The cabinet approved changes to the Labour Code after a lengthy discussion at its regular policy meeting on Wednesday, April 27. Ministers changed only one provision in the original proposal, taking out a paragraph concerning minimum salaries. The amendment will be further discussed in parliament, with many lawmakers indicating they will try to insert additional changes to the bill.
The amendment brings a change in probationary periods, with these remaining at three months for ordinary employees, but increasing to up to six months for managers. Another new feature – although not supported by all members of the government-employer-union tripartite – will be the option of prolonging probationary periods by a further three months following a collective agreement.
The new wording of the Labour Code allows contracts to be extended for a set period up to three times over three years, removing exceptions that were in place for teachers, care workers, and science and research staff. The provision won't apply to substitutes for core employees on parental leave, or for employees who leave their jobs for a post in a trade union or an executive post.
New rules for holiday entitlement will also come into force. Employees will automatically become entitled to 25 days of holiday per year upon reaching the age of 33. Moreover, employees who have been with their company for one year will be entitled to a notice period of one month. If they have been with the company for five years, the notice period will be two months. Other notice periods will be: for more than five years' work, three months; for 10-20 years; four months; and for 20 years and more, the maximum notice period of five months.
The amendment will scrap parallel severance payments and notice periods. Employees will be able to choose the proportion to which they use each option.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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