Work

Are you a foreigner looking for a job? Are you wondering how to further develop your career? Do you want to utilise your skills on the Czech labour market? At selected branches of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, experienced specialists for working with foreigners will provide you with individual support (including interpreting).

Employment or entrepreneurship is an important prerequisite for your economically and socially self-sufficient life in the Czech Republic. In addition to subsistence in the form of (regular) income, it can also bring you new contacts and friends.

Conditions for entering the labor market and obtaining a work permit

If you are a third-country national, complete information on how to proceed, what type of work permit is suitable for you, the conditions for obtaining a work permit for you and your employer and the necessary forms can be found in the Employment of Foreigners section on the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs website and also in section Economic Migration Programs. Basic information on the functioning of the labor market for foreigners is also provided by Work in the Czech Republic website. Useful information for foreigners regarding the recognition and benefits of legal employment in the Czech Republic is summarized in the pages Work of Foreigners in the Czech Republic.

If you are an EU / EEA and Swiss citizen or a family member of such a citizen, complete information on the possibilities of entering the labor market, the employer's obligations and the necessary forms can be found in the Employment of EU Citizens section on the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs website. Basic information on the functioning of the labor market for EU citizens is also provided by Work in the Czech Republic website.

The conditions of posting workers to the Czech Republic (within the framework of free movement of services in the EU) are summarized on the website of the State Office of Labor Inspection.

Migration programs

Migration programs serve to simplify access to the labor market for selected workers from abroad and to strengthen the competitiveness of Czech companies. These projects are the Key and Scientific Staff Program, the Highly Qualified Employee Program and the Qualified Employee Program.

Job search and job offers

Job offers for foreigners who need a work permit to enter the Czech labor market (ie an employee card, a blue card, a work permit, or a card for internally transferred employees) are published in the database of vacancies for foreigners. However, you need to be careful - you will learn about the risks of the labor market in Work in the Czech Republic website.

Citizens of the EU / EEA and Switzerland can look for work on the EURES portal, through advertisements in the press and on the Internet (eg the Czech server www.jobs.cz or for English-speaking applicants the server www.expats.cz), they can also use employment agencies. However, you need to be careful - you will learn about the risks of the labor market in Work in the Czech Republic website.

Are you a foreigner looking for a job? Are you wondering how to further develop your career? Do you want to utilise your skills on the Czech labour market? At selected branches of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, experienced specialists for working with foreigners will provide you with individual support (including interpreting).

The Contact Center for Foreigners has been set up to support foreigners from outside the EU who want to work as non-medical and medical health workers. This center informatively helps in negotiations with the authorities and processing all permits that are necessary for work in the Czech Republic. Contact Center for Foreigners coordinates cooperation between health care providers and individual applicants from countries outside the EU.

Review tips on how to write a resume correctly.

Labor market risks and protection against labor exploitation

The Work in the Czech Republic website will introduce you to the risks you want to work in the Czech Republic as an employee and how to prevent them.

Useful information for foreigners regarding the recognition and benefits of legal employment in the Czech Republic is summarized in the pages Work of Foreigners in the Czech Republic.

Unions promote the interests of workers. They negotiate with the employer on behalf of the workers, for example on wages or working conditions.

Information materials on the risks of labour exploitation and its prevention in 10 languages are available in the library and on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic.

Employee rights and obligations, safety and health at work (OSH)

Information on the rights and obligations of foreigners in the position of employees, ie on labor law regulations of the Czech Republic, are posted in several language versions on the SÚIP website (State Office of Labor Inspection).

Practical information and frequently asked questions about occupational safety and health are summarized in the Labor of Foreigners in the Czech Republic website.

The Work in the Czech Republic website will also acquaint you with basic information on the types of employment relations between the employee and the employer and the rights and obligations of the employer and the employee.

Information on occupational safety and health (OSH) in various sectors is posted on the SÚIP website in Czech.

Job loss

You will find specific information on how to proceed in the event of loss of employment and how the employment office can help you, according to the type of your stay and the situation in which you are, at the Work in the Czech Republic website.

Basic general information for people who have lost and are looking for a job is posted on the Labor Office portal. Job seekers may, at the expense of the Labor Office of the Czech Republic, retrain for a selected specific profession or as part of Czech language courses for foreigners. Information on retraining is available on the Labor Office portal. Foreign job seekers can also benefit from Unemployment Support if they conform the conditions.

Are you a foreigner looking for a job? Are you wondering how to further develop your career? Do you want to utilise your skills on the Czech labour market? At selected branches of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, experienced specialists for working with foreigners will provide you with individual support (including interpreting).

If the employment is the purpose on the basis of which the residence permit was issued to the foreigner, it is necessary to verify the consequences of non-fulfillment of the purpose of the stay, eg on the website of the Ministry of the Interior.

