When companies talk about ESG, the conversation usually starts with emissions and governance. The “S” — the social pillar — often gets reduced to diversity statistics and engagement scores. Yet one of the most concrete, measurable ways a company affects people’s lives is something HR teams manage every day: moving employees and their families across borders.
A relocation changes where someone lives, where their children go to school, whether their partner can work, and who they can call when something goes wrong. Done well, it is one of the strongest expressions of a people-first culture. Done poorly, it becomes a source of stress, isolation, and attrition — and a quiet social cost that rarely shows up in a sustainability report. This article looks at why employee and family wellbeing belongs inside your ESG strategy, and what that means in practice when the destination is the Czech Republic.
1. Relocation Is a Social Impact Decision, Not Just a Logistics Project
Mobility practitioners increasingly describe relocation as a deeply human process rather than a logistical one. Employees and their families face cultural disorientation, disrupted support networks, and emotional strain, and when these go unaddressed they can damage both personal wellbeing and the success of the assignment. Expectations are also rising: younger generations in particular expect employers to support their mental, emotional, and physical health, which makes wellbeing a strategic priority rather than a favour.
Framing relocation through the social pillar of ESG helps in three ways. It gives wellbeing programs a clear place in corporate strategy and budget conversations. It creates a shared language between HR, mobility, and sustainability teams. And it pushes companies to measure outcomes — settling-in speed, retention, family satisfaction — rather than only counting visas processed and boxes shipped.
2. The Regulatory Context: ESG Reporting Is Narrowing, Expectations Are Not
Many Czech employers are watching the EU’s sustainability reporting rules closely. The picture has changed significantly. Following the Omnibus I simplification package, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) now applies only to companies with more than 1,000 employees and net annual turnover above €450 million, compared with the previous thresholds of 250 employees and €50 million. According to a summary of the final text, the Council approved the package on 24 February 2026, it was published as Directive (EU) 2026/470, and Member States have until 19 March 2027 to transpose it, with the new scope applying from financial year 2027.
For the Czech Republic, this raises a practical question rather than a settled answer: how and when national law will implement these changes. The Czech Accounting Act previously covered only the first wave of reporting companies, and employers should follow the national transposition closely instead of assuming a single timeline. (Details should be confirmed with the Czech Ministry of Finance or a qualified advisor.)
What does not narrow is stakeholder interest. Companies that fall outside CSRD can still use the voluntary VSME standard for lighter-touch reporting, and investors, banks, and large corporate customers are likely to keep asking for ESG data in their supply chains. In other words, a smaller legal footprint does not remove the commercial and reputational case for showing that your people are being looked after — particularly during a move that disrupts their entire lives.
3. The Czech Reality: High Quality of Life, but Settling In Is Hard
The Czech Republic is a compelling destination: safe, well-connected, and economically attractive. The InterNations Expat Insider 2026 survey, which ranked Czechia 25th of 31 destinations overall, captures both sides of the experience:
- Quality of life is a strength. Czechia ranked 13th for quality of life and 5th for personal safety, with 63% of respondents giving the highest safety rating compared with 46% globally. Travel and transit ranked 6th, and 75% of respondents were satisfied with their work-life balance.
- Settling in is the challenge. Czechia ranked 27th for settling in. Only 31% of respondents consider locals friendly toward foreigners (versus 61% globally), and only 43% feel welcome (versus 64% worldwide).
- Social connection is difficult. 59% find it hard to make local friends, and 53% say most of their social circle is other expats.
- Language is a major barrier. Czechia ranked last among all destinations for ease of learning the local language, with 77% of respondents struggling with Czech and 62% naming the language barrier as a main concern before moving.
- Administration and language together are a weak spot. Czechia ranked second-to-last in the survey’s Expat Essentials Index.
- Pay perception is mixed. Only 48% of respondents feel fairly compensated, placing Czechia 30th for fair pay.
The takeaway for employers is clear: the day-to-day country experience is strong, but the human side of integration — belonging, friendships, language, and administration — is where relocating employees and families are most likely to struggle. That is precisely the area where an employer’s support can make the biggest social difference.
4. What the Wellbeing Data Says About Mobile Employees
The 2026 edition of the Cigna Healthcare International Health Study, which surveyed more than 11,000 respondents across 13 markets, offers a useful picture of globally mobile employees. They report higher overall vitality than the general population — but also significant stress and gaps in support:
- About 80% of globally mobile employees report stress, with personal finances (57%) and cost of living (56%) among the leading causes.
- Roughly half report loneliness or social exclusion, often worsened by homesickness.
- 73% wished they had received more pre-move support, and 76% faced at least one barrier to thriving abroad, such as language, culture shock, or administrative hurdles.
- Mental health affects daily activities for 60% of mobile employees, compared with 53% of the general population.
