A new Czech regulation designed to support employees in high-risk occupations will officially take effect on 1 January 2026, following the bill’s presidential signature and publication in the official collection of laws.

This update follows previous confirmation that the bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in June.

Under the new legislation, Czech employers will be required to contribute 4 per cent of a worker’s salary into supplementary pension savings (DPS) if the employee is engaged in a category three risk job and completes at least three qualifying shifts per month, as reported in České noviny.

These roles include work performed in noisy environments, extreme temperatures, or under conditions requiring significant physical exertion or involving high levels of vibration.

The allowance is intended to ease the financial situation of affected individuals before retirement by enabling earlier access to pension savings under the DPS scheme.

Despite earlier reports, České noviny reported that employers must inform employees of their eligibility, and employees will have to opt in.

In addition to the new contribution requirements, the Czech Ministry of Finance has confirmed that individuals working in third-category risk roles will not be required to have 10 years of pension savings to qualify for early retirement.

For those whose contracts were signed before 2024, only five years of participation in the DPS will be needed, significantly lowering the threshold compared to standard pension scheme participants.

This update also builds on previous reports, including those from June, which indicated that the Czech pension reform bill for high-risk workers was moving through the legislative process.

Earlier updates also suggested that the approval date might be set for the end of the first half of 2025.

In the previous update, Czech MP, Viktor Vojtko, proposed delaying the start date to 1 January 2026 due to limited preparation time and necessary HR and payroll system changes, while fellow MP Alena Schillerová suggested a longer postponement to 1 July 2026.

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