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What to do in case you lose your job?

1. IF YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE A WORK PERMIT

2. IF YOU NEED A WORK PERMIT (POVOLENÍ K ZAMĚSTNÁNÍ) FROM THE LABOUR OFFICE

3. THE EMPLOYER'S OBLIGATION TO INFORM THE LABOUR OFFICE

4. REGISTERING WITH THE LABOUR OFFICE (EVIDENCE NA ÚŘADU PRÁCE)

5. WHAT CAN THE LABOUR OFFICE (ÚP) DO FOR YOU?

6. WHAT ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES?

7. EXTRA EARNINGS WHILE REGISTERED WITH THE LABOUR OFFICE

8. DID YOU FOUND A NEW JOB?

9. TERMINATION OF THE LABOUR OFFICE REGISTRY

10. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS (PODPORA V NEZAMĚSTNANOSTI)

1. If you are not required to have a work permit

Do you have permanent residence or are you under international or subsidiary protection? Are you staying in the Czech Republic for the purpose of family reunification with a foreigner who has permanent residence, who has been granted asylum or who is a Czech/EU citizen?

• Prepare your professional CV (životopis) and learn how to write a cover letter (motivační dopis).
• If you are not starting new job right right after loosing your previous job, you can register as a job seeker at the Labour Office (Úřad práce, ÚP). If you meet the applicable conditions, the State will pay your health insurance premium, and the period of time you are a registered job seeker will count towards your pension insurance (a so-called alternative insurance period). You may be eligible for unemployment benefits (see below).
• Search for a job. Use internet portals, classified adverts in daily newspapers and in local publications, social networks, labor agencies, job fairs, contact potentional employer dierctly.

Note: Employment must always be concluded in writing (employment contract, agreement to perform work or agreement on work activities) and you must get an original copy of the document.

2) If you need a work permit (povolení k zaměstnání) from the Labour Office

a) Your employment has ended and therefore your work permit has possibly expired. If you want to change an employer, you need to apply for a new work permint at the Labor Office.

Note: the Labor Office asses conditions on the local labor market before granting a work permit (test of the labor market = 30 days). The Office will only issue a permit for a job opening for which there is no other suitable applicant.

b) An employee card holder posses 60 days protection to find a new employer. The protection period starts on the first day since the previous employment terminated. The holder doesn´t lose legal residence status during this period.

3) The employer’s obligation to inform the Labour Office

The employer is obligated to notify the local Labour Office when a foreigner is employed. The employer must inform the Labor Office at least the first day when a new employee starts an employment or at least the last day when an employment finishes.

4. Registering with the Labour Office (evidence na úřadu práce)

Who can register with the Labour Office (ÚP) as a job seeker?

• foreigners with permanent residence, under international protection or suplimental protection, EU citizens and their family members can become registered job seekers.
• if you have another residency status, you can register in the ÚP as a candidate for work (but your are not entitled to either the coverage of the health insurance or unemployment benefits)
• you cannot register as a job seeker if you have a full time job, if you are a full time student, a recipient of maternity benefits, or you are declared disabled in the 3rd degree. Note: if you receive parental benefits, you can register as a jobseeker, but you will then be required to fulfill the obligations of a job seeker.
• if you have reached retirement age but you do not qualify for a pension, you can be registered as a job seeker, but you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits.

How can you register as a job seeker?

• register in the local or district ÚP, depending on your permanent residence in your official documents
• you can register anytime after the termination of your employment, but if you do so in 3 business days, you will be registered as of immediately following the termination of the employment, with no gap for the social insurance.
• at the ÚP you will fill in two forms: an application for employment assistance (“žádost o zprostředkování zaměstnání”) and an application for unemployment benefits (“žádost o podporu v nezaměstnanosti”), if applicable.

What will you need to register?

• Personal identity document (residence permit card, passport)
• Confirmation of Employment (“Potvrzení o zaměstnání”)
• written proof of termination of your employment (the Notice, the termination agreement or employment contract)
• proof of your average monthly earnings (provided by your employer)
• If you have a medical condition which limits your choice of employment, you have to provide a medical assessment or an official decision about the severity of your disability.
• You will receive a confirmation of registration. Be sure to submit this confirmation letter to your health insurance company within 8 days.

5. What can the Labour Office (ÚP) do for you?

• the ÚP provides job placement services,
• the ÚP pays the unemployment benefits (podpora v nezaměstnanosti),
• your health insurance is covered by the State for the period you are registered, if your residence status makes you eligible (contact your health insurance provider),
• registration with the ÚP is essential for receiving certain types of welfare benefits,
• the time you are registered with the ÚP counts towards pension benefits if you are eligible for unemployment benefits or re-training courses (rekvalifikační kurz), for up to a maximum of 3 years,
• the ÚP may cover the cost of a an accredited re-training course of your choosing. (The ÚP sets the maximum price.) The ÚP will consider if there is interest in the job market for the particular qualification the course provides. Some types of re-qualification courses may require a medical entrance examination.

