Registering an employee with ČSSZ before they start: deadlines and steps

From July 1, 2026, you must register a new employee with the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ) before they start, at the latest before the moment they begin work. This also applies to temporary workers on an agreement to complete a job (DPP). The earliest you can do it is 8 days before the planned start. For Czech citizens, a partial registration before the start is enough, the so-called pre-registration PREZEC. You add the remaining data within 8 days of the start with a full registration REGZEC [1][2][3].

In practice this means one thing: the message “a new temporary worker starts on Thursday” must reach the payroll accountant before the first day. Not with the attendance records at the end of the month.

What changed on July 1, 2026?

Employee registration is governed by Section 19 of Act No. 323/2025 Coll., on the Employer’s Unified Monthly Report (JMHZ). The “before the start” deadline applies from July 1, 2026 [2]. Until then, for most employees the start was reported only after it happened [1].

Period	When to register a new employee
until March 31, 2026	within 8 days of the start, using the previous form [1]
April 1 – June 30, 2026	within 8 days of the start, with the new REGZEC submission [1][5]
from July 1, 2026	at the latest before the moment of the start, at the earliest 8 days ahead [1][2]

Submissions are electronic only. You have three routes: ČSSZ’s data box (datová schránka, ID 5ffu6xk), the ČSSZ ePortal, or the APEP/VREP data interface through which payroll programs send submissions [1][2]. You cannot file the PREZEC pre-registration at the counter of a district social security office [3].

Who does employee registration with ČSSZ apply to?

All employees: on an employment contract, an agreement to perform work (DPČ) and a DPP. The JMHZ Act considers an employee, among others, to be every employee under the Labor Code and every taxpayer with income from dependent activity [2][3]. For DPP temporary workers, the news is not that they are reported. Income from both insured and uninsured DPPs has been reported to ČSSZ since July 2024 [4]. What is new is that they are reported in advance.

Watch out for three situations:

• Employees without Czech citizenship. Register them fully (REGZEC) right away, before the start. The law does not allow partial registration of foreign employees [2], and PREZEC pre-registration accepts only Czech citizens [3].
• Several contracts with one employer, for example an employment relationship plus a DPP. Each employment is reported separately [2].
• The first employee in the company. A mandatory item already in the pre-registration is the employer’s variable symbol [2]. The company receives it from ČSSZ only after registering as an employer [1][3]. So take care of the registration well in advance.

What deadlines apply from signing the contract to the first month?

D is the planned start date.

When	What to do	Source
D−8 at the earliest	The registration can be filed at the earliest 8 calendar days before the planned start. The system rejects an earlier pre-registration.	[2][3]
before the moment of the start	Partial registration (PREZEC), or full registration (REGZEC) right away.	[1][2]
within 8 days of the start	Add the remaining data with the full REGZEC registration.	[1][3]
without undue delay, at the latest within 8 days of the planned start	If the person does not start, report the non-start.	[1][2]
within 8 days of finding out	Report a change in the registered data.	[1][2]
within 8 days of the end	Deregister the employee.	[1][2]

The start is reported to the health insurance company separately, within 8 days. For people who work only on a DPP or DPČ, the start is reported by the 20th day of the month following the month in which health insurance started to be paid from the agreement [7].

Pre-registration PREZEC, or REGZEC right away?

It depends on what you know about the person before the first day.

• You have all the data (the personal questionnaire is filled in): file the full REGZEC registration right away. The next step is not needed [3].
• You have only the basics: file the PREZEC pre-registration and complete REGZEC within 8 days of the start [3].

The pre-registration contains eight items: first name, last name, birth surname, birth number (rodné číslo), place of birth, citizenship, expected start date and the employer’s variable symbol [2][3]. At this stage the employee is not yet identified in the register and is not assigned an OIČ or employment ID. That happens only with the full registration [3].

