The Labour Office is an institution that helps not only the unemployed, but also employers and the general public. Many of us associate the Job Centre with failure, inability to find work and socially disadvantaged citizens. But it is not just about that. The Jobcentre has a much wider remit than just benefits and finding a new job. It provides many more services and should help everyone, not just the unemployed. Find out how you can use the Job Centre in this article.
The Job Centre acts as a link between jobseekers and companies looking for new employees. Despite a range of other services, the main function of the Job Centre is unemployment support. It is therefore mainly targeted at people who are currently unemployed. The Job Centre is responsible for paying unemployment benefits and helping people find new jobs. You can also find job vacancies at the Job Centre. The Job Centre publishes vacancies regularly and helps jobseekers find jobs that match their skills.
But that doesn’t mean you have to register here every time you find yourself unemployed.
You only need to do this if you want the Job Centre to help you find a job and in the meantime you will receive unemployment benefits to help you get through the period of unemployment. Whether you qualify for the benefit is determined, among other things, by whether you have paid at least 12 months’ pension contributions in the last two years.
Tip: You can read more about what conditions you need to meet in our next article.
On the basis of your application, the Job Centre will keep a register of jobseekers and actively search for a job that matches your experience, qualifications and health. In addition, the Job Centre will also take into account your ability to commute. You should be offered a job that corresponds to at least 80% of a normal working week. Part-time work can be offered after one year. It should also be a permanent or fixed-term contract with a minimum duration of three months. However, you must take into account that, with few exceptions, you cannot refuse a job that the Job Centre finds for you, otherwise you will be removed from the register and your benefits will be withdrawn. The Job Centre publishes and updates vacancies regularly so that applicants can keep up to date with what is available.
From 1 January 2026, the way unemployment benefit is calculated will change under the so-called flexinovela. In the first two months, the benefit will be higher (up to 80% of net income), after which it will gradually decrease. The aim of the change is to encourage a quicker return to the labour market.
If you have been terminated by your employer in any way, we will protect all your rights. With us, you can be sure that you will not be shortchanged.
The Job Centre’s services include not only the payment of benefits, but also counselling, retraining and EU-funded projects. In addition to unemployment benefits, the Job Centre provides other types of financial support. These include:
Tip: Are you out of work and don’t know what to do next? When do you have to register with the Job Centre and how does it work? Will you get support at all, and how long can you receive it? All these questions are answered in this article.
As we have already announced, the Job Centre is not just about benefits and help for the unemployed. It also offers a range of other services. These services include:
The Job Centre offers free counselling services to all jobseekers and jobseekers. These take the form of individual consultations and group counselling. There is a wide range of counselling services. You can choose from career counselling, help with creating a CV and improving your self-presentation on the labour market, advice on entrepreneurship and financial literacy, or legal advice.
Tip: Legal advice is also offered by the Affordable Advocate. Looking for an answer to a specific legal question? Email us and you will have an answer from one of our attorneys within 48 hours.
In addition, the Labour Office provides counselling services targeted at special groups. These include helping primary and secondary school students to choose a career, counselling assistance to people with health insurance or people who have long-term problems finding a job.
The Labour Office also provides opportunities for retraining and the acquisition of new vocational skills. To qualify for free retraining you must be a jobseeker or jobseeker, have the appropriate qualifications to successfully complete the course and then practise the occupation, be medically fit and the retraining must be necessary and useful for you. This means that your current qualifications do not allow you to get a job and retraining should help you to do this.
The big advantage is that you are entitled to support as a jobseeker while you are on a retraining course. This is 60% of your last average monthly earnings. However, you should bear in mind that if you decide not to complete the retraining course, you will have to pay for it. The same applies if you subsequently refuse to take up a job that the Job Centre finds for you on the basis of your new qualifications.
The Job Centre will not only look for vacancies based on your previous experience, but also on the new skills you acquire during the retraining.
The Job Centre also offers help with international labour mobility through the EURES advice and information network. It offers job vacancies abroad and advice services for people interested in working in the European Union. Specifically, these are the countries of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
This service includes the publication of vacancies, help with finding vacancies and advice. Anyone can make use of these services, so they do not have to be jobseekers or jobseekers. For most jobs, however, knowledge of German or English is a prerequisite.
Tip: Do you want to terminate your employment? We will advise you on your options and which one is worth using.
In cooperation with the European Union, the Labour Office offers a number of interesting projects aimed at different groups of people with different needs. These projects can help to improve professional skills and make it easier to find vacancies both in the Czech Republic and abroad. cAmong the national projects, you may come across, for example, support for employee training, which contributes to employers for various training courses for their employees. There is also the Age is not an obstacle project, which aims to support older people on the labour market , or the Guarantees for the Young project, which aims to enable young people to gain professional experience and help them find employment in their field.
In addition to the national projects, there are also projects focused on specific regions that take into account local problems. Often these are projects aimed at disadvantaged groups, such as the young, the elderly or people with disabilities.
Tip: How could prosperity in our country be increased? Expert advisers to the Czech government have come up with a seemingly paradoxical solution. One of the partial recipes, according to them, could be limiting the rights of employees and simplifying their dismissal. This way is inspired by the Danish Flexicurity model, which seems to be functional and effective in Denmark. What does it consist of and how could it be applied to the Czech context?
The Job Centre allows you to upload your CV, which then becomes available to employers. This is therefore a passive way of looking for a job, where employers approach you. Again, anyone can upload a CV here.
Last but not least, the Job Centre serves as a portal with a wide range of vacancies. It allows you to search using the nature of the job and the location of the job with a limitation on the commuting distance. Here you will find a wide range of jobs. From highly skilled jobs, such as medical or legal positions, to jobs that require no training or experience at all, such as production workers or cleaners.
The Job Centre offers much more than just unemployment benefits. In addition to paying benefits and finding jobs, it also provides a range of other services such as counselling, retraining, job search assistance abroad and projects in cooperation with the EU targeting specific groups. The publication of CVs is also an interesting option for employers to approach. The Job Centre is a valuable tool not only for the unemployed but for the general public looking for new career opportunities, professional skills or support in different life situations.
It is advisable to register with the Job Centre as soon as possible after leaving employment. This is the only way you will be entitled to unemployment benefits from the first day of registration. If you register later, you will only be entitled from the day you register.
The Job Centre is not just for the unemployed. It provides counselling, retraining, access to job vacancies and the possibility to insert a CV. Students, people considering a career change or those who want to improve their professional skills can also take advantage of the Job Centre’s services.
When registering, you must provide proof of termination of employment and the necessary personal documents. The Job Centre will then enter you in the register of jobseekers and will regularly discuss suitable job offers with you. You can only refuse an offer of employment for legal reasons, otherwise you may be removed from the register.
The Labour Office collects and publishes vacancies in an online database and at its branches. The vacancies are continuously updated and include highly skilled positions as well as manual work or short-term temporary jobs.
When you quit your job, we can help you defend yourself against your employer’s actions and make sure you get everything you’re entitled to from them. This includes, for example, any wages or severance pay you are owed. We provide assistance throughout the country and at a predetermined price.
Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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