When expat employees get sick in Czechia, this platform can help them find care

As of 2025, at least 935,000 people living and working in Czechia are foreigners, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Many have figured out the tram system, learned to say prosím in twelve different situations, and navigated the bureaucracy of getting their residence permit sorted. 

But all that confidence can disappear when a child gets sick, a health specialist is needed, or no one knows which doctor to call. Who is your GP here? Do you even have one? Can you call someone who speaks English? And if you go to the wrong place, will your insurance cover it?

When support is missing, employees may delay care, take more time off to solve basic admin questions, or rely on colleagues and Human Resources teams for ad hoc help. A structured healthcare benefit can give them a clear first point of contact before the situation becomes urgent.

That was the inspiration behind uLékaře.cz, a Czech-based digital health platform that's been doing exactly this since 2007. For employers, it offers a way to turn healthcare support into a structured company benefit rather than an informal HR task. The added support for English speakers offers a clearer route through the Czech healthcare system for employees who may not know where to start.

“Czech healthcare is genuinely good,” states Martin Pospíšil, CEO of uLékaře.cz, “but it's also structured in a way that assumes you grew up knowing how it works: that you register with a GP first, that specialists require referrals, that preventive checkups happen on a schedule, and that you know which ones are covered.”

“None of this is obvious if you arrived from abroad,” Pospíšil emphasizes.

Companies that work with international teams are increasingly thinking about ways they can enhance the onboarding process, beyond telling them where the office kitchen is.

For HR teams, this is not just a personal inconvenience, because how someone actually navigates their health here makes a difference. International employees often need help understanding the difference between a GP, specialist, emergency room, and preventive checkup. They may also be arranging care for partners or children, which makes healthcare access part of the wider relocation experience.

uLékaře.cz connects employees to a network of over 350 doctors who are available 24/7. The platform is available in English, handles appointment booking in Czech on behalf of the user, and answers health questions online. The platform also tracks preventive care, so users don't fall through the cracks on checkups that their home country's system would have reminded them about automatically.

For example, an employee whose child develops a rash or fever would log on to uLékaře.cz first, instead of calling clinics across Prague. There, they can submit a question online, receive guidance from a GP or pediatrician, and, if an in-person visit is needed, have the platform help find and book the right doctor. It removes two of the biggest barriers at once: knowing what level of care is needed and getting through the booking process in Czech.

Family wellbeing often shapes whether an international hire feels settled in Czechia. uLékaře.cz works with nearly 300 employers across Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, including Česká spořitelna, ČEZ, Johnson & Johnson, IKEA and Komerční banka, actively supporting the wellbeing of over 150,000 employees and their families. 

The service is free for the employee's family members, and that extends to expats as well. Partners and children have access to the same care: the online consultation service, appointment booking, and preventive health tracking. According to Pospíšil, that's not standard among comparable services on the market.

It's an employer-provided service set up by the company, not the employee. The platform handles common pain points by providing information in English, at any hour, and without requiring employees to already know the system. The benefit for HR teams is a clearer, more reliable answer than sending people to search online or ask around internally. 

If you're an employee and this kind of service isn’t offered yet, it's worth inquiring with your HR department, as the setup is straightforward and there are no extra costs paid by employees.

If you're on the HR side and looking for a practical way to support your international colleagues, this is one concrete step that can be taken. Interested parties can get a non-binding complete business offer in English at partner@ulekare.cz or by calling +420 603 841 995.