Three practical points from the methodology of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MPSV) [3]:

1. One PREZEC submission can hold up to 1,500 records. So you can send a seasonal wave of starts at once. The exception is the ePortal, where the methodology states one form per submission.
2. A pre-registration cannot be corrected or canceled like REGZEC. You resolve an error by terminating the pre-registration and filing a new one.
3. The full registration does not close the pre-registration by itself. If the person does not start in the end and you filed both, terminate both submissions separately.

The law allows you to request the necessary data from the employee before the start. But you may use them only for the registration [2].

Who files the registration for the company?

Usually the payroll accountant or the payroll program. The program compiles the submission and sends it via the data interface or data box. For example, POHODA has its own agenda for pre-registration and sends the submission to VREP or to the ČSSZ data box [6]. If you do not run payroll in a program, you can fill in the form manually on the ČSSZ ePortal [3].

So the bottleneck is usually not the sending itself. It is the path of the data from the person who hired someone to the person who files. The shift leader knows three temporary workers start on Monday. The accountant finds out from the attendance records. From July 2026, that is too late.

From January 1, 2027, MPSV is adjusting some of the data employers report in the unified report. Payroll software vendors have the final technical documentation, so check that you have the update [8]. As of November 6, 2026, we did not find any change to the registration deadlines in Section 19 [2].

What happens if you miss the registration?

The JMHZ Act sets fines for breaching the obligations [2]:

Offense	Fine up to
You do not register the employee on time or provide incorrect data	CZK 100,000
You do not add the remaining data within 8 days, do not report a non-start or a change of data	CZK 20,000
You do not deregister the employee on time	CZK 50,000

If you do not fulfill the obligation even when called upon, ČSSZ registers or deregisters the employee or makes the change ex officio [2].

How to set up onboarding so the accountant has the data on time

The obligation is the same for a company with one new hire a year and for an operation with dozens of temporary workers per season. What differs is how much manual work it costs. This process works with a spreadsheet as well as with automation:

1. One start record. Name, contract type, planned start date and hour, citizenship. Created by whoever hired the person, right after the agreement.
2. Personal questionnaire before the start. An online form instead of paper. Do not send the birth number and account number by e-mail. They belong directly in the payroll system.
3. A fixed deadline for the accountant. We recommend having complete data at the latest 2 working days before the start. The law does not require it, but you have a buffer to correct a faulty submission.
4. Watching the D−8 window. ČSSZ rejects a submission filed earlier than 8 days before the start [3]. So the reminder should come when the window opens, not earlier.
5. Watch out for morning shifts and Mondays. The deadline ends at the moment of the start, not at the end of the day [2]. A temporary worker starting on Monday at 6:00 must be registered in advance. The safest option is to file the registration on the last working day before the start.
6. No-show? Record it right away. The start record should trigger a reminder that the pre-registration or registration must be terminated within 8 days [3].
7. Check on D+8. Is the full REGZEC registration done? Has the start been reported to the health insurance company [1][7]?
8. Protocol attached to the record. For an accepted submission, ČSSZ returns a protocol with the status Accepted (Přijato) [3]. Save it with the start record. During an inspection, you can trace when the registration was sent.

What automation does and does not do. Automation collects data, watches deadlines and passes data to the payroll program. The submission itself stays in the payroll program or on the ePortal and is confirmed by a person. How deep the integration goes depends on the program. ABRA Flexi can create a person and an employment relationship via its REST API [9]. In POHODA, employees cannot be created via XML import, so the data are prepared for entry [10].

This is not legal advice. For a specific case, consult your payroll accountant, a tax advisor or ČSSZ directly.

How we do it

We enter a temporary worker’s data once, into an intake form from which their contract is also generated. The same data can just as well be used to prepare the ČSSZ registration before the person starts.

