There are no legal requirements for the wording of a job advertisement to contain particular details about the job. However, em...
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There are no specific legal restrictions on checks an employer may carry out on job applicants. However, employers must be careful not to discriminate against certain candidates. The employer has the right to check personal, educational and...
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Probationary periods are allowed only for permanent indefinite-term contracts and m...
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An employer must not use a probation period more than once with the same employee. The employer must also not fill the same position with a succession of employees on probation, as this is considered abusive. D...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer based on pre-contractual liability. If the prospect...
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Foreign nationals cannot travel to Argentina without a visa, and the Immigration Office has authorised the entry of foreign nationals only for working or professional reasons. To obtain such a visa, a local employer registered at the Immigr...
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The following documentation is required from employees: a copy of the employee’s passport; a copy of the Argentinean ID (’Documento Nacional de Identidad’) issued by the Interior Ministry in temporary and permanent residence visas; t...
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Yes, employers can keep records of candidates they...
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Employers must not ask for any personal or private information that is not relevant to t...
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Under Argentinean law, the circumstances of the employment relationship determine whether a person is an employee or a self-employed worker. The legal, technical and economic circumstances are key factors in determining the existence of an ...
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There are no legal distinctions between types of employees. However, economic dependence is a key factor used to determine employment status and it is t...
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Contract law governs directors. However, directors may opt out of the social security system. If directors have executive responsibilities, they must be considered as employees. Therefore, many dire...
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There is specific law in Argentina relating to part-time contracts. Employers must not treat part-time workers less favourably than full-time, indefinite-term employees. Part-time workers must not work more than two-thirds of the...
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Under labour law, the employment contract may be for a fixed term. Fixed-term contracts terminate on the expiry of the specific term for which they were agreed, but require between one and two months’ notice. The contract must be formalis...
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If the employer does not give notice or formalise the con...
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Local law does not prohibit the employment of temporary workers through an employment agency. However, if the employer cannot justify the arrangement or if the contract with the third party agency is illegal, temporary work...
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There are no specific legal restrictions on whether an employer may put its employees at the disposal of another...
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There are no formal requirements for indefinite-term contracts, therefore, is not necessary for these contracts to be in writing. However, employees must: be registered with the Social Security Administration; have a social security...
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It is not common practice in Argentina for the employer to issue an offer letter in addition to the contract, but it is...
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There are no legal restrictions about the language of the employment contract. However it would be appropriate for the contract to be drafted in the local language, so it can be used more effectively as evidence in the case of a dispute. If...
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For indefinite-term employment relationships, there is no obligation to execute an employment contract in writing. However, the employment contract must not revoke any other employee rights granted by law or collective bargaining agreements...
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It is possible to incorporate, at any time, terms from other agreements or documents, including a collective b...
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The employer is only permitted to unilaterally introduce changes to the employee’s terms and conditions if such changes are reasonable, only affect non-essential labour conditions and do not cause moral or financial harm to the employee. ...
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Employers usually provide employees with various policies and rules. These typically include: a code of conduct; a confidentiality policy; an IT policy; email and communications policies; a disciplinary policy; an harassment polic...
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The Committee for the Minimum Wage, composed of representatives from the government, employers and employees, sets national minimum wage rates. Starting from March 2021 full time employees must not earn less than ARS 21,600 per month.�...
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There is no requirement or system for wages to be adjusted for inflat...
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Tax Income tax and social security must be withheld by the employer from the employee’s salary, together with the employer’s contribution. Payments of the taxes and other contributions to the tax authorities are made by the employe...
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In Argentina, for an employee with an income of EUR 100,000, the rate of income tax is 31% of the employee’s total income. However, if the employee is married with two children, he or she may treat approximately EUR 2,731.87 as non-ta...
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Senior executives are usually rewarded with bonuses according to the organisation’s performance and the executives’ individual achievements. There are no rules restricting how much emplo...
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All employees have the right to a 13th month payment, which is paid in two instalments in June and December. During ...
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Under employment law, certain social benefits are made available to employees. These are social security services that the employer grants the worker directly or through third parties. These benefits are not considered as salary, not paid i...
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According to employment law, the working day must not exceed eight hours per day and the working week must not exceed 48 hours, except in the following cases: Directors and managers. Team work, provided that during a three-week period the ...
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The Ministry of Labour may provide for exceptions to the regulations and can authorise working time over the limits prescribed by law. The law establishes a ...
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Argentinean working time regulations are applicable to all employees except for directors and managers of...
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The employer must keep a record of overtime worked....
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Argentinean labour law does not prohibit agile working as long as the working time regulations are observed. There are no specific legal rules on agile working, though many companies include provisions regarding agile worki...
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The maximum number of overtime hours is restricted to 30 per month a...
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A worker must not be com...
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A worker paid on a monthly basis and performing duties during the week is not entitled to any additional payment if he or she does not exceed the maximum legal limit of 48 hours week or the ...
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An employee must not be made to work between 13:00 on Saturdays and midnight on Sundays except where authorised by the Labour Ministry or by any regulation, in which case the worker must be compensated with a rest period of equa...
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Infringements for exceeding daily or weekly limits on working hours or the rules on rest periods are governed by specific laws. Infringements could result in a fine to be paid by the employer. Control...
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The statutory minimum annual leave entitlement ranges from 14 days to 35 days. Note that this includes days falling on the weekend....
