MU employment code
(valid until 31 Dec 2019)
(effective as of 13 November 2014)
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Section 1
Introductory Provisions
(1) The Masaryk University Employment Code (hereinafter referred to as the “Employment Code”) is issued under the provisions of section 306 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended, and section 17, subsection 1, letter i) of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on Higher Education Institutions and on the Modification and Amendment of Other Acts, as amended.
(2) This Employment Code details the responsibilities of employees and employers involved in labour relations. The Employment Code is obligatory for the employer and all employees. Employees working on the basis of contracts for work performed outside of an employment relationship are exempt from this Employment Code unless otherwise warranted by the specific nature of these relationships as stipulated by the Labour Code.
Section 2
Employer Obligations
The employer is required to namely:
a) Care for the establishment and development of labour relations in accordance with the Labour Code, other laws and regulations, internal regulations, collective agreement and good manners.
b) Assign work to employees in accordance with their work agreement from the first day of the labour relationship, provide wages for work performed, provide working conditions suitable for the successful fulfilment of work tasks and observe all other working conditions stipulated by law, internal regulations of the employer and the work agreement. The same conditions apply to relations based on contracts for work performed outside of employment relationships.
c) Provide new employees with information about the workplace, work environment, potential risks to life and health associated with the performance of work, measures designed to protect employees against such risks and the Employment Code.
d) Provide employees with information regarding occupational health service providers including information about required medical examinations associated with the performance of work and the classification of specific jobs.
e) Create a safe and healthy work environment and suitable working conditions by providing occupational safety and health and taking measures designed to prevent risk.
f) If so required by the nature of the work, provide employees with personal protective equipment, detergents, cleaning agents, disinfectants or other materials free of charge in accordance with the law and the employer's internal regulations while maintaining personal protective equipment is a serviceable state and monitoring its usage.
g) Provide employees with regular training sessions focusing on legislation and other regulations designed to ensure safety and health at work in order to complement their professional qualifications and work performance requirements associated with their jobs and focusing on any potential workplace risks while also consistently monitoring compliance with such legislation and regulations.
h) Ensure the equal treatment of all employees with respect to working conditions, remuneration for work performed and financial payment, training and the opportunity to achieve promotions or other professional advancement while observing a strict prohibition of discrimination. Discrimination does not constitute different treatment under circumstances where a valid reason exists based on the nature of the work or activities performed and where requirements imposed in accordance with the nature of the work or activities are deemed adequate.
i) Inform employees regarding changes in legislation which require the cooperation of employees in connection with the obligation to provide notice of certain facts or data as set out in section 3, subsection 5.
Section 3
Employee Obligations
(1) Employees are required to personally perform work as set out in their work agreements, during working hours and according to instructions issued by senior employees, while respecting obligations arising from legislation applicable to the work performed and while complying with all provisions of the work agreement.
(2) Employees are required namely to:
a) Work conscientiously and properly in view of their work capacity, knowledge and skills.
b) Perform work in a high-quality, economical and timely manner, follow instructions issued by senior employees in accordance with the law and collaborate with other employees.
c) Act in accordance with generally accepted ethical principles and the employer's Code of Ethics.
d) Comply with legally stipulated regulations and established procedures associated with the work performed, in particular with rules designed to ensure safety and health at work as well as other regulations, technical standards, fire protection regulations, property and environmental protection regulations and other internal regulations issued by the employer, once properly informed.
e) Consistently develop qualifications associated with the performance of work specified by the work agreement (development also includes the maintenance and updating of existing qualifications).
f) Strive for professional, technical or career development in accordance with the employer's internal regulations.
g) Attend prescribed training sessions.
h) Observe and make full use of working hours while adhering to rules associated with the keeping of working time records.
