If you employ people in the Czech Republic, annual leave is one of the first compliance topics to get right. Czechia’s Labour Code (Zákoník práce, Act No. 262/2006 Coll.) sets out the statutory floor in Sections 212–228, and the way that floor is calculated changed materially on 1 January 2021 when the country switched from a days-based to an hours-based model.

This guide explains what the Zákoník práce actually requires in 2026: the four-week minimum, the five-week entitlement that applies in the public sector and certain professions, the modern hours-based calculation, eligibility for new joiners, employer duties, and the pitfalls that catch international employers most often. Every fact below comes from the Labour Code or guidance published by the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV).

Key Takeaways

The statutory minimum is four weeks of paid annual leave per calendar year — equivalent to 20 working days for a five-day-week employee.
Five weeks (25 working days) apply to public sector employees and certain professions such as education, health, and social services, plus employees working in formally hazardous conditions.
Since 1 January 2021, annual leave is calculated and tracked in hours, not days. A standard 40-hour-week employee is entitled to 160 hours per year at the four-week minimum.
Full entitlement is acquired after a qualifying period in the first year of employment; before that, leave accrues pro-rata per month worked.
Holiday pay is the employee’s average earnings, calculated on the previous calendar quarter.
Public holidays are separate from annual leave and do not consume the entitlement.

The Statutory Entitlement Under the Zákoník práce

Sections 212–228 of the Labour Code set the floor for paid annual leave (dovolená). Every employee in an employment relationship is entitled to at least four weeks of paid leave per calendar year. For an employee working a standard five-day week, four weeks equals 20 working days.

The four-week figure is the absolute minimum. Contracts and collective agreements can offer more, and many do — especially among larger employers and multinationals operating in Prague and Brno.

The 2021 Switch to an Hours-Based Calculation

Before 2021, Czech annual leave was tracked in working days. The current rule, in force since 1 January 2021, calculates and records leave in hours instead. The reasoning is that an hours-based model gives a fairer result for employees with non-standard schedules — part-timers, compressed-week workers, and people whose daily hours vary across the week.

In practice:

An employee with a 40-hour weekly schedule earns 160 hours of annual leave at the four-week statutory minimum (40 × 4).
An employee on 30 hours per week earns 120 hours at the same statutory minimum.
Leave is taken in hours that match the actual length of the employee’s working day. A request for “one day off” deducts the hours that the employee was scheduled to work that day, not a fixed eight hours.

For employers used to thinking in whole days, this is the single most important change to internalise. Internal leave records, payroll systems, and self-service portals must all express balances in hours.

Five Weeks for the Public Sector and Certain Professions

The Labour Code grants an enhanced five-week (25 working day) entitlement to specific employee groups, including:

Public sector employees (state administration, regional and municipal authorities, and many state-funded institutions)
Employees in education, health, and social services
Employees working in formally recognised hazardous conditions

For a standard 40-hour week, five weeks equals 200 hours of annual leave. If you are unsure whether a particular role qualifies, the safest path is to check the role against the relevant ministerial regulation rather than relying on a contractual default.

Eligibility: Pro-Rata in the First Year, Full Entitlement Thereafter

Annual leave is open to all employees in an employment relationship under the Zákoník práce, but the way entitlement accrues depends on length of service in the calendar year.

First Year of Employment

In the first calendar year of employment with a given employer, leave is pro-rated according to the months worked. The employee accrues a proportional fraction of the annual entitlement for each month of qualifying service. This pro-rata rule also applies to mid-year leavers — anyone whose employment ends part-way through a calendar year is entitled to the proportional fraction of the year’s leave they had accrued, with any untaken balance paid out.

From the Second Year

From the second calendar year onwards, the employee is entitled to the full annual entitlement — four weeks (or five, where eligible) — provided they meet the threshold of qualifying hours worked in the year. Long absences without working hours can affect this calculation, but for an employee in continuous active service it is straightforward.

Worked Example: Mid-Year Joiner

Tomáš joins a Prague office on 1 April 2026 with a standard 40-hour week and a contractual entitlement matching the statutory four weeks. His leave year follows the calendar year.

For 2026, Tomáš accrues nine twelfths of 160 hours = 120 hours of leave by the end of the year.
From 1 January 2027, having completed his first calendar year of service, he is entitled to the full 160 hours for the year.

Employer Obligations Under the Zákoník práce

Czech leave law places several non-negotiable duties on the employer. Treat the following as a compliance checklist.

1. Grant the Statutory Minimum

You must grant at least four weeks (or five weeks where the role qualifies) of paid annual leave per calendar year. Contractual provisions that purport to offer less are void to the extent of the shortfall.

2. Pay Holiday at Average Earnings

Holiday pay during dovolená is calculated at the employee’s average earnings, not just base salary. The reference period is the previous calendar quarter. Where an employee has not worked a full quarter — for example, in the first months of employment — the average is based on the previous calendar year or the wages probably attainable for the work performed.

The average earnings figure must include regular wages, allowances, and bonuses. The statutory principle is that an employee should not be financially worse off for taking annual leave.

3. Allow Leave to Be Taken Within the Calendar Year

The Labour Code requires the employer to enable the employee to take their annual leave during the calendar year in which it accrues. Employers cannot use scheduling power to indefinitely postpone leave or pressure employees into building up balances that are paid out only on termination.

4. Pay Out Untaken Leave on Termination

When employment ends, any accrued but untaken annual leave must be paid out in cash. This is a statutory right and cannot be waived in the employment contract.

5. Do Not Require Employees to Waive Leave

Annual leave is a non-waivable right. Employers cannot ask employees to sign away their entitlement, swap it for cash during the employment relationship, or accept reduced leave in exchange for other benefits.