6. What are your responsibilities?

Note: Registration with the Labour Office brings with it responsibilities similar to employment. If you do not want to be excluded (expelled) from the Labour Office registry, cooperate closely with your Labour Office advisor:

• always be on time for appointments at the Labour Office,
• if you cannot come for medical reasons, cancel the appointment in advance and then bring a confirmation from your doctor,
• do not decline jobs offered to you by the Labour Office. When you receive a printed job posting from the Labour Office, arrange a meeting with the employer and see them in person within 3 days,
• the employer can offer you a job or choose not to. You, however, cannot decline the job offer without good reasons,
• keep the ÚP informed of any important changes (such as illness, change of address or other contact information, account number changes, temporary jobs, extra earnings) within 8 days!

You can be excluded from the Labour Office registry for the following reasons:

• if you decline employment without a serious reason for doing so,
• if the ÚP places you with an employer and you terminate the employment (by Notice or by agreement) without serious reasons (such as health limitations, care for a family member or non-payment of your salary by the employer),
• if your employer terminates the employment because of gross misconduct by you.

You can re-apply for registration in 6 months.

7. Extra earnings while registered with the Labour Office

• If you receive unemployment benefits, you cannot have extra earnings or short-term jobs. Regardless of how much you earn, you will loose unemployment benefits.
• You can, however, have a so-called non-interfering job while being registered with the Labor office if you do not seek unemployment benefits. You can earn extra money on an agreement to perform work or an employment contract, not agreement to complete a job. You may not earn more than 7600 CZK/month.
• You can not have extra earnings with Contract of services (DPP)
• Inform the ÚP of the temporary job or earnings within 8 days. The temporary work may not interfere with your obligations as a job-seeker!
• If the Labor office discovers that you are working illegally or that you are earning more than allowed, you will be excluded from registration and you may be subject to sanctions.

8. Did you find a new job?

• Inform the Labour Office before starting your new job.
• Submit an employment contract or a statement of intent to employ you from the employer with the starting date to the Labour Office.
• Your registration in the Labour Office will be terminated the day the new job begins; the responsibility to register you with health insurance companies and to pay health and social insurance premiums is transferred to your new employer.

9. Termination of the Labour Office registry

• You can be excluded if you do not follow responsibilities of a jobseeker (see above).
• The Labour Office can exclude you retroactively as of the date you violated your obligations. This may jeopardize certain welfare benefits.
• From the day you become excluded you will be personally responsible to pay your health care premiums.
• You can register again in 6 months after being excluded, in the case of less serious violations, you can re-register after 3 months.

Procedure for exclusion from the Labour Office registry:

I. The initiation of administrative proceedings

• the Labour Office must inform you in writing that administrative proceedings have been initiated and for what reason, and also about your rights and obligations in these proceedings;

II. Your official statement for the record

• you can express your standpoint in writing and provide new information (for example a medical report);
• typically, you will have 5 days from the initiation of the proceedings to respond.

III. Decision

• the Labour Office will issue a written decision about your exclusion with reasons why and from what date you have been excluded;
• you can appeal this decision within a given period. The appeal does not suspend the original decision (the original date of exclusion stands);
• if your appeal is denied by the Labour Office, the Office will send your file to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV). MPSV will assess and decide your case.

10. Unemployment benefits (podpora v nezaměstnanosti)

• you as a job seeker are entitled to unemployment benefits if you worked for at least 12 months within last 2 years
• you must apply for unemployment benefits using the appropriate form and include the Confirmation of Employment + termination of Employment contract
• the period for which you can receive unemployment benefits depends on your age (in 2017: 5 months if you are less than 50, 8 months if you are between 50 and 55, 11 months if you over 55 yeas of age)
• the amount of unemployment benefits depends on the earnings from your last job and it decreases through the period of your registration
• if you receive severance pay, you not will be eligible for unemployment benefits until after the period for which you get severance
• If you give Notice or end you employment by agreement without serious reasons, your unemployment benefits will be 45% for the entire period you are eligible.
• The Labor office official will provide more information about unemployment benefits and eligibility.

PERSPEKTIVA – A SERVICE FOR UNEMPLOYED IMMIGRANTS

Perspective Offer

Read more: Perspective Offer

Perspektiva (Perspective) is a social rehabilitation program that helps people from other countries when they are looking for a job.

We welcome people from other countries who have a legal residence in the Czech Republic, have been unemployed for over three months and have free access to the labour market.

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