(3) Employees are required to avoid conflict with the employer's legitimate interests. In order to fulfil this obligation, employees are required to:
a) Consistently defend the good name of the employer and act in such a way as to avoid damaging the employer's reputation and legitimate interests by unbecoming conduct. Refrain from actions which could lead to a conflict of interest between the employer and the personal interests of employees.
b) Conduct all negotiations involving other persons in accordance with the rules of polite behaviour so as not to affect or degrade the human dignity or integrity of a person or damage the reputation of the employer in any way.
c) Refrain from exploiting the reputation of the employer in order to secure an unfair advantage for an employee or other person.
d) Refrain from abusing employment status or position in order to secure an unfair advantage or take unfair advantage of another person.
e) Refrain from requesting or accepting a fee, remuneration or other benefits from third parties in connection with the performance of work carried out for the employer.
f) Refrain from misusing resources or results belonging to the employer for private purposes or other gainful activity.
g) Protect the employer's intellectual property in accordance with relevant laws and internal regulations set out by the employer.
h) Maintain the confidentiality of any publicly unpublished data or information obtained from the employer in case the publication or use of such materials might negatively affect the employer's legitimate interests; this clause is valid even after the termination of employment in case the employee was informed that the data or information in question are not intended for the public. This provision may not be interpreted and applied in conflict with academic freedoms.
i) Refrain from installing, copying or using software without proper authorization. Refrain from using software to acquire, disclose or otherwise utilize unauthorized information. Refrain from using or intentionally modifying software without proper authorization. Refrain from misusing the internet and information technology for private gainful activity. Conceal or protect information system passwords from other employees or third parties.
j) Abide by personal data protection legislation and observe the employer's internal regulations when handling, collecting and storing personal data.
k) Observe prescribed technologies and workflows, perform high-quality work and prevent threats to health and property.
l) Maintain an orderly workplace, properly manage any entrusted resources, protect property from damage, loss, destruction and abuse and notify a superior in the event of a shortcoming or defect which could lead to the damage or destruction of such property, and – if possible – help remove such shortcomings or defects.
m) Return without undue delay any entrusted things (work equipment, tools, protective equipment, etc.) in the event of employment termination, change of work type or long-term absence from work due to obstacles.
n) Refrain from performing any gainful activity during the employer's working hours.
(4) In order to provide a safe and healthy work environment for everyone, employees are required to namely:
a) Refrain from consuming alcoholic beverages or other addictive substances in the workplace as well as outside the workplace during working hours and refrain from attendance at work under the influence of such substances. Comply with a senior employee's instructions to undergo tests in the event of suspected alcohol or controlled substance abuse.
b) Refrain from smoking in the workplace with the exception of designated spaces, refrain from smoking in the employer's vehicles.
c) Use assigned personal protective equipment at work, care and manage such equipment as required.
d) Undergo occupational health examinations and any associated procedures at times specified by the employer, providing documentation of their outcomes without undue delay.
(5) Employees are required to cooperate with the employer as required by the performance of the employer's duties as stipulated by special legislation. In order to fulfil this obligation, employees are required to namely:
a) Notify the employer without undue delay of important changes in personal data including information on residence, circumstances associated with health insurance, information relevant for income tax purposes (e.g. children enrolled in studies), wage deduction order and changes which affect the employee's professional or medical fitness.
b) Notify the employer of any changes to health insurance prior to the end of the calendar year.
c) Provide the employer with an up to date disability pension drawing certificate on an annual basis, no later than on 14 February.
d) Notify the employer of gainful employment in two or more EU member states and contribute to identifying information required for the payment of insurance premiums to the state(s) in question.
(6) Employees participating in business trips are required to conduct themselves so as to achieve the purpose of the trip as efficiently and safely as possible. When using either the employer's vehicles or their own vehicles for business trips purposes, employees are required to comply with the applicable legislation as well as the employer's internal regulations.
(7) In connection with the implementation of the right to time off in the event of obstacles at work, employees are required to:
a) In case the obstacles are known in advance, employees are required to submit a request for time off to a superior employee, indicating grounds for the request as well as the expected duration of absence.
b) In case the obstacles are not known in advance, employees are required to notify a superior or a designated deputy of the obstacles and their expected duration without undue delay.
c) Provide proof of the existence of obstacles to work within the context of the right to time off without undue delay (e.g. providing a document certifying temporary work inability).
