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New rules of aptitude tests

News, Data protection, Employment, labour law / / , , ,

Partial abolition of the employer’s obligation to provide an aptitude test

The subject of much debate and uncertainty in recent months has been the abolition of the compulsory assessment of employees’ fitness for work by employers. The officially communicated legislative aim of the phase-out is (also) to reduce the administrative burden on companies. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide guidance to our clients on the changes and their associated responsibilities.

1.  The previous rules

Previously, the Labour Code and the Occupational Safety and Health Act generally stipulated that employers must provide an occupational fitness assessment free of charge for the employee before the start of the employment and at regular intervals during the employment. Unless the firm’s activity or the requirements of the job were subject to an exception rule, the general rule for the assessment of fitness for work was the NM Decree No. 33/1998 (VI.24.) (the “Decree“).

2. Legislative changes already in force and expected

In order to reduce the aforementioned corporate obligations, both the Labour Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act were amended with effect from 1 September 2024.

However, the new wording did not fully clarify the obligations of companies. According to the regulation, in general cases, i.e. not covered by a specific occupational requirement (e.g. military service), the test must be carried out if the employer decides to continue the practice in the absence of an obligation or if the law continues to require it.

In the latter case, the draft of the proposals for public consultation have been published in recent weeks, several of which will enter into force in the coming days which aim to clarify when testing is mandatory. Our understanding is that those firms will continue to be obliged to carry out aptitude tests who are operating in the sectors covered by the drafts (e.g. construction, commerce). However, even for firms falling under the sectoral classification, only those workers who, by virtue of their job, fall into the categories listed in the same drafts (e.g. workers exposed to increased risk of accidents, of noise, of manual handling of loads over 10 kg; or workers who also work night shifts). There is one case in which the determining factor will not be the sectoral classification and the job, because if the employee works at night on a regular basis or for at least a quarter of his or her annual working time, he or she falls within the mandatory scope of the test, irrespective of the employer’s sectoral classification.

3. Proposal

Based on the above, it would make sense to recommend that companies should first check whether they fall within a sector covered by the drafts, and then, as a second step, assess the jobs covered by the obligation and organize the aptitude test for these employees.

However, the Occupational Health and Safety Act continues to provide as a general rule that the company is responsible for ensuring that the health of the worker is not adversely affected by his or her employment. This obligation can only be fulfilled with a high degree of certainty if the company assesses the potential risks to the employee on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the specific nature of the job. In the light of this, we recommend that companies should, as far as possible, maintain the aptitude test for all employees in accordance with the Decree until the detailed rules (including regulations related to the implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act) are known in their final form.

It is worth noting that the change has not only an employment law but also a data protection dimension, as the test regime is now in many cases based on the company’s decision, which requires additional data processing documentation.

Welcome two new lawyers to the CLVPartners© team!

News, team / / , , ,

CLVPartners© Law Firm is pleased to announce two new talented professional team members, Eszter Bohati and Anikó Hrebenku who have recently joined our team.

Eszter has more than 10 years of experience in the legal profession, 8 of which she spent in international law firms, advising on labor law, immigration, and data protection issues. She assists the law firm’s Clients in solving their everyday legal problems in  English and Hungarian and draws on her previous experience to provide personalized, high-quality solutions.

Anikó graduated from Eötvös Loránd University in 2017 and successfully admitted to the Budapest Bar Association in 2021. She gained remarkable experience at several law firms through the years in civil and labor law. She mainly supports our Clients in employment law, company law, and data protection issues in English, German, and Hungarian.

Please join us in welcoming Eszter and Anikó to our team. We are convinced that with their diverse backgrounds and exceptional skills, their arrival will further enhance our firm’s capabilities and performance to deliver excellent services to our Clients.

Our law firm retains Top-Tier Firm Rankings in The Legal 500 EMEA 2024 Edition

News, Ranking / / , ,

We are delighted to announce that we have again been ranked as a top-tier firm in The Legal 500 EMEA 2024 edition. Our services have been ranked in Employment and Commercial, Corporate and M&A practice areas. The reviewers appreciated among others our multinational clientele in various sectors, a key area of strengths in assisting our clients with digital transformations, and our extensive expertise in cross-border transactions.

The Legal 500 EMEA guide provides researched coverage of over 80 countries and over 2,700 ranked law firms. Researchers are free to make ranking decisions on merit alone. Ranking is conducted annually, providing a detailed qualitative assessment of various factors including work conducted by law firms over the past 12 months and historically; experience and depth of teams; specialisms and ancillary services; and, importantly, opinions of law firms” clients,

It is a special honour to be part of this publication and we are thankful to our clients who provided these excellent feedback on our performance.

