What Are The Public Holidays in The Czech Republic in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in The Czech Republic (2026)

The Czech Republic has 13 nationwide public holidays in 2026. Use the table below to plan staffing, leave approvals, and payroll for your Czech team.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Czech labour law generally requires employers to treat public holidays as paid days off when they fall on an employee’s usual working day. If a public holiday falls on a day the employee would not normally work, there is no additional entitlement to paid time off or a substitute day. Part-time and variable-schedule employees are entitled to paid holiday only if the holiday coincides with a scheduled working day for them.

If your business needs employees to work on a public holiday, you must provide compensatory rest or premium pay in line with the Labour Code. The standard approach is either time off in lieu on another day with normal pay, or additional pay for work on the holiday on top of regular wages. The exact structure should be set out clearly in employment contracts or internal policies, but it cannot fall below statutory minimums.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failure to respect public holiday entitlements can lead to administrative fines from the Czech labour inspectorate (Státní úřad inspekce práce). Inspectors can review time records, payroll, and internal policies to verify that employees either received paid time off on holidays that fell on their working days or appropriate compensation when they worked.

Sanctions can include financial penalties that scale with the seriousness and duration of the breach, orders to remedy underpayments, and closer ongoing supervision. Common employer mistakes include treating holidays as unpaid leave, not paying the correct average earnings for holiday pay, misclassifying part-time schedules so that holidays are not recognised as working days, and failing to provide premium pay or compensatory rest when employees work on a public holiday.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Public holidays in the Czech Republic interact with overtime and premium pay rules rather than changing the basic weekly hour thresholds. If an employee works on a public holiday, that work is usually treated as work on a day of rest and attracts additional compensation on top of normal wages, often in the form of a statutory surcharge or time off in lieu. Where holiday work also exceeds the employee’s standard weekly hours, it can count as overtime and trigger both overtime premiums and holiday premiums.

To stay compliant, you should track hours worked on holidays separately from regular hours, apply the correct surcharges for overtime and for work on a public holiday, and ensure that any agreed time-off-in-lieu arrangements are documented and taken within the legally allowed timeframe. Because collective agreements or internal policies can provide more generous terms than the Labour Code, you should always check whether your company has higher contractual rates in place for holiday and overtime work.

Stay 100% Compliant with Leave Regulations Using Playroll

Managing public holidays and leave rules in the Czech Republic doesn’t have to be complex. Playroll keeps you 100% compliant by automatically tracking local holidays, observed days, and pay requirements –  so your team is paid correctly and on time, every time.

Whether you’re hiring your first employee or scaling a growing team, Playroll lets you employ talent without setting up a local entity. We handle compliant contracts, benefits, and payroll in one platform, so you can reduce compliance risk and focus on growing your business while we take care of the heavy-lifting in the background. Book a chat with our team to get started.