Not necessarily. Illegal employment arises only if you fail to register the employee within seven days after the deadline; registration before an inspection starts protects the company from this consequence. If the inspection precedes registration, the inspectorate must impose a fine. The delay itself may attract a less severe Social Insurance Agency fine.
An employee started on Monday morning, but registration with the Social Insurance Agency was sent only on Tuesday. Payroll admits the mistake, and the company is debating whether it is merely an administrative lapse or illegal employment carrying a potentially crippling fine. The boundary is precisely defined.
Registration must precede work
Act No. 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance ties employee registration to the start of work, rather than signing the contract or the first payday:
The employer must […] register an employee under Section 4(1) and Section 4b for sickness, pension and unemployment insurance, and an employee under Section 4(2) for pension insurance, in the register of insured persons and old-age pension savers before that insurance begins, no later than before the employee starts performing their activity […]
— Section 231(1)(b) of Act No. 461/2003 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
In practice, registration must be sent no later than the start date, before the employee begins work. Electronic submission of the form within the prescribed time also meets the deadline.
Seven extra days and an inspection
A delay alone is not yet illegal employment. Act No. 82/2005 Coll. on Illegal Work and Illegal Employment links it to failure to register even within the additional period:
Illegal employment is employment by a legal entity or a natural person conducting business where it uses the dependent work […] of a natural person with whom it has established an employment or civil-service relationship under separate legislation and has not registered that person in the register of insured persons and old-age pension savers within seven days after expiry of the registration deadline under separate legislation, but no later than the start of an inspection of illegal work and illegal employment if the inspection began within seven days after expiry of that registration deadline […]
— Section 2(2) of Act No. 82/2005 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
If you registered the employee the day after they started and no inspection had begun, this is not illegal employment. If an inspection starts before registration, however, the extra seven days will not save the company: the position when inspectors arrive is decisive.
The delay also has a less severe aspect. The Social Insurance Agency may impose a fine of up to EUR 16,596.96 for breaching the registration duty under Section 239 of Act No. 461/2003 Coll.. It will not impose it if the duty is fulfilled within seven days after the deadline, nor alongside a fine already imposed by the labour inspectorate for the same act.
What an inspectorate fine triggers
If the inspection preceded registration, the labour inspectorate imposes a fine: the law gives it no discretion to waive it. Illegal employment attracts EUR 4,000 to EUR 200,000, with a minimum of EUR 8,000 for two or more persons simultaneously (Section 19(2) of Act No. 125/2006 Coll.). If two-thirds of the fine is paid within 15 days after the decision becomes final, it is deemed paid in full.
The fine also places the company on the public list of offenders covering the preceding five years and blocks labour office contributions for two years (Section 70(7) of Act No. 5/2004 Coll.). A breach of the prohibition is often an obstacle to grant applications and public procurement participation too, so it is worth defending the fine proceedings before those consequences arise.
How we can help
If an inspection is underway, we take over communication with the inspectorate and responses to its report through our labour inspectorate inspection service. Arguments about the seven days and the start of inspection must be raised correctly and in time. We structure onboarding processes and document templates through employment contracts and documentation and monitor them through ongoing employment documentation support.
If an inspection has already started, seek advice before signing minutes or giving any explanation.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 29 August 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.
