Anyone who works with food is responsible for the health of the people who eat it. In the Czech Republic, what such a person must know is called the hygiene minimum (hygienické minimum). You will not find this term in the law. The law speaks of the knowledge needed to protect public health.
Where it is in the law
- The Public Health Protection Act (zákon č. 258/2000 Sb., o ochraně veřejného zdraví; "Sb." stands for Sbírka zákonů, the Collection of Laws). Its § 19 lists activities of epidemiological importance (epidemiologicky závažné činnosti). They include, for example, running food services and producing food and placing it on the market. These are activities in which infections spread easily.
- § 19(2): anyone who comes into direct contact with food in such an activity must have the knowledge needed to protect public health.
- Decree No. 490/2000 Sb. (vyhláška) sets out what that knowledge covers. For work with food it is health requirements, personal hygiene, hygienic cleaning and disinfection, safe storage and transport, foodborne infections and food poisoning, and hygiene in the particular trade.
- § 20: the worker must apply the knowledge and follow the principles of personal and operational hygiene. The worker must also undergo the medical examinations set by a regulation or by a decision of the public health authority, and tell the doctor what work they do.
- § 21: the operator must follow the principles of operational and personal hygiene and make sure that employees apply them.
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter XII: the food business operator makes sure that people working with food are supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene matters in line with their work.
Who checks the knowledge
The law does not prescribe an exam for everyone. It works differently. The public health authority, that is the regional public health authority (krajská hygienická stanice, KHS), may check the knowledge during state health supervision. If it finds that a worker does not have it, the worker may not carry out the activity until they pass an exam before a board set up by the authority. The authority must allow the exam within 15 calendar days of the request. Under Decree No. 490/2000 Sb. the exam is oral only and the board has three members. The chair of the board records the result in a written record (protokol).
What this course is and what it is not
- It is preparation for the hygiene minimum. You go through the material the Decree requires and try the test.
- After payment you receive a certificate of course completion with a number and a QR code.
- It is not an exam before a board of the public health authority and does not replace that exam.
- It is not an accredited or state-regulated qualification.
- Whether the training is enough for you is decided by your employer. The employer must also instruct you on hygiene in your workplace: its procedures, equipment and risks.
The health card no longer exists
In the past, workers in food services had to have a health card (zdravotní průkaz). From 1 July 2023 this duty was abolished by Act No. 167/2023 Sb. The law no longer requires it.
Fitness for work did not disappear, however. It is handled by occupational health services (pracovnělékařské služby) under the Specific Health Services Act (zákon č. 373/2011 Sb., o specifických zdravotních službách). The employer has a contract with a provider of occupational health services and arranges examinations according to the category the work is placed in. For work in category two or higher, an initial examination before the employment begins is compulsory. It is also compulsory when another regulation sets the health requirements for the work. For other category-one work the employer may require it. Your employer will tell you which category your work is in.
You must always report an illness. This does not depend on any card. You will learn more in the next lessons.
What to take away from this lesson
- The hygiene minimum is the knowledge that everyone who comes into direct contact with food at work must have.
- The law: 258/2000 Sb., §§ 19 to 21; the scope of the knowledge: Decree 490/2000 Sb.
- The KHS may check the knowledge. Anyone who does not have it takes an oral exam before a board.
- The employer provides instruction and training for its own workplace.
- The health card has been abolished. Fitness for work is handled by occupational health services.