The New World of Work in Slovakia

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures put in place in response in countries around the world – including Slovakia – have compelled employers and employees to adopt a new vision for work. Countless businesses have survived during the crisis by having employees conduct their work from home.

Now, twelve months after the pandemic began in Slovakia, home-office remote work has proven so effective, it is being considered for the post-pandemic future. But remote work raises a host of legal and administrative challenges. This article – based on the 1 December 2020 webinar The Future is Now: The New World of Work in Slovakia and hosted by employment lawyers Sona Hankova and Ivana Hovancova with CMS Slovakia – discusses how telework and home-office work impact the workplace and explores the challenges that these forms of employment pose for workers and companies, both now and in the years to come. This article also refers to amendments to the Slovakian Labour Code, which went into effect on 1 March 2021.

Remote working in Slovakia

Remote working may mean different things in jurisdictions around the world, but in Slovakia the Labour Code provides its legal definition for Telework and Work at Home, explains CMS partner and employment lawyer Sona Hankova.

According to the Labour Code, Telework and Work at Home enjoy a special status under the law. To be considered a Teleworker or Homeworker, an employee must reach an agreement with his employer on the terms and conditions of his work and these terms must be clearly defined in the employment contract. Furthermore, Teleworkers and Homeworkers must have an employment profile that allows regular work outside of the employer's premises (e.g. at their home or another agreed-upon location).

Despite the legal definitions separating Teleworkers and Homeworkers, CMS's Hankova states that a simple distinction separates these two concepts. "In fact," says Hankova, "the only difference is that Teleworkers use information technologies, which allow for electronic data transfer in their daily duties".

Occasional Home Office work has a different legal regime under the Slovakian Labour Code, which includes:

• Different from Teleworking and Work at Home, Home Office work provides no special status for employees.
• Like Teleworking and Homeworking, to engage in Home Office work an employee must have the consent of the employer, but these provisions do not have to be stated in the employment contract.
• The work performed outside of the employer's premises must be occasional (instead of regular in the case of Teleworking and Homeworking) or the result of "extraordinary circumstances", such as necessity to take care of a family member.
• When engaged Home Office working, the employee should adhere to the employer's general rules on daily work.

Teleworkers and Homeworkers

In terms of technology, Teleworking employees can use their own equipment or gear provided by the employer. Whatever the arrangement, these details should be stated clearly in the employment contract

Whatever agreements the Teleworker or Homeworker and his boss strike, the employer is responsible for the following:

• Ensuring that the Teleworking employee has the proper equipment and technology to get the job done unless it was agreed otherwise;
• Ensuring that a system is in place to protect the data being communicated and processed as part of the Teleworker's job;
• Making it clear to the Teleworker or Homeworker what he is allowed and not allowed to do with company technology, and if sanctions exist for violating company rules, the employee should be fully informed.
• Creating safeguards to make sure that a Teleworker's or Homeworker’s absence from the employer's worksite is not somehow prejudicial in terms of job advancement, training, and perks.
• Drafting policies to prevent Teleworker and Homeworker isolation, through requirements that occasionally allow these employees to meet with other workers and be active participants in the corporate culture.
• Understanding, that Teleworkers and Homeworkers must be given the freedom to construct their own work schedule around the goals and priorities established by the employer if the self-scheduling was explicitly agreed upon in the employment contract.

Occasional Home Office workers

Home Office employees enjoy a markedly different role, although this role has evolved with the times. "In the time before COVID," explains CMS's Hankova, "Home Office work was mainly seen as a benefit."

This, of course, changed with the onslaught of the pandemic, which made widespread implementation of Home Office work a necessity, but only for those employees able to conduct their daily tasks remotely.

According to the Labour Code, occasional Home Office work must have the following characteristics:

• Its scope is flexible and not specifically defined in the Code. As stated above, this working arrangement must be occasional or inspired by unique circumstances.
• Traditionally, both the employee and employer had to agree in order for the worker to conduct duties from a Home Office.
• But regulations passed in April 2020 by Slovakian lawmakers in response to COVID-19 altered this. Currently, an employee can work remotely if there are no serious operational reasons why this can't be done. Conversely, an employer – motivated by health and safety reasons – can order staff to work from home.

According to CMS's Hankova, this last point, which removes the requirement of mutual consent from the Home Office-office equation, is only temporary and will be discontinued once the pandemic is over.

Hankova admits that this may be a disappointment to some employers "who are interested in continuing the cost reductions of Home Office once the pandemic is over."

But there is a future for home-working models in the Slovakian workplace.