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During annual leave, each employee has the right to a ‘vacation bonus’. This is calculated by dividing the employee’s...
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Employees are not required to work on national holidays. Those who do work are entitled to a 100% increase on their normal rate of pay. There are normally fifteen public holidays each year in Argentina. They are: 1 January, New Year’s Da...
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Employees with less than five years’ seniority are entitled to up to three months’ paid leave per year in the case of illness. If the employee has more than five year...
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As well as the right to double the usual period of paid sick leave, employees who are parents receive a family allowance from the social security administration. The main rights to family-related leave and pay are summarised below. Maternit...
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The law establishes paid leave for: marriage: 10 days; death of spouse, child or parent: 3 days; death of brother or sister: 1 ...
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Employers are responsible for protecting employees and their possessions and for guaranteeing a safe and healthy workplace. This includes a safe workplace, safe equipment and work that is safe for physical and mental wellbeing. Therefore, a...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation. The Labour Ministry can take action to penalise any act or omission in breach of the formal requirements or the recording obligations set out in the health and safety at work ...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, inspectors from the Labour Ministry can issue an ‘improvement notice’ requiring the breach to be remedied, and the company may be penalised with a fine. The employer’s insurance premium...
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An employer can be liable for harm caused to employees or other visitors by unsafe premises, where t...
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The employer must notify the insurance company covering risks relating to work accidents, who has the legal obligati...
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Employment law prohibits discrimination based on any of the following grounds: sex; race; national origin; religion; political or union opinion or affiliation; and age. In addition, anti-discrimination law prohibi...
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It is possible to treat people differently without discriminating against them, depending on the circumstances of each case. The law prohibits arbitrary or unfair discriminatory treatment, but not all differences in treatment. Therefore, un...
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The legal system prohibits indirect discrimination. This kind of discrimination may be less easy to spot than direct discrimination, but it is unlawful nevertheless. Sometimes, a policy, r...
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Under Argentine labour law an employer must provide all reasonable adjustments to allow a disabled employee to perform his or her duties, but this does not include an obligation to create a special position for such a purpose. A...
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In the private sector there is no specific legislation against harassment. However, general rules against discrimination based on sex can be applied to protect employees against sexual harassment. In addition, ‘mobbing’ is considered fa...
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There are no specific provisions to protect people ag...
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The potential consequences of successful claims for the employer depend on the specific situation. If discrimination, harassment, victimisation or retaliation is deemed to amount to indirect dismissal, the employee is entitled to claim a se...
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According to case law, in discrimination claims the burden of the proof...
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Employers are liable for the acts of employees that occur in the course of perfo...
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There are no statutory obligations regarding gender pay gap reporting in Argentina. There is a consti...
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Argentinean law requires employers to take all necessary measures to ensure the mental and physical integrity of their employees, and they are responsible in the event of a breach of this duty. Along with the employer´s duty to guarantee t...
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Discrimination claims are very common in Argentina, especially cases of discrimination based on union activity, f...
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No statutory provisions exist regarding the amount of compensation for unlawful discrimination, and the amounts ...
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There are no rules that are specific to the protection of employee information, but general data protection law protects employees’ personal information. The law defines personal data as any information about a living individual or a lega...
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Under data protection law, if an employer fails to comply with the rules, the National Direction of Personal Data Protection, a statutory regulator, can apply sanctions and impose fines from ARS 1,000 to ARS...
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The employer must comply with labour, health and safety and social security laws. In order to do so, the following information must be collected at the beginning of any labour relationship: employee personal details; the employee’s famil...
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There are no significant restrictions on monitoring as long as the surveillance is not carried out in a discriminatory way, is reasonable and does not constitute an invasion of privacy. The local labour administration (‘Ministerio de Trab...
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The use of social media either at work or when off duty is not regulated by law. It is therefore advisable for employers to implement policies regarding the use of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo and other social media. The employer shou...
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There is no special protection for whistle-blowing in...
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Argentinian employment law establishes a general duty of fidelity in all contracts of employment. As a result, an employee must keep work-related information confidential. This duty of confidentiality exists in relation to the following typ...
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Under Argentinian law, the employee is bound by a duty of fidelity during the employment relationship and is expected to act in good faith during the relationship. The law states that the employee must observe all the duties of fidelity tha...
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After the employment contract has ended, employers can protect confidential information by including post-termination restrictions on an employee’s activities in the employment contract. These clauses are called ‘restrictive covenants�...
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Non-compete clauses are becoming common in Argentinian employment practice, especially for directors and senior employees. In order to be enforceable, these clauses must be reasonable and not excessive an...
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Trade unions represent most types of workers in Argentina, sometimes including executives and professionals. The right to represent workers is awarded by the Ministry of Labour by means of a resolution of recognition called a ‘Personeria ...
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According to the most recent studies, as of 2021 27% of the formal workforce is unionised. ...
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Only officially recognised trade unions can represent the collective interests of employees. As a...
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Employees who are represented by a trade union can elect representatives to further their interests. The number of representatives is determined as follows: If an organisation has between 10 and 50 employees, one representative may be elect...
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The right to strike is protected, but only recognised trade unions may call a strike. This legal principle was confirmed in June 2016 by the Supreme Court. Before deciding to go on strike or lockout, the parties must follow a certain proced...
