Women and parents of small children in the labour market

The question of how to combine work and family life is very difficult for many people and women in particular. It is natural that just like native Czechs, you are trying to balance your family and working life, keep your job and ideally also your career while having enough time to care for your child. The difficulties you are facing in this respect as a foreigner, however, may be much greater than for most Czechs.

You may have already encountered:

- more difficult access to employment;

- receiving less money for the same work than others;

- worse working conditions.

You do not have to tolerate that! The law is on your side here.

Many of you as foreign women have unfortunately encountered discrimination in the workplace. The reason is that there are two sources of discrimination working here together – foreign women are discriminated both for their motherhood and their origin.

As you can see, the barriers here are twice or even three times as high (as some employers discriminate against women in general), resulting in a minimum chance of finding dignified work.

For this reason, read carefully what you are entitled to as a female employee in the labour market and what your employer has to do or may choose to oblige.

The law explicitly says that the employer must not ask you for any information that is not directly related to your work and the basic employment relationship. This for example means that the employer is not allowed to request information on your pregnancy or family status.

If you are a woman, pregnancy and care for newborn children naturally make your position in the labour market more difficult, but on the other hand, the Czech state recognises the importance of motherhood and tries to compensate with its laws:

• If you have a child or are taking care of a child, you are under certain circumstances entitled to maternity and parental leave.
• The employer must not discriminate against you when you are signing an employment contract or afterwards.
• You are entitled to a range of benefits including the adjustment of your working hours, breastfeeding breaks or the option to be reassigned to another, less demanding job.
• No employer or any of your colleagues may treat you in a way that is considered harassing (e.g. due to your origin) or expose you to sexual harassment.

These claims are defined by the law and all employers must oblige.

Similar legal measures apply also to men who are taking care of a child.

If your employer discriminates against you, do not be afraid to defend yourself and your rights.

Means of defending yourself:

• Tell your employer that he is violating the law and demand remedy. The law says that the employer must not punish or disadvantage you in any way for lawfully demanding your rights defined by the labour code or for defending yourself against discrimination.

• You can turn to the competent labour office and submit a request for investigation of compliance with labour regulations (in cases of violations of employment regulations and protection of employers in cases of insolvency of the employer).

• You can also contact the labour inspectorate (this office investigates violations of duties arising from an employment relationship).

• In some cases, you can also seek remedy from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

• But you can also turn directly to the courts. Your charges should be submitted to the regional court (in Prague the district court and in Brno the city court) that corresponds to the place of residence of the employer whom you are suing.