How to hire a cleaner legally in Czechia

Cash-in-hand domestic help is not unusual in Czechia: in the EU's EIGE survey of 2024, 22.1 % of people in the country said they know someone who provides paid household services without declaring their full income. So how do you hire a cleaner legally in Czechia, what is the risk of keeping it “off the books”, and what changes with EET 2.0 from 1 January 2027? This overview is based on Czech law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice; for your situation, check with an accountant or a lawyer.

Your legal options: Company ID, company or agreement

There are three legal ways to hire a cleaner: a self-employed cleaner with a Company ID, a cleaning company, or employing her yourself under an agreement.

A cleaning trade licence (živnostenský list) needs only full legal capacity and a clean criminal record, because cleaning is a free trade; household cleaning falls under “services for families and households” (Poskytování služeb pro rodinu a domácnost). If someone cleans for you without a Company ID or an agreement, working to your instructions, the authorities may treat it as illegal work. For the pros and cons of companies, see Cleaning company vs independent cleaner.

What counts as illegal work, and the fines

Under the Czech Employment Act (zákon o zaměstnanosti), illegal work is work with the features of dependent employment done outside an employment relationship, or work by a foreigner without a permit or valid residence. Dependent work means subordination, acting in the employer's name, following instructions and working personally. The length of the work does not matter, so a single clean can count.

Section 139 refers to any individual, so on its wording it also covers households; we found no explicit statement from the Labour Inspectorate on this. Whether an arrangement is dependent work depends on the circumstances, so a Company ID alone is no complete safeguard if the cooperation in practice looks like a job.

Is my cleaning service legit? Check the Company ID in ARES

You can check a Company ID in a minute in ARES, the Czech Ministry of Finance's public register, which draws on the trade register and the VAT payer register.

1. Go to ares.gov.cz.
2. Search by Company ID (IČO), which is the most reliable way; searching by name also works.
3. Check that the name and registered address match the person or company you are dealing with.
4. In the trade register data, look at the business activity, the start date and whether the licence has ended or been suspended.
5. For foreign nationals, check how long the licence is valid; for people with temporary protection it is time-limited.
6. If you are being charged VAT, check that the business is listed as a VAT payer.

According to the ministry, ARES data is for information only, but it is enough for an everyday check. The trade register is also available at rzp.gov.cz.

EET 2.0 from 2027, and paying in cash

From 1 January 2027 the new Act on the Registration of Sales (Act No. 180/2026 Coll.) applies, and it covers self-employed cleaners too: cash, card or QR-code payments made in person will be registered sales. Cleaning services are not among the exemptions.

• What is registered: a “contact payment” from business activity, made in personal contact, in cash or cashless.
• What is not: a bank transfer against an invoice without personal contact is not registered, according to the Czech SME Union's reading.
• Exemption: flat-rate taxpayers in the first band (paušální režim) with prior-year income up to CZK 1 million can pay CZK 1,400 a month instead; for 2027 they must sign up by 11 January 2027.
• Receipts: the Act does not require one (účtenka), but consumer law lets you ask for a document.
• Fine for the business for failing to send sales data: up to CZK 500,000.

For you as a client nothing changes; registration is the cleaner's job. Paying in cash remains legal: the cash payment limit of CZK 270,000 per day is far above any normal clean. A bank transfer, however, doubles as proof of payment.

What to put in writing

A cleaning agreement with a self-employed cleaner or a company does not have to be in writing, and the price can even be an estimate, but an email is your evidence. An employment agreement (DPP, DPČ), on the other hand, must be in writing, and the cleaner gets one copy.

• Who: name, Company ID and address of the cleaner or company; your name and the address.
• What: tasks room by room, and what is not included.
• When: frequency, day and time, how visits are cancelled or moved.
• Price: hourly rate or flat fee, estimated hours, travel and products; whether VAT is included.
• Payment: when (after the clean), how (cash or transfer) and the receipt.
• Keys: who has them, how many copies and how they are returned.
• Damage: how it is reported, and whether she has liability insurance.
• Defects: reported without undue delay.
• Ending: how much notice either side gives.

If you agree with a business at a distance, for example by email, you have 14 days to withdraw as a consumer; that right ends once the cleaning is fully done at your express request and you were told so beforehand.

Liability for damage

A self-employed cleaner and a cleaning company are both liable for damage caused by breaching the contract (section 2913 of the Czech Civil Code); for a cleaner employed under an agreement, Labour Code rules apply.

• A self-employed cleaner is liable herself with no statutory cap; only a court can reduce the compensation (s. 2953).
• A company is liable for damage caused by its employees as if it had caused it itself (s. 2914).
• A cleaner under an agreement: your household is the employer, and on our reading the Labour Code cap applies: for negligence, at most 4.5 times her average monthly earnings (s. 257), but not for intent, drunkenness or substance abuse.
• Contract clauses excluding liability for intent or gross negligence are disregarded (s. 2898).
• Liability insurance is not compulsory for cleaning; ask about it.

On HledámÚklid, every profile in the cleaner directory shows whether the cleaner is a registered business with a Company ID or a private individual. Your agreement and payment are directly with the cleaner, with no commission. For other checks, see How to choose a reliable cleaner in Prague.