This page is for people who are looking for work in Czechia or already work there and want to check that everything is set up correctly. There are no vacancies or salaries by profession here: we explain the rules and do not advertise employers.
Do I have the right to work in Czechia?
Yes, if your status allows it. Holders of temporary protection and of special long-term residence do not need a work permit: for the purposes of the Employment Act, they are treated as foreigners with permanent residence. The state employment service Úřad práce says that with temporary protection you can find a job with any employer on your own, and the employer only reports when you start work.
| Your status | Can you work? |
|---|---|
| Temporary protection | Yes, for any employer, without a work permit |
| Special long-term residence | Yes, without a work permit |
| Permanent residence | Yes, without a work permit |
| Employee card (zaměstnanecká karta) | Yes, in the job the card was issued for; pay at least the minimum wage, at least 15 hours a week |
| Tolerance visa (vízum strpění) | Only with a work permit |
As a rule, you cannot switch from temporary protection to an employee card. When protection ends, the right to work without a permit ends too. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV) states plainly that an employer cannot let such a person work; otherwise the employer faces penalties for illegal employment.
How must your employer register the start of your work?
Your employer registers you before you start work, and no earlier than 8 days before the planned date. From 1 April 2026, this is done only through the employer’s single monthly report (JMHZ): the employee registration (Registrace zaměstnance) is sent to the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ). Úřad práce no longer needs a separate notification that a foreigner has started work. For a protection holder, as for a holder of special long-term residence, the employer enters the basis for free access to the labor market as “§ 98 písm. a) Povolen trvalý pobyt – dočasná ochrana Ukrajina”.
The rule has changed over time, so older materials will tell you something different:
- until 30 September 2025, the employer reported no later than the day you started work;
- from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026, before you started work, through an information card for the employment service;
- from 1 April 2026, only through JMHZ.
A 2022 MPSV brochure, which the ministry’s website still links to, mentions the “day work starts” and a minimum wage of 16,200 Kč; this information is out of date.
If your employer has not registered you, the law calls this unregistered work (nehlášená práce), and the employer faces a fine of up to 3,000,000 Kč. A worker doing illegal work can also be fined, up to 100,000 Kč, and up to 200,000 Kč for refusing to show a document during an inspection at the workplace.
Separately, your employer notifies your health insurance company: about the start of work under an employment contract, within 8 days. The employer files the monthly JMHZ report from the 1st to the 20th of the following month.
What types of contracts are there?
Dependent work can be done only under an employment contract or under one of two agreements on work outside an employment relationship. All three are concluded in writing, and your employer gives you a copy of the agreement.
| Type | Amount of work | What you should know |
|---|---|---|
| Employment contract (pracovní smlouva) | Standard week of 40 hours | The contract states the type of work, the place of work and the start date. Probation period of up to 4 months, up to 8 for managers. The notice period is at least 2 months (one month if the employer dismisses you because you do not meet the job requirements or have breached your duties), and it starts on the day the notice is delivered |
| Agreement to complete a job (dohoda o provedení práce, DPP) | Up to 300 hours a year with one employer | From 2026, if you earn 12,000 Kč a month or more from one employer, social security (including pension) and health insurance contributions are paid on the agreement |
| Agreement to perform work (dohoda o pracovní činnosti, DPČ) | On average no more than half of the standard week | The average is calculated over the term of the agreement, but over no more than 52 weeks |
For DPP and DPČ agreements, your employer draws up a written schedule and shows it to you at least 3 days before the shift starts. Leave is calculated as if you work 20 hours a week. Unless the agreement says otherwise, it can be ended without giving reasons with 15 days’ notice. If you have worked under agreements for 180 days within 12 months, you can ask in writing for an employment contract; the employer must reply with reasons within a month.
How small agreements are taxed and what will change from 2027 is explained on the page Taxes in Czechia.
How much must you be paid, and how much do you work?
The minimum wage in 2026 is 22,400 Kč a month or 134.40 Kč an hour for a 40-hour week. From 1 January 2027, it rises to 24,900 Kč a month and 148.30 Kč an hour. The minimum also applies to DPP and DPČ agreements. For a shorter week, it is reduced proportionally: MPSV gives the example that for 20 hours a week it is 11,200 Kč.
