Cooperation between an estate agency and agents who are self-employed is lawful if the agent works independently. What matters is how the relationship actually operates: if the agent works in a subordinate position, personally, on the agency’s instructions and in its name, the work is dependent work, and dependent work cannot be performed under a commercial contract. The agency then risks a fine for illegal employment from EUR 4,000, or at least EUR 8,000 where two or more people are concerned at the same time, up to EUR 200,000.
Estate agencies often rest on agents who hold their own trade licence and sign a cooperation agreement with the agency. The law does not prohibit such a model. The Labour Inspectorate, however, does not assess it by the name of the contract but by how the agent actually works. If their work meets the features of dependent work, a commercial contract will not save it.
What dependent work is
The Labour Code defines dependent work as follows:
Dependent work is work performed in a relationship where the employer is superior and the employee subordinate, personally by the employee for the employer, on the employer’s instructions and in the employer’s name.
— Section 1(2) of Act No. 311/2001 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
Such work may be performed only in an employment relationship, in a similar working relationship or, exceptionally, in another labour-law relationship, not in a contractual civil-law or commercial-law relationship (Section 1(3)). Where a business uses the dependent work of a natural person with whom it has no labour-law relationship, that is illegal employment (Section 2(2)(a) of Act No. 82/2005 Coll.). The Labour Inspectorate imposes a fine for it of between EUR 4,000 and EUR 200,000, and where the illegal employment concerns two or more people at the same time, of at least EUR 8,000 (Section 19(2)(a) of Act No. 125/2006 Coll.).
Where the line runs in an estate agency
The features of dependent work are assessed together and according to how the cooperation actually proceeds. In an inspection, what therefore decides the matter is who determines when and how the agent works, whether they must follow the agency’s instructions as its subordinate, and whether they work personally and in its name. Independence is indicated where the agent organises their own time and working methods, can arrange for a substitute, decides on their own approach to a transaction and receives remuneration as a share of commissions for results, rather than as a fixed sum for time worked.
Estate agency practice nonetheless has features that need watching. The agent appears under the agency’s brand, uses its standard forms, and transactions are concluded in its name, because it is the agency that is a party to the agency agreement. Acting in the agency’s name is one of the features in the definition, so it matters all the more that the remaining features are absent and that the rest of the relationship rests on independence. A problem arises where the agency assigns the agent shifts at a branch, sets fixed working hours, approves holidays or evaluates and disciplines them as an employee.
What the cooperation agreement should contain
A cooperation agreement with an agent should describe an independent relationship as it genuinely operates: the scope of the activity, the share of commission and when entitlement to it arises, the use of the agency’s brand and standard forms, access to the client database and its protection, confidentiality, a prohibition on taking over transactions in progress after departure, and the method of termination. The agreement alone will not persuade the inspectorate if practice contradicts it, so it should correspond to how the cooperation actually proceeds.
Do not forget anti-money-laundering rules either. An estate agency is an obliged entity, and its internal programme must also regulate the screening of persons who perform tasks for it under the AML Act in a relationship other than a labour-law one (Section 20(2)(k) of Act No. 297/2008 Coll.). An agent who holds their own licence to broker the sale and purchase of property is an obliged entity themselves (Section 5(1)(i)); if they carry out activities under the AML Act contractually for the agency alone, they need not have their own programme provided they follow the agency’s programme (Section 20(4)). The cooperation agreement should therefore also contain the agent’s undertaking to follow the agency’s programme and to attend its training.
How we can help
The cooperation agreement with an agent and the confidentiality agreement are included in the Premium package of estate agency documentation; we prepare them to match how your team actually works and point out the places where practice departs from independence. If you need to demonstrate that you are not employing illegally, read the article on the certificate of no breach of the prohibition of illegal employment; the agency’s duties as an obliged entity are discussed in AML duties of an estate agency.
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.