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In Argentina, based on the Constitution, the employer may terminate an employment contract without cause but must pay mandatory severance pay. If the termination is discriminatory and therefore unlawful, the employee will be entitled to req...
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Employment is presumed to be for an indefinite term and can be terminated by the employer without penalty only for cause. Employees hired for an indefinite term who have mo...
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The employer may terminate an employment relationship with or without cause. If the employer is ending the relationship without cause, the law provides that the employer must give appropriate prior notice of termination. If the employer is ...
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Certain reasons for dismissal are automatically considered unfair. If one of these reasons applies, the legal rules about fair procedure are not relevant. There are particular rules prohibiting the termination of union representative ...
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There are different notice periods according to the employee’s length of service: one month for service of up to five years; and two months for service over five years. During the trial period for indefinite-term cont...
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Employers can make a payment instead of the required notice. Typically, employers do not provide prior notice and often make payments in lieu of notice. The payment is subject to inc...
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No. The resignation is regarded as a voluntary termination of the employment, ...
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It is possible to retire an employee compulsorily in the following circumstances: the employee has at least 30 years of pension contributions and is therefore entitled to receive retirement ben...
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The employer must pay one month’s remuneration for each year of service or any period longer than three months, based on the ‘highest normal, habitual salary’ accrued during the last year of service. For example, if the employee has w...
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An employer can settle purely contractual claims by agreement with the employee, but this can be challenged as invalid by the employee, unless it meets certain conditions. ‘Separation agreements’ by mutual consent must be made before a ...
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Employers can generally decide to close plants and terminate employees without consultation, provided they make full severance payments to the affected employees. If the employer can show that there is a downturn in work volumes or force m...
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When collective dismissals are expected, the employer should initiate a crisis prevention procedure by informing ...
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In a crisis prevention procedure, the employer must submit a plan to the Ministry of Labour. Within two days, the Ministry will invite the employer and the union to a hearing at the Ministry of Labour, and there will be a first attempt at...
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If the employer does not invoke the special ‘crisis prevention procedure’ that applies to mass redundancies for economic reasons or reasons of force majeure, it w...
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The employer must start with dismissals of employees with ...
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The severance payment for collective redundancy amounts to half of the severance payment ...
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By law, if a share takeover does not reduce the liability of the existing employer, there is no specific protection for employees. Employees only have a right to stop working and make a claim for constructive dismissal if a s...
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Sale of a business If a business is sold, the existing labour relationships will continue with the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. The buyer company must take account of length of service with the old...
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Where a business is transferred, all the obligations arising from the employment contract between the transferor and employee at the time of the transfer pass to the transferee. The employment contract continues with the transferee and the ...
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Employees can challenge a transfer if their employment conditions change substantially. If that is the case, they may make a claim for constructive dismissal. If successful, they will be entitled to mandatory severance. An employee...
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Terms The terms of employment and all rights and obligations under it transfer to the transferee. A transfer does not constitute grounds to change the terms of employment contracts. Employment terms can only be changed in accordance wit...
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The transferor and transferee are jointly and severally liable for employment obligations existing at the time of the transfer. This applies whether the transfer is temporary or permanent, whether or not the trans...
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In both transfers of businesses and transfers of employment contracts, collective agreements remain in force and cannot be chan...
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In general terms, the employer has the power to introduce any changes it likes to the form and content of the employment contracts, provided they do not involve an unreasonable exercise of that power, alter the essential terms of the contr...
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There is no statutory term (apart from the notice period for dismissal) that employers need to observe before they can carry out redundancies. Thus, the transf...
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There is no legal requirement to consult with employees or their representatives before a business transfer takes place. However, employees are often given notice that their labour relationships will continue with the buyer from the ...
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The name of the new employer, the date on which the transfer will become effective and details of the employees’ ...
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There is no obligation to consult, but in practice it may be wise to do so if the business activities are going to change, people’s jobs will alter, or if the business is going to be reorganised in such a way that this increases the ris...
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In the case of a ‘transfer of establishment’, if an employer fails to inform employees about the transfer, the employee demand to be given information and/or consider that he or she has been dismissed. In the ca...
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Argentina labour law does not provide for work councils. Employee representatives will continue their position and duties with the new employer. ...
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In 2008, Argentina returned to using a pay-as-you-go system (‘PAYG’) for retirement, based on the ‘redistribution principle’. In general terms, the following conditions apply to mandatory retirement: workers must have made ...
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The only requirement for an employer, with regards to providing access to a pension scheme, is to pay the mandatory contributions to the Social Security Administration. When an employee has reached the retirement age of 70 ...
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An employer may not fund and operate its own pension scheme instead of the state pension scheme, as the state l...
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An employer has statutory duty to consult affected employees in connection with any change to a private pension scheme, except where ...
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In Argentina, pensions are given the same tax treatment as salary and so the income an individual earns from pens...
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Nothing needs to be put in t...
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An investigation must be conducted before any disciplinary action may be taken for a breach of the employment contract, a breach in the duties ...
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Yes, employees are obliged to report any suspected misconduct. It is best practice for employers to remind employees o...
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The law does not establish any specific deadline to start the investigation after the alleged misconduct. However, it requires that the disciplinary action must be ‘contemporary’ to the misconduct, so the sooner the ...
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Employees are not obliged to participate in an investigation conducted by an employer, but the employee must cooperate...
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Yes, but it does not happen frequently except in the most serious cases. ...
