Personal Obstacles to Work

Do you need to go see the doctor in your working hours? Are you or your close person sick? Do you have a wedding? Do you need to move? Don’t take holiday. Those situations are so called Obstacles to work on the employee side or Important personal obstacles, and you are entitled to get time off (in most cases even with financial compensation).

Relevant legal regulations: Sections 191 to 206 of the Labour Code and Government Regulation No. 590/2006 Coll., as amended

Your absence is excused and/or financially compensated either (1) by your employer with a salary compensation or (2) by the state with a benefit from social security insurance (temporary illness is paid by both, employer and the state).

IMPORTANT: For all the situations applies that you are obliged to inform your employer (phone call, mail, in person) about the time and reason of your absence in advance (best as you learn it), or as soon as possible (in urgent/unplanned matters, e.g. when undergoing an urgent treatment) and that you need to submit some sort of confirmation/prove of the event to your employer. For detailed information and what to submit, see our Onboarding manual (download here or ask your secretariat) or contact the HR department.

Personal obstacles dealt with by the employer

Medical examination or treatment in a medical facility

If your doctor sets your appointment to time within your working hours and there is no option to change it to time outside your working hours, you are entitled to leave the workplace for a period necessary to get the examination/treatment. This applies also for urgent treatment (injury).

Absence for medical check-up/treatment is salary compensated. You should seek treatment primarily at doctors closest to your address or your workplace. But if you choose treatment somewhere else, even though there is nearer adequate option of treatment, you get only paid for time needed for undergoing treatment in the nearest facility.

Are you searching for an English-speaking doctor or medical facility? Visit our Database of English-speaking contacts.

Occupational medical examination or vaccination connected to your work activity

Your employer usually knows about your occupational medical check-up or vaccination related to your work, so you only need to inform them about the agreed time of the appointment (unless the employer sets the time for you). Absence for occupational medical check-up is salary compensated.

Accompanying a family member to a medical facility

Same things apply for this situation as for medical examination/treatment of yourself (see above). This option comes handy particularly when you child, spouse or parent needs you to help them get to the doctor’s office. Time off will be provided for a necessary period, maximum of 1 day. Your salary will be compensated for that period if you accompanied your child, spouse, parent or grandparent. You may accompany other family members as well, but without compensation.

If you need to accompany your child to school advisory facility (special education needs) or your child is disabled and you accompany them in social service facility or special school facility, you can also use this obstacle.

Interruption of traffic or delay of public transport

This applies when you are late for work because of a traffic jam caused by an accident, public transport delay due to bad weather conditions etc. You need to make sure that the situation was unforeseeable and there was no other adequate way to get to the workplace in time. This absence is only excused (for a necessary period), not salary compensated.

Impossibility to travel to work

Severely disabled employee is excused from work and salary is compensated (for up to 1 day) if he/she is unable to get to work by non-public transport vehicle used by that employee because of weather conditions.

Wedding

If you are the bride/groom, you get 2 days off, of which one is for the ceremony itself. Whether you take one or two days off, you get paid only one day.

If you attend your child’s wedding, you can be absent for one day and you get paid.

If you attend your parent’s wedding, you can be absent for one day without salary compensation.

Birth of a child

You can be excused from work to transport your spouse to the medical facility and back (with salary compensation) and to be present in the childbirth (without salary compensation).

For maternity/paternity/parental leave and relevant benefits scroll down.

Decease

Your employer provides you with three days off (of which 1 is for the funeral) and a salary compensation in case your spouse or child has deceased.

If the deceased person is your or your spouse’s parent or sibling or your child’s or your sibling’s spouse, you get 1 day off (2 if you arrange the funeral) and a salary compensation.

For attending funeral of other family member or other close person (if you’ve shared a household with them) you are excused from work for a necessary period (up to 1 day) and for additional one day on condition that you arrange the funeral (with salary compensation).

Funeral of a coworker

Employer may want you to attend a coworker’s funeral. In this case you get paid leave of absence for a period necessary to be present at this event.

Moving

Employer provides you with time off without a salary compensation for a necessary period (2 days maximum) for your private moving. If you move in the employer’s interest, you get leave of absence with salary compensation.

Search for a new employment

You are entitled to take a leave of absence for seeking a new job until your current employment ends. You can take maximum of 1 half-day a week of unpaid time off within the 2-moths notice period. If your contract is terminated under the section 52 a) to e) of the Labour Code (i.e. because your employer is dissolving or moving or you are found redundant or no longer medically fit to work due to work injury), you get a salary compensation.

Personal obstacles dealt with by the state

If employed in the Czech Republic, you are obliged to pay health insurance (Act no. 592/1992 Coll.), social security (Act no. 589/1992 Coll.) and personal income tax (Act no. 586/1992 Coll.) and your employer monthly deducts the sums automatically from your wage (you have no direct obligation to make the payments yourself). Health insurance ensures that you get free health care (to certain extend) when you need it. From social security the benefits of state social support and pensions are paid.

Part of the social security is sickness insurance, which is designed to help people who are temporarily without income because of certain social events. Thus, since you contribute to the sickness insurance (at least for a certain period) thanks to your employment, you are entitled to apply for benefits in case you become unable to work due to:

your temporary illness or quarantine -> sickness benefit
caring for a sick member of the household -> (long-term) attendance allowance
pregnancy and a childbirth -> maternity and paternity benefits

Comprehensive information about Czech sickness insurance here

Description of all the sickness insurance benefits here (incl. details, calculators, details about payment etc.)

Contact on the authority: OSSZ/DSSA in Important contacts

What documents to submit to your employer and in which life situations? See our Onboarding manual (download here or ask your secretariat).

