You can be given an hour’s notice by your employer for example if you are in gross breach of your duties. But did you know that you, as an employee, can also give immediate notice in certain cases? Specifically, if your employer has not paid you your wages or if you have lost your medical capacity to work.
Quick overview:
Immediate termination is regulated by Section 56 of the Labour Code.
It is only possible in case of non-payment of wages or serious danger to health.
Wages must be unpaid 15 days after the due date.
The employee is entitled to a wage replacement in the amount of the notice period.
The time limit for filing is 2 months after the reason is established.
If you are unsure of the wording or the conditions, we will tailor an immediate termination of employment to make it legally sound.
The Labour Code states that an employee can immediately terminate the employment relationship if the employer has failed to pay wages or for health reasons. However, immediate notice must be given within 2 months from the date on which the reason for immediate termination became known to the employee, or at the latest within 1 year from the date on which the reason arose. Let’s take a closer look at both situations:
Immediate termination by the employee is possible if the employer has not paid the employee’s wages or salary or any part thereof within 15 days after the due date. The employer is obliged to pay the employee his wages for his work no later than in the calendar month following the month in which the employee became entitled to the wages or salary or any component thereof. This rule applies even if your employer has not paid only part of your wages (for example, night work allowances).
If your employer owes you wages, it is important to calculate the due date and the 15-day period correctly. An incorrect calculation may invalidate the cancellation. We will be happy to assess the situation and prepare a safe solution.
Are you planning to resign immediately? With us, you can be sure that your notice will be valid and you will not lose anything you are entitled to under your employment contract. We will help you sort everything out in just two days, conveniently and online.
So if you worked the whole month of July, your employer must pay you your wages by 31 August. If he fails to pay you, he is in breach of the employment contract and the law and you are entitled to immediate dismissal. However, you still have to wait 15 days after the due date to give notice. So in our example, you could not give immediate notice until 16 September.
In addition, there are also ways to get the wages owed. You can send a written notice to your employer with information about the amount owed and the period during which it was incurred. If that doesn’t work, you also have the option of filing a lawsuit, reporting it to the labor inspectorate, and applying to the labor office to satisfy the wage claim.
It happens to us that clients contact us about this very issue, only they resolve the non-payment of wages too soon – before the 15-day period after the wages are due. If they want to terminate the employment relationship before that time, it may be invalid and the employer can claim that the employment relationship continues.
The law provides that an employee may give immediate notice of termination if, according to a medical report issued by an occupational health service provider or a decision of the competent administrative authority reviewing the medical report, he or she can no longer perform work without serious risk to his or her health and the employer has not made it possible for him or her to perform other work suitable for him or her within 15 days of the date of submission of the report.
As the law implies, your employer should find you other suitable work if you are unfit. An example of this would be if the employee works in a manufacturing plant as a mechanic. However, due to a health problem with his spine, he loses his medical capacity to do physically demanding work. His employer therefore reassigns him to an administrative position in a warehouse where he can perform work that he is medically able to do.
Tip: Learn what to expect from an occupational health check-up.
An important piece of information is that you are obliged to accept the reassignment in this case if it is appropriate to your health and qualifications. Of course, you can give notice, but only a traditional notice (not immediate) and without severance pay.
Of course, it may also happen that your employer does not have another job for you, and this is the situation where you have the option of giving immediate notice. In addition, you are also entitled to a wage replacement equivalent to your average earnings once the medical report has been submitted. You are entitled to this until your employer reassigns you to another job or until your employment is terminated.
For health reasons, the situation is legally more complicated. In practice, we see cases where the employer disputes the validity of the medical report or claims that he has offered other suitable work. These disputes often end up in court.
Tip: Read how to claim back pay and when you are entitled to it.
Immediate termination must be in writing. If you give it verbally, it is invalid. It is also a good idea to have it sent by registered post so that you have proof that your employer actually received it. It starts to take effect as soon as it is delivered to your employer. At the same time, your notice should contain certain information:
The most common error is the lack of a factual statement of the reason. It is not enough to write “non-payment of wages” – you must state the specific month, amount and due date. Overly general wording may not make the cancellation valid.
Tip: Don’t go into the deposition process alone, and instead get help from an Available Attorney. We guarantee that the termination of employment by the employee will be flawless under the Labor Code.
Employee identification:
Name and surname: Petra Malá
Date of birth: 5 March 1990
Place of residence: Květinová 456, 602 00 Brno
Employee identification number: 78901
Employer Identification:
Company name: XYZ a.s.
ID NO.: 87654321
Address: Komenského 10, 602 00 Brno
Formulation of reason for termination:
Based on the provisions of Section 56 of the Labour Code, I hereby immediately terminate the employment relationship. The reason for this is the non-payment of wages for the month of June 2024, in the amount of CZK 30,000, which should have been paid on 15 August 2024.
Date, place, signature:
Brno, 30 August 2024
Petra Malá
(signature)
If you give immediate notice, you are entitled to a wage replacement equal to your average earnings for the period of notice. The standard notice period is two months, but if you have a longer notice period agreed in your contract, then this period applies.
Immediate termination of employment is a legally strictly judged step. The courts emphasise strict compliance with the legal terms and time limits. Even a minor mistake can mean that the employment relationship does not end validly. If you are unsure about the wording or whether the conditions have been met, we recommend consulting first – often a minor wording change is all that is needed to make the termination legally flawless.
An employee has the right to immediate dismissal if the employer fails to pay wages on time or if health reasons make it impossible to continue working. In the event of non-payment of wages, the employer must be given 15 days to resolve the situation after the due date. Termination for health reasons may be given on the basis of a medical report if the employer does not offer suitable alternative work within 15 days. Immediate notice must be in writing and must state the specific reason for giving it.
Yes. The Labour Code allows for immediate termination even if only part of the wages or wage compensation has not been paid. The condition is that even this part has not been paid within 15 days after the due date.
No. The law doesn’t require it. However, the challenge may be practical from an evidentiary point of view, especially if a dispute later arises about the due date or the amount owed.
If the wages have not been paid even within 15 days after the due date, the condition for immediate cancellation is fulfilled. Late payment does not in itself prevent you from terminating the employment relationship.
No. An employee’s immediate termination does not give rise to a right to severance pay. However, you are entitled to a wage replacement equal to your average earnings for the period of notice.
No. The employment relationship ends on the date of delivery of the cancellation to the employer. From that date you are no longer obliged to work.
Yes. Temporary incapacity for work does not prevent an employee from terminating the employment relationship immediately if the legal conditions are met.
Only the court can assess the validity. If the employer disagrees, the dispute is settled by legal action. In such a situation, it is advisable to have a properly worded cancellation and documented compliance with the statutory conditions.
We will advise you on how to proceed in the event of termination of employment, whether it is better not to terminate employment by agreement, protect your rights and help you get the maximum from your employer. We act quickly, efficiently, throughout the country. You will know the price in advance and you can pay after the service has been provided.
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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