Employment Conditions of Business in Slovakia

The development of European labour-law in recent years reflects the efforts of European Union bodies to substantially increase the flexibility of labour relations. Extensive economic competition at national and international levels necessarily requires a higher extent of flexibility in labour relations.

Cross-border movement of employees and services creates a very difficult environment for employers – entrepreneurs expanding to foreign markets, which also applies to foreign entrepreneurs expanding their business activities in the territory of the Slovak Republic. In this difficult process associated with international business and trade, the level and quality of labour-law relations in the «host» country of business in question is essential. This quality affects considerably the total production costs of the employer and, accordingly, also his competitiveness in European and global markets. The employer must accept the quality of working conditions of employees according to the national law of the state in which he pursuits business, a fortiori because the employees themselves contribute considerably to these supranational economic processes and they often affect the success of the entrepreneur that employs them.
The Slovak Republic has been, since 2004, a Member State of the European Union. It is an open economy, relying, to a great extent, on foreign investments. Many foreign companies operate in the territory of the Slovak Republic and employ a not insignificant part of the economically active population. It must be said that acceptance of minimum labour-law standards in using dependent work is not the same in case of all foreign companies. Many companies do not find it difficult to respect elementary labour-law rules in employing their employees. However, there are also companies that come from a highly cultivated legal environment of their home countries and they employ employees in a way that would not be possible in their own home countries. A part of foreign companies comes to Slovakia from countries with a totally different legal system in comparison to civil law and they find it difficult to come to terms with elementary labour-law rules for protection of employees. Research has shown various types of impermissible interferences with personal privacy of employees, often degrading their human dignity, non-observance of minimum rest periods necessary for recovery of employees, but also application of corporal punishments.
This book is addressed primarily to employers doing business in the territory of the Slovak Republic. It should, as a matter of precaution, protect them against significant mistakes in regard to using the labour potential of employees, which could cause them various sanctions. On the other hand, it specifies the scope of legal space within which they can move safely in employing their employees.