Supreme Court rules employers laying off staff for reasons of redundancy not obliged to offer different posts

The Supreme Court has ruled that employers are not obliged to offer staff laid off for reasons of redundancy alternative positions within firms, even in cases where similar positions are open. The Supreme Court issued its ruling on Thursday after having studied the Labour Law in detail, in relation to a case in which an employee had been let go earlier for said reasons. The employee, a systems administrator, filed a complaint with the district court in Prague 10 after his position was scrapped, maintaining he should have been offered another job at a time when several within the company were available. Two courts, in Prague 10 and the Prague Municipal Court, originally ruled in his favour, but the Supreme Court struck down the earlier decisions, stressing that the obligation to offer alternative employment ended in 2006. The Supreme Court ruling will apply to all lower-instance court decisions.

Author: Jan Velinger