Future of remote working models

Slovakia amended its Labour Code in March 2021 with new rules on Telework and Work at Home that include in particular the following points:

• Telework and Work at Home can be organised in such a way that an employee spends part of his work time at the employer’s premises and part at any other agreed upon place.
• Teleworkers and Homeworkers must respect the working times scheduled by employers if their employment contracts do not allow them to self-schedule working time.
• The Teleworker and Homeworker can agree with the employer in the employment contract that the employee is free to schedule his own employment hours on certain working days per week.
• A company must reimburse any evidence-based increased costs the employee incurred when using his own equipment and utilities for performance of Telework or Work at Home if it was agreed in the employment contract or collective agreement.
• Like Teleworkers and Homeworkers, Home Office workers cannot be the targets of employer discrimination due to their absence from their employers' offices.
• Teleworkers, Homeworkers and occasional Home Office workers will enjoy the "right to disconnect": to shut off their work phone and ignore professional emails during off hours, weekends, holidays, etc.
• Teleworkers, Homeworkers and occasional Home Office workers must without undue delay inform their employers about any equipment or internet malfunction, and other reasons preventing them from the performance of their work.

But these changes cannot come without amendments being made to the employer's policies and culture. In order to accommodate "digital nomads" on staff, employers will need to amend company rules pertaining to:

• Working time, ensuring that employer's establish regulations on the minimum amount of time employees must be in the office each week, if applicable.
• The reimbursement of the costs incurred by Teleworkers and Homeworkers while performing their duties.
• The protection of data (according to Slovakian and EU laws) processed outside of the employer’s premises.
• Establishing a code for workplace safety outside of the employer’s premises that reflects national standards and allows for inspections in order to confirm that these standards are being met.

Teleworking health and safety

As stated, employers must ensure that the remote workspace of Teleworkers meet national health-and safety regulations. According to CMS labour lawyer and Junior Associate Ivana Hovancova, these regulations chiefly focus on technology and a few important points:

• Employers cannot expect Teleworkers to perform remote duties using laptops alone, but will need to provide each Teleworking employee with a monitor, keyboard and a mouse.
• Teleworkers must be required to follow a health regime that includes:
  • Taking a break from the screen every four hours at least.
  • Using a keyboard that is not part of the screen display (i.e. like the configuration of a laptop) and complies with government-accepted principles for ease of use and safety.
  • Obeying all other Home-Office health-and-safety regulations pertaining to the use of suitable tables, chairs, working hours, etc.

Inspections

Slovak law states that Teleworker offices are subject to inspections just like conventional job sites. During the ongoing pandemic situation, the National Labour Inspectorate advises that employers use distance methods to inspect employee health and safety conditions.

But when asked to submit to an inspection, a Teleworker does exercise some privacy rights if their remote office is also their home. Hence, Teleworkers should agree with employers on the specific terms of conduct of such inspections, such as including these terms in the employment contract.

Furthermore, employers have a direct interest in ensuring Teleworker compliance with health-and-safety regulations and inspections since they are liable for any injuries a Teleworker incurs during the fulfilment of the working duties.

Hovancova admits that clients often question her as to how an employer can absolutely ensure that Teleworkers comply with these regulations, and admits "there is no easy answer to this question".

Her recommendation: "Assess every situation on a case-to-case basis, consider all the details of each specific situation," and implement the following policy points for each Teleworker:

• Make sure internal company regulations and each Teleworker's employment contract includes health-and-safety rules on combating stress when working remotely and adopting measures to minimise the risk of isolation.
• Ensure that each Teleworking employee understands his 'right to disconnect' during non-working hours.
• Ensure that the office equipment Teleworkers are using fully meet all safety requirements.
• Ensure that Teleworkers are given a list of health-and-safety rules for remote working and that they confirm in writing they have reviewed and understood the regulations.
• Create a communication system where employers can periodically ensure that Teleworkers are on the job (i.e. providing working-time evidence).

Going digital

As much as the Labour Code has recognised and embraced the digital era, CMS's Hankova points out that certain communications between employers and employees cannot be conducted remotely.

For example, termination notices, she explains, must still be delivered to an employee either in person or by registered mail.

Staff mobility

Although advances in teleconferencing applications may make business travel less necessary in the future, employees may still need to go abroad for work.

The question, states CMS's Hovancova, concerns an employer's responsibilities and liability for these workers, and whether an employee on a short business trip and an employee permanently posted abroad enjoy in the same classification.

According to Hovancova, the answer is not clear, but the most important distinction between employees based abroad or travelling abroad is linked to "the provision of services" and whether the employer intends to provide services through the employee for the benefit of a third person. This arrangement usually refers to a foreign posting.

"On the other hand," explains Hovancova, "when the employee is abroad to provide services for the benefit of the employer, we are talking about the business trip abroad where, for example, an employee participates in a business negotiation or training."

This distinction is important given changes to Slovakian law in July 2020 (mandated by an EU directive), regarding the cross-border transfer of employees. One of the key changes brought about by this law includes the extension the hard-core provisions, which relates to salary, regulations governing weekend work, and working conditions for "special categories of employees".

The law also regulates acceptable living (e.g. accommodations), travel and dietary (i.e. food quality) conditions when employed abroad.

Also, the foreign jurisdiction in which the employee is working will necessarily have its own Labour Code. However, if there is some uncertainty on which rules apply to an employee posted in a foreign country, the new law states that the regulations of that jurisdiction that prove more favourable to the employee will be the applicable ones. In short, an employee posted in Germany can adopt its Labour Code if its provisions offer greater benefits.

For more information contact your CMS partner or local CMS experts.