We are happy to share some of the Testimonial given by our Clients to Legal 500 EMEA team:

“The team is proactive, quick to respond and eager to find a business-satisfactory solution to all problems.”

„I have received the answer to our queries quickly and professionally, the problems were reviewed from a wide perspective and always a bigger picture was taken into account to find a satisfactory solution to the query or challenge.”

„Our direct contacts are Anna Katalin Papp and Barbara Seregély. They are always available for us, we can always count on their cooperative work, they are professionally well prepared. If there are some changes in the legislation, they always draw our attention to them.”

„Working for many years with CLV, we met young and experienced colleagues, and all gave their full expertise in their fast replies. CLV is capable of working on an international level in relation to multinational tasks, which is important for us.”

„They all speak a high level of English and are well prepared. In terms of timing of meetings, we always received flexibility according to our needs. In case of very specific questions, they have experts to provide the adequate explanation.”

„The relationship is really good, and open minded. The advisor is ready to think out of the box, and not tied strictly to the question, if they can help with their advice.”

CLVPartners has been recognized again in Chambers Europe Legal Guide 2024

News, Employment, labour law, Ranking / / , , ,

We proudly and gladly announce that CLVPartners Law Firm has been recognized again by Chambers  and Partners in their 2024 rankings! This is a prestigious recognition of our team’s hard work, dedication, and expertise. Being ranked by Chambers and Partners is a true honor, and we are grateful for our clients’ trust and support, which motivates us to continue delivering our services with the highest standards of professionalism.

We are also delighted to share the assessment of CLVPartner’s legal service and the feedback of our valued clients what they told to Chambers and Partners for ranking purposes:

“CLV is excellent at handling complex and sophisticated cases, providing us with comprehensive advice covering all aspects that are relevant to us.”

 “The firm was prepared with knowledge, giving practical solutions on legal questions and unclear situations.”

 “CLV’s strongest trait is that they understand and assess cases from a practical perspective.”

 Marianna Csabai, our Senior Partner is also ranked as notable practitioner.

From 1 January 2024, certain labor legislation was amended and new provisions will be introduced.

News / / , ,

The most important changes are described below.

1. Legislative changes in the field of labor law

1.1    Introduction of the employment certificate

The employer shall issue a certificate of employment upon termination of employment, except in the case of occasional work relationship. The amendment ensures that employees do not receive several different documents when their employment relationship is terminated, but only one single document containing all the necessary information, either in electronic form or on paper.

The certificate of employment will be issued in electronic form, the content of which will be laid down in a decree by the Minister responsible for employment policy. The employment certificate will be made available on paper at the request of the employee.

The employer issues the certificate of employment to the employee within five working days of the last day of work in the case of termination, or within five working days of the termination of employment in other cases.

The content of the certificate of employment is supplemented

1.2   Retention obligation

An important new rule is that from January, not only employment documents containing information on earnings and income related to the insured or former insured person’s insurance status, but also all such data and employment certificates must be kept for five years after the insured or former insured person reaches the retirement age.

However, the obligation for employers to keep records will be phased out from 1 January 2025, so that the obligation will only apply to records generated up to 31 December 2024. In future, the data needed to establish the pension benefits will be contained in the public registers.

1.3   Allocation of vacation time

According to the Labour Code, the employer shall grant the additional child leave at the time requested by the employee too. The employee must notify the employer of his/her request for such leave and regarding the parental leave at least fifteen days before the start of the leave.

1.4   Rules on working in front of a screen

Employers are still obliged to ensure that continuous screen time is interrupted by breaks of at least ten minutes per hour, but the amendment removes the limit of 6 hours of screen time per day and the 75% limit on daily working time.

1.5   Suitability for the job

As of 1 September 2024, there will be no general obligation for workers to undergo an occupational health examination. Legislation may specify the types of work for which the employee’s suitability shall be examined before taking up work and on a regular basis during the life of the employment relationship, and employers may also order it.

The mandatory cases will be defined by ministerial decree.

2. Legislative changes in the field of labour safety

2.1    Rules on professional qualifications

As a result of the changes the relevant act, it is now possible to perform certain occupational health tasks defined in the legislation with a professional, but non-medical qualification.

2.2   Occupational safety education

The employer must provide the employee with health and safety training when starting work, when the workplace or job changes and when the requirements for safe and healthy working conditions change.

As of 1 February 2024, the legislation allows employers to provide the training for activities, jobs and positions defined in the decree of the Minister responsible for employment policy by providing the employee with the general training topics.

