Do you need to move, get your dog treated for strep throat, or take your dog to the vet? In all cases, these are situations that usually take place during your working hours. On which occasions are you entitled to paid (or unpaid) time off from your employer? And what if you want time off to travel, for example? The answers are waiting for you in this article.
In the course of our lives, many things happen to us that simply make it impossible for us to come to work. Some situations where paid or unpaid leave can be taken are described directly in the Labour Code, while others are referred to a government regulation that sets out the scope and extent of such leave. Thanks to the legislation protecting employees, you will not only save your leave, but in many cases you will even receive income(wage or salarycompensation ) as if you were working properly.
You may have a number of reasons for going to the doctor – your employer may send you for an occupational health check, or it may be for a regular preventive check-up or illness. Each of these reasons has a slightly different regime.
In the event of an occupational health check-up or any examination that is related to your work, you are entitled to be given time off work for as long as necessary. You are also entitled to wage compensation.
Occupational health examinations, their types and frequency were discussed in our article.
If you are not ill but still go to the doctor (for example, for a regular preventive check-up with the dentist or your GP), you should go outside your working hours. However, as this is usually not possible (either because of overlapping surgery hours with your working hours or because you are happy that the dentist has at least found you an appointment), your employer should give you time off in this case too.
It is to your advantage if you have chosen the medical centre closest to your home or workplace for the visit or procedure. In this case, you are entitled not only to time off work but also to wage compensation. If your practitioner is two hours away from your home, while the nearest one is only five minutes away, your employer should theoretically only reimburse you for the five-minute journey and the visit itself.
As a rule, no one asks where exactly your doctor is located and whether you spent an hour or two with him or her. In our experience, employers usually allow such visits on a flat-rate basis and fully reimburse them. Consistent application of the law would be more likely to occur when you leave work very frequently and abuse the benevolence of the law, or if you had all your doctors in Ostrava, for example, and worked in Prague. But even then the situation would not be black and white – an employee can argue that no specialist closer to his workplace was accepting new patients, there are long waiting times at the doctor’s office, etc. Unless it is an extreme abuse of the system, as a rule no one voluntarily enters into such disputes.
The Labour Code does not set an annual limit on blood or plasma donations. Employees shall be entitled to leave with pay for each individual donation, during the journey to the donation, the donation itself, the journey back and the recovery after the donation, if these interfere with working time.
For blood donations, leave shall be granted up to 24 hours from the start of the journey to the donation, and for plasma (and other biological materials) up to 48 hours as a rule, although the doctor may extend this period up to 96 hours in exceptional cases.
Interestingly, the law does not distinguish between free and paid donations, where the donor is entitled to approximately CZK 700 per plasma collection. Together with time off work and wage compensation, this is indeed an unprecedented benefit.
The situation is similar when donating other biological materials. The donation, travel and recovery time should be within 48 hours (the doctor may extend this time to 96 hours for serious reasons).
Is your employer restricting you and not allowing you to take the time off you are entitled to? Contact us and we’ll help you enforce your rights.
Sickness is incapacity for work and must be certified by your doctor. You are entitled to wage replacement or sick pay (a benefit paid by the state) for the period of time your doctor says you should be. For the first 14 days of temporary incapacity for work, you will receive wage compensation from your employer. If the temporary incapacity for work (or quarantine) lasts longer than 14 calendar days, the state pays you sick pay.
Previously, employees were not entitled to any wage replacement during the first three days of sickness. However, an amendment to the legislation made in 2019 abolished this so-called “withdrawal period” and the employer is now obliged to pay wage compensation from the first day of sickness. The wage replacement is, like sick pay, 60% of the average reduced earnings.
We have discussed in more detail what an employee is entitled to during sickness in our article.
You are entitled to time off work for a strictly necessary period of time when accompanying a family member to a doctor for an examination or treatment – this can be for a sudden illness or accident, but also for a planned examination. However, you are only entitled if the accompanying is necessary (typically for a young child or an incapacitated parent) and if the tasks could not be carried out outside working hours. Time off work is granted for the time strictly necessary, usually for no more than one day, if the accompaniment cannot be arranged outside working hours.
If you are accompanying your spouse, partner, child, your parents and grandparents or your spouse’s parents or grandparents, you are entitled to full pay. For other close persons, your employer is supposed to give you time off, but without pay. If there is any doubt as to whether an escort is necessary, a doctor can confirm this.
If you accompany a sick child or other family member to the doctor’s, you won’t get a wage replacement from your employer, but a nursing allowance of 60% of your average wage. Find out how to apply for sick pay in our article.
If you’re getting married, it’s a good idea from an employment law perspective to set your ceremony date on a weekday. In this case, you are entitled to two days off. One day always falls on the actual attendance at the ceremony. If the ceremony is on a weekend or public holiday, you are only entitled to one day off. Only one day’s pay is ever due.
