In connection with a number of changes to the Employment Act, which came into effect on 1.1.2015 January 250, there is talk, among other things, of lowering the minimum fine for illegal work. This was initially set by the Employment Act in the amount of CZK 000. Whenever the control body found that the facts of illegal work had been fulfilled, it had to impose a fine of at least this minimum amount, regardless of the low social danger of such conduct for the company.
Illegal work is:
- the so-called black system, i.e. the performance of dependent work outside the labor law relationship
- employment of foreigners without a valid residence permit
- employing foreigners without a valid employment permit, or in violation of this permit
With the amendment implemented by Act No. 136/2014 Coll., the legislator intended to reduce, with effect from 1.1.2015 January 140, the lower limit of the fine according to § 4 paragraph 250 letter f) from CZK 000 to CZK 50. The reasoned report justified this by the liquidation nature of the original amount and by exceeding the preventive nature of the meaning of the minimum limit of the fine. Technically speaking, the amendment only wanted to replace the amount of CZK 000 with the amount of CZK 250.
The original wording of § 140 paragraph 4 letter f) of the Employment Act as of 19.10.2014 October XNUMX:
"For an administrative offense, a fine of up to CZK 10 is imposed, if it is an administrative offense according to paragraph 000 letter c) ae), however, at least in the amount of CZK 000."
In the course of the legislative process of adopting this change, however, the Constitutional Court in its ruling published under No. 219/2014 Coll. with effect from 20.10.2014, canceled the words "but at least in the amount of CZK 250". Considering that, there was nothing to replace it with an amendment as of 000/1.1.2015/250. The amount of CZK 000 including the introductory words "but at least in the amount" was no longer in the law, because the Constitutional Court canceled this entire sentence. Although there are expert opinions that inform the public that the minimum limit is now CZK 50, this is not the case. The fine for enabling the performance of illegal work thus currently only has a maximum limit of CZK 000. Control authorities thus have a wider scope for administrative discretion when imposing fines in situations where the social danger of a specific administrative offense is very low. And hand on heart, maybe it could stay that way. Punishing a small entrepreneur with a fine of CZK 10 for, for example, the son of the store owners helping out in a general store in the village, is senselessly harsh, considering the really low level of social danger of such an "offence".
Both the State Office of Labor Inspection and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs have already begun to deal with the situation. Inspector General of the State Labor Inspection Office, Rudolf Hahn, told ČTK that the law is not clear enough, but that this does not hamper the work of the inspection in any way. He added that the legislation will be amended in a matter of weeks, months at the most, when the lower limit is precisely determined. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs was already more cooperative. Petr Sulek from the Ministry's ICT Department stated for the server podnikatel.cz that "The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MLSV) is making every effort to eliminate the obvious stylistic discrepancy in the existing legal regulation regarding the sanction for the commission of the administrative offense of enabling the performance of illegal work". It is thus absolutely obvious that two processes interfering with the same law simply did not meet, and thus a regulation was published in the Collection of Laws, which was already obsolete in this part at the printer.
Source: epravo.cz
