Self-employed people with no employees working for them and working exclusively for one client have less autonomy in their work methods and working time schedules than employers working for more than one client. Significant differences are also found according to sector and occupation.
Recent trends in self-employment
In 2004, self-employed people accounted for 16.2% of all employment in the Czech Republic. Since 1993 - when regular monitoring of labour statistics using sample surveys of the labour force began - the proportion of self-employed people has doubled (see Table 1). At the start of 2004, a package of tax and social reforms were adopted that had a negative impact on the enterprise environment, putting a brake on the growth in the number of self-employed people. Government reports (167Kb pdf; in Czech) defended these measures as necessary in revitalising and cleaning up the business environment. However, at a public policy level, it is acknowledged that the small and medium-sized enterprise is one of the most important employment components in the Czech Republic, playing a dynamic role in job creation.
Table 1: Employment status in the Czech Republic
Employment status in the Czech Republic | | | 1993 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Employees | % | 87.0 | 83.9 | 84.0 | 83.2 | 82.3 | 82.7 |
| Employers | % | 2.7 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
| Own-account workers | % | 6.3 | 10.3 | 10.6 | 11.3 | 12.3 | 12.2 |
| Subtotal (employers and own-account) | % | 9.0 | 14.4 | 14.5 | 15.3 | 16.5 | 16.2 |
| Members of producer cooperatives | % | 3.7 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Family workers | % | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Total employed | 000s | 4,873.5 | 4,731.6 | 4,727.7 | 4,764.9 | 4,733.2 | 4,706.6 |
Source: Labour force sample survey, CZSO
Autonomy among self-employed people
With the increased presence of self-employed workers in the labour market, it is crucial to investigate the quality of their working life. For that reason, in 2004, an ad-hoc module (in Czech), aimed at identifying the level of autonomy among self-employed people, was added to the regular Labour force sample survey (LFSS) performed by the Czech Statistics Office. Although the common perception is that entrepreneurs are in charge of their own work, the research showed that this is not always the case, most notably among self-employed people without employees and who work with just one client/customer.
The LFSS reported that 72.8% of self-employed people were able to choose their work methods and working hours. Those without employees had less autonomy (69.8%).
Women are in the minority in the entrepreneurial environment, making up only one quarter of all entrepreneurs. However, it is fair to say that autonomy in decision-making on working methods and working times is generally the same for both sexes (see Table 2). The only visible difference concerns self-employed women with no employees, who report at least partial independence in deciding their working hours more frequently than do men. Younger entrepreneurs have less autonomy in their decision-making. Compared with other surveys (e.g. Measuring the Quality of Working Life - CZ0502SR01), there is no difference between young entrepreneurs and young employees in this regard.
Table 2: Autonomy in decision-making, self-employed persons by sex, 2004
Autonomy in decision making, self-employed people, by sex, 2004 | Decision-making autonomy | Total (%) | Self-employed with employees (%) | Self-employed without employees (%) |
| Total | M | F | Total | M | F | Total | M | F |
| Decides about methods but not working hours | 10.1 | 10.7 | 8.4 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 11.4 | 12.4 | 8.8 |
| Decides about working hours but not methods | 9.0 | 8.1 | 11.3 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 9.5 | 8.4 | 12.3 |
| Decides about methods and working hours | 72.8 | 72.6 | 73.2 | 82.0 | 81.9 | 82.2 | 69.8 | 69.4 | 70.9 |
| Does not decide on methods or working hours | 5.6 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 5.5 |
| Not ascertained | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
Source: LFSS, Ad-hoc module 2004 (284Kb pdf; in Czech), CZSO
Autonomy by sector
Looking at economic sectors, the least autonomy in deciding about working methods and hours is found among entrepreneurs working in transport (11.9% do not decide about either working hours or methods) and in construction (10.7%). These indicators allow measurement of the extent of the grey economy of illegal outsourcing, or what in the Czech Republic is called the ‘Schwarz system’. Limited autonomy indicates that the nature of the work of entrepreneurs without employees comes close to the nature of the work of an employee. Entrepreneurs who cannot decide either about their work methods or their working hours are usually forced into this situation either by their client or another party - in effect, an employer. The Schwarz system, i.e. a concealed employment relation whereby the employer hires a trader to carry out work that could be done in a work relationship by an ordinary employee, is illegal in the Czech Republic.
Table 3: Self-employed people without employees working for one client, by degree of work autonomy, 2004
Self-employed people without employees working for one client, by degree of work autonomy, 2004 | Decision-making autonomy | Total | Men | Women |
| No. (in 000s) | % | No. (in 000s) | % | No. (in 000s) | % |
| Total | 77.3 | 100.0 | 54.8 | 100.0 | 22.5 | 100.0 |
| Decides about methods but not working hours | 15.5 | 20.2 | 12.5 | 22.8 | 3.0 | 13.3 |
| Decides about working hours but not methods | 10.8 | 14.0 | 6.3 | 11.4 | 4.6 | 20.3 |
| Decides about methods and working hours | 30.6 | 39.6 | 19.8 | 36.1 | 10.9 | 48.3 |
| Does not decide about methods or working hours | 20.2 | 26.1 | 16.3 | 29.7 | 3.9 | 20.3 |
Source: LFSS, Ad-hoc module 2004, CZSO
Self-employed people without employees and working for just one client are exposed to the greatest level of lack of autonomy. Of the total number of entrepreneurs without employees, 15.4% work for just one client, most of them in construction, motor vehicle and consumer product repairs, and in the processing industry.