Other key rules:
- the standard working week is 40 hours; with continuous or multi-shift work it is 37.5 hours, with two-shift work 38.75 hours;
- paid leave is at least 4 weeks a year; you are entitled to a proportional part if you have worked at least 4 weeks in the year;
- 7.1% for social security and one third of the health insurance contribution (the contribution is 13.5%) are deducted from your pay.
Where can you look for work officially?
The main official channel is the state employment service Úřad práce. A protection holder can go to its contact office for their place of residence and register:
- as a person interested in work (zájemce o zaměstnání) if you still work or study and are looking for another job;
- as a job seeker (uchazeč o zaměstnání) if you have no work.
Applications are filled in using Latin letters. Úřad práce helps you look for work and refers you to Czech language courses and retraining; in 2026, the criteria for supporting language courses changed because of high demand.
Other official sources:
- the Úřad práce vacancy database: it brings together the offers of all branches, and foreigners can search it for work and post their CVs for employers;
- EURES: a network of employment services; Úřad práce has a section of services for foreigners from third countries;
- the Úřad práce line in Ukrainian: 950 180 100, email [email protected].
How can you spot fraud and an illegal intermediary?
Fraud is most often given away by an intermediary without a permit or by a demand to pay for getting a job. MPSV warns:
- in Czechia, only employment agencies (agentury práce) with a permit from the employment service may place people in jobs; anyone else is acting illegally;
- agencies cannot charge you anything: neither for placement nor through deductions from your pay;
- insist on a written contract or agreement in a language you understand, and do not sign anything you do not understand;
- keep your residence permit and passport with you; an employer may only make a copy of them.
MPSV calls such behavior by an employer a possible crime, which can go as far as fraud or human trafficking for forced labor. The ministry’s page has a poster and a leaflet in Ukrainian.
Where can you complain about violations?
You can file a complaint about an employer with the labor inspection authorities: the regional labor inspectorate for your place of work, or the State Labour Inspection Office (SÚIP). Anyone can file it: in writing by post, electronically (by email or through the state electronic mailbox, datová schránka), in person or by phone, or through the online form on the inspection portal. The inspection must keep secret who filed the complaint. The required fields of the form must be filled in, or the complaint will not be accepted.
The inspection does not resolve individual disputes between you and your employer; that is for the courts. You also do not go to the inspection about average earnings for unemployment benefit (Úřad práce), social security (ČSSZ), health insurance (your insurance company) or debt recovery (the courts).
How do you get Ukrainian education recognized?
- School education and tertiary professional school (VOŠ). The decision is made by the education department of the regional authority (krajský úřad) for your place of residence; there is a bilingual Czech-Ukrainian application form. A protection holder is exempt from the fee only in the first 12 months of protection. You can see this from the visa code: the digit “6” after the slash means first protection, and “7” or “8” means repeat or extended protection, in which case you add a written statement. A protection holder can replace missing education documents with a written statement, but an exam may be set. School certificates issued in the USSR from 6 June 1972 to 27 February 2000 inclusive are recognized as equivalent to Czech ones without any procedure.
- Higher education. Nostrification (nostrifikace) is carried out by a public university of your choice; the fee is 3,000 Kč, but a protection holder is exempt from it in the first 12 months of protection. The decision is made within 30 days. Foreign higher education is valid in Czechia without further procedures; separate recognition may be required only where the law provides for it. Nostrification alone does not give you the right to work in a regulated profession.
- Regulated professions. Qualifications are recognized by the relevant regulatory body under special laws, so you need to contact that body. We have not found an official explanation of how these rules apply to temporary protection holders.
What happens if you lose your job?
Register as a job seeker with Úřad práce: if you do this within 3 working days after your job ends, your registration and benefit count from the day after your work ended. The conditions and amounts are described on the page Unemployment benefit in Czechia. While you are registered as a job seeker, you cannot work under a DPP agreement, and other side jobs are limited.