Sources

1. ČSSZ – Evidence zaměstnanců: deadlines from July 1, 2026, partial registration data, the rest within 8 days, foreigners fully in advance, non-start, changes and deregistration within 8 days, channels (data box 5ffu6xk, ePortal, APEP/VREP), 2026 transition period, employer’s variable symbol sent by letter after registration. https://www.cssz.gov.cz/web/cz/evidence-zamestnancu-prihlaseni-zmena-odhlaseni-
2. Act No. 323/2025 Coll., on JMHZ, version November 1 – December 31, 2026: Section 3(1)(d) and (e), Section 8(1), Section 19(1)–(8), Section 28(1)(j)–(n) and (2) (fines), Section 40 (Section 19(1)–(4) effective from July 1, 2026). The future version from January 1, 2027 (version 5) states Section 19 with the same deadlines. https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2025-323
3. MPSV – PREZEC Předregistrace zaměstnance 1.4 (PDF, June 9, 2026): Czech citizens only, 8-calendar-day window, 8 data items without OIČ and employment ID, REGZEC within 8 days, termination on non-start, no corrections or cancellation, no filing at the district office, up to 1,500 records, ePortal, Accepted protocol. https://developers.mpsv.cz/assets/documents/8066bfc6-a8d1-4cd8-9f9c-b78848e5fbe1/PREZEC_P%C5%99edregistrace_1.4.pdf
4. ČSSZ – Registrace zaměstnavatele při zaměstnávání pracovníků na DPP (July 23, 2024): from July 1, 2024 reporting of income from insured and uninsured DPPs. https://www.cssz.gov.cz/-/registrace-zamestnavatele-u-cssz-pri-zamestnavani-pracovniku-na-dohodu-o-provedeni-prace
5. ČSSZ – Upozornění na změny ohlašovacích povinností od 1. 4. 2026 (March 23, 2026): REGZEC replaces the previous form, electronic submission only. https://www.cssz.gov.cz/-/upozorneni-na-zmeny-pri-plneni-ohlasovacich-a-oznamovacich-povinnosti-zamestnavatelu-tykajicich-se-jejich-zamestnancu-a-zamestnavatele-od-1-4-2026-v-s
6. Portál POHODA – JMHZ: Předregistrace zaměstnance (July 1, 2026): Employee pre-registration agenda, sending to VREP or the ČSSZ data box. https://portal.pohoda.cz/dane-ucetnictvi-mzdy/mzdy-a-prace/jmhz-predregistrace-zamestnance/
7. Act No. 48/1997 Coll., on Public Health Insurance: Section 10(1)(a) (start within 8 days, DPP and DPČ under Section 5(a) points 3 and 6 by the 20th day of the following month). https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/1997-48
8. MPSV – Změny jednotného hlášení pro rok 2027 jsou hotové (republished by DAUC, October 11, 2026): JMHZ changes from January 1, 2027, documentation for payroll system vendors. https://mpsv.gov.cz/zmeny-jednotneho-hlaseni-pro-rok-2027-jsou-hotove-mpsv-zverejnuje-finalni-podklady · https://www.dauc.cz/aktuality/2131/zmeny-jednotneho-hlaseni-pro-rok-2027-jsou-hotove-mpsv-zverejnuje-finalni-podklady
9. ABRA Flexi – Mzdy a personalistika přes REST API: import of osoba and pracovni-pomer. https://podpora.flexibee.eu/cs/articles/3422249-mzdy-a-personalistika-pres-rest-api
10. Stormware – POHODA XML, supported imports: HR and payroll are missing. https://www.stormware.cz/pohoda/xml/dokladyimport/

Hiring temporary workers for the season?

In a free 30-minute audit, we will go through how the news of a new start travels from the manager to the payroll accountant at your company, where data are retyped and where the registration risks missing the start of the shift. We will also tell you when a shared spreadsheet and a calendar reminder are enough. We handle starts, contracts and the handover of data to payroll as part of recruiting and onboarding automation. If it pays off to connect the payroll program, see how we connect POHODA and ABRA Flexi. And if you plan shifts for temporary workers, read what the Labor Code says about shift schedules.