The Czech Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jana Maláčová has personally visited a factory near Teplice. She also invited Matěj Stopnický, a member of a government coalition party to tag along during the visit. This visit took place as a part of the new Fair Work government initiative, which will mean a spree of surprise government inspections for employers around the country. According to Maláčová’s twitter account, some companies have started treating their employees as if the law did not exist after the second wave of the pandemic. The wave of inspections is supposed to remind business owners that the law still exists. However, some suggest that this visit along with the whole initiative is just an pre-election marketing stunt. Many have pointed out that inspectors already made sure that the rights of the workers are not infringed, without a ‘special’ initiative. Furthermore, the whole event has been heavily marketed in the media unlike other inspections. The fact that Matěj Stropnický, a seemingly unrelated politician, was invited also raised some eyebrows. Member of the European Parliament Tomáš Zdechovský called the event ”The most disgusting way to lead an election campaign.” It seems that as the elections approach, tensions will only get higher.