Those findings line up closely with the Czech picture above. Language and administrative hurdles, social isolation, and limited pre-move support are exactly the pressure points that the Expat Insider data highlights for Czechia. They are also highly addressable: the study’s recommended employer actions include buddy programs and expat clubs, clear communication on relocation stipends, community events within the first 90 days, accessible mental health support, and health benefits walkthroughs from day one.
5. The Family Dimension: Where Wellbeing Is Won or Lost
An employee’s wellbeing cannot be separated from their family’s. A partner who struggles to find a social circle or work, or children who have difficulty settling into a school, will shape whether the assignment succeeds. In the Czech context, a few practical realities are worth planning around:
- Public schools teach in Czech. Expat children can attend at no cost, and compulsory years are fully government-funded, but readiness for international students varies by school, so visiting before enrolling is advisable.
- International schools exist but space can be limited. Prague has around 25, most offering US, UK, or IB curricula, usually in English. They can be expensive, and applying early is recommended — it is also worth negotiating school fees as part of a relocation package.
- Bilingual and private options offer a middle path. Private schools follow the Czech national curriculum, and some offer bilingual instruction in Czech plus English or German, often at a lower cost than international schools.
- The Czech school system has its own structure. Preschool covers ages 2 to 6 (with the final year compulsory), elementary school runs from roughly ages 6 to 15, and secondary education follows — families coming from other systems benefit from clear guidance on how this maps to their children’s current level.
- Children with additional needs should be considered early. Mainstream schools are meant to support children with special needs, though implementation varies, so this belongs in the school search from the beginning rather than after enrolment.
Given that language was the single biggest concern for Czechia in the Expat Insider data, practical language support — Czech classes for adults, tutoring for children, and guidance on everyday administration — is among the most effective wellbeing investments an employer can make here.
6. Turning Wellbeing Into a Structured Program
The strongest mobility programs treat wellbeing as a continuous thread across the relocation lifecycle, rather than a single benefit offered at the start. A practical framework looks like this:
Before the move
- Include the whole family in the conversation from day one, not just the employee.
- Give clear, honest information about life in the Czech Republic — including the language and social-integration challenges, not only the highlights.
- Offer emotional-readiness support and clear communication on stipends, allowances, and financial planning.
In the first 90 days
- Provide hands-on help with address registration, health insurance, banking, and other administration — the area where newcomers feel most overwhelmed.
- Assign a buddy or local contact and connect the family with community groups, expat networks, and parent communities.
- Schedule regular, genuinely two-way check-ins, including with the accompanying partner.
Ongoing
- Make language learning accessible and ongoing, not a one-off course.
- Provide access to mental health and wellbeing resources that are practical to use, including in English.
- Support partner career and community integration, since isolation is one of the most common hidden risks.
At the end of an assignment
- Plan for repatriation or next steps early, including career reintegration and recognition of the employee’s contribution.
7. How to Measure Social Impact
If wellbeing is part of your ESG strategy, it needs to be measurable. Metrics that make sense for relocation programs include:
- Time to productivity and first-year retention for relocated employees, compared with local hires.
- Relocation satisfaction scores, gathered from both employees and accompanying family members.
- Share of employees who report feeling socially connected or welcome after 3, 6, and 12 months.
- Uptake of support services such as language classes, wellbeing resources, and settling-in services.
- Assignment completion and early-termination rates, with reasons recorded.
Reporting these indicators internally gives HR and sustainability teams evidence of social impact, and it supports the kind of stakeholder conversations that continue even when formal reporting obligations narrow.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Treating relocation as a pure cost-and-logistics exercise, with no connection to the company’s ESG or wellbeing commitments.
- Assuming the strong Czech quality of life will do the integration work on its own, when belonging, friendships, and language are the hardest parts for many newcomers.
- Offering wellbeing support to the employee only, while the partner and children manage the move without help.
- Providing a single orientation session instead of support across the first year.
- Waiting to start the school search until after arrival, when international school space can be limited.
- Tracking only operational metrics (visas, shipments, deadlines) without any measure of how people are actually doing.
- Basing ESG plans on outdated assumptions about CSRD scope, rather than monitoring the final EU rules and Czech transposition.
How Eres Relocation Helps
A relocation to the Czech Republic works best when practical support and human care go hand in hand. Eres Relocation works with HR and ESG teams to build people-first mobility programs: coordinated immigration and registration support, school search and family settling-in assistance, destination services that help employees and families build local connections, and structured follow-up through the critical first months. By treating wellbeing as part of how a move is delivered — not an optional extra — we help companies turn relocation into a genuine, measurable contribution to their social impact goals.
Want to make employee and family wellbeing a visible part of your relocation and ESG strategy? Contact Eres Relocation.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, immigration, tax, or relocation advice. Requirements, timelines, and costs vary by individual circumstances and change frequently. For guidance on your specific case, please contact the Eres Relocation team directly.
