Social context of the new labour legislation in the Slovak Republic
Social context of the new labour legislation in the Slovak Republic

Summary/Abstract: The new labour legislation became effective in Slovakia in April 2002. The actual effects of certain of the new industrial legislation principles have been examined in this article. The drafters of the new legislation justified the amendments as aimed at the transposition of EU directives into the SR national system. A detailed analysis of the relevant EU directives shows, however, that such a claim is not always true. There are a growing number of examples of employers trying to bypass the Labour Code. They abolish jobs or lay-off workers, only then immediately to re-engage the same workers as sub-contractors for the provision of services under the Business Code. These workers are carrying out the same work, on the same premises. The difference is that they do it as individual entrepreneurs/licensed traders, not as employees. The employer buys their services and pays them for work delivered – but has none of the obligations to them which an employer would have if they were inhouse employees. The employer does not need to worry about assigning them work on a regular basis, as they are hired as needed, thereby losing the certainty of regular income. The Labour Inspectorate has yet to penalise this kind of employer behaviour.

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