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Carry-Over of Unused Leave

The Labour Code’s general rule is that annual leave should be taken in the calendar year in which it accrues. Where the employee was unable to use their full entitlement — for example, due to long-term illness or because operational reasons prevented scheduling — carry-over to the following year is permitted.

The carry-over period is limited, and unused leave that is not taken in the carry-over window is no longer automatically forfeited under the modern Czech approach: it must instead be scheduled by the employer or, on termination, paid out. The practical employer playbook is straightforward — use Q4 to flag and schedule remaining balances, document any operational reasons that block leave, and clear balances before the end of the carry-over window where possible.

Holiday Pay: The Average Earnings Calculation

Holiday pay (náhrada mzdy za dovolenou) is calculated as the employee’s average gross earnings per hour, multiplied by the number of leave hours taken. The reference period is the previous calendar quarter.

The mechanics are:

Take total qualifying gross earnings in the previous calendar quarter (regular wages, regular allowances, regular bonuses).
Divide by the number of hours actually worked in the same quarter to get an average hourly rate.
Multiply that rate by the number of leave hours being taken.

For salaried employees on a stable wage with no variable components, this typically just means continuing to pay normal salary during the leave period. The complexity arises when employees earn meaningful variable pay — sales commissions, shift premia, or on-call payments — that must be averaged into the holiday rate.

If you also operate teams in the UK or other EU markets, the underlying logic will feel familiar — see our guides to holiday pay calculation in the UK and annual leave entitlement in Germany for side-by-side reference.

Common Pitfalls for International Employers

If your team has only operated in the UK, US, or Australia before, the Czech framework will catch you off guard in predictable ways. Watch for these.

Pitfall 1: Tracking Leave in Days Instead of Hours

The single biggest mistake post-2021 is continuing to track Czech leave in working days. The Labour Code now expresses entitlement in hours, and your HRIS, payroll, and self-service portal need to match. Day-based tracking quietly underpays part-timers and people on non-standard schedules, and creates messy reconciliation work at year-end.

Pitfall 2: Missing the Five-Week Entitlement for Eligible Roles

Schools, hospitals, social service providers, and roles with formally hazardous conditions are entitled to five weeks, not four. Treating those roles as four-week employees is a clear breach. Audit your job catalogue against the relevant regulations rather than relying on contractual templates.

Pitfall 3: Paying Only Base Salary During Leave

Holiday pay must reflect average earnings on the previous quarter, including regular bonuses, allowances, and shift premia. If you pay only base salary during dovolená for an employee who normally earns substantial variable pay, you are underpaying — and the shortfall is recoverable.

Pitfall 4: Treating Public Holidays as Annual Leave

Public holidays in Czechia are separate from dovolená. A statutory holiday that falls on a working day does not consume any of the four-week entitlement. Lumping the two together in the leave balance — common in spreadsheets imported from a different country’s template — overstates how much leave employees are taking and understates the remaining balance.

Pitfall 5: Asking Employees to Waive or Cash Out Leave Mid-Employment

Annual leave cannot be waived or paid in lieu while the employment relationship is ongoing. Cash payout is only available on termination for any accrued but untaken balance. Offering money instead of time off during employment is not lawful.

For a fuller picture of EU annual leave regimes, also see our guides to annual leave entitlement in France, the Netherlands, and Ireland.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days of annual leave am I entitled to in Czechia?

The statutory minimum is four weeks of paid annual leave per year, which equals 20 working days (or 160 hours) for a five-day, 40-hour-a-week employee. Public sector employees and certain professions such as education, health, social services, and roles in hazardous conditions are entitled to five weeks (25 working days, or 200 hours).

Why is Czech annual leave calculated in hours?

Since 1 January 2021, Czech annual leave is tracked in hours rather than days. The change ensures fairer outcomes for part-timers and employees with non-standard schedules, by tying the entitlement to actual working hours rather than a fixed-length day.

Which professions qualify for five weeks of leave?

Public sector employees, plus employees in education, health, and social services, and employees working in formally hazardous conditions are entitled to five weeks of annual leave under the Zákoník práce.

Can annual leave be paid out instead of taken?

No, not during employment. Annual leave must be taken as time off. The only situation in which untaken leave is paid out in cash is on termination of employment, when any accrued but untaken balance must be settled.

Are public holidays included in annual leave in Czechia?

No. Public holidays are separate from annual leave and do not count against the entitlement. A statutory holiday that falls on a working day does not consume any of the four-week dovolená balance.

How is holiday pay calculated?

Holiday pay is the employee’s average earnings over the previous calendar quarter, including regular wages, allowances, and bonuses. The figure is converted to an average hourly rate and multiplied by the leave hours taken. If the employee has not worked a full quarter, the calculation falls back on the previous calendar year or wages probably attainable for the role.

Practical Compliance Checklist

If you operate in Czechia, your leave management system needs to handle the following at minimum:

Express annual leave entitlement and balances in hours, not days, for every employee.
Distinguish four-week and five-week entitlements based on role, sector, and conditions of work.
Pro-rate first-year entitlement by months worked and switch to full entitlement from the second calendar year.
Calculate holiday pay using the previous calendar quarter’s average earnings, including variable pay.
Keep public holidays out of the dovolená balance.
Schedule and document carry-over where leave could not be taken in the calendar year.
Pay out any accrued but untaken balance on termination.

How Leave Balance Helps Czech Employers Stay Compliant

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Hours-based entitlement tracking that matches the post-2021 Czech model out of the box
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Quarterly average-earnings calculations for holiday pay where you record variable wages
Pro-rata first-year entitlement with automatic switch to full entitlement from year two
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