Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135) - Czechia (Ratification: 2000)

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Article 1 of the Convention. Protection against anti-union discrimination. In its previous comment, the Committee noted the concerns expressed by the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) that the Anti-Discrimination Act does not prohibit discrimination on grounds of trade union membership or activities and that although section 276(2) of the Labour Code prohibits discrimination of workers’ representatives, section 16 of the Labour Code cross-references the Anti-Discrimination Act regarding the definition of the term “discrimination”. The Committee requested the Government to monitor the application of the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Labour Code in practice, particularly with regard to the possibility for workers’ representatives to assert their right to non-discrimination and to obtain compensation. The Committee notes with satisfaction the Government’s indication that section 16(2) of the Labour Code was amended in 2017 to also include membership and activity in trade unions or employers’ organizations as one of the prohibited grounds for discrimination at work.

The Committee also previously assessed the issue of the start of protection of trade union representatives against dismissal. The ČMKOS alleged that there is no protection of union officials between the moment when a trade union notifies the employer that it meets the requirements for its operation (section 286(3) of the Labour Code) and the time it actually starts to perform its functions (the next day), which could, in its view, lead to anti-union discrimination practices. The Committee refers in this respect to its comments made under the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).