If you were previously going to work in a restaurant, café, bakery or school canteen, then you couldn’t do without a food licence, formerly known as a health card. This document certified that you were medically fit to work with food, and its absence could mean a fine and loss of your job. However, this is no longer the case from July 2023.
If you wanted to work in a restaurant, café, bakery, supermarket or even a school canteen, you needed a food licence. This document confirms that you are medically fit to work where you come into contact with food. It used to be called a health certificate, but nowadays the correct name is a medical fitness assessment. In practice, however, the term food certificate is still commonly used and employers have often required it in this way.
The obligation to have a food (health) certificate was based on the Public Health Protection Act. The Act imposed an obligation on employers to ensure that work involving contact with food was carried out only by persons who were medically fit. The aim was to protect public health, i.e. to prevent the spread of infectious diseases through food. Without an assessment, a food worker could transmit, for example, salmonella, hepatitis A or other infections. However, from 1 July 2023, the obligation to have a food certificate was abolished.
Obtaining a licence was not only for cooks, waiters or shop assistants, but also for workers in school canteens, dispensaries, food warehouses and hospital kitchens. The obligation even applied to temporary workers and students – the health regulations do not make exceptions for age or length of employment. Therefore, if someone worked in the food industry, the food worker’s health card had to be up-to-date and available for inspection at all times.
The food licence was abolished on 1 July 2023 by an amendment to the Public Health Protection Act. This was because the card had become in practice a mere formality without any real predictive value as to the health status of the holder. Doctors often issued it ‘on the spot’ without examination and it was often valid indefinitely, so that it did not serve the purpose for which it was originally intended – that is, to protect the public from the transmission of infectious diseases through food.
The Ministry of Health therefore decided that the ID card system only burdened employees and employers with bureaucracy without improving safety. Responsibility for workers’ health has thus moved directly to occupational health services, which employers must continue to provide.
The abolition of the food licence does not mean that anyone can work in the food industry without a medical assessment. Medical fitness of workers remains mandatory under the Labour Code and the Specific Health Services Act. Every employer is obliged to ensure that his employees are medically fit to work – this means passing an initial medical examination before starting work and also regular periodic examinations according to the risk of the work. This also applies to food handlers, even if they no longer need a separate “certificate”. As part of these examinations, the doctor assesses, among other things, the risk of transmission of infectious diseases and decides whether the employee is medically fit to work in the food industry. In other words, the paper card has disappeared, but the obligation to be medically fit has remained.
It was relatively easy to obtain a food licence, but it was definitely not just a “rubber stamp”. It was issued by a GP who had to assess whether you were medically fit to work with food. The doctor based this on the Specific Health Services Act, and on a decree that set out the content of occupational health examinations.
The process was as follows: you made an appointment with your general practitioner and asked for a medical fitness to work in the food sector. The doctor conducted a short interview with you about your health, sometimes asking for the results of stool or blood tests (for example, for new employees in large establishments). If everything was in order, he or she issued you with a food licence on the spot, often within a few minutes. Sometimes, however, it was necessary to come back for the document later, depending on the organisation of the particular surgery.
If someone did not have a GP, they could go to any other doctor providing occupational health services. They usually offered to issue the card without registration, often with the option of making an appointment online or by phone. The whole process was quick, usually taking only a few tens of minutes. It was always necessary to have a card issued before starting work, as a health inspection could come at any time and the absence of a card was considered an offence.
Tip: Your employer requires you to have a medical examination. Is he entitled to such a thing? Can I refuse the examination and what information about your health can the doctor provide? Find out in our article.
How much does a food licence cost? This is the question that has occurred to everyone who has been going through the process. The price of a health card varied by doctor and region. Most general practitioners charged a fee of between 100 and 500 CZK for the issue. It depended on whether it was an initial issue, a repeat check or, for example, a more extensive initial examination where the doctor checked other aspects of your health.
If the doctor was issuing the card as part of an initial medical examination for an employer, the examination was often paid for by the employer – in which case the food card was free.
Many people mistakenly believe that a food licence is valid for life. However, the truth is a little more complicated. While the paper document itself does not have an expiration date, they did expire as of 2023. This may have specified that medical fitness to work in the food industry is time limited – typically for 1 to 3 years. Thus, after that period, the employee potentially had to take a new examination.
In addition, under the Labour Code, the employer is obliged to ensure that the employee performs work only if he or she is medically fit. If the medical certificate expires, the employer must send you for a check-up – without it, you should not be assigned to a shift.
Generally, however, food licences were issued for an indefinite period.
A food licence, formerly known as a health card, was a document confirming medical fitness to work with food – therefore compulsory for cooks, waiters, shop assistants or canteen workers. Its issue was based on the Public Health Protection Act and was intended to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as salmonella or hepatitis. A doctor issued it after a short examination, usually for a fee of CZK 100-500, and the card was often valid indefinitely. However, from 1 July 2023, the food pass was abolished as it became a mere formality with no real health check and constituted unnecessary bureaucracy. Responsibility for workers’ medical fitness now passes to the employer, who must continue to provide occupational health checks in accordance with the Labour Code and the Specific Health Services Act. Thus, medical fitness remains compulsory, but is no longer confirmed by a separate “paper certificate”.
Tip: Has your health deteriorated and you are no longer able to do your current job? Are you wondering whether you should be given notice for health reasons or whether it is better to terminate your employment by agreement? Find out what options are available and what you are legally entitled to.
Yes. The obligation applies to all workers who come into contact with food – whether full-time, temporary or short-term.
The frequency is determined by the doctor according to the nature of the work and the riskiness of the environment. Usually it is once every 2 to 3 years, more often for more risky operations.
Mostly no. Initial and periodic medical examinations are paid for by the employer because they are part of the occupational health services.
Yes, during an inspection, the official can consult the documentation kept by the employer. Even if the card no longer exists, the employer must prove that the employee has passed the medical examination.
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