Posting workers between Slovakia and Czechia: notification, pay and agency workers

A construction firm from Trnava wins a contract in Brno and sends a crew there for three months. A Czech installation company fits a production line at a plant near Žilina. A Slovak agency assigns welders to a customer in Ostrava. In all three cases this is a posting of workers in the provision of services. Nationals of Slovakia and Czechia need no work permit in the other country, but the host state requires the posting employer to notify the posting and to comply with its minimum working conditions.

When a posting arises

The Slovak Labour Code distinguishes three forms of cross-border posting:

A posting of an employee to perform work in the provision of services is their cross-border (a) posting under the direction and responsibility of the posting employer on the basis of a contract between the posting employer as a cross-border provider of the service and the recipient of that service, where an employment relationship exists between the posting employer and the employee for the duration of the posting, (b) posting between a controlling person and a controlled person or between controlled persons, where an employment relationship exists between the posting employer and the employee for the duration of the posting, or (c) temporary assignment to a user undertaking, where an employment relationship exists between the posting employer and the employee for the duration of the posting.

— Section 5(6) of the Labour Code (unofficial English translation)

A cross-border agency assignment is therefore also a posting, and in all three forms employment with the posting employer must subsist throughout. For an employee posted from Slovakia to another EU Member State, working conditions are governed by the law of the State to which they are posted (Section 5(12)).

Whether a posting is genuine is assessed by the labour inspectorate on an overall basis. Act No. 351/2015 Coll. on cross-border cooperation in the posting of workers lists the circumstances involved, such as the place of the employer’s registered office and administration, where it pays taxes and contributions, where it carries on its main business and where it recruits employees, and, on the employee’s side, the limited period of work in the host State and the return after the posting ends (Section 3).

Posting to Czechia

A Slovak employer must notify the posting to the State Labour Inspection Office through its information system, at the latest on the day the posted employee starts (Section 101a of Act No. 435/2004 Sb.). The notification contains details of the employer, the employee, the recipient of the service and the expected duration, and also states the form of posting, including agency assignment. Changes must be notified within 10 calendar days, as must the end of the posting where it did not occur on the day originally notified. A copy of the document evidencing the employment relationship is attached to the notification; a Czech translation is not required where the document is in Slovak.

During the posting, Czech rules apply to the employee on working time and rest, holidays, the minimum wage and wage components, occupational safety, equal treatment, working conditions in agency employment, accommodation and travel expenses, unless Slovak law is more favourable to them (Section 319(1) of the Czech Labour Code). The rules on holidays and pay do not apply to a posting of up to 30 days in a calendar year, but that exception does not apply to a posting by an employment agency (Section 319(2)). After 12 months, or after 18 months where an extension has been notified and justified in time, almost the whole Czech Labour Code applies to the employee, apart from the rules on the creation, change and termination of employment (Section 319a).

Posting to Slovakia

A Czech employer notifies the posting to the National Labour Inspectorate at the latest on the day of posting, in paper or electronic form (Section 4(1) of Act No. 351/2015 Coll.). The notification contains, among other things, details of the posted employees, the start and end date of the posting, the place and type of work, and the domestic contact person who will remain in Slovakia during the posting. At the place of work, the employer must keep the employment contract, records of working time and documents on wages paid, and produce their Slovak translation at the inspectorate’s request (Section 4(3) and (4)).

Working conditions are governed by the Slovak minimum standard under Section 5(2) of the Labour Code, which also covers the conditions of temporary assignment in an agency posting. After 12, or 18, months almost the whole Slovak Labour Code applies (Section 5(3)).

The Slovak customer to which the employees are posted also has duties. The Employment Services Act calls it the informing organisation, makes it responsible for the working conditions of the posted employees (Section 23b(4)) and requires it to notify the labour office of the start and end of the posting within seven working days (Section 23b(5)).

Third-country nationals and agency workers

Where a Czech business posts to Slovakia one of its employees from a third country, for example a Ukrainian with Czech residence, no Slovak employment permit is needed (Section 23a(1)(v) of Act No. 5/2004 Coll.). The Slovak customer, however, attaches to its notification to the office a copy of the certificate of applicable legislation, where one has been issued, a copy of the residence document from the State where the national ordinarily works and, for nationals not subject to a visa requirement, evidence of accommodation (Section 23b(5)). For all foreign nationals posted in this way it must arrange accommodation meeting the minimum requirements (Section 23b(11)).

In an agency posting to Slovakia, the user also bears a risk. If an agency from another Member State does not pay the assigned employee at least the level of a comparable employee of the user, the user undertaking must pay the difference (Section 58(10)). In Czechia, an agency established in another Member State may provide services only temporarily and occasionally and must notify the activity in writing to the Czech ministry of labour at the latest on the day it starts (Section 14(4) of Act No. 435/2004 Sb.); otherwise it needs a Czech employment agency licence (Section 14(3)). In Czechia, employment placement also includes the posting of a foreign national by a foreign employer under a contract whose subject matter is the hiring-out of labour (Section 14(2)), which is covered in the article on disguised employment placement. The rules on Slovak agencies assigning foreign nationals are explained in our answer on whether an agency may assign workers from outside the EU.

Contributions and the A1 form

Which State’s social security applies to a posted employee is determined by Regulation (EC) No 883/2004:

A person who pursues an activity as an employed person in a Member State on behalf of an employer which normally carries out its activities there and who is posted by that employer to another Member State to perform work on that employer’s behalf shall continue to be subject to the legislation of the first Member State, provided that the anticipated duration of such work does not exceed 24 months and that he is not sent to replace another posted person.

— Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, consolidated text

Applicability is confirmed by form PD A1, which for postings from Slovakia is issued by the Social Insurance Agency at the employer’s request. According to its announcement, from 1 July 2026 several types of such application are filed exclusively through the employer’s electronic mailbox.

Steps before posting

• assess whether this is a posting or employment in the other country,
• file the notification with the labour inspectorate in the host State at the latest on the starting date,
• compare the pay and working time with the host State’s minimum,
• for an agency posting, verify the agency’s authorisation and provide contractually for topping up the pay,
• for third-country nationals, verify their residence and the documents required by the customer.

We handle the whole process for both countries through employment of foreign nationals and posting of workers. For agencies assigning people across the border, we prepare contracts with user undertakings and the accompanying documentation through legal services for employment agencies.