Diskriminace v odměňování zaměstnanců? Stát si na vás posvítí!

Discrimination in employee remuneration? The state will be looking out for you!

The State Labour Inspection Office has included the control of equal treatment and compliance with the prohibition of discrimination among its priority areas in the long term. This includes inspections in the area of remuneration - within the 2022 inspection action programme, equal treatment in the area of remuneration even came first in the section on inspections of working conditions.

In 2021, over 450 inspections were carried out in the area of equal treatment and compliance with the prohibition of discrimination in the workplace. Of the total number of inspections, more than 120 infringements were found in this area, with the vast majority relating to the remuneration of employees.

Discrimination against employees was found most frequently regarding the attendance bonuses, which are granted to employees for completing the so-called monthly working time pool. If an employee works all of his or her shifts in a month (or the number set by the employer), he or she will receive a bonus from the employer. However, such bonus is discriminatory towards employees on the basis of health status, typically in the event of illness or a visit to the doctor, or gender, particularly with regard to care about family.

Other findings of discrimination and unequal treatment related to remuneration as such, where high gender pay gaps have persisted for a long time, both in the private and public spheres. The Labour Inspectorate is testing a new system for assessing these differences.

As part of its inspection action programme for 2022, the Labour Inspectorate has identified a number of areas in relation to equal treatment and non-discrimination that it will focus on in more details during its inspections. These include:

• equal remuneration of employees with an emphasis on equal remuneration for men and women or equal remuneration for employees across all regions of the Czech Republic;
• equal treatment of all employees with regard to the provision of other monetary benefits, including, for example, the setting of benefits and other bonuses in employment contracts, employer's internal regulations and collective agreements, or the setting of exceptional remuneration and its payment, for example, to employees during the notice period;
• compliance with the prohibition of any discrimination, e.g., in relation to gender discriminatory vacancy advertisements or attendance bonuses; or
• confidentiality clauses regarding the salary and other benefits provided to employees.

Given that equality and non-discrimination inspections are carried out by the Labour Inspectorate on a long-term and priority basis, it is to be expected that this will continue to be the case in future years. The awareness of employees of their rights in the field of remuneration is also increasing, and with it not only the number of complaints to the Labour Inspectorate but also the number of court actions against employers for adequate compensation on the grounds of unequal treatment or discrimination.

Employers are therefore advised to carefully review their internal processes and employee documentation with regard to equal treatment of employees and non-discrimination. And not only in relation to employee remuneration, but also, for example, to advertisements for vacant positions, in which the Labour Inspectorate also often deals with discrimination.

If you would be interested in assistance with the remuneration review or further information, please contact the authors of this article or other members of the EY team with whom you work.

Authors:

Barbora Suchá

Kateřina Suchanová