- Švarcsystém is dependent work performed by a natural person outside an employment relationship — defined in § 5(e)(1) of Act No. 435/2004 Coll., which refers to the signs of dependent work in § 2(1) of the Labour Code.
- What matters is the substance of the working relationship, not the contract's title — fixed working hours, the client's instructions, its tools and its premises are the main signs labour inspectors look for.
- Fines can hit both sides: the contractor up to 100,000 CZK under § 139(1)(c) and (3) of Act No. 435/2004 Coll. (no statutory minimum), the client 50,000 CZK to 10,000,000 CZK under § 140(1)(c) and (4)(f) of the same Act.
- Safer structure: multiple clients, your own tools, and control over when and how the work happens; a deliverable-based contract rather than an attendance-based one.
Responsibility for this page rests with Ganado International s.r.o., company ID 19322119 (ARES registry entry), acting through its director Artem Chagin. It is general information as of the update date, not a legal assessment of your specific contract.
The statutory definition of švarcsystém
The Employment Act defines illegal work in § 5(e)(1) of Act No. 435/2004 Coll. as "the performance of dependent work by a natural person outside an employment relationship." What counts as dependent work is defined in § 2(1) of the Labour Code (§ 2 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll.): work performed in a relationship of employer superiority and employee subordination, on the employer's behalf, according to the employer's instructions, and performed personally by the employee for the employer. Paragraph 2 adds the conditions of performance — dependent work must be performed "for a wage, salary or remuneration for work, at the employer's cost and responsibility, during working hours at the employer's workplace or at another agreed place" (§ 2(2) of the Labour Code) — so an assessed contract is read against the signs in both paragraphs, not only the four signs in paragraph 1.
Švarcsystém arises when a contractor invoices a client for work that meets this definition — regardless of whether the contract is titled a "service agreement" or a "work agreement." What is examined is the real way the work is carried out, not the document's heading. This applies equally to an IT contractor invoicing a single client, a platform driver, or a freelance consultant.
The primary risk sits with the client — the party that in substance organizes the work like an employer — but the contractor carrying out such work also carries responsibility. The assessment is made by the Labour Inspection Office and, where relevant, the courts, based on the specific facts of the contract. Ganado does not give a legal opinion on švarcsystém risk for a specific contract — that belongs to a lawyer or a direct query to the Labour Inspection Office; on the accounting side, we can flag signs that show up in the records we work with.
Signs that are actually assessed
The Labour Inspection Office (Státní úřad inspekce práce, SÚIP) does not assess one isolated sign in a control — it weighs the combination of circumstances in the actual working relationship. The table below summarizes the most common signals from inspection practice and what they typically mean.
Signs labour inspectors actually assess
No single sign by itself automatically establishes švarcsystém — the combination and weight of circumstances in the specific contract decides.
| Circumstance | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Fixed working hours set by the client, attendance tracked the same way as for employees | A strong signal of subordination — one of the core signs of dependent work under § 2(1) of the Labour Code. |
| Work performed exclusively on the client's premises, on its equipment, with the same access as employees (company email, badge, internal systems) | A strong signal — the economic and organizational independence typical of an independent supplier is missing. |
| The client continuously assigns tasks and directs exactly how the work is done (not just what the deliverable should be) | A signal of working under instructions — the key distinction is between specifying a result (fine) and directing the process (risky). |
| The contractor invoices a single client all year, with no own marketing or other engagements | Economic dependence alone does not establish švarcsystém, but combined with the signs above it raises the risk. |
| The contractor has several concurrent clients, its own tools, decides when and where the work happens, and invoices for a specific deliverable | The standard signs of independent collaboration — the lowest-risk scenario listed here. |
| The contract explicitly defines a deliverable and a deadline, not attendance or working hours | Reduces risk but does not decide it alone — the actual conduct of the work must match the contract text. |
The assessment is always fact-specific. This table summarizes publicly known signs from inspection methodology and case law, not an exhaustive legal test.
Fines under § 139 and § 140
A natural person who performs illegal work (a contractor in a švarcsystém position) commits an offense under § 139(1)(c) of Act No. 435/2004 Coll. — the amount is set by § 139(3) of the same Act: a fine of up to 100,000 CZK, with no statutory minimum (consolidated text of § 139, State Labour Inspection Office).
A legal entity or a self-employed business (the client that in substance functions as the employer) that enables illegal work commits an offense under § 140(1)(c) of Act No. 435/2004 Coll. — the amount is set by § 140(4)(f): a fine of up to 10,000,000 CZK, "but no less than CZK 50,000" (consolidated text of § 140, Právní prostor — commentary on penalties).
If the work is enabled by a natural person who is not in business (neither a company nor an OSVČ), it is an offense under § 139(1)(d) with a ceiling of 5,000,000 CZK and the same 50,000 CZK floor (SÚIP). For contractors this scenario is rare — the § 140 range above is the one that matters, because the client is normally a company.
Beyond the fine itself comes an additional risk: if a control confirms švarcsystém, the tax office and social/health insurance authorities can retroactively assess social and health insurance contributions as if an employment relationship had existed from the start of the collaboration, plus late-payment penalties. This risk sits primarily with the client as the de facto employer identified by the inspection.
Worked example: theoretical fine ceiling for a confirmed švarcsystém case
An inspection at the client finds that the contractor works exclusively at its office, on fixed working hours, and under its daily instructions — signs consistent with dependent work. The rows below show the maximum theoretical exposure, not a typical fine amount (which depends on the circumstances and proportionality of the specific case).
| Contractor's fine (§ 139(1)(c), (3)) — minimum | CZK 0 (the law sets no statutory minimum) |
|---|---|
| Contractor's fine (§ 139(1)(c), (3)) — maximum | 100,000 CZK |
| Client's fine (§ 140(1)(c), (4)(f)) — minimum | 50,000 CZK |
| Client's fine (§ 140(1)(c), (4)(f)) — maximum | 10,000,000 CZK |
| Combined theoretical ceiling (contractor + client) | 10,100,000 CZK |
The actual fine is set individually based on severity, duration and circumstances — the figures above are the statutory range, not a prediction of a specific decision. On top of this, the client separately faces a retroactive social/health insurance assessment.
How to structure a contract safely
No single measure eliminates the risk entirely — what actually matters is how the work is really carried out. The steps below genuinely move a working relationship toward the standard signs of an independent supplier that labour inspectors and case law recognize.
- Invoice more than one client, or actively keep spare capacity and time for other engagements with a single client — economic independence is one of the signs assessed.
- Use your own equipment and tools wherever practically possible (laptop, licenses, working environment) rather than the client's.
- Decide for yourself when and where you work — the contract should not fix working hours or mandate presence at the client's premises without a substantive reason (e.g. a security clearance, access to physical infrastructure).
- Define a deliverable and a delivery date in the contract, not attendance — a service or works agreement with clearly described output, not a job-description-style text.
- Avoid employee-style attributes: a company email under your own name with no "external" marking, access to internal systems at the same level as employees, participation in company benefits.
- Keep records that demonstrate independence: invoicing several clients over time, your own marketing or a freelance-platform profile, and proof of owning your own equipment.
What changes in 2026
Currently (as of this page's update date), the four-sign test under § 2(1) of the Labour Code described above applies unchanged. The government is, however, debating an amendment to the Labour Code and the Employment Act that would narrow the test from four signs to two — leaving only superiority/subordination and performing the work on the employer's behalf, with the subordination sign met only when four sub-conditions are simultaneously satisfied: the employer organizes the work, supervises its performance, gives instructions, and the work takes place during hours it sets (eLegal, 28 May 2026).
Under the proposed change, personal performance, economic dependence and receiving benefits would no longer, on their own, establish švarcsystém. The proposed effective date is 1 December 2026, but as of this page's update date the bill is still going through the legislative process and may be adjusted (Česká justice, April 2026). Until the amendment takes effect, the current four-sign test described above applies — we will update this page once the amendment is passed and in force.
What you send, what we do, when it is done
No introductory call. You describe the scope in writing and get a price and timeline back in writing.
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Send five facts
Client country and type (EU business / non-EU / platform), approximate monthly income, current status (new OSVČ / taking over an existing one), whether and where you plan to physically work abroad, invoices per month.
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Get scope and price
Within one working day we confirm whether and when identified-person status arises, which expense regime makes sense, and send a fixed price and invoice.
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We start after payment
We handle registration where needed, set up your invoicing, and run ongoing records, EC Sales Lists and the annual return within the agreed scope.
Written reply within 1 working day.
What is billed separately
Monthly OSVČ bookkeeping starts at 990 CZK and covers ongoing records. The following are one-off or event-driven and billed separately at the published rates, so you can work out the total without a phone call.
| Identified-person / VAT registration | from 1,990 CZK | Application, power of attorney and correspondence with the tax office when identified-person or VAT-payer status arises. |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly VAT / identified-person filing | from 690 CZK / filing | Preparing and filing for the month in which a relevant supply occurred. |
| Historical backlog cleanup | from 1,990 CZK | Reviewing and completing periods that were not correctly recorded or filed. |
| Standalone annual return outside continuous service | from 2,990 CZK | For contractors who want only the annual work, without monthly bookkeeping. |
The annual return and the relevant insurance overviews are included in continuous monthly bookkeeping; they are billed separately only outside that scope.
VERIFIED
Verified
Primary sources for the definition, signs and fines described above.
- Act No. 435/2004 Coll., on Employment — § 5, § 139, § 140
- Consolidated text of § 139 of the Employment Act (fine bands for a natural person)
- Consolidated text of § 140 of the Employment Act (fine bands for an employer)
- Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labour Code — § 2 (definition of dependent work)
- State Labour Inspection Office — penalties for illegal work
- Právní prostor — illegal employment and its penalties
- eLegal — new definition of dependent work from 1 Dec 2026 (proposed)
- Česká justice — the bill redrawing the boundaries of švarcsystém
Send your contract setup, get a written reply
Client, working hours, where the work is performed, and who supplies the equipment is enough for a first written reply.