(8) Employees may not disseminate advertising or promotional brochures, leaflets and similar materials in the workplace in case the content or nature of such materials might lead to a disruption or otherwise threaten the activities or reputation of the employer.
(9) During the first 14 days of temporary incapacity for work, employees are required to enable the employer or authorised person inspect their compliance with the prescribed daily regime of a temporarily incapacitated insurance policy holder, specifically the requirement to spend the period of temporary incapacity for work at a given place while observing the duration and extent of permitted leave. In order to facilitate such inspections, employees are primarily required to label their place of residence in such a way so as to enable the inspector to contact them at the location indicated.
Section 4
Senior Employee Obligations
(1) Senior employees include all employees at various levels of management authorized to designate and assign work tasks to subordinate employees, organize, manage and inspect their work and issue binding instructions associated with such work,
(2) In addition to obligations set out in Article 3 of this Employment Code, senior employees are also required to namely:
a) Manage, organize and inspect the work of subordinate employees, periodically evaluating their work results.
b) Consistently updating their knowledge of legislation and the employer's internal regulations associated with their work and the work of their subordinate employees, providing subordinate employees with information regarding the rights and obligations arising from such legislation or internal regulations.
c) Ensure the compliance of subordinate employees with all relevant laws and other regulations.
d) Communicate with employees on behalf of the employer.
e) Inform subordinate employees of new working methods, tools, instruments and associated regulations.
f) Verify the level of expertise of individual employees, supervise their professional competence and fulfilment of qualifications and requirements.
g) Provide employees with conditions suitable for increasing their professional competences.
h) Reward the initiative, effort, and high-quality work results of subordinate employees.
i) Ensure the remuneration of employees in accordance with the Labour Code and the employer's internal regulations.
j) Supervise the proper performance of work tasks by employees and impose consequences in case of misconduct.
k) Notify an employee without undue delay of any breach of obligations stipulated by legislation or by the employer's internal regulations associated with the work performed, advise the employee about the incorrectness of his/her actions and impose remedies. In the event of a serious or repeated breach of obligations, issue a written notification regarding the possibility of notice, termination of the employment relationship or immediate termination.
l) Provide favourable working conditions and ensure health and safety at work.
m) Ensure that employees are assigned work tasks and workplaces with respect to their abilities and health, ensure that employees are not asked to perform work which is in conflict with the law, the employer's internal regulations regarding health and safety at work or with medical assessments, including during overtime.
n) Ensure the timely adoption of measures designed to protect the tangible and intangible assets of the employer, informing employees of such measures.
o) Monitor risks which may occur in his/her field of activity, take measures designed to eliminate or minimize such risks or alternatively announce the existence of such risks to a superior.
p) Ensure the economical expenditure of funds entrusted by the employer.
q) In the case of any results, industrial property subjects or other facts constituting the employer's trade secret, senior employees in charge of workplaces dealing with such trade secrets are required to determine the extent of such trade secrets, specify individual employees' rights of access to such trade secrets, provide these employees with information regarding the extent of the trade secrets, their obligations to protect them and the consequences of a breach of their duties; senior employees must also adequately ensure the confidentiality of trade secrets.
r) Take measures ensuring that the employer is entitled to exercise proprietary copyright (in the case of employee works) or otherwise provide a third party sublicense in all cases where the law, subsidy provider or agreement between the employer and third party specifies that the copyright to work results belong to the employer.
s) Perform duties associated with the application of timesheet rules, regularly monitor the compliance of subordinate employees with timesheets in accordance with rules specified by the employer's internal regulations.
t) Organize the leave taking of subordinate employees in such a way that leave is used up during the calendar year in which right to leave arose, unless prevented from doing so by obstacles on the part of an employee or urgent operational reasons. When assigning leave, both the employer's operational reasons as well as the employee's legitimate interests must be taken into account.
