Frequently asked questions

You can find the current Labour Code (Act No. 311/2001 Coll. on the Labour Code, as amended by later regulations) in various places. The most reliable and up-to-date source is the Portal of Legal Regulations of the Slovak Republic (Slov-Lex), operated by the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic. Additionally, you’ll often find it on the websites of commercial legal systems (e.g., epi.sk, zzin.sk), or you can purchase it in printed form as a professional publication.

We delve deeper into this answer in a specific article in our BLOG section.: Kde nájdem aktuálny Zákonník práce? (slovak version only)

Establishing a basic trade union organization is a process that requires meeting certain legal conditions. Generally, at least three employees can found one if they agree to its establishment, adopt its statutes, and elect its bodies. Subsequently, the trade union organization needs to be registered with the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic.

You’ll find detailed information and the exact procedure in Act No. 83/1990 Coll. on the Association of Citizens and on the websites of central trade union federations, which often provide methodological assistance with establishment.

You can find more on this answer in a dedicated article in our BLOG section: Ako založiť základnú odborovú organizáciu na Slovensku? (Slovak version only)

The Social Fund (SF) is a tool designed to secure and improve the social needs and conditions of employees. It’s created from mandatory employer contributions, most commonly at a rate of 0.6% of the wage volume.

Funds from the Social Fund can be used for various purposes, such as: contributions for meals, recreation, cultural and sports events, commuting to work, social assistance in case of need, contributions to supplementary pension savings, or employee training. The specific use of the fund’s resources is often determined by a collective agreement.

Membership in the association offers various benefits. Most of them are linked to the strength of the community itself, where members share their knowledge, experience, and resources.

You can find a summarized list of benefits in the MEMBERSHIP section.

We cover this answer in more detail in a specific blog post.: Aké výhody má členstvo v odborovom zväze? (slovak version only)

Details on how to become a member are available in the MEMBERSHIP section.

An employer has a wide range of obligations in the area of health and safety (HS), primarily defined in Act No. 124/2006 Coll. on Health and Safety. Key obligations include: ensuring a safe and healthy working environment, assessing and managing risks, providing personal protective equipment, arranging medical examinations, training employees, investigating work-related accidents, and maintaining relevant documentation. The goal is to prevent work-related accidents and occupational diseases.

The law defines a workplace injury as follows:

A workplace injury, according to § 195, section 2 of the Labour Code and Act No. 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the Social Insurance Act), is damage to health caused to an employee while performing work tasks, in direct connection with them, or while averting damage threatening the employer, independently of their will, by the short-term, sudden, and violent action of external influences. (Further details on the definition of a workplace injury are regulated by the Social Insurance Act.)

Workplace injuries are categorized as follows:

A. Fatal Workplace Injury

A fatal workplace injury is any workplace injury that causes death immediately or at any later time, if, according to medical assessment, death results from this workplace injury.

B. Serious Workplace Injury

A serious workplace injury is an injury that results in death, severe health impairment, or if the expected duration of treatment is more than 42 days. It’s recommended that for every workplace injury where the affected employee sought medical treatment, regardless of whether they are on sick leave (“have a sick note”) or not, they ask the doctor or healthcare facility to issue a written notification of the expected duration of treatment, specifically whether the treatment duration might exceed 42 days. The doctor or healthcare facility is obliged to issue such a notification. This prevents potential misunderstandings and ambiguities when reporting a workplace injury if complications arise in the treatment of the affected employee.

C. Registered Workplace Injury

A registered workplace injury is an injury that caused an employee’s incapacity for work lasting more than three days or the death of an employee.

D. Other Injury Than a Workplace Injury

An injury other than a workplace injury is an injury that occurred at the workplace or on the employer’s premises but is not recorded or registered as a workplace injury. In this type of injury, the definition of a workplace injury is not met, mainly the part “while performing work tasks or in direct connection with them.” For example, an employee finished their shift, logged their departure, then remembered they forgot something, like an umbrella, returned to the office, fell, and broke their arm.

E. Dangerous Event

A dangerous event is an event where an employee’s safety or health was endangered, but no harm to their health occurred.

The employee (even if they were only a witness to the event) is obliged to immediately notify the employer of the occurrence of the event. If their health condition allows, they must provide all necessary information about the event’s occurrence (especially a workplace injury) during its recording or subsequent registration (drawing up a record of the workplace injury).

