Pursuant to Section 5(3) of Law No 311/2001 Coll, the Labour Code, as amended (‘the Labour Code’), employment relationships of workers posted in the framework of the provision of services by an employer making the posting from another Member State of the European Union to the territory of the Slovak Republic shall be governed by this Law, special regulations, or the relevant collective agreement, if the duration of the posting exceeded 12 months or if the employer making the posting notified the National Labour Inspectorate of an extension of this period before its expiry and the extended period exceeded 18 months; this does not apply to the initiation, establishment, termination and cessation of an employment relationship, the pursuit of other professional or trade activity or the restrictions on professional or trade activity after the end of the employment relationship.
IMPORTANT NOTE! Where a posted worker replaces another posted worker who has performed the same work assignment at the same place, the duration of the posting shall include the duration of the posting of the posted worker being replaced; the performance of the same work assignment at the same place shall be assessed by reference to the nature of the activities performed, the place where they are performed and the nature of the service rendered.
The employer making the posting is obliged to state this fact in the notification of posting to the National Labour Inspectorate pursuant to Section 4 of the Law on cross-border cooperation in the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services.
In these cases, the extent to which the Slovak labour law applies to the conditions of employment of a worker posted to the territory of the Slovak Republic is extended (compared with the hard core conditions in the case of a short-term posting, see Article: https://www.ip.gov.sk/vseobecne-informacie/) by the following provisions of the Labour Code in particular:
- Obstacles to work (Section 136 – Section 145)
- Employer’s social policy, including employee training (Section 151 – Section 176)
- Compensation for damages (Section 177 – Section 222)
The provisions of the Slovak labour law applicable to working conditions do not apply to the initiation, establishment, termination or cessation of an employment relationship, the pursuit of other professional or trade activity or the restrictions on professional or trade activity after the end of the employment relationship. These provisions are:
- Precontractual relations and employment contract (Section 41 – Section 56)
- Termination of employment (Section 59 – Section 80)
- Section 83 Pursuit of other professional or trade activity and restrictions on professional or trade activity after termination of employment (Section 83 – Section 83a)
- Independent contractor agreements (agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship) (Section 223 – Section 228a)
IMPORTANT NOTE! However, it should not be forgotten that the above does not preclude the application of work conditions and terms of employment which are more favourable to the employee. Which conditions are more favourable shall be assessed separately for each employment claim.
The provisions of Section 5(3) of the Labour Code shall accordingly apply to the employment relations of employees during an intra-corporate transfer pursuant to a special regulation; however, it should be emphasised that the wage conditions of these employees must, during the intra-corporate transfer, be at least as favourable as those of a comparable employee of the employer to whom the employees are transferred as part of the intra-corporate transfer.
Below is a list of labour law standards applied during a long-term posting:
Law No 311/2001 Coll. Labour Code, as amended by later regulations
Law No 124/2006 Coll. on occupational health and safety and on amendments and supplements to certain acts as amended by later regulations
Law No 351/2015 Coll. on cross-border cooperation in the posting of workers for the performance of works in the provision of services and on the amendment of certain acts
Law No 283/2002 Coll. on travel allowances, as amended by later regulations
https://www.employment.gov.sk/en/labour-employment/labour-code/travel-allowances/
Measure of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic No 176/2019 Coll. on the amounts of meal allowances
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2019/176/20190701
Law No 663/2007 Coll. on the minimum wage as amended by later regulations
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2007/663/20210101
Notification of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic No 352/2021 Coll. on the amount of the minimum wage for 2022
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2021/352/20211007
Notification of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic No 353/2021 Coll. on the amount of the minimum wage entitlement for 2022
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2021/353/20211007
In the case of a long-term posting of third-country nationals (nationals of a country other than an EU Member State), the following labour law standards also apply:
5/2004 Coll. on employment services and amending certain laws
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2004/5/20210301
404/2011 Coll. on the residence of foreign nationals and amending certain acts
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2011/404/20210101