A new Labour Code will come into effect in the Slovak Republic on 1st January 2013. It was confirmed yesterday when President Ivan Gašparovič signed the amendment. The changes to the Labour Code, presented by the social-democratic Minister of Labour Ján Richter and replacing the Labour Code from September 2011, will focus mainly on work agreements, layoffs and overtime as well as trade unions.
Slovaks employed on work agreements will acquire more rights, such as the minimum hourly wage, time off for doctor visits or supplementary charges for overtime, thanks to the new Labour Code. Employers will have to pay the mandatory contributions for them, which have so far covered only employees.
Laid-off workers will be entitled to the concurrence of the notice period and severance pay again. While now they have to decide whether they want a notice period, a severance pay or a combination, from January they can get both the notice period and the severance pay concurrently under the condition of having been employed at a company for at least two years. Laid-off workers who have worked in a company for less than two years will be entitled only to the notice period. If released after 2-5 years, they will get a two months' severance pay, after 10-20 years they will get a three months' severance pay and after more than 20 years they will get a four months' severance pay. Companies will be required to pay the severance pay even if they agree on the release with an employee.
From January, employees will be able to work for a fixed period only for two years. Firms will be able to conclude contracts for a fixed period successively only twice. The existing possibility to conclude such contracts three times successively was canceled. The possibility of extending the trial period was canceled as well. The payment of overtime, when an employer and an employee do not agree on alternative days off, was reduced from the previous one year to four months.
Members of trade unions will get back paid time off thanks to the new Labour Code. In addition, unions will no longer have to prove that their members represent at least 30 percent of a company's employees. They will have a stronger voice in case of immediate dismissals.
For more detailed description of the changes see this article on SME.sk.
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