Basic obligations of employer
The basic obligations of the employer towards their employees are regulated by Section 103 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended. This includes, for example, not allowing employees to perform prohibited work and work that would not correspond to their medical fitness; ensuring employees perform occupational medical examinations at the occupational health service provider; providing workers with appropriate and adequate information and guidance to ensure OSH before starting work at their workplaces; providing first aid to employees; provision of training to employees on legal and other regulations to ensure OSH, etc.
Other obligations of the employer towards its employees also concern, for example, the issue of personal protective equipment, work injuries, etc. The employer must also meet other requirements for employees, their workplaces and facilities related to their work.
The basic obligation of all employers running businesses is to create a safe and healthy work environment and working conditions by appropriate organization of OSH and by taking measures to prevent risks. The measures taken by employers must reflect the risks occurring in their workplaces, which will limit the exposure of these risks.
Employers in the Czech Republic carry out different activities within different sectors. In general, the measures taken by employers must lead to a reduction in the risks inherent in the sector operated by the employer. These measures must target employees, workplaces and facilities related to particular sector. Obligations involving fulfilling conditions in the field of OSH are set by legal and other regulations to ensure OSH, i.e. laws and the resulting implementing legal regulations, standards, etc.
Within the legislation of the Czech Republic, there is a special regulation of working conditions for adolescent employees. From the point of view of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended, adolescent employees are employees under 18 years of age. Adolescent employees must undergo prescribed medical examinations; they are prohibited from performing underground work in the extraction of minerals or in tunnelling works; by default, they are forbidden to work overtime and work at night (with certain exceptions), etc. Employers may employ adolescent employees only in work that is appropriate to their physical and intellectual development and provide them with increased care, including OSH, at work.
Other conditions for adolescent employees are regulated by Decree No. 180/2015 Coll. on work and workplaces that are prohibited for pregnant employees, employees who are breastfeeding and employees-mothers until the end of the ninth month after giving birth, on work and workplaces that are prohibited for adolescent employees, and on the conditions under which adolescent employees may exceptionally perform such work due to vocational training (Decree on Prohibited Work and Workplaces).
Inspection activities
The responsible authorities are Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and labour inspection bodies, i.e. State Labour Inspection Office and Regional Labour Inspectorates. Their scope of their competences is defined in Act No. 251/2005 Coll., on Labour Inspection, as amended.
Labour Inspection bodies carry out inspection activities on the basis of the competence defined by Act No. 251/2005 Coll., on Labour Inspection, as amended. With some exceptions listed therein, this applies to the performance of inspections of all inspected entities, most often employers, within the specified competence. In the field of special technical equipment, pursuant to Act No. 250/2021 Coll., on occupational safety in connection with the operation of special technical equipment and on amendments to related acts, the Technical Inspection of the Czech Republic is the authorized organization, to which this Act assigns performance of certain tasks in the field of operational safety of special technical equipment.
In the event of a breach of legal regulations, which is related, for example, to ensuring occupational safety, occupational safety of special technical equipment at employers premises, etc., natural persons and legal entities may file a complaint with the Labour Inspection bodies. The Labour Inspection bodies proceed on the basis of their competence defined in Act No. 251/2005 Coll., on Labour Inspection, as amended. If the Regional Labour Inspectorate carried out the inspection on the basis of a written complaint, it shall inform the person who submitted the complaint in writing of the result.
The provisions of Section 105 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended, specify the employer's obligations in the event of accidents at work and occupational diseases. At the same time, according to Section 106 (4)(h) of this Act, also the employee has an obligation to notify his superior senior employee of his work accident. The employer is obliged to keep book of records of accidents, in which all accidents, including accidents at work, are recorded. The employer shall take measures to prevent the recurrence of accidents at work. The employer is obliged to report an accident at work and send a record of the accident to designated authorities and institutions (e.g. also to the Regional Labour Inspectorate). These authorities and institutions, the deadlines by which the employer is to report accidents at work, and send accident records, are specified in the implementing legal regulation, i.e. in Government Regulation No. 201/2010 Coll., on the method of recording accidents, their reporting and sending accident records, as amended.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 22 of Act No. 250/2021 Coll., on occupational safety in connection with the operation of special technical equipment and on amendments to related acts, the operator, who may also be an employer, has an obligation to report the occurrence of an accident if the conditions of this Act are met.
In the event of possible breaches of legal regulations, natural persons or legal entities may submit electronic filing (complaint) online to Labour Inspection bodies. Based on its content, the relevant authority will assess whether it is a matter within their competence (e.g. violation of occupational safety at the employer's workplaces, etc.).