The employer is obliged, upon notification of the event, to immediately take necessary measures to prevent further threats to life and health. The state of the workplace, in the case of a serious workplace injury, cannot be altered until the arrival of the relevant investigating authorities, except for taking necessary measures to protect life and health or to prevent significant economic damage. The employer is also obliged to keep records of workplace injuries, other injuries, and recognized occupational diseases and occupational disease hazards.

More details: https://www.epi.sk/cely/odborny-clanok/Pracovny-uraz-vo-firme.htm

Perhaps one of the most pressing and also most unpleasant situations in employment is when an (unexpected) termination of employment occurs. The chapter of the Labour Code dealing with this issue is, in my opinion, one of the most important, and one should always be “in the loop” and have the current conditions ingrained in memory to know one’s rights and the “cost of departure.” It goes without saying that you should never allow yourself to be manipulated or intimidated into immediately signing any “paper” concerning the termination of employment (whether by agreement or notice). Always take the proposal and study it, or consult with someone who understands the issue. For the employer, it’s naturally desirable for the employee to leave with the smallest possible “severance package,” which is in direct contradiction to the employee’s interest.

The table below shows at least the basic breakdown of notice periods and severance pay if termination is given by the employer under the most common conditions. You can also use this table as a guide if you were to agree to a “mutual agreement” (dohoda)… It’s important to know the “cost” of your departure.

If the employer terminated the employment relationship with the employee by notice (according to paragraph 63, section 1 of the Labour Code) for reasons:

A. the employer or a part of it is abolished or relocated, and the employee does not agree to the change of the agreed place of work

B. the employee is redundant,

C. the employee has, due to their health condition, permanently lost the ability to perform their current work,

The employee is entitled to severance pay in addition to the relevant notice period, the amount of which depends on the number of years worked for the given employer.

From the above, it follows that if you agree to sign an agreement on the termination of employment (which is very advantageous especially for the employer if they initiate the termination), make sure you receive at least the same amount of money as compensation as you would be entitled to if you received a standard notice. Under normal circumstances, you should receive even more.

The previous point directly leads to another topic – the protection period.

After the termination of employment, everyone is entitled to a 7-day protection period (unless the employment lasted shorter than 7 days, in which case the protection period equals the duration of the employment… for example, if the employment lasted 5 days, the protection period will also be 5 days).

The protection period means that a person whose sickness insurance has ceased can still claim sickness benefits for seven days (or eight months – applicable to a woman whose employment ceases during pregnancy) after its cessation. If all conditions for the benefit claim are met, the Social Insurance Agency will grant and pay it.

The protection period can also end sooner if new sickness insurance arises or if there is an entitlement to old-age pension, early old-age pension, or invalidity pension. This is because the commencement of new insurance terminates the duration of the protection period.

This issue is very common, and such violations of the Labour Code by employers are quite popular. It’s also prevalent among foreign employers and doesn’t spare various “shared services” centers.

Many times, it’s due to employer sloppiness and convenience. However, know that your “job description” is an inseparable part of your employment contract, making it “sacred writ.”

Without the employee’s consent, an employer can only order different work than what is in the employment contract if it’s for “averting an extraordinary event or the need to mitigate its immediate consequences.”

If the new duties are not agreed upon in your employment contract, you don’t have to perform such work. The company cannot order you to do it, and refusing such work cannot be considered a failure to fulfill your duties. Even a “magic phrase” like “according to the manager’s requirements and instructions” won’t help the employer.

If an employer gave termination letter to an employee and the employee went on sick leave (PN) during the notice period, and the sick leave lasts longer than the last day of the notice period, then the notice period is extended by the duration of the sick leave. If the sick leave ends before the notice period concludes, nothing changes. This is important if, for example, the extension means reaching a higher number of years worked, entitling you to higher severance pay.

If an employee has a fixed-term employment contract, the employment ends on that specific day, even if you are on sick leave.

Every employee can address common questions to their manager or directly to the Human Resources department.

If you don’t believe that employer representatives will attempt to resolve the situation, it’s advisable to contact employee representatives, provided they operate at your employer. These include an employee trustee, an employee council, or a basic trade union organization. If such representatives are not present at your workplace, you should consider whether the presence of one of the mentioned representatives would benefit the work environment you’re in.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.