Recognition of foreign education (nostrification)

Recognition of basic, secondary, higher vocational or higher education is carried out not only for study but also for professional purposes, eg for the performance of regulated professions.

More information on the recognition of foreign primary, secondary or higher vocational education can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

More information on the recognition of foreign higher (tertiary) education can also be found on the website of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

For the assessment of claims for state social support benefits and for the purposes of sickness insurance, health insurance, pension insurance, or as one of the documents on the child's dependency, the so-called recognition of studies at high school or university for social and health purposes. Information on the recognition of studies at foreign secondary schools for social and health purposes can be found here, while information on the recognition of studies at foreign universities for social and health purposes can be found here.

 
Recognition of professional qualifications (so-called professional recognition)

When entering the labor market, especially in the case of regulated professions and activities, some foreigners (especially EU / EEA and Swiss citizens, foreigners with permanent residence, and their family members) who have obtained their professional qualifications outside the Czech Republic in the territory of any EU Member State / EEA and Switzerland, to apply for recognition of professional qualifications. Information on professional recognition can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. 

Improving the qualifications of foreigners

Through further education, everyone can increase or deepen their qualifications, thus strengthening their position in the labor market.

Various educational seminars, Czech language courses or workshops are organized by Integration Centers and non-profit organizations, mostly free of charge.

Training courses are also provided by commercial entities. Current accredited and non-accredited educational courses and seminars can be found in the database of further vocational education events. Clients of the Labor Office (ÚP ČR) can apply for retraining for the accredited courses.

The achieved results of further education can be formally recognized through the successful passing of an examination in a defined professional qualification by issuing a certificate with nationwide validity. The exam must be taken in the Czech language. More on the website of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

More information on further education can be found on the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports website.

On 1 July 2024, a government regulation comes into force, which introduces free access to the Czech labour market for citizens of the following nine countries: 

Australia, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Singapore, Israel.

More information you can find in the leaflet.

The purpose of the regulation is to reduce the administrative burden on employers and increase the attractiveness of the Czech labour market for foreigners from these source countries.

In summary, citizens of these countries are not required to obtain any kind of employment permit according to Czech law (i.e., work permit, dual employee card, intra-corporate transfer card, blue card) to be employed in the Czech Republic, but only a residence permit. Employers of citizens of the selected countries are then relieved of the obligations associated with reporting vacancies to the Labour Office for the purpose of including vacancies in the central register of vacancies.

ATTENTION!

Free access to the labour market does not provide foreigners with the right to reside in the territory of the Czech Republic. It is still necessary to apply for a residence permit according to standard procedures.  More information on how to apply for a residence permit can be found on the Information Portal for Foreigners in the section Types of visas and residence permits (https://frs.gov.cz/typy-viz-a-pobytu/).

Foreigners who are already legally residing in the Czech Republic and have had to apply for a work permit so far are no longer required to do so.

How to benefit from the new right and at the same time secure legal residence in the Czech Republic?

• If citizens of the selected country are planning to be employed in the Czech Republic for up to 3 months, they must apply for a Schengen visa for employment purposes at the embassy. However, they do not have to submit an employment permit for this purpose.
• If citizens of the selected country enter the territory of the Czech Republic with the intention to work here for up to 3 months, but during their stay the planned employment is extended so that the maximum 3-month period of validity of the Schengen employment visa is exceeded, the foreigner must leave the Czech Republic and apply for a long-term residence permit at any embassy of the Czech Republic (see below)[1].    
• If citizens of the selected country are to be employed in the Czech Republic for a period exceeding 3 months, they must apply for a so-called non-dual employee card at any embassy of the Czech Republic. This type of employee card can be issued (unlike the so-called dual employee card for foreigners without free access to the labour market) for a job that the employer has not reported to the Labour Office and is not included in the central register of vacancies. The cardholder is then entitled to change employment freely (with an obligation to notify the Ministry of the Interior of the change within 3 days). Please note that free access to the labour market doesn’t prevent citizens from the selected countries to apply for a dual employee card.
• Highly qualified foreigner can apply for a blue card, which gives them advantages over a non-dual employee card for the purposes of mobility within the EU, family reunification or social security. However, this card can only be issued for a vacancy reported to the Labour Office and included in the relevant central register, and the rules for issuing it are therefore unchanged for citizens of selected countries with free access to the labour market.
• When citizens of the selected countries are to be temporarily transferred to the territory of the Czech Republic within a multinational business corporation for a period exceeding 3 months, they must apply for an intra-corporate transfer employee card, which is issued to a manager, specialist or a graduate trainee temporarily transferred to the Czech Republic within a multinational business corporation.
• Citizens of the selected countries who are to be posted/seconded to the Czech Republic by an employer established in a third country to perform work based on a contract will also no longer need a work permit. The same approach will be applied to citizens of the countries specified in the regulation who were previously entitled to enter the Czech labour market under concluded memoranda and working holiday programmes.