The handover can also be done by publishing the educational content on an internal electronic network accessible to the employee.

2.3    Rules on accidents at work

The employer must also investigate the circumstances of the accident at work that does not result in disability for work and must determine the method and documentation. There is a new protocol template to be fulfilled in those cases.

2.4   Workplace EHS representative

The novelty is that the legislation sets a deadline for the election of the labour representative. If the employer is obliged to elect an EHS representative, the election must be held within six months of the date on which the obligation arises. In an employer where there is an elected EHS representative, the election thereof must be held within three months after the expiry of the mandate of the safety representative.

The draft Hungarian legislation transposing the Whistleblowing Directive has been adopted

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On the last day of February, the Government submitted a new draft law transposing Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report violations of EU law, i.e. the “Whistleblowing” Directive (the “Directive”) into domestic law. The aim of the legislation is to allow employees and contractors in companies with 50 or more employees to report abuses and breaches of law in the company without fear of retaliation and to ensure that these reports are investigated by companies according to a pre-defined procedure.

If passed by Parliament, the Bill will enter into force 60 days after its publication, so there is likely to be a short timeframe for compliance to be developed.

Satellite workplace and employees

News, Employment, labour law / / , , , , ,

The term ‘satellite workplace’ or ‘satellite employee’ is becoming increasingly common. In this article, we present these concepts from a labour law perspective.

What is a satellite office and who is a satellite employee?

A satellite workplace is when an employer employs employees living in a geographical location other than the registered seat of the employer in a way that these employees work partly from home and partly from offices run by the employer in a location separate from its main seat, such as rented premises, co-offices, branch offices, in short satellite workplaces. Employees employed in such arrangements are called satellite employees, who, although they belong to the organisational unit of the employer’s headquarters in terms of the employer’s organisational structure, may be physically present in another organisational unit of the employer during the course of their work.

What benefits can we expect?

There are many advantages to running a satellite workplace. For example, when recruiting new employees, the distance between the employee’s home and the employer’s seat may not be a primary consideration.  The model can be used to provide a wider range of employment opportunities for candidates living in locations other than the employer’s headquarter. This allows a larger pool of employees to be selected for the most suitable position, which is a competitive advantage, especially in jobs which are difficult to fulfil.

The employment structure avoids the negative effects of teleworking, such as professional isolation and blurring of the boundaries between work and private life.

Satellite working can also be a solution in temporary situations, when a company wants to expand into a new market or location, or when a project requires certain colleagues to work temporarily in a place differing from the company’s main address.

The perception of satellite employees from a labour law perspective

From a labour law point of view, satellite employees are teleworkers, given that they work at a location separate from the employer’s seat. Teleworking takes place irrespective of whether they work in an office run by the company or provided otherwise.

Under Hungarian law, the teleworking agreement must be included in the employment contract. The employment protection requirements vary depending on whether the work related to a particular job is performed with or without the use of a computing device.

Opportunities for implementation

There are several opportunities for creating satellite workplaces. The company can provide working conditions in its own or in a longer-term leased office space for exclusive use or it can arrange office services with community office providers. The number of satellite employees, the amount of costs that can be absorbed and the planned duration of the whole structure may be factors in choosing the most advantageous option.

Cross-border satellite work

The satellite work model can be envisaged not only within a country but also across borders. There are no barriers to cross-border employment, but there are a number of considerations to be taken into account, including:

  • employment protection rules,
  • tax considerations (tasks involved in setting up an establishment),
  • rate of pay, currency of payment,
  • comparison of costs and savings to be made,
  • equal treatment,
  • business confidentiality and data management, data security requirements.

In summary

Working in a location other than the employer’s seat can address a number of challenges that are increasingly important today, such as the need for companies to choose colleagues from a larger labour market. However, to avoid potential tax and labour law risks and unnecessary costs, it is essential that entities take their decisions with all aspects of satellite employment in mind and carefully consider them.

Information on the changes to the Labour Code in 2023

Employment, labour law, News / / , , ,

Dear Clients,

On 21 December 2022, Act LXXIV of 2022 amending certain employment-related laws was published, which includes, among other things, the amendment of Act I of 2012 on the Hungarian Labour Code (“Labour Code“) effective as of 1 January 2023.

The comprehensive revision is mainly due to the correct transposition of two EU directives, but a number of other provisions changes as well. Among the large number of changes, we briefly highlight the most important new rules.

1.              Changes to employment documentation

1.1.         Changes to the mandatory content of employment contracts

The following will no longer be a mandatory element of the employment contract:

  •        place of work,
  •        starting date of employment, and
  •        duration of employment.

