Working time and days of rest, paid holiday, overtime work

The Amendment defines the term 'days of rest' as any period other than the working time.

The Amendment increases flexibility in distribution of working time. The employer may arrange working time unevenly for a maximum period of four months upon negotiation with the employees' representatives or after agreement with the employee. In case of uneven distribution of working time for a period longer than 4 months but not exceeding 12 months, the agreement with the employees' representatives or the employee himself/herself shall be still required.

In order to increase effectiveness of work and better provision of needs of the employees, it is possible to introduce a flexible working time upon the agreement with the employees' representatives. The Amendment enables to introduce also other forms of flexible distribution of working time than those mentioned in the Labour Code.

The Amendment defines the terms 'work in shifts' and 'employee working in work shifts'.

Continuous daily rest of an employee may be shortened to 8 hours only to the employee older than 18 years in continuous operations, turns works and when performing urgent repair work concerning the averting of a threat endangering lives or health of employees. Work during the days of rest can be ordered only exceptionally, after negotiating with the employees' representatives. The Amendment newly regulates overtime work. The overtime work cannot exceed eight hours per week during a period not exceeding four consecutive months, unless the employer agrees with the employees' representatives on a longer period, however not exceeding 12 consecutive months. It is still possible to order to the employee the overtime work only in the extent not exceeding 150 hours during the calendar year. However, according to the Amendment, the employer may, due to the serious reasons, agree with the employee on overtime work over the above limit however not exceeding 250 hours per calendar year. Such agreement can be reached also without the approval of the National Labour Office and negotiation with the respective collective bargaining body.

The Amendment has introduced the exemption for performance of overtime work by the employee performing risky works, but only in cases expressly stated by the Labour Code and for provision of safe and continuous production process.

With effects from 1 January 2004, the Amendment repeals so-called 'further holiday' that belonged to employees with unevenly distributed working time.

Under the Amendment, a limit for number of hours of overtime work that may be included in the agreed amount of the wage of the employee is 150 hours of overtime work. Above 150 hours of overtime work the employer shall be obliged to provide a wage together with wage surcharge. The Amendment has also supplemented a possibility to agree with a manager in direct controlling authority of the statutory body and a manager being directly managed by this employee that the amount of wage already includes the agreed overtime work. In these cases the employee is not entitled to wage including wage surcharge for overtime work and such employee cannot claim a substitute time-off for this overtime.

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