On October 4, 2022, the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved a bill amending Act No. 311/2001 Coll., the Labor Code, as amended, and amending certain other laws. The amendment introduces numerous and significant changes to the Labor Code, affecting various rights and obligations of employers regarding the establishment, modification, and termination of employment relationships. The changes will also affect the posting of employees, work performed under agreements outside of an employment relationship, and introduce a new institution of paternity leave. As part of supplementary proposals during the legislative process, an amendment was also proposed regarding the right of a trade union operating at an employer’s premises to approach an employee in an appropriate manner for the purpose of offering them membership. The originally intended effective date of the amendment (October 1, 2022) has been postponed, and the amended version of the Labor Code will take effect on November 1, 2022. In the second article, we will take a closer look at the other changes brought about by the amendment. We are also preparing a free webinar on the amendment to the Labor Code for November 30, 2022—you can find information about it at the end of the article.
Article contents:
- Severance pay and severance benefits
- Agreements on work performed outside of an employment relationship
Fixed-term employment
Generally, an employer and an employee may agree on a probationary period even in the case of a fixed-term employment contract. Typically, the probationary period may not exceed 3 months; however, particularly in the case of a fixed-term employment contract, the specified duration of the probationary period is not commensurate with the expected duration of the contract and the nature of the work. To ensure that the probationary period is proportionate to the duration of the fixed-term employment relationship, it is proposed to introduce a new provision regarding the probationary period, under which an employee with a fixed-term employment relationship may not be subject to a probationary period longer than half the agreed duration of the employment relationship; however, this does not affect the provision of Section 45(1) of the Labor Code.
In order to ensure a more secure form of employment, an employee with a fixed-term employment contract or a part-time employment contract, whose employment has lasted longer than six months and whose probationary period has expired, if agreed, request that the employer convert the employment relationship to an indefinite-term contract or to a fixed weekly working hours arrangement. The employer is required to provide the employee with a written, reasoned response within one month of the date the request was submitted. This obligation of the employer also applies to any subsequent request submitted by the employee no sooner than 12 months after the submission of the previous request. An employer who is a natural person and an employer who employs fewer than 50 employees are required to respond to an employee’s request for a transfer to another form of employment no later than three months from the date of receipt of the request; in the case of a repeat request, they may provide a response orally, provided that the rationale for the response has not changed.
Severance Pay and Retirement Benefits
In light of certain contentious issues in practical application, the legislature has decided to clarify the employee’s (or their survivors’) right to severance pay and retirement benefits.
If an employee dies before the expiration of the notice period or before the agreed date of termination of employment, for the purposes of severance pay, the date of the employee’s death is considered the date of termination of employment by notice or agreement. Similarly, if an employee dies, the date of death is considered the date of termination of the employment relationship for the purposes of entitlement to a retirement bonus.
Posting of an Employee
The new provision of Section 54b of the Labor Code regulates changes to working conditions and terms of employment due to posting for the performance of work in the provision of services within the territory of another Member State of the European Union. This involves the transfer of the legal provisions contained in the current Section 5 of the Labor Code, supplemented in accordance with the requirements arising from the European Directive.
If a domestic employee is to be posted by a domestic employer to perform work in the provision of services from the territory of the Slovak Republic to the territory of another Member State of the European Union, the domestic employer shall conclude a posting agreement with the domestic employee, in which the following shall be agreed upon in particular:
- the start and end dates of the posting,
- the type of work during the posting and a brief description thereof,
- the place of work during the posting,
- and the wage conditions during the posting.
In connection with the posting of employees, the amendment to the Labor Code introduces an obligation for the employer to provide the domestic employee, prior to the start of the posting, with written information containing at least the following details, if they are not included in the employment contract, the posting agreement, or the written information pursuant to Section 47a(1):
- information on the working conditions and terms of employment applicable during the posting pursuant to Section 5(13), to the extent of the information specified in Section 47a(1),
- information on reimbursement of travel expenses, accommodation expenses, and meal allowances, or other expense reimbursements related to the posting,
- information pursuant to Section 44a(2),
- a link to the official website published by the European Union member state to whose territory the domestic employee is posted, which contains information on the working conditions and terms of employment applicable to employees posted to its territory
In the case of a posting, information must be provided only to the extent that there is a change from the information the employee received under Slovak law, i.e., pursuant to the provisions of Section 47a.