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Yes, in order to adequately support the eventual disciplinary action. ...
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There is no special protection for whistle-blowing in the law, and employers are not required to put systems in place to allow for anonymous reporting. ...
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The standards and procedures for low performance are a series of disciplinary actions that can take place gradually. The first step is a verbal warning, followed by a written warning, and then suspension without payment of salary....
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There are no statutory rules regarding employee grievances, but the employer can be bound by an internal policy for handling grievances. The employer can decide whether or not grievances are or can be anonymous, and can establi...
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There are no formal requirements in relation to the form or content of job advertisements in Australia. Nevertheless, it is important to ensure that advertisements and statements made in the course of pre-employment negotiations are not mi...
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In broad terms it is permissible for an employer to conduct reference and qualification checks in the context of a recruitment process. This can include seeking information about a job applicant’s previous work history and confirmation...
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In principle, it is permissible in Australia to make employment subject to a period of probation, and there are no formal rules as to the duration of any such period. At the end of the probationary period the employer may terminate t...
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See section 1.3 above. ...
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Anti-discrimination legislation in all Australian jurisdictions makes it unlawful to discriminate against potential employees, as well as against actual employees. For example, it is unlawful for an employer to take ‘adverse action’...
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Individuals who are not Australian citizens can work in Australia only when they possess a valid visa which enables them to undertake the work in question. It is important, therefore, for prospective employers to ensure that job applicant...
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Employers should keep records of any relevant information relating to the sponsorship of a foreign worker. This includes any correspondence with the Departme...
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Potential privacy law issues can arise in circumstances where an applicant provides personal information to a prospective employer and that applicant is not hired, and the business intends to store or otherwise use that information. As note...
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Employers cannot ask questions in job interviews which evince, or might be taken to evince, an intention unlawfully to discriminate against a prospective employee. This would, for example, preclude questions about an applicant’s trade uni...
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Characterising work relationships Australian courts have adopted a number of ‘tests’ in order to determine whether a particular work relationship is one of employer and employee or of principal and contractor. The traditional approach w...
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Almost all employees in Australia have their terms and conditions of employment regulated to a greater or lesser extent by federal or state industrial legislation. In particular, the great majority of employees fall within the scope of the ...
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It is common practice for a company director to be classified as either an executive director (who is also an employee of the company) or a non-executive director (who is not an employee of the company). Whether or not a director is also an...
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Part-time employment Under Australian law, employees who ordinarily work 38 hours or less per week are commonly described as ‘part-time’ employees, including in awards and agreements made under the Fair Work Act. Around 30% of all emplo...
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Fixed-term contracts Employers and employees are generally at liberty to enter into contracts that are expressed to remain in force until the occurrence of some pre-determined event such as a specified date or the completion of a specified ...
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Fixed-term employment may convert into open-ended employment in a range of circumstances. The most straightforward is where the employer and employee formally negotiate such a conversion. Conversion may also occur where an employee has been...
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The engagement of temporary workers through an employment agency or supplier is commonly referred to in Australia as ‘labour hire’. It typically involves the supplier providing a service to another organisation (‘host’) by supplying...
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Employers (‘first employer’) may also enter into arrangements whereby some of their employees are ‘loaned’ or ‘seconded’ to another employer (‘second employer’), such as a fellow member of a corporate group. Such arrangement...
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Employment contracts in Australia can be written, oral, or a combination of the two. They may also include terms implied by law and by conduct. It is not strictly necessary for employment contracts to be in writing. It is, howeve...
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It is common practice for an offer letter to set out core terms and conditions of employment and upon acceptance, to become the employment contract. Sometimes the offer letter is accompanied by a separate document which the employ...
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Employment contracts can be in any language. For obvious practical reasons, it is preferable that they be in English. Furthermore, Australian law requires employers to make and keep ‘employee records’ in relation to a rang...
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Contracts of employment in Australia may contain terms implied by law and terms implied by conduct. Both forms of implied terms will yield to express provisions to the contrary. They will also yield to any inconsistent provision of a statut...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other agreements and documents, including industrial instruments, into a contract of employment. This is most effectively done by expressly referring to the relevant agreements and documents in the...
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Variation of an employment contract requires the agreement of both the employer and the employee. An employment contract cannot unilaterally be varied. Any attempt to do so is likely to constitute a breach that would enable the emplo...
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Employer policies and procedures are commonly made available to employees at the beginning of employment, and may be supplemented or varied during the currency of the employment relationship. Typically, employment contracts will...
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The great majority of Australian employees are covered by one of 122 ‘modern awards’. These awards set minimum terms and conditions of employment for the employees who fall within the coverage of the award in question. Failure to ...
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Minimum wages are not automatically adjusted in line with inflation. However, the Fair Work Commission must take inflation into account when setting minimum wage rates under the NMWO and through variations to modern award minim...
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Tax Under the Pay As You Go system, Australian employers are required to withhold tax at a specified rate from any payments made to an employee. The employer must remit this amount to the Australian Taxation Office (‘ATO’). T...
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Income tax deduction EUR 100,000 equates to approximately AUD 165,000. For an employee who is married with two children and earning this salary, and without accounting for any other factors affecting income tax thresholds and rates...
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Bonus entitlements (if any) will be regulated by any applicable awards, enterprise agreements or individual employment contracts, and/or by employer policies. These instruments and policies commonly (but not invariably) provide ...
