Work & Studies

More specific and up to date information on employment available in English on Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs webpage.

Working after 1 January 2021

Based on the Withdrawal agreement, there are no changes during the transition period on the existing rights of British citizens and their family members residing in the Czech Republic. After the end of the transition period, the citizens of the United Kingdom and their family members who have resided in the Czech Republic and continue to reside here after 31 December 2020 will retain all their existing rights associated with their stay in the Czech Republic, including the right to work. They can freely conclude, change and start new jobs for different employers without a work permit.

The key for whether you, as a British citizen, retain your rights is whether you or your family members can prove your residence or employment in the Czech Republic before the end of 2020. The easiest way to do so is to acquire a certificate of a temporary residence. More information, not only on these issues but also on maintaining the social security entitlements of Czech citizens returning from the UK, can be found at Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs webpage. A detailed explanation of the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement can be found here.

If you do not fulfill the abovementioned preconditions, you will most probably need to obtain a work permit as any other third country citizen, for example an employee card. The conditions for posted workers have also been tightened. For more details see the Ministry of Interior website dedicated to foreign nationals, or specifically the chapter dedicated to third country nationals (out of EU.) Do not forget to check our „Otázky a odpovědi“.

From 1 January 2021, relations between the EU and the UK are governed by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The new Agreement does not regulate the conditions of accessing the labour market. This means that British citizens who want to start working in the Czech Republic from 1 January 2021 will have to obtain a certain form of work permit, just like citizens of other third countries. The same will apply to Czech citizens entering the British labour market.

Although the Agreement on Trade and Cooperation leaves the conditions for access the labour market of both parties up to national legislation, it lays down rules for the coordination of social security.

The Agreement provides for access to social security for all persons who have been or are subject to the legislation of the contracting parties. At the same time, the Agreement applies only to persons in the so-called cross-border situation, i.e. a situation that includes both one or more EU Member State on the one hand and the UK on the other. Persons whose situation is limited in all respects to only one party to the Agreement, shall not be subject to the provisions of the Agreement.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement regulates access to the following benefit systems: sickness benefits, maternity benefits and equivalent paternity benefits, invalidity benefits, old-age and survivors' benefits, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases, death grants, unemployment benefits, pre-retirement benefits. Family benefits, long-term care benefits and some other benefits are explicitly excluded from the scope of the Agreement. This means that access to them will be governed exclusively by the national legislations of both parties, not by the Agreement. The Agreement also sets out further principles in the approach to social security: determining only one state (one party to the Agreement) where the person will be insured (i.e. exclusion of concurrent insurance in more than one state), the principle of equal treatment irrespective of the nationality of the person, aggregation of insurance / employment / residence periods, export of benefits.

The entry into force of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement does not mean that the Withdrawal Agreement will cease to apply. In the field of mobility of persons and coordination of social security, the two agreements operate side by side, but each with a different personal and material scope.

Since 2 August 2021, the Ministry of the Interior has been issuing documents with biometric data.

ERASMUS + programme

United Kingdom will no longer be participating in ERASMUS + programme after 1 January 2021.

If you already have been studying in any of EU countries, nothing will change until an end of 2020 and you shall be enabled to conlude the programme. Please contact your sending institution to make sure that:

• your stay will continue,
• none of your rights and oligations are change, e. x. additional fees, visas etc.

Also make sure that both sending and receiving institution agree on continuation of your programme regarding the COVID-19 situation. Contact your sending institution in case you need to conclude your stay ahead of time for any reason.

If your stay was supposed to begin after 1 January 2021, read the guidance for these cases.

For more detailed English information see: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-students-in-the-eu-continuing-your-studies