estates planning and employment litigation practice, Michal  also represents clients in medical malpractice and personal injury cases, where he was able to conclude very advantageous settlements for foreign clients in traffic accident cases and plastic surgery malpractice cases.

Scope of Services

Hiring and employee in the Czech Republic

All dependent work performed in the Czech Republic should be covered by a contract concluded between the employer and the employee. Czech law knows three types of such contracts: employment contract, agreement on work performance and agreement on working activity. While the employment contract is the classic and also most formalized one, the other two can be used for short-term or part time jobs and under some conditions can be also favorable taxwise.

What we typically do for employees:

• review of all types of contracts concerning their validity and impacts on the employee
• assessment of risks of the proposed contract
• explaining the Czech social security system to the client and which benefits can be he/she entitled to as the employee (health insurance, social insurance, unemployment benefits)
• representing an individual in negotiation with the HR department of the (future) employer

What we typically do for employers:

• preparation of the contract tailored for the anticipated employment relationship
• negotiating the terms and conditions of the contract

Firing an employee in the Czech Republic

For some of our clients, especially non-Europeans, it is hard to understand, but Czech employees with employment contract are well protected and can’t be fired without a specific reason. The legitimate reasons are in general organizational change, qualified breach of employee’s duty or health inability. Also, under some circumstances the employees are entitled to statutory severance payment which (combined with the notice period) gives the employee sufficient time and resources to find a new job. Nevertheless, both parties must act very carefully in case of employment termination since the procedures are very formalized. Even the blatantly useless employee cannot be fired without proper set of notices. A long-term employee can easily forfeit his/her rights by accepting an unsubstantiated termination or failing to file a timely objection. That is why we always recommend consulting with expert before any official steps are taken.

What we typically do for employees:

• assessment of the situation when one of the parties intends to terminate the employment relationship
• review whether the termination notice by the employer is valid and substantiated
• filing lawsuits against invalid termination of the employment relationship
• representing in front of the court in the lawsuits
• negotiating with the employer on consensual termination

What we typically do for employers:

• preparation of the termination notice
• review of the related documents (notices, decision on organizational change etc.)
• negotiating with the employee on consensual termination
• representing the client against lawsuits
• representing the employer in administrative cases in front of the labor inspection

Employment of Foreigners in the Czech Republic

Apart from the above, we also help employers and their (future) employees to overcome all administrative obstacles of the Czech law and establish legal and valid employment relationship in the Czech Republic.

For more information see our Immigration Law section.

• Czech work permits for foreigners
• Employee Card permits
• Blue Card permits
• Work permit extensions
• Nostrification of foreign diplomas in the Czech Republic
• Czech employment agreements for foreigners