What changes did the last year bring in legislation in Slovakia, and how did they affect business? The Slovak Spectator asked these lawyers about the new laws:
- Michal Kohn, Senior Associate at RUŽIČKA AND PARTNERS;
- Radovan Pala, Partner at TaylorWessing;
- Marián Lauko, Senior Associate at PETERKA & PARTNERS;
- Miriam Galandová (Partner) and Matej Kačaljak (Attorney) from PRK Partners;
- Dominika Šedá Associate at from Škubla & Partneri;
- Andrej Guba (Senior Associate) and Monika Kormošová (Associate) of SOUKENÍK – ŠTRPKA.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Which legislative changes in 2018 do you consider the most important and why?
Michal Kohn: The law on personal data protection, alongside the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), impacted many subjects: public institutions, big corporations, and small entrepreneurs. On one hand, the law requires the affected subjects assess or evaluate the relevant facts when processing personal data on their own. On the other hand, the interpretation is not always clear and in many cases there are different possible interpretations. It will take some time for the application, with the help of the European Data Protection Board, to deal with all ambiguities.
The amendment to the Labour Code obliged employers to pay higher surcharges to employees working on weekends, holidays and at night. With this measure, the state significantly interferes in employers’ expenditures. We need a longer time to assess the impact and adequacy of this interference.
