In Slovakia, a temporary assignment to the same user undertaking may be agreed for a maximum of 24 months and, within that period, extended or agreed again no more than four times, including where another agency assigns the employee. If the limit is exceeded, employment with the agency ceases and indefinite employment arises directly with the user undertaking. In Czechia, an agency may not assign the same employee to the same user for more than 12 consecutive calendar months, unless the employee so requests or the assignment covers a user's employee on maternity, paternity or parental leave.
An agency operator has been working for the same client for a third year, the assignment is extended quarterly, and the employing agency has changed once in the meantime. Both the Slovak and the Czech Labour Code limit the length of an assignment to a single user undertaking, and in Slovakia exceeding the limit creates employment directly between the employee and the client.
Slovakia: 24 months and four extensions
A temporary assignment may be agreed for a maximum of 24 months. A temporary assignment of an employee to the same user undertaking may be extended or agreed again within 24 months no more than four times; this applies also where the employee is temporarily assigned to the same user undertaking by another employer or another temporary employment agency.
— Section 58(6) of the Labour Code (unofficial English translation)
What matters is the relationship between the employee and the user, not the contract with a particular agency. Changing agency does not reset the counter. An assignment to the same user beginning less than six months after the previous one ended counts as agreed again; for a temporary increase in headcount and for seasonal work under Section 48(4)(b) and (c), that interval is four months. The limits do not apply to an assignment covering for an absent employee, for example during maternity or parental leave or incapacity for work (Section 48(4)(a)).
An agency is not bound by the rules on chaining fixed-term employment that apply to ordinary employers (Section 48(9)). In a fixed-term employment contract, however, it must state the duration by an end date, and the contract must contain the particulars of the assignment agreement, such as the user undertaking, the type and place of work and the pay terms (Section 58(5)).
The consequence of exceeding the limit: employment with the user
Where an employee is temporarily assigned contrary to the first or second sentence of subsection 6, employment between the employee and the employer or the temporary employment agency ceases and indefinite employment arises between the employee and the user undertaking.
— Section 58(7) of the Labour Code (unofficial English translation)
The user must issue the employee written notice of the creation of employment within five working days, and the working conditions are governed, as appropriate, by the assignment agreement or the agency employment contract. The business thus acquires an indefinite-term employee without having decided to, and the agency loses both the employee and the contract. The user keeps a register of temporarily assigned employees with the start and end date of each assignment (Section 58(16)), so an excess is usually apparent from its own records on inspection.
Czechia: 12 consecutive months
The Czech Labour Code (Act No. 262/2006 Sb.) restricts assignments to a shorter period but does not attach the creation of employment with the user to a breach of the limit. Under Section 309(6) of the Czech Labour Code, an employment agency may not assign the same employee to the same user for more than 12 consecutive calendar months. The restriction does not apply where the employee asks the agency to do so, or where the assignment covers for a user’s employee on maternity, paternity or parental leave.
Breach of this rule is a ground on which the ministry may withdraw the agency’s employment placement licence (Section 63(3) of Act No. 435/2004 Sb.). Where an agency relies on an employee’s request for a longer assignment, it is worth having it in writing so that it can be produced on inspection.
How to monitor the length of an assignment
- One register for each employee and user, covering all assignments, including those through other agencies where the agency learns of them from the client.
- The duration of the assignment in the agreement with the user, which is a mandatory particular of that agreement (Section 58a(2)(c)), together with a clause under which the client confirms the previous assignments of the same person.
- A plan for the end of the limit: the client taking the employee into direct employment, a move to another user, or a break that meets the statutory length.
We structure agreements with user undertakings, employment contracts and registers through legal services for employment agencies. The special rules on assigning third-country nationals are covered in our answer on whether an agency may assign workers from outside the EU, and the risk of disguised hiring-out of workers in Czechia in our article on disguised employment placement.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 12 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