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The National Employment Standards (‘NES’) set out in the Fair Work Act comprise minimum terms and conditions that apply to all employees. They include provision for annual leave, carer’s/personal leave, compassionate leave, par...
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Australian employees are commonly (but by no means invariably) provided with access to salary sacrifice arrangements (‘SSA’) whereby they contractually agree to give up part of their salary in exchange for a benefit of a similar value. ...
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There is no comprehensive legal limit on daily hours of work, although industrial instruments (modern awards and enterprise agreements) may impose restrictions on daily hours of work, and requiring employees to work excessive hours ma...
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It is not permissible for an industrial instrument to exclude any provision of the NES, and any contractual provision that purported to derogate from the NES would be unlawful. It follows that it would not be possible to exceed the wee...
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The minimum terms and conditions in relation to working time as set out in sections 5.1 and 5.2 above apply to all employees who fall within the Fair Work Act. This means that they apply to the overwhelming majority of employees...
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The Fair Work Act and the accompanying Regulations set out detailed requirements in relation to the keeping of employee records and the provision of pay slips to employees. The required records must include basic information...
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Self-management, open-plan offices and remote working Generally, the capacity of employers to provide open-plan offices or self-managing interdisciplinary teams is a matter of managerial discretion, providing that the arrangement is ot...
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As indicated in section 5.2 above, any request by an employer that an employee work additional hours must be ‘reasonable’ under the criteria set out in the law. The law does not, however, set a specific limit on the...
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The law does not contain any express requirement that the employer obtain consent from employees to work additional hours or overtime. However, as set out in section 5.2 above, an employee may refuse to work additional hours if they...
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There is no legislative provision which dictates how overtime is to be paid. Industrial instruments or employment contracts will typically set out the relevant rates of pay, including overtime rates. Such rates are generally cal...
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Labour legislation does not expressly provide a statutory entitlement to breaks or rest periods. Meal breaks are commonly dealt with in industrial instruments or contracts of employment, most often in terms to the effect that a...
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Working hours A contravention of the rules regarding working hours set out in the NES, a modern award or an enterprise agreement constitutes a contravention of a civil remedy provision of the Fair Work Act. An affected employee, th...
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Under Australian law all employees (except casual employees) are entitled to a minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave per year. Those who are characterised as ‘shiftworkers’ are entitled to an additional week of paid�...
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Payment in respect of statutory annual leave is calculated at the employee’s base rate of pay for their ordinary hours of work. It therefore does not include any overtime, penalty rates, or&nbs...
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Employees who would ordinarily work on a day that coincides with a public holiday are entitled to be absent from work and to receive payment at their base rate of pay for their ordinary hours of work on that day. Casual employees who are no...
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All employees (except casual employees) are entitled by law to ten days of paid personal/carer’s leave per year. Personal/carer’s leave can be taken: when the employee is unable to work due to personal illness or injury; or to pr...
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Unpaid parental leave The law provides for unpaid parental or adoption leave. Employees with at least 12 months of continuous service are entitled to up to 12 months’ unpaid leave relating to the birth or adoption of a child who is in t...
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Long service leave (‘LSL’) This is a distinctively Australian form of leave entitlement which was originally intended to provide colonial public servants with an opportunity to take an extended period of leave in the ‘home country...
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In Australia, there is no single work health and safety (‘WHS’) law that applies across the country. However, the WHS laws in each of Australia’s nine jurisdictions are very similar, and seven of them have enacted a model Work Health ...
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The WHS laws of each jurisdiction are administered and enforced by a jurisdiction-specific WHS regulator. Under the Model Act the relevant regulator has responsibility for monitoring and enforcing the legislation, and for conducting legal p...
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In all Australian jurisdictions breaches of work health and safety duties are criminal offences and can result in substantial penalties. However, it is important to note that breach of the Model Act involves only criminal penalties; it does...
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Employers could be criminally liable for the activities of third-party contractors under the Model Act in some circumstances. First, the Model Act provides that a PCBU must ensure that the health and safety of ‘other persons’ is not put...
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Obligation to notify regulator of notifiable incidents Each jurisdiction in Australia has a WHS regulator charged with enforcement of the jurisdiction’s WHS laws (see section 7.2 above). PCBUs are required to ensure that the WHS regulato...
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Each of the Australian jurisdictions, including the Commonwealth, has enacted legislation that is intended to prevent discrimination in employment and in other contexts against people on the ground that they possess specified ‘protected a...
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All anti-discrimination statutes contain a range of general and specific exceptions, exclusions and exemptions that, if established, have the effect that acts of discrimination that fall within their scope are not unlawful. It is import...
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Australian anti-discrimination statutes prohibit both direct and indirect discrimination. The test for what constitutes indirect discrimination differs between jurisdictions, but will generally be taken to occur if a condition or requir...
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Disability discrimination law requires employers to make, or propose to make, ‘reasonable adjustments’ to try to reduce or remove barriers and promote equal opportunity for people with disabilities. Where failure to do so has or would h...
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Harassment Harassment based on a protected characteristic is prohibited by a range of provisions at both the Federal and State and Territory levels. For example, Federal race discrimination law prohibits offensive behaviour based ...
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Anti-discrimination legislation at the Federal and State and Territory levels prohibits victimisation of a complainant, a person who supports a complainant and a person giving evidence regarding a complaint. By way of illustration, unde...