Temporary illness / quarantine

Benefit: Nemocenské = Sickness Benefit
Official title: Dočasná Pracovní Neschopnost (DPN) = Temporary incapacity for work / Sick leave

If you get sick, there is no need to take a vacation. Go to your physician (GMP – general medical practitioner) who will issue you with a sick leave (the form is called Decision on temporary incapacity for work = Rozhodnutí o dočasné pracovní neschopnosti) and you can stay at home and recover. Sick leave can also be issued by another doctor, such as a specialist after surgery or an emergency room doctor after an urgent treatment.

The sick leave is issued electronically and is sent directly to the District Social Security Administration by the attending doctor. However, it is your responsibility to inform your employer immediately of the doctor's decision on sick leave so that you are excused from work. Same goes for termination of the sick leave. A salary compensation is paid by your employer for the first 14 calendar days, from the 15th calendar day the DSSA takes over the payment.

If your medical condition allows it and after a consultation with your direct supervisor, you are entitled to refuse sick leave.

Are you searching for an English-speaking doctor or medical facility? Visit our Database of English-speaking contacts.

Caring for a sick/quarantined household member

Benefit: (Dlouhodobé) Ošetřovné = (Long-term) Attendance Allowance
Official title: Ošetřování Člena Rodiny (OČR) = Need for attendance (care)

Don't waste your holiday on days when you need to look after your sick child or a sick spouse who can't take care of themselves at the moment. In these situations, you should use the need for attendance which is always issued by the doctor of the person requiring care (paediatrician or GMP of the spouse).

You will receive the doctor’s decision electronically and, again, you must inform your employer immediately. However, in this case, you must also give your employer identifier of the decision sent to you by the doctor. Again, it is also important to inform your employer when the need for care is terminated.

You may apply for long-term attendance allowance in case your close person needs long-term care in home environment. More on the link above (Description of all the sickness insurance benefits).

Your salary replacement will be paid from the first day of treatment, but no longer than 9 calendar days (90 calendar days for long-term attendance).

Pregnancy and birth of a child (mother’s point of view)

Benefit: Peněžitá Pomoc v Mateřství (PPM) = Maternity benefit
Official title: Mateřská Dovolená (MD) = Maternity leave

If you're expecting a baby, you're entitled to take maternity leave from your employer and apply for maternity benefit. You can start maternity leave 6 to 8 weeks before your child’s expected date of birth (depending on your decision). The application for the benefit will be issued by your gynaecologist and must be completed and submitted to your employer. Do not forget to provide your employer with your newborn’s birth certificate as soon as possible.

It is possible to take turns with the other parent in caring of the child and receiving maternity benefit (not earlier than from 7th week from the childbirth). For details see the link above (Description of all the sickness insurance benefits).

Maternity benefit is paid for 28 weeks (about 7 months) and you must apply for parental allowance when your maternity leave ends. Parental allowance is fixed amount of 350,000 CZK for one child / 525,000 CZK for twins or more children born at the same time. This amount is the same for everyone, i.e. your income has no influence on it, and is drawn monthly (the monthly amount is optional to a certain extent and can be changed), up to a maximum of three years of age of the child/children. This allowance is administrated by the Labour Office, more at https://www.mpsv.cz/web/en/state-social-support and in section Important contacts.

You don't need to get back to work right after your maternity leave ends. You may apply for parental leave from your employer to follow your maternity leave and be home with your child longer (but without salary compensation – you will only receive the parental allowance). Write the application in free form and include your name and date of birth, the name and date of birth of the child you will be caring for and his/her age to which you want to stay at home (up to a maximum of three years of age of the child). We recommend that you also take the balance of your annual leave between the maternity and parental leave (if taken after the end of the parental leave, it will be reduced), please request this in your parental leave application.

Your employer is obliged to provide you with parental leave and hold your job for you. (This does not apply if the employment contract was for a fixed term with an end date that interferes with your parental leave. If the contract is not renewed, the relationship ends on that date, even though you are taking parental leave.) If, during your parental leave, you ask to return to work earlier than the date you indicated in your application for parental leave, your employer may or may not grant it.

BC runs its own children’s group Motýl (Butterfly) which is located in the BC compound and accepts BC employees’ children from 1 up to 3 years of age. If you are interested in putting your small one here, apply for the admission as soon as possible (best after your child is born). For more information and tips for other nurseries visit section Education system and Database of English-speaking contacts.

For women who have been transferred to another job due to pregnancy or maternity (within the 9th month after childbirth) and had a decrease in their eligible income in connection with this transfer a Compensatory benefit in pregnancy and maternity is provided. For more info, see the link above (Description of all the sickness insurance benefits).

Birth of a child (father’s point of view)

Benefit: Otcovská (otcovská poporodní péče) = Paternity benefit

If you’ve become a recent father, you may apply for a father’s parental leave from your employer and be home with your spouse and your newborn for 14 days with paternity benefit as salary compensation. Those 14 days must be taken up within a period of 6 weeks after the child is born. To be entitled to this benefit, you have to be registered as a father in the child’s birth certificate (mother and father have not to be married).

To apply for the leave and benefit, inform your employer about your intention and they print and help you to fill in an application for DSSA. Bring the child’s birth certificate with you.

Note: All the information on this site is valid by January 2025 and we do our best to keep it updated despite many quick changes in the Czech legal regulations recently. Please always check the information at authorities' official sources. And if you find any error, we will be glad if you notice us via the contact form below. Thank you!

Do you have any useful tip, recommendation or experience, which you'd like to share to help others? Or any comment on information on this page? Let us know.