(3) Senior employees are tasked with conducting preliminary examinations of subordinate employees in the event of suspected alcohol or controlled substance abuse, administered using a breath test or by collecting a saliva or sweat sample.
Section 5
Protection of employer's property and compensation
(1) The employer is obliged to provide employees with working conditions suitable for the proper performance of work tasks without risk to health or property. In case any impediments are detected, the employer is obliged to take measures to eliminate them.
(2) In order to ensure the protection of the employer's property, the employer is entitled to inspect – to the necessary extent – items brought to or from work by employees and to carry out personal searches of employees. Any inspection or personal search must respect an employee's right to privacy protection as specified by the Civil Code. A personal search may only be conducted by an authorised person of the same sex designated by the employer. A personal search must be conducted in accordance with good morals, in compliance with legislation on the protection of personal freedom and without degrading human dignity.
(3) Employees are required to submit to inspections and/or personal searches specified in subsection 2.
(4) Should an inspector tasked with conducting an inspection or personal search as set out in subsection 2 establish an attempted theft of the employer's property, he/she is obliged to provide a written statement. The statement must include a list of items which the employee attempted to steal, a description of the circumstances of the attempted theft and a statement issued by the inspector. The statement must be signed by all parties. In case an attempted theft of the employer's property is classified as a misdemeanour or criminal offence, the employer shall notify the relevant public authorities or criminal prosecuting authorities.
(5) In case imminent action is necessary in order to avert damage to the employer, employees are obliged to intervene. Employees may refrain from doing so in case of significant obstacles or in case doing so would expose them or others to danger or harm.
(6) In case an employee is lacking suitable working conditions, he/she is obliged to notify a superior senior employee.
(7) Employees are required to reimburse the employer for any material or immaterial damage incurred as a result of a culpable breach of duty by the employee, observing the relevant rules set out by the Labour Code.
(8) Employees are required to provide the employer with all necessary assistance in connection with the application of responsibility for shortfall in entrusted valuables as well as in the case of liability for the loss of entrusted items (i.e. material liability). Employees are required to follow instructions associated with the execution of an inventory of entrusted valuables or items.
Section 6
Obligation infringement and consequences
(1) The violation of employee obligations set out in this Employment Code shall be considered by the employer to constitute a breach of the employee's legally stipulated obligations to work performed.
(2) Depending on the assessment of the intensity of a specific infringement, the employer may respond by issuing a call for correction, warning of notice or a warning of employment relationship termination by notice or immediate termination. The intensity of the infringement must be assessed by the employer individually, with respect to all circumstances of a particular case.
(3) In compliance with rules set out in subsection 2, cases involving the following shall be considered as particularly egregious breaches of obligations:
a) Alcohol or substance abuse in the workplace or abuse occurring during the performance of work or attendance at work under the influence of such substances.
b) Refusal to undergo tests in the event of suspected alcohol or controlled substance abuse.
c) Unexcused absence.
d) Verbal or physical attacks on other employees or persons in a relationship with the employer.
e) Harassment, i.e. unwanted conduct designed to reduce a person's dignity and create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, or behaviour which may reasonably be perceived as a precondition for decisions affecting the exercise of the rights and obligations arising from legal relationships.
f) Deliberate attack on the employer's tangible or intangible assets.
g) Breach of confidentiality under particularly serious circumstances or with particularly serious consequences for the employer.
h) Plagiarism.
Section 7
Concluding Provisions
(1) This Employment Code has been duly approved in accordance with section 9, subsection 1, letter b) of the Higher Education Act by the MU Academic Senate on 3 November 2014.
(2) This Employment Code has been negotiated and approved by the Masaryk University coordinating union committee on 18 September 2014.
(3) This Employment Code enters into force in accordance with section 36, subsection 4 of the Higher Education Act on the day of registration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
(4) This Employment Code enters into force on the day of registration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Mikuláš Bek, Ph.D.,
Rector