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Discrimination The consequences of, and remedies for, discrimination claims vary depending on whether the action is pursued under anti-discrimination legislation (Federal or State or Territory), or under the general protections provisions...
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Burden of proof The standard of proof under the anti-discrimination statutes and the general protections provisions of employment law is the ‘balance of probabilities’. The burden of proof is reversed for claims under employment leg...
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Vicarious liability Under Federal anti-discrimination legislation, an employer or an individual in a managerial or supervisory position may be found vicariously liable for unlawful discrimination by its employees in connection with their ...
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The Workplace Gender equality legislation requires non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit a report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) each year. The reporting process requires employers to complete a qu...
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Workplace health and safety legislation requires a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the physical and psychological health and safety of workers engaged or caused to be engage...
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There are no reliable centralised data on the numbers of complaints made to the various regulatory bodies that have responsibility under Federal and State and Territory anti-discrimination legislation. At the Federal level, formal complai...
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Historically, awards of compensation in discrimination cases in Australia have generally been low. In part, this can be attributed to the fact that in some jurisdictions there are legislative caps on awards of damages, and such caps are set...
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Employees in Australia are under an implied duty of fidelity. Amongst other things, this requires employees not to injure their employer’s interests by disclosing or misusing confidential information acquired in the course of their employ...
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The duty of fidelity requires that employees not engage in business activities that compete with their employer during the employment relationship. That does not necessarily mean, however, that employees cannot ...
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Once employment is ended, the duty of fidelity no longer operates to protect the confidentiality of the employer’s information. That does not mean, however, that such information is entirely unprotected. There are...
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The common law doctrine of restraint of trade means that an employer cannot protect itself against all competition by a former employee. It may, however, be possible to secure a measure of protection against certain forms of post-employment...
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Despite declining membership levels in recent years, trade unions continue to play an important role in social, political and industrial life in Australia. The Fair Work Act is the principal piece of legislation governing workplace relation...
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In Australia, some industries have moderately high rates of union density, whilst others have almost no union presence. Density is highest in the public sector – notably in education and training, public administration, and...
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Under the Fair Work Act, employers can be required to negotiate with unions where a majority of the workforce wish them to do so,...
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Unlike many European countries, Australia does not have formal provision for works councils at either the level of the workplace or the enterprise. Many workplaces h...
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There is no freestanding ‘right to strike’ in Australian law. On the contrary, all industrial action by employees is, on its face, unlawful under both common law and statute. However, the Fair Work Act does permit the taking of lawful i...
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In principle an employer can lawfully terminate the employment of an employee on any grounds and in any manner, so long as it adheres to the terms of the relevant contract of employment. This principle must, however, be read subject to an e...
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The common law of employment offers only very limited protection to an employee whose employment is terminated, because the common law generally allows the employer to terminate at any time and on any ground, so long as it observes the term...
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To minimise exposure to claims arising out of termination of employment, employers should: have clear policies about which forms of conduct may lead to dismissal, communicate these policies to employees, and apply them in a consistent mann...
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Employees may bring a ‘general protections’ claim against an employer if the employer has taken ‘adverse action’ against the employee for a prohibited reason. Such reasons include that the employee: has a ‘workplace right�...
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Australian law sets out minimum notice periods that employers must give to employees: Period of employment Notice period One year or less one week One to three years two weeks Three to five years three weeks More than five years ...
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Provided it is permitted by the contract of employment, applicable modern award or enterprise agreement, employers can terminate employment with immediate effect by making a payment in lieu of the required notice. Payment in lieu of notice ...
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Employees who wish to resign are typically required to provide the employer with notice of resignation. There is no statutory minimum notice period for employees; the notice period will usually be set out in the applicable modern award, ent...
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It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee on the basis of age. This typically means that compulsory retirement polic...
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Severance for Redundancy An employee whose position is made redundant will generally be entitled to a redundancy payment. The matter is commonly dealt with in enterprise agreements, subject to the following statutory minimum payments: ...
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Where there is a risk that an employee may bring a claim against an employer, the employer may seek to enter into a separation agreement or release...
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Statutory duty to consult Australian law requires that where an employer has decided to dismiss 15 or more employees for reasons of an ‘economic, technological, structural or similar nature’, it must notify and consult with any union(s)...
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Information in relation to the statutory duty to consult The employer must notify each union that represents any of the affected employees of three things: the proposed dismissals and the reasons for them; the number and categories of empl...
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Both the statutory duty to consult, and the obligation to notify Centrelink, are couched in terms of notification ‘as soon as practicable’ after taking the decision to terminate employment, but before implementing it. The model consulta...
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If an employer fails to comply with the information or consultation obligations in an award or enterprise agreement, the employer will be in breach of the general statutory prohibitions on contravening awards or enterprise agreements, and a...
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There is no statutory selection order that must be applied under Australian law. In principle, practices such as ‘last on first off’ or ‘first on last off�...
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Australian labour law provides employees with a minimum entitlement to severance pay in all cases of redundancy. There are no ad...
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Under Australian law a share takeover of a company (as distinct from a business sale) does not result in a change in the identity of the employer. Consequently, the change of ownership will have no effect on the employment of the comp...
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There is no provision in Australian law whereby, on the transfer of all or part of a business, the workforce in that business is automatically transferred to the new owner of the business on the employees’ existing terms and conditions ...