Unless otherwise provided, these are governed by the Labour Code, but if the parties wish to derogate from the main rule of law, they may do so by agreement.

According to the law,

  •        the working time starts on the day following the execution of the employment contract,
  •        the working time is indefinite,
  •        the place of work is the usual place of work for the position.

Another new novelty is that, as a main rule, wages shall be paid by bank transfer, and parties can only derogate from this main rule by mutual agreement.

In the case of fixed-term employment, if the duration is maximum 12 months, the probationary period shall be pro-rated, and after termination, no probationary period may be imposed for a second employment in the same or similar position. Employers should therefore review the standard contracts they use to ensure that they contain the right content for the future.

1.2.       The employer’s notification obligation

The notification obligation of the employer has been tightened: instead of the current 15-day deadline, the employer shall provide the necessary information in writing within 7 days from the starting date of the employment relationship, and in case of change, on the date of change.

In addition, employers will in future be obliged to provide information on their training policy and the name of the authority to which they pay employment-related taxes, currently the Hungarian Tax Authority.

1.3.       Notification before secondments abroad

The legislation states that for secondments of more than 15 days, employees shall be informed of the rules and conditions governing the remuneration applicable in the place of work, the reimbursement of travel, subsistence and accommodation expenses, and the availability of the unified national website (i.e. the OMMF) containing relevant information on the rights and obligations of the employer providing cross-border services and the employees posted.

1.4.       Certificates and declarations relating to new types of leave, exemptions

The amendment to the Labour Code contains a number of new rules regarding vacation, exemptions from work, prohibitions on dismissal, information requirements – as a result of which employers will need to assess the documentation to support entitlements – including parental leave, paternity leave, the duration of care for a relative, and the background documentation for termination without notice.

2.      Exemption from availability and work – extension of cases

The Labour Code already contains a list of cases in which the employee is exempted from his/her obligation to be available and work.

According to the amendment workers are exempted from these obligations if they are caring for a relative who needs care for serious health reasons or personal care for a person living in the same household as the worker, but for a maximum of 5 days. During the period of care, the employee is not entitled to give notice.

3.            Options for parents

3.1.       Paternity leave and parental leave

The amount of leave for fathers will be increased from next year, to a unified 10 working days. Fathers whose children are born or adopted between 2 August and 31 December 2022 will also be entitled to the amended paternity leave until the end of February 2023. For the first 5 working days of paternity leave absence fee, while the for the second 5 working days 40% of the same absence fee shall be paid .

Parental leave has been introduced, which by its very name is granted to both parents. It is granted for 44 working days up to the age of 3 of the child, provided that the employee has been employed for at least one year by the employer. The rules for taking parental leave are the same as those for paternity leave, except that it may be taken up until 30 June 2023. For the period of the parental leave 10% of the absence allowance shall be paid for the whole period.

Both leaves are granted at the employee’s request and the requested date may be postponed by the employer in exceptional cases. However, if it the leave not been granted by the date of termination, there is no cash payment, but the employee may roll over its entitlement.

It is also a common rule that during the period of leave under these entitlements, the employer shall not terminate the employment by dismissal.

3.2.      Possibility of amending employment contracts for parents with children

In addition to the current entitlement, a significant benefit is that an employee can apply until its child reaches 8 years for

  •        change of workplace,
  •        change to working hours,
  •        teleworking, or
  •        part-time employment.

The request shall be made in writing by the employee, stating the reasons, and the employer shall give written reasons for refusing the request within 15 days. The refusal of a request may be challenged in court, but the possibility of an extra-judicial hearing of these proceedings has been removed, so in practice it does not provide a real solution. However, employers are encouraged to keep transparent and accurate records of their labour needs in order to avoid disputes.

4.           Disputes

4.1.       Abuse of rights

The rules on employment law claims based on abuse of rights are amended. The new legislation sets out how the burden of proof is shared between the parties.

The burden is on the claimant (the employee) to prove the facts, circumstances and prejudice on which the claim is based, while the burden is on the decision maker (the employer) to prove that there is no causal link among the above. The significance of the change is that if the employee’s claim of abuse of rights is acknowledged by the court, the employee is entitled to request the restoration of his employment relationship by the court.

4.2.      Reasoning obligation

In exceptional cases, the employer is not obliged to give reasons for termination (e.g. in the case of termination during the probationary period). However, under the new rules, the employer is still obliged to give reasons, if the employee believes that the termination is due to one of the following reasons and requests the reasons for termination. The alleged reasons can be:

  •        working time allowance for care,
  •        paternity leave,
  •        parental leave,
  •        taking unpaid leave to care for a child, or
  •        the submission of applications under the previous point.

