Czech authorities announce gender pay gap controls

Czech Republic

Following a complaint filed by the Czech public defender of rights, the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has announced that the Czech labour inspection authorities will start inspecting employers with a focus on investigating breaches of anti-discrimination law and in particular equal pay between genders.

The Czech Republic has already implemented the EU anti-discrimination directives and the existing domestic law includes a wide prohibition against discrimination at work on the grounds of gender as well as prohibitions against discrimination on various other grounds. For a breach of these rules, the law provides for a fine of up to CZK 1,000,000 (approx. EUR 37,000). Until now, few employees have been raising discrimination claims. Fines for breaches of anti-discrimination laws have been imposed only very rarely.

The new inspection measures should become effective later in 2016 and the inspections may be carried out both randomly and on the basis of a complaint filed by an employee. It may be pertinent for companies to carry out anti-discrimination and equal pay due diligence now to avoid any issues further down the line.