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The new employer (transferee) is not under any obligation to offer employment to employees or former employees of the transferor. If, however, the transferee does offer employment to some or all of the transferor’s employees, then is...
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As noted in section 14.2 above, in a transfer of business situation employees are not automatically transferred, nor are they entitled to be provided with employment by the new employer/transferee. Rather, where there is a transfer o...
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Terms of employment contract Where a transfer of business occurs, the transferring employee’s employment contract with the old employer is terminated, and the transferring employee will enter into a new employment contract with the new em...
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Generally, liabilities stemming from any litigation (e.g. an unfair dismissal or work-injury claim) will not transfer, as the old employer remains the named respondent. Commercially, it is possible for transferors and transferees t...
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Where there is a transfer of business in the sense described in section 14.2 above, any ‘transferable instrument’ that covered the old employer prior to the transfer will normally cover the new employer and the transferring employ...
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As discussed in section 14.2 above, contracts of employment do not ‘transfer’ in Australia in transfer of business situations. The transferring employee’s employment contract with the old employer is terminated, and the transferrin...
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The transferee in a transfer of business situation is not obliged to offer employment to all or any of the employees of the transferor. In that sense, employees can ‘safely’ be dismissed at any time in the context of a transfer. If...
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A requirement to consult with employees or their representatives will generally be imposed only on the old employer, and can derive from: applicable industrial instruments, such as an enterprise agreement or modern award; and the...
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Industrial instruments Where the standard consultation clause under a modern award applies, the old employer is required to provide in writing to the employees and their representatives all relevant information about the change including ...
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Industrial instruments The form and procedure of the relevant consultation obligations may differ depending on the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement. Consultation generally involves discussing a framework of the proposed ter...
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Industrial instruments Failure to comply with a consultation term of a modern award or enterprise agreement could result in the imposition of civil penalties and the making of other court orders. Where a party (most typically a un...
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There are no statutory provisions relating to works councils in Australia. Any representative arrangements that may be in place at the transferor are a matter between the transferor and its employees and/or their unions. If those arrang...
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Australia has a comprehensive social security system that provides means-tested benefits to meet a range of circumstances. One element of this system is the Age Pension, which is provided to individuals of retirement age (‘retirement age�...
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Employers in Australia make contributions on behalf of employees to the employee’s chosen superannuation fund. If the employee does not choose a fund, a new employer must check to see if the employee has an existing fund (‘stapled fund�...
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It is legally permissible for an employer to operate its own superannuation fund, which could be a defined-contribution or defined-benefit fund. With the advent of mandatory superannuation arrangements, however, this is no longer c...
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Employers are responsible for selecting the default fund, and most employers simply pay the mandated Superannuation Guarantee contributions to the superannuation funds chosen by their employees (or to the default fund for employees that do ...
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Superannuation contributions typically receive favourable tax treatment. Superannuation Guarantee contributions are not generally included when determining an employee’s ‘assessable income’ for the purposes of income tax. Superannuati...
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Contracts of employment should specify whether the wages or salary provided under them is ‘inclusive’ or ‘exclusive’ of the mandated Superannuation Guarantee contribution. For waged employees who are paid by the hour, the rate of pa...
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Timing for starting an investigation With the exception of some specific types of public sector investigations which might be subject to regulatory timeframes, there are no specific requirements under Australian law relating to the timi...
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Must employees participate in a workplace investigation? Employees in Australia have an implied contractual duty to obey lawful and reasonable directions given by their employer, when those directions fall within the scope of their emp...
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An internal investigation is a fact finding, not disciplinary or legal, process and there is no right to legal representation in that process (unless provided for in an employer’s policies). However, employees are generally entitled ...
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In circumstances where an employer is seeking to rely on an investigation to take disciplinary action against an employee, there is no obligation for the employer to provide the employee with all evidence gathered in that investigation. ...
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Regime for whistleblowing There are effectively two regimes for whistleblowing in Australia, one in the private sector and one for government employees. Whether an employer is required to put systems in place for anonymous reporting will de...
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Australian law does not prescribe how an employer must deal with a poorly performing employee. However, some employers will be subject to rules about this, for example through industrial instruments that apply to the workplace or ...
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Rules about grievance handling Other than the requirements relating to investigations and whistleblowing discussed elsewhere in this chapter, Australian law does not prescribe how an employer must handle an employee grievance. Howeve...
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Job advertisements must not be worded in a discriminatory way. They must be worded gender-neutrally. They must specify the minimum wage according to law and the applicable collective agreement for the position. If no mandatory regulations o...
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The employer must not ask for details of health conditions that will not affect performance or are not relevant for the job (e.g. HIV where the position is office-based). An employer may check if the employee is in a state of health that wi...
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An offer of employment may be made subject to the completion of a probationary period. The probationary period must not be longer than one mo...
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During a one-month probationary period, either party may terminate the employment contract with immediate...
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Job applicants may bring claims for compensation against a prospective employer if their applications were rejected for...
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An employer must obtain a work permit for a foreign worker if the foreign worker does not have a permit allowing him or her to nominate an employer in Austria. There are various different types of work permits. For example, qualified employ...
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Foreign workers who do not belong to an EEA country or Switzerland require a work permit. Therefore, the employer must keep work permits on the premises and available for inspection. For foreign workers who remain subject to their home co...
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Under the GDPR, the controller is obliged to delete personal data without undue delay if that data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was initially collected or processed (i.e. the application process). Thus, the employer ...
