How is the minimum wage calculated and what will change from 2025?

The minimum wage is not only the lowest possible remuneration for work, but also affects other amounts. Find out how it works, what the current minimum wage is, how to correctly calculate the minimum hourly wage for different types of employment, and what changes apply after the amendment to the Labor Code.

What is the minimum wage and how is it determined?

The minimum wage is the lowest permissible remuneration for work performed that you can pay your full-time employees. The monthly amount corresponds to the usual 40-hour working week and is also converted to a minimum hourly rate.

The minimum wage does not include bonuses for:

• work on public holidays or weekends;
• night work;
• overtime;
• work in a difficult working environment.

The minimum wage applies to both employees in full-time employment and those working under a contract for work or a contract for services.

The minimum wage for a given year is determined by the state (although it only applies in the private sector). It should take into account at least the purchasing power of workers in relation to the cost of living, the general level of wages (or the ratio to the average wage in the Czech Republic), the rate of wage growth, and the national productivity rate.

Minimum monthly wage

For 2026, the government has announced a minimum monthly wage of CZK 22,400. The amount has increased by CZK 1,600 year-on-year (the minimum wage in 2025 was CZK 20,800).

Minimum hourly wage

The minimum hourly wage is the lowest amount you can pay your employees as an hourly rate (including temporary workers under a DPP/DPČ contract).

If your employees work in a continuous or multi-shift regime, they are legally entitled to a reduced working week of only 37.5 hours. Employees in a two-shift operation can also officially work shorter hours – in this case, 38.75 hours per week.

The monthly minimum wage is the same for all these workers. For shorter weekly working hours, you must recalculate the minimum hourly wage according to their working hours.

The minimum hourly wage in 2026 is as follows:

Minimum wage for part-time work

If your employee works part-time and their working hours are, for example, 20 hours per week, the monthly minimum wage will be reduced proportionally – in this case, by half. In 2026, such an employee will therefore receive at least CZK 11,200 per month.

It is also important to calculate the minimum wage correctly if your payslip shows an amount lower than the specified minimum – in this case, you will need to provide the employee with a supplement up to the minimum wage.

Guaranteed wage vs. minimum wage

You may also have come across the term guaranteed wage. The difference is that while the minimum wage applies to all occupations across the Czech Republic, the guaranteed wage is based on so-called job groups divided according to the complexity, responsibility, and difficulty of the work.

There are now only four job groups (previously there were eight). At the lowest level (group 1 – e.g., kitchen help, general cleaning, parcel delivery, etc.), the guaranteed wage is the same as the minimum wage. Therefore, even the guaranteed wage cannot fall below the minimum wage. Employees in higher work groups must be paid at least the wage guaranteed for their band.

What other amounts are affected by the minimum wage?

The increase in the minimum wage in 2026 does not only have a direct impact on the amount of pay. If the minimum wage increases, this usually leads to recalculations in the following areas:

Changes in the minimum wage following the amendment to the Labor Code

In the summer of 2024, the Senate passed an amendment to the Labor Code, which brought two major changes from January 2025:

• Abolition of the guaranteed wage – only the so-called guaranteed salary (for the public sector) remains, and it is divided into only 4 groups of jobs according to difficulty (instead of the original 8 groups).
• Regular indexation of the minimum wage – increases in the minimum wage are no longer announced by the government, but by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, by September 30 of each calendar year.

The advantage of the new minimum wage adjustment system is that its growth is more predictable. As part of your financial planning, you can estimate your personnel costs more accurately.

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