If the duration of the posting in an individual case does not exceed four consecutive weeks, the employer is not required to inform the employee in writing of the information specified in subparagraphs (b) through (d).
Agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship
If the average weekly working time exceeds three hours over a period of four consecutive weeks, the following provisions also apply mutatis mutandis to the employment relationship based on agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship:
- § 43(1)(b) = the employer’s obligation to agree with the employee in the employment contract on the place of work (municipality, part of a municipality, or another specified location) or places of work, if there are multiple, or the rule that the place of work is determined by the employee
- § 44a(2) to (5) = the employer’s obligations related to the performance of work outside the territory of the Slovak Republic
- § 47a(1)(a) and (d) and (2) to (5) = information on working conditions and terms of employment
- § 54b(2) to (5) = information obligations related to the posting of employees
One of the fundamental objectives of the European Directive is to increase transparency and predictability in labor relations where the organization of work is entirely or predominantly unpredictable. In the Slovak legal system, such relationships are precisely those based on agreements for work performed outside of an employment relationship. For this reason, the legislator proposes introducing a new provision, §223a, regulating the rules for minimum predictability of work.
If, when scheduling work, the employer relies on the provision of Section 90(4), pursuant to which the start and end of working hours and the schedule of work shifts are determined by the employer in agreement with employee representatives and announced in writing at the employer’s premises, which is accessible to the employee, and paragraph 9, which regulates the employer’s obligation to notify the employee of the work schedule at least one week in advance and with effect for at least one week, An employee performing work under an agreement on work performed outside an employment relationship receives relevant information regarding the work schedule. This also applies if the employer agrees with the employee that the employee schedules their own working hours.
If the employer fails to do so, they will now be required to provide the employee with written information regarding:
- the days and time periods during which the employer may require the employee to perform work,
- the notice period within which the employee must be informed of the work before it begins, which must not be less than 24 hours.
At the same time, the employee will not be required to perform work if the employer requests that work be performed on a day other than the one notified in writing.
New Right of Trade Unions
The committees of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, which discussed the proposed amendment to the Labor Code as part of their joint report, submitted a proposal to add a new provision (§ 230b) to the Labor Code, which would regulate the right of a trade union operating at an employer’s premises to approach an employee in an appropriate manner for the purpose of offering membership in the union. The manner of such solicitation should be subject to agreement with the employer; however, if no agreement is reached, the employer would be obligated to provide the employee with written information containing basic details about the trade union within the timeframes proposed to be defined directly in this provision. We consider the proposed provision and the definition of these timeframes to be relatively confusing and unclear, and their application in practice may cause interpretive problems.
It is also proposed to amend the trade union’s right to inform employees about its activities through new means of communication. In this case as well, if the trade union and the employer do not agree on how to exercise this right, the employer will be obligated to allow the trade union to publish notices regarding its activities in a location accessible to employees, with the option of reserving space in the employer’s electronic information system, provided employees have access to it.
The explanatory memorandum to the proposed amendment refers to the need to transpose EU Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU. The primary reason cited for this amendment is the need to ensure that trade unions can communicate with employees working from home.
Webinar - Amendment to the Labor Code and GDPR
This webinar will cover:
1/ The most significant changes to the Labor Code following the major amendment (2022-2023)
(changes to legal provisions regarding the establishment, modification, and termination of employment relationships; agreements on work performed outside of an employment relationship; new employer obligations; changes regarding the posting of employees; and the introduction of paternity leave).
2/ Labor-law relationships in the context of the GDPR
(HR processes in the processing of personal data, purposes and legal bases for processing personal data, issues regarding consent, and legal aspects of the control mechanism in the workplace).
At the end of the webinar, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers.
When: November 30, 2022, at 9:00 AM
Where: Online via the Webex platform
Speakers: Mgr. Andrea Domény (Hronček & Partners), Mgr. Anna Kopkášová (Hronček & Partners), Barbora Plavcová Gombárska (Top privacy)
Price: Free
The webinar is organized by Hronček & Partners, s. r. o. and Top privacy s.r.o.
Participation in the webinar is free and limited to a certain number of participants.
Register for the webinar to gain an overview of the Labor Code Amendment and the GDPR, and take advantage of the opportunity to have any of your questions in these areas answered.
You can register now using our form. Join the event on LinkedIn or Facebook and don’t miss any updates about the webinar. We look forward to seeing you there!