The wedding of certain other relatives also merits time off. If your child is getting married, you are entitled to one day of paid time off. If, for example, your parent has planned a second wedding, you will only get one day’s leave without pay.
A death in the family may entitle you to up to three days’ paid leave (in the case of a husband, wife, partner or child). Two days are for the death itself and one day for attending the funeral.
You are entitled to one day’s paid leave if the funeral is for your parent, sibling, your spouse’s parent or sibling, or your child’s spouse. You may add one day to this if you are arranging a funeral.
For more distant relatives, such as your or your spouse’s grandparent, grandchild, or other close person who was living in the same household as you at the time of death, you are entitled to paid leave for as long as necessary, but not more than one day. The same conditions apply to the funeral of a fellow employee. The employer determines the persons attending the funeral.
For the funeral of more distant relatives such as an uncle, aunt, cousin, you must take leave or make individual arrangements with your employer. However, the law no longer guarantees you anything in this case.
There are also inheritance proceedings connected with the death. If you are summoned to see a notary for this reason, you are entitled to leave without pay.
Saying goodbye to the deceased is an emotionally very difficult situation. Unfortunately, the worries don’t end there, because there are inheritance proceedings to be held, during which the deceased’s estate is divided among the heirs. In our article, we will advise you how to go through the inheritance proceedings without worrying, what to do in case of the deceased’s debts and how to avoid disputes and deal with the other heirs.
When a child is born, the father is entitled to paid leave, but only for as long as necessary:
If you are on notice, you are entitled to unpaid leave to look for a new job for one half-day a week during this period. It is irrelevant whether your employer or you have terminated your employment.
If you are studying at work, you must first agree with your employer whether he agrees to your study and sees it as an increase in the qualifications necessary for your position. If this is the case, you are entitled to time off work with pay equal to your average earnings:
By contrast, further training means, for example, some additional training or course that your employer may order. In such a case, it will also provide you with the cost of the training and the attendance itself is considered as work performance.
Not satisfied with your temporary job? Bet on retraining from the Job Centre. Find out exactly how it works in our article.
Moving house can be another reason for taking time off. Here, a distinction is made as to whether the move is in the employer’s interest, then the employer will grant leave with pay. If this is not the case, unpaid leave may be granted for a maximum of one day for a move within the same municipality and for a maximum of two days for a move to another municipality.
In certain situations, the Labour Code entitles you to compensatory leave. Specifically, this is compensatory time off for working on public holidays and overtime. The employer has two options for compensation, namely additional pay or compensatory time off. In the case of compensatory time off, the math is simple: as much extra work as you have done, you can take that much time off.
Sick leave for employees is a type of paid time off that is not regulated by the Labour Code. It is only a work benefit that your employer may or may not give you. If you have it in your employment contract, you can of course also request and claim it.
Other types of employment benefits are discussed in detail in our article.
The Labour Code gives you the right to unpaid leave in certain cases, which we have mentioned above. If you wish to take unpaid leave for reasons other than those mentioned above, such as travel or your own projects, it depends on your relationship with your employer and the extent to which you are dispensable. However, you are not entitled to statutory leave in this case.
Under the Labour Code, you are entitled to paid leave in several situations:
Yes, the employer has the right to require proof of the reason for the obstacle to work, typically a certificate from a doctor, registry office or other competent authority. For planned events (such as a doctor’s appointment, wedding or move), the employee must request time off in advance as soon as he or she becomes aware of the impediment. For sudden situations (illness, accident, death), the documentation is handled retrospectively.
He can’t. If the Labour Code or an implementing government regulation provides for the right to time off work (and, if applicable, wage compensation) and the employee meets the statutory conditions, the employer is obliged to grant the time off. Refusal is only possible if the legal prerequisites are not met (for example, if the doctor’s visit could have been taken outside working hours).
Paid time off is time off work for which the employee is compensated for wages or salary as if they were working (for example, for a wedding, funeral or blood donation).
Unpaid leave is leave without pay, which the law grants only in certain cases (for example, accompanying a distant relative to a doctor’s appointment).
Leave is a separate institution, the use of which is decided by the employer, and cannot be unilaterally replaced by leave for a personal obstacle to work.
Yes, but only if the escort is necessary and the examination or treatment could not be arranged outside working hours. Paid time off is due when accompanying specified close persons (e.g. child, spouse, parent). For other persons, you are generally only entitled to unpaid leave.
No. Sick days are only an employee benefit and cannot replace an employee’s legal rights. For example, if you are entitled to time off work for a doctor’s appointment, wedding or funeral, your employer cannot force you to take a sick day or vacation instead.
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