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Articles · · updated 30 October 2026

Working-Time Records under the Czech Labour Code: What Every Employer Must Keep

Every employer in the Czech Republic must keep records of working time, from a sole trader with one employee to a factory. The duty has been in force for a long time, yet the same misunderstandings keep coming back: that a book at the gatehouse is enough, that working-time records are the same thing as attendance, or that the inspectorate never asks to see them anyway. This article sums up what the law really requires and in what form, what the labour inspectorate checks, and how to meet the duty with an attendance system. It is a general overview, not legal advice.

What § 96 of the Labour Code says

The duty is set by § 96 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code. Under its first paragraph the employer must keep, for each individual employee, records marking the beginning and the end of:

  • each shift worked,
  • overtime worked,
  • night work worked,
  • time worked during on-call duty,
  • and the on-call duty the employee held.

The important words are for each individual employee and marking the beginning and the end. The records are kept per employee, and a total of hours per day or per week is not enough; for every shift, every spell of overtime and every spell of night work the beginning and the end must be visible. Under a working-time account the employer also keeps the working-time account under § 87. The second paragraph of the same section gives the employee the right, on request, to inspect their own records and to make extracts or copies of them at the employer's expense.

A shift is, under § 78(1)(c), the part of the weekly working time, excluding overtime, that the employee must work according to a shift schedule set in advance. Other duties therefore go with the records: the employer schedules the working time and sets the beginning and end of shifts (§ 81), draws up a written weekly schedule and notifies the employees of it at least two weeks in advance (one week under a working-time account), unless a different notice period is agreed with the employee (§ 84), and after no more than six hours of continuous work (four and a half hours for minors) grants a meal and rest break of at least 30 minutes (§ 88). A granted break does not count as working time; only a reasonable time for rest and a meal where the work cannot be interrupted does. The law does not require breaks to be recorded, but at an inspection you must prove they were granted. Since June 2025 the employer may, by written agreement, let the employee schedule their own shifts (§ 87a); the scheduling rules then fall away, the § 96 records do not. The records should follow on from the schedule: it must be possible to tell what was worked within the scheduled shift and what beyond it.

The same applies to agreements outside employment (DPP and DPČ). Since 1 October 2023 the working-time rules, § 96 included, apply to them, so the beginning and end of every shift is recorded for agreement workers too; the employer must in addition schedule their working time in writing in advance and notify the schedule at least 3 days before the shift or period, unless agreed otherwise (§ 74(2)). The records are kept for work from home too; the Supreme Administrative Court (4 Ads 244/2016) expressly rejected the idea that home working relieves the employer of the duty.

Working-time records are not attendance

This is the most common misunderstanding. Attendance records show when an employee was on the premises: through the gate at 6:42, out at 15:20. Working-time records show when they worked: a shift from 7:00 to 15:30 with a half-hour break. A quarter of an hour over coffee before the shift is not working time, and the break is deducted.

A gate log is therefore the raw material for the records, not the records themselves. The records the law requires come into being only when arrivals and departures are turned into the shift worked according to the schedule, the break is separated and overtime is marked. A good attendance system does exactly that step: it records the real arrival and departure, deducts the break and marks the difference against the schedule as overtime, or as time off work if the manager approves it as such. Rounding to the beginning and end of the shift is fine only where the employee really does not work before or after the shift; a system that silently clips extra work will not stand up in an overtime dispute.

Which form the law allows

The law prescribes no form for the records. A paper book, an Excel sheet and an attendance system all comply as long as the records meet three conditions:

  • they are kept per employee,
  • they contain the beginning and end of every shift, overtime, night work and on-call duty,
  • they are verifiable and available: they can be produced at an inspection, and the employee can inspect them.

In practice the forms differ in how much work they take and how easily they can be challenged. A handwritten book filled in retrospectively is hard to defend in a dispute over overtime. A spreadsheet needs someone to fill it in every day. A system records the event the moment it happens, and corrections are traceable.

What the labour inspectorate wants to see

Inspections are carried out by the regional labour inspectorates, which the State Labour Inspection Office (SÚIP) directs, either as planned or on an employee's complaint. The inspector usually asks for:

  • the working-time records for the inspected period, usually several months back,
  • the shift schedules for the same period,
  • employment contracts and internal rules on working time,
  • payroll ledgers and payslips, to compare the recorded overtime, night work and weekend work with what was paid.

Not keeping the records is an offence under Act No. 251/2005 Coll., on labour inspection. Under § 28(1)(k) it is committed by a legal person or a self-employed natural person (so a sole trader as employer too) who does not keep working-time records although obliged to; for an employer who is not an entrepreneur the same follows from § 15(1)(k). The fine may reach 400,000 CZK. Records without beginnings and ends, or not kept per employee, are in practice treated by the inspectorate as not kept (Supreme Administrative Court, 4 Ads 244/2016: a mere letter "P" against a day of presence does not replace the records). The inspectorate may penalise the offence up to three years back (§ 30 of Act No. 250/2016 Coll.). A missing shift schedule is an offence in its own right, with a fine of up to 2,000,000 CZK (§ 28(1)(d)). Beyond that, it also fines what the records reveal: unpaid overtime, missing rest between shifts or exceeded overtime limits.

How long to keep the records

The Labour Code sets no period, but the Act on the Organisation and Implementation of Social Security does: § 35a(4) of Act No. 582/1991 Coll. counts records of working time (including unpaid leave) among the pension-insurance documents the employer keeps, like payroll ledgers, for 45 years after the year they concern (10 years for recipients of an old-age pension). The three-year general limitation period (§ 629 of the Civil Code), within which an employee may claim wages or supplements, is therefore only the floor for wage disputes, not a shredding date; without the records the employer has nothing to rely on in a dispute.

So archive the monthly working-time sheets together with the payroll documents for the same period as the payroll ledgers, and do not rely on their staying only in a system you may replace in a few years.

How an attendance system meets the duty

An attendance system does not fulfil the duty on its own; the employer who sets it up and uses it properly does. When choosing and configuring one, check that the system:

  1. Records the beginning and the end, not just a number of hours. Every shift and every overtime must have a from and a to.
  2. Distinguishes arrival from the start of the shift without losing time actually worked. It marks the difference against the schedule rather than clipping it. For that, every employee must have their working time configured.
  3. Deducts the break and records it so that it is visible the break was granted.
  4. Marks overtime against the scheduled time and totals it for the month.
  5. Allows corrections with a history. A foreman or HR fixes a forgotten departure, but who changed what and when stays visible.
  6. Produces a monthly sheet for every employee that can be printed, stored and handed to the payroll accountant.
  7. Gives the employee access to their data on request, on a phone or as a PDF sheet, as § 96(2) requires.

Many systems for small companies do not evaluate night work and on-call duty separately: they record the times, but the hours of night work and on-call duty held have to be quantified by you. If you have them in your company, ask before you buy.

The rest is organisation: decide who checks and approves the sheets each month, who archives the PDFs, and tell the employees in writing that the records are kept electronically, what is recorded and who sees it.

This article summarises the wording of the law as of October 2026 and is not legal advice; in a specific situation consult a lawyer or your payroll accountant.