Status as of 1 October 2026: government bill, not yet law. The text may still change in Parliament.
The Czech government wants to rewrite the legal test that separates employment from genuine self-employment. The change is part of a Labour Code amendment that accompanies the new Platform Work Act, and it would apply to everyone on the labour market – not only couriers and ride-hailing drivers.
Where the bill stands
The government approved the package on 31 August 2026 and submitted the Labour Code amendment to the Chamber of Deputies on 8 September 2026 as parliamentary print no. 300 (Chamber of Deputies). The separate Platform Work Act is print no. 301. Both implement EU Directive 2024/2831 on platform work. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Platform Work Act should take effect on 1 January 2027 (MPSV press release, 31 Aug 2026).
What changes in the definition
Under the proposal, the employer–employee relationship of superiority and subordination exists only if all four of the following conditions are met at the same time:
- the employer organises the work,
- the employee works within working hours,
- the employee works according to the employer’s instructions,
- the employer controls how the work is performed.
The explanatory memorandum expressly says that all four conditions must be fulfilled together for the work to be classed as dependent work.
The Ministry’s own description of the change says the assessment will look at who organises and controls the work, whether the person follows the employer’s instructions and whether working hours are set by the employer. It adds that freely deciding whether, when and how long to work, having no minimum hours and being able to stop at any time can indicate that the work is not dependent.
For platforms: a presumption of employment
For platform work, the bill introduces a rebuttable legal presumption: a platform worker is treated as an employee if the features of dependent work are present, unless the platform proves that the relationship does not meet them. The Ministry stresses that this does not automatically turn self-employed couriers or drivers into employees. Requiring a freelancer to follow statutory hygiene, safety or traffic rules will not, on its own, count as a sign of dependent work.
“Miss one condition and I can invoice?” – not so fast
Some commentators conclude that if just one of the four conditions is not met, a person can automatically work on a trade licence (IČO) instead of an employment contract. Tax advisers discussing the bill have warned that this reading may be oversimplified and potentially dangerous.
Three reasons for caution:
- It is still a bill. The wording can change in Parliament, and current law applies until a new law takes effect.
- Reality beats the contract. Both the Ministry and the existing case law look at how the work is actually performed, not at what the contract is called.
- Tax authorities apply their own tests. Even under current law, the Czech Supreme Administrative Court has upheld reclassifying “author’s fees” paid alongside reduced salaries as hidden wages taxed as employment income (judgment 5 Afs 40/2025-53 of 24 July 2026).
What this means for you
If you work with freelancers, or you invoice one main client yourself, do not restructure anything based on the draft. Watch how print no. 300 develops, and have your current arrangements reviewed against the law as it stands today.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice for your specific situation.