In the case of an employee’s request, the employer has 15 days to justify the termination. In practice, this means that the employer shall always be prepared to justify the reason for termination.

The above changes will typically come into force on 1 January 2023, applicable also to already existing employment relationships – although the legislator leaves a certain implementation period for businesses.

If you have any questions about the above, please contact us. Of course, we will also provide you with details of any further changes in the context of a personalised, partner-specific information session.

 

dr. Papp Anna Katalin –

dr. Csabai Marianna –

 

Wage Aid Provided For Reduced Working Hours Changed

Employment, labour law, Medium-sized companies, News, Start-ups / / , , , ,

On 29 April 2020, beneficial changes enter into effect in the aid provided for reduced working time employment.
The wage subsidy may be requested if the reduced working time reaches at least 25% and at most 85% of the previous working time, and no longer has to reach 4 hours a day.

The amount of the maximum wage subsidy depends partly on the lost working time and partly on twice the net minimum wage, therefore the maximum wage subsidy available increased to HUF 112,350 according to the decree, contrary to statements made in the media, according to which the maximum amount remains unchanged.

Further good news is that there will be less administration, an agreement on the incomprehensible individual development time is only mandatory if the reduced working hours exceed half of the previous working hours, and wage subsidies may now be granted for home office work, remote work, temporary agency work and during the working time frame.

Headcount maintenance and not ordering extraordinary working hours (overtime) will only apply to employees receiving the wage subsidy.

Unfortunately, the most uncertain circumstance has not been removed from the requirements, as employers still have to credibly prove the undefined ‘interest of national economy’ to retain employees.

Derogations in the application of Labour Code for the duration of state of emergency

Employment, labour law, Medium-sized companies, News, Start-ups / / , , ,

Effective as of today (19 March 2020) until 30 days after the end of state of emergency, the Labour Code shall be applied with derogations as a part of the economic measures announced yesterday. Please see our brief summary as follows:
1. Derogations to be applied unilaterally by the employer:

a) employer may also amend the announced work time schedule within 96 hours of the start of the daily working time; it is important to note that the rules of announcing annual paid leave/ vacation did not change and must be notified 15 days in advance;

b) employer may unilaterally order home office/ remote work for the employees;

c) the employer may implement the necessary and justified measures to check employees’ health status. The Government Decree does not specify the measures necessary and justified, therefore the employers must consider this for themselves, in compliance with the data protection legislation and the HDPA’s legal opinion, as the application of the GDPR has not been suspended for the duration of the state of emergency. It mainly relate to the mostly popular planned fever measure which may only be applied with the restrictions provided by the HDPA.

Collective agreement provisions deviating from the above may not be applied for the duration of the state of emergency, which also means that in any other question the Collective Agreement is applicable.

2. Derogations to be applied by the separate agreement of the parties:
The Government Decree fully extends the possibility of separate agreement between the employer and the employee, which may derogate from the provisions of the Labour Code. It may only be interpreted – although there is no express provision – that it allows the employers to agree with the employees on conditions that are detrimental to the employees – while earlier the Labour Code only allowed deviation in favour of the employees. In that way, thus allowing the establishment of specific and flexible rules for the duration of the state of emergency.

3. The right approach would be if before conclusion of the separate agreement with employees in matters are beyond the above cases and regulated in the Collective Bargains, the employers consult with the Trade Union and the Works’ council if the planned deviations will affect the bigger group of the employees.

The economic measures of the Government in relation to the coronavirus epidemic

On 18 March 2020 the prime minister has announced exceptional economic measures to reduce the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

According to these measures, in the following sectors the employers shall not pay contributions after their employees, and the contributions of their employees are also significantly reduced (they shall not pay pension contribution, and health insurance contribution is reduced to the minimum set by law) until 30 June 2020:

• tourism
• hospitality ( gastronomy, hotels etc.,)
• entertainment
• sport
• cultural services
• passenger transport

In the above sectors, lease agreements may not be terminated and the amount of rent cannot be raised during this period.

Taxi drivers under ‘small enterperneurs” tax payers are exempted from tax payment.

The tourism sector is also exempted from paying the tourism development contribution.

The Government Decree foresees further legislative changes. We are monitoring for further possible government measures continuously.

The purpose of the publications announced on our website is to provide a brief, concise information on certain issues. The content of this website and the publications is not exhaustive and does not constitute a legal advice. Should you have any specific questions or inquires regarding any issues investigated by our publications, please contact us and we will be happy to be at your disposal.