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In principle, questions concerning the employee’s private sphere are impermissible due to the applicant’s privacy rights. Exceptions exist if the question directly affects the employment relationship. Questions about religious b...
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Whether an individual is considered to be an employee or an independent contractor depends predominantly on the following criteria: whether the individual must work fixed hours and in a specific workplace; whether the individual may assign...
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Austrian labour law distinguishes between blue and white-collar employees. Under the White-Collar Employees Act (Angestelltengesetz) a white-collar employee is a person who is employed predominantly in commercial or other higher, non-commer...
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There are some rules which apply specifically in connection with the employment of company directors, as they are always considered to be...
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In general, employees are not entitled to request part-time hours except for parental reasons. Essentially, there are no restrictions regarding part-time employment. Employers and employees are therefore free to agree on part-time working...
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Employees and employers are generally free to agree on fixed-term employment. However, employment contracts for a definite period cann...
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If there is no justification for concluding multiple fixed-term contracts in succession, the employment converts into an indefinite-term employment relationship (see above in 2.5). Further, a fixed-term contract may convert into an indefi...
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Essentially, employers are free to employ temporary workers through an employment agency. In fact, the employment n...
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The employer may put its employees at the disposal of another organisation, but some aspects of employment law will apply to it. The law provides for equal treatment during the assignment. So...
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There is no obligation to provide a written employment contract in Austria. However, the employee is entitled to written notification (‘Dienstzettel’) setting out the main duties and obligations arising from employment immediately after...
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It is not common practice i...
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There is no mandatory requirement in terms of the language that must be used in an employment contract. The contract may be in English as well as German provided all the parties understand it. Ho...
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Generally, statutory law, collective agreements and workplace agreements regulate a significant part of the employment relationship even if not explicitly set out in the contract. As a rule, individual employment contracts cannot change pro...
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Applicable collective agreements and workplace agreements regulate the employment relationship even if they are not set ou...
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Generally, if a change to the employees’ terms and conditions is not covered by the employment contract and/or is not reasonable (e.g. modification of the...
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All documents that are referred to in the ...
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There is no statutory minimum wage. However, minimum wages can be set in collective bargaining agreements. Therefore, the social partners have major influence on the minimum wage in Austria. At present, there are more than 850 collective ba...
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There is no explicit requirement to adjust wages in line with inflation. Wages are only adjusted by collective bargaining increases, which are usually agreed between the parties to the collective bargaining agreements every year. However, i...
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Tax and the employees’ social security contributions are deducted from the employees’ gross salary and paid to the relevant authorities by the employer. The employer is liable for the deduction and payment of the contributions. Tax ...
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For an annual gross salary of EUR 100,000 the tax payable would be approximately 26% (i.e. EUR 26,000) and the social security contribution approximately 13% (i.e. EUR 13,000). Therefore, the net amount would be a...
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There are no specific rules governing the payment of bonuses, other than the regulations set out in the Corporate Governance Codex that apply to members of management bo...
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Employers pay social insurance contributions for the statutory pension, health, unemployment scheme...
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The benefits that employers offer to employees...
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The daily limit on normal working hours is eight hours. The weekly limit is 40 hours. However, collective agreements may provide for lower limits of working hour...
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The limits on working hours may be exceeded by a flexible allocation of working time and overtime, generally based on collective bargaining agreements or works agreements. However, the new maximum daily working time introduced in September�...
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Most management staff are exempt from the law on working time and rest periods. The law provides that employees are excluded if they have been given independent decision-making (i.e. executive or managerial) authority and if they can set th...
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The employer must monitor employees’ working time and ensure ...
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Comin...
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Working time, including overtime, must not exceed twelve hours a day or 60 hours a week, ...
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Comin...
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According to Austrian law, overtime work must be remuner...
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If the daily working hours exceed six hours, the employee must take a 30 minute break. This break is usually unpaid unless otherwise agreed. Employees are also entitled to a daily rest period of at least 11 hours and a weekly rest pe...
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For exceeding the limits on daily or weekly working hours ...
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The statutory annual leave entitlement is 25 working days. If Saturday is included as a working day, the annual entitlement is 30 working days. The entitlement increases after 25 years of service to 30 working days and 36 working days if Sa...
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For periods of leave an employee is entitled to the remuneration he or she would have received if not on holiday. The method of calculation depends on the remuneration pattern: Remu...
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There are 13 paid public holidays in Austria which must be provided and are not included in the statutory minimum holiday entitlement. Employees may only work on public holidays as permitted by law. If they do work, they will receive salary...
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Employees who fall ill or who are injured unintentionally or without gross negligence are entitled to paid sick leave for: a minimum of six weeks and a maximum of 12 weeks at full pay; a further four weeks (i.e. after the 6 to 12-week ...
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Maternity rights Pregnant employees and mothers are protected from dismissal from the date of the pregnancy until at least four months after giving birth. During this time, these employees can only be dismissed based on a prior court orde...
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Educational leave Educational leave may be agreed between the employer and employee if the employee has worked for the organisation for a minimum of six months. This kind of leave must be used for the further training of the employee and ...
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Employers have a general obligation to organise working conditions in a way that protects the life and health of employees. Employers must also safeguard employees’ interests. Accordingly, the place of work must be equipped to avoid w...
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Mandatory health and safety measures are primarily set out in