Czechia: Minimum wage country profile

This profile describes how minimum wages are regulated and set in Czechia. It can be read as background information for Eurofound’s annual review of minimum wage setting series.

In the Czech Republic, a national statutory minimum wage is set annually by government decree. This regulation also establishes the so-called guaranteed wage, which sets minimum pay in eight job groups. These groups are differentiated according to the complexity, responsibility, and effort required for the work performed. The lowest level of the guaranteed wage in the first job group corresponds to the basic level of the minimum wage.

Minimum wage

Information for this page was compiled during December 2023 and January 2024. As Member States are currently transposing the EU minimum wage directive, national legislation can be subject to change. Eurofound intends to update these profiles in early 2025. Users are invited to contact Eurofound if they are aware of changes.

Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.

Minimum wage regulation

The Labour Code, Act No. 262/2006 Coll., states that the government sets the basic minimum wage rate and other minimum wage rates by regulation (§ 111). These rates are graded according to the complexity, responsibility, and arduousness of the work performed, along with other conditions for providing the minimum wage. Government Regulation 396/2023 Coll., accepted on 13 December 2023, establishes the minimum wage for 2024.

Following the entry into force of the EU directive on adequate minimum wages, the government has prepared an amendment to the Labour Code. This amendment introduces a mechanism for updating the minimum wage, considering the relationship between the minimum and average wages in the national economy. The amendment is expected to enter into force in July 2024, but it is currently awaiting discussion by the Czech government.

Actors involved in determining the minimum wages

According to the statute of the Council of Economic and Social Agreements of the Czech Republic (Rada hospodářské a sociální dohody České republiky, RHSD ČR), the social partners are represented by the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (Svaz průmyslu a dopravy ČR, SP ČR) and the Confederation of Employers' and Entrepreneurs' Unions of the Czech Republic (Konfederace zaměstnavatelských a podnikatelských svazů ČR, KZPS ČR) on behalf of the entrepreneurs, and by the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (Českomoravská konfederace odborových svazů, ČMKOS) and the Association of independent trade unions (Asociace samostatných odborů, ASO) on the trade union side. Seven ministers and the prime minister participate in the plenary meeting of the RHSD ČR on behalf of the government.

Besides social partners, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs must also be mentioned among the relevant actors involved in determining the statutory minimum wage (with the competence to submit the proposals from which the process begins).

Finally, the government is entitled to set the minimum wage level by regulation.

Process of setting the minimum wage

Each year, the Ministry of Labour submits various proposals for the government regulation on the minimum wage and the lowest guaranteed wage levels for the following year. This submission is part of the legislative process, which precedes the draft law being presented to the government. All draft laws or government regulations submitted to the government must be addressed by a number of institutions, including social partners, as required by the legislative rules of the government.

During the comment procedure, government bodies, citizens' associations, and social partners (trade unions and employers' organisations) can comment on the draft law. Tripartite negotiations (involving government, unions, and employers) also take place concurrently.

If no agreement on the minimum wage level emerges from the comment procedure and tripartite negotiations, the government will decide the level. Section 320 of the Labour Code mandates discussions with relevant trade unions and employers' organisations on draft laws and regulations concerning workers' key interests, particularly economic, working, wage, cultural, and social conditions. The government is also obliged to discuss these regulations in accordance to the Legislative Rules of the Government.

Ultimately, according to § 111 of the Labour Code, a government regulation typically sets the minimum wage amount, usually with effect from the start of the calendar year. The minimum wage setting process has remained similar in recent years, with no changes. However, changes will likely occur when the upcoming amendment to the Labour Code enters into force (from 2024 onwards). This means that the minimum wage for 2025 will be determined using a new mechanism outlined in the amended § 111 of the Labour Code

Criteria referred to in minimum wage setting

The current legislation, in effect since 1 January 2007, doesn't establish specific criteria for determining the minimum wage increase. The Labour Code (§ 111) currently states that the government sets the minimum wage ‘taking into account the development of wages and consumer prices’, without further specifying specific criteria. This regulation is amended annually to raise the minimum wage amount.

Coverage of the minimum wage and exemptions

The minimum wage applies to all employees. The Labour Code (§ 111) defines the minimum wage as the lowest permissible amount of pay for work in a standard employment relationship. Regardless of the term used for payment (wages, salary, or remuneration from an agreement), in both the private and public sectors, it cannot fall below the minimum wage. An agreement-based remuneration refers to specific employment arrangements like contracts for work or work activities.

Subminima and higher rates

Czech Republic has a concept called the guaranteed wage (Labour Code, § 112). By law, its lowest level (corresponding to the first job group) cannot be lower than the minimum wage. Higher guaranteed wage levels are determined based on the complexity, responsibility, and effort required for the work performed. The highest level (eighth job group) is at least twice the amount of the lowest level.

Appendix 1 of Government Regulation No. 567/2006 Coll. outlines the general characteristics of job groups used to determine guaranteed wage levels. It also provides examples of jobs within each group across various economic sectors. The definitions of these groups haven't changed in recent years; only the minimum wage amounts for each group are adjusted annually.

Here is an example of the definition for the eighth group of activities.

Creative systemic work: This involves industry as a whole, considering it as a network of interconnected fields, or the most demanding areas of fundamental importance. Activities in this group have undefined inputs, solution methods, and outputs, with potential links to the entire spectrum of other activities. They encompass the broadest and most demanding systems, drawing on various scientific fields and disciplines. Workers in this group experience very high mental demands, requiring highly abstract creative thinking with significant variability and the ability to combine processes and phenomena in unconventional ways and see broad-ranging systems in their entirety.

Frequency of payments and how the rate is defined

The relevant government regulation sets the minimum wage as both a monthly and hourly rate. These rates apply to a standard working week of 40 hours.

What counts towards the minimum wage

The Labour Code (§ 111) clarifies that the minimum wage doesn't encompass pay for overtime, extra pay for working on holidays, nights, difficult work environments, or Saturdays and Sundays.

Similar to higher wages, employers can deduct the cost of meals and accommodation from the minimum wage, but only with the employee's consent.

Tax deductions are determined by the Income Tax Act (Act No. 586/1992 Coll.). This act doesn't differentiate between minimum wage earners and those receiving higher wages when it comes to deductions.

Regular national report on minimum wage setting

There is no regular report on the development of the minimum wage.

Other country resources on minimum wages

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