BRATISLAVA, March 8, (WEBNOVINY) — Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family Jozef Mihal said at the program conference of the Slovak Association of Small Enterprises on Monday that employees should no longer be entitled to concurrently claiming severance payments and a notice period. “If an employee receives a notice, he/she will be entitled to a notice period,” he explained. The length of a notice period should depend on the number of years spent with the company, in accordance with the proposed draft amendment to the Labor Code.
The notice period should be cut from the minimum two months to one month with employment lasting less than a year. The current two-month notice period will apply to employees employed for at least one year and less than five years. Employees who work for the employer for at least five and maximum of ten years will be entitled to at least a three-month notice period. Employees who work in a company for ten to twenty years will be eligible to at least a four-month notice period and if the period of employment exceeds twenty years, the notice period should last for at least five months. Based on the currently effective legislation, employees who stay with one employer for at least five years are entitled to a notice period of at least three months.
Mihal further elaborated that employers will be able to consider provision of a severance payment instead of a notice period. For example, an employee, who is entitled to a three-month notice period will only be offered a one-month notice period if there is no work for him/her in the company and a compensation amounting to two-month salary. Mihal said that if an employee and employer agree on termination of the work contract, the employee will be entitled to a severance payment. Severance payment will amount to one to five-month average wage depending on the duration of employment.
As of employees in managerial posts, the planned amendment to the Labor Code should allow employers to agree on a notice period of maximum of six months in an employment contract. Other employees will be entitled to a notice period lasting three months at most as it is today. Mihal added that changes to the legislation should also apply to temporary employment. He explained that it will be possible to arrange such employment for maximum of three years and prolong it no more than three times. Current legislation allows temporary employment for two years at most and its extension or repeated arrangement twice.
SITA