How do you terminate an employee in Czech Republic in 2026?

A Czech employer can only end an open-ended contract by notice on one of the grounds set out in Section 52 of the Labour Code (Act No. 262/2006 Coll.). The written notice must state the ground in enough detail that it cannot later be swapped for a different one. A vague or missing reason is the most common way a dismissal falls apart.

The grounds the law allows

1. Organisational change, where the role is closed, the employer relocates, or the employee becomes redundant. These are the §52(a) to (c) grounds that carry tenure-based severance.
2. Health incapacity, where the employee can no longer do the work. The §52(d) ground splits into ordinary long-term incapacity and incapacity caused by a work injury or occupational disease.
3. Failure to meet the role's requirements, including unsatisfactory results, under §52(e) and (f).
4. Breach of duty, from serious misconduct to repeated lesser breaches, under §52(g).
5. Breach of the sickness regime during the first 14 days of certified illness, under §52(h).

Some employees are protected from notice during set periods, for example pregnancy, maternity or parental leave, and certified temporary incapacity. Dismissal for being pregnant, for union activity, or as a reprisal for asserting a legal right is not valid under the Labour Code. Name the protected category before you act, not after.

1. Choose a valid ground

   Match the situation to one ground in Section 52 of the Labour Code. The ground decides the notice length and whether severance is owed, so name it precisely.

2. Check protected windows

   Confirm the employee is not in a period that blocks notice, such as pregnancy, parental leave, or certified illness. A dismissal served inside a protected window is not valid.

3. Serve written notice

   Deliver the notice in writing with the ground stated clearly. The notice period begins on the first day of the month after delivery, not the day you hand it over.

4. Work out the severance

   Calculate severance on average earnings where an organisational or work-injury ground applies. The work-injury floor is much higher than the tenure rates, so confirm the cause first.

5. Run the final settlement

   Pay wages, severance, and unused leave on the monthly wage cycle. Keep the documents in case the dismissal is later challenged in court.

Section 51 of the Labour Code sets these as floors. A contract may set a longer notice period, but it must be the same for both parties. The notice does not start ticking on the day you hand it over. It begins on the first day of the calendar month that follows, so a notice served in March runs through April and May on the standard period.

Payment instead of working the notice

Czech law does not have a general right to pay out notice the way some markets do. The employment normally continues through the notice period and the employee keeps working or stays on the books. Where both sides want a cleaner exit, they agree a mutual termination, which is covered further down this page.

During the probation period

Probation is the one window where either side can end the employment immediately and without a reason. The maximum probation is 4 months for ordinary employees and 8 months for managerial roles, both raised by the flexi-amendment that took effect on 1 June 2025. No severance is due on a probation exit.

Section 67 of the Labour Code ties statutory severance to the organisational grounds and to length of service. Severance is calculated on average monthly earnings, the same average used for other wage compensation, not on basic pay alone.

Organisational dismissal: severance by tenure

These are minimums. A contract or collective agreement can set a higher figure. Severance for organisational reasons is due on the normal payday for the month in which the employment ends.

The work injury and occupational disease floor

The §52(d) health ground splits in two. Where ordinary long-term health makes someone unfit, severance follows the standard tenure rates above. But where the unfitness is caused by a work injury or a recognised occupational disease, Section 67(2) sets a far higher floor of 12 months of average earnings, regardless of tenure. This higher payment does not apply if the employer is fully relieved of liability for the injury, so the cause and the liability finding decide the number.

The statutory minimum wage as context

Average earnings drive every severance figure, so the pay base matters. The statutory monthly minimum wage is Kč 22,400/month, effective 1 January 2026, and it sets the floor that average earnings build on for the lowest-paid roles.

The Czech system does not put a money cap on the invalid-termination remedy the way some countries cap unfair dismissal awards. The exposure is the back pay itself, running at the employee's average earnings for as long as the dispute lasts. A drawn-out case can therefore cost far more than the severance you tried to avoid.

The one relief valve is in Section 69(2). Once the compensation period would pass 6 months, the court can cut the award for the further period if the employer asks it to. That is a reduction at the court's discretion, not an automatic ceiling, so it does not turn the open-ended risk into a fixed sum.

Why the ground and the paperwork carry the risk

• The written notice must state a valid §52 ground in clear terms
• The employee must not fall inside a protected window such as pregnancy or certified illness
• For redundancy, the role must genuinely be closing, not reopening under a new title
• The severance must be paid in full and on time where the ground requires it
• The notice must be delivered properly and start on the correct date

A mutual termination agreement (dohoda o rozvázání pracovního poměru) is recognised under the Labour Code and is the route most employers and employees prefer when both want a defined end date. It avoids the notice mechanics and removes the argument over which §52 ground applies.

Typical components of a Czech mutual exit:

• The agreed end date, which can be sooner than a notice period would allow
• Severance, where the reason is organisational, because the law preserves the §52(a) to (c) entitlement even in an agreed exit
• Unused annual leave, paid out at the daily rate, with statutory leave set at 4 weeks per year
• Any agreed extra payment, where the employer offers more than the legal floor to settle quickly
• Return of equipment and handover terms, recorded so nothing is left open

The agreement should state the reason where severance is in play, because the reason is what links the payment to the legal entitlement. On final pay timing, the Labour Code runs a monthly wage cycle. Wages are due at the latest in the calendar month after the month the right to them arose, under Section 141. Final settlement, including any severance, follows that same monthly rhythm rather than a fixed number of days after the last shift.

Real HR and legal experts handle your Czech hires, from the first contract through every monthly payroll run and statutory deduction. An actual person, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. There is no setup fee and no exit fee, and employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.

The split of responsibilities under EOR for Czech terminations:

An invalid Czech dismissal can run wage compensation for the length of the court case, so the ground and the paperwork are where the money is won or lost. Teamed gets both right before the notice goes out.

EOR, contractors, and entity employees all live on one platform. An employee hired through Teamed's Czech network can graduate to your own Czech legal presence when headcount makes entity formation the right call, until it isn't. Run the Crossover Calculator to see when the model flips. Start from the Czech Republic hiring overview.

Key sources: Labour Code, Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV), and Czech Social Security Administration.