Reforming labor law in the Czech republic: International sources of change

• Published date: 01 September 2008
• Date: 01 September 2008
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1059-4337(08)45008-1
• Pages: 255-280
• Author: Gabriela Wasileski,Gerald Turkel

REFORMING LABOR LAW

IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC:

INTERNATIONAL SOURCES

OF CHANGE

Gabriela Wasileski and Gerald Turkel

ABSTRACT

In the aftermath of the Communist Era, Czechs and Slovaks sought to

enter the European Union (EU) in order to participate in Western

European markets and polities. To gain entry, they had to reform their

labor laws based on EU protocols. This study analyzes changes in labor

law in the Czech Republic by focusing on differences between statutes and

regulations in the Communist and Post-Communist Eras. The study is

framed by international approaches to law that locate sources of legal

change in international organizations and protocols. In reforming Czech

labor law, EU labor law standards were established through internal

political processes that were themselves shaped by EU requirements

rooted in pluralism and the rule of law.

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Volume 45, 255–280

Copyright r2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 1059-4337/doi:10.1016/S1059-4337(08)45008-1

255

INTRODUCTION

In the aftermath of the Communist era, Czechs and Slovaks sought to

participate in the international community as independent economic actors

and nation states. Most particularly, they sought to strengthen their ties

with Western European markets and polities, primarily through member-

ship in the European Union (Vaughan-Whitehead, 2003). As part of this

effort, new labor law statutes were established that were in keeping with

European Union principles and requirements (Cazes & Nes

ˇporova

´, 2003).

The new labor law statutes were part of a broader process of change

in which rule of law principles, including individualism, equality, freedom of

contract, the relative autonomy of political and legal institutions, and

neutrality of rule enforcement, were becoming features of public life in the

post-communist era. To some degree, this process reflected internal social,

cultural, and political dynamics that were unleashed with the collapse of

communism. Yet legal and policy approaches in the new regimes, including

those regulating labor, were shaped by legal discourses codified in protocols

and international standards required for membership in the European

Union.

This chapter focuses on sources of change in labor law in the Czech

Republic. It analyzes sources of change in policy requirements established

by the European Council and by international treaties, principles and

regulations in light of the social, economic and legal conditions prevailing in

the Czech Republic. Efforts to meet European Union and international

standards created new tensions that reverberated through society and its

newly established legal and political institutions.

The abstract and universal requirements stipulated by the European

Union and related international codes and guidelines contributed to new

patterns of political and legal discourse into Czech public life which

had been severely limited by Communist Party dominance through state

organized collectivism. The new labor codes, while reflecting particular

conditions in the Czech Republic, established forms of legal discourse more

consistent with political and market activity, social welfare standards, and

bureaucratic rationality based on criteria for accountability to the European

Union. In this light, rule of law principles had to be adapted to particular

historical circumstances and contexts. The rule of law was incorporated

relative to Czech conditions in the post-communist era in conformity

with market rationality, formal democracy, and societal corporatist

discourses that facilitated broader patterns of participation at the national

and international levels.

GABRIELA WASILESKI AND GERALD TURKEL256