A DRAFT amendment to the law on public service, submitted to parliament by the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) MP Edit Bauerová, aims to introduce an explicit ban on discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation.
A similar proposal was rejected during the passage of the country's Labour Code because of the refusal of the ruling coalition's conservative Christian Democrats (KDH).
KDH insists that the existing Slovak legislation includes sufficient safeguards to prevent discrimination on all grounds.
The European Commission recommended the ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Anti-discrimination legislation proves to be one of the most problematic issues inside the ruling coalition. Pál Csáky, deputy PM for human rights, also an SMK member, wants parliament to pass a single anti-discrimination law that would apply to all citizens, not just to state employees.
KDH maintains that rather than approving a single law, specific legislation that is found to be missing from the ban on discrimination should be amended individually. That, however, would require dozens of amendments, according to some observers.
It is believed that KDH's reluctance to approve a single anti-discrimination law is fuelled by its opposition to granting equal rights to homosexuals.
