Government Decree amending the rules for the operation of employment agencies

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has submitted a draft amendment to Government Decree No.64/2009 Coll., which is intended to regulate the rules for the activities of employment agencies, particularly in the area of temporary assignment of employees from abroad.

The existing legislation restricted employment agencies in the temporary assignment of low-skilled foreigners on the basis of an annex listing specific “permitted” professions according to the CZ-ISCO classification. The restriction excluded the scope for legal employment of foreigners in other low-skilled professions. In practice, these restrictions led to the use of disguised forms of mediation, which weakened the control function of the state and the protection of employees. The proposed amendment completely abolishes the annex and allows agencies that have been on the market for a longer period of time to assign foreigners to any low-skilled jobs, not just those listed as permitted. The nature of the work will therefore not be decisive, but the credibility and stability of the agency itself. The exception is work in underground mines, which still cannot be mediated. However, the right to assign foreigners on a wider scale will only be granted to agencies that have received a repeated permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to provide employment after at least three years of operation.

The amendment to the regulation does indeed represent a relaxation of the restrictive regulations that have so far limited the flexibility of the labor market and made it difficult to legally employ foreigners in positions where there is a shortage of workers. The new regulation could help reduce illegal or disguised forms of labour mediation and allow more employees to move from the “grey zone” to regulated employment through time-tested agencies.

However, the new regulation would mean that new or still young agencies would not be able to provide employment even within the scope of the permitted professions according to the annex, although they could do so until now. While the contracts with foreigners that have been made so far will remain valid, the agency will not have the right to enter into any further contracts. This can cause difficulties not only for the agency itself, but also for its customers, with whom the agency already has contracts. It will be even more difficult for new agencies to establish themselves on the market.

The proposal is certainly a step in the right direction, but its implementation should be accompanied by a reasonable degree of legal certainty for employers and agencies. If the purpose of the amendment is to loosen the restrictive regulation, it should not mean a tightening, albeit short-term, of the existing rules for some agencies. Only a balanced approach, combining liberalisation of conditions with stability of the legal environment, can fulfil the stated objective of the government: to make agency employment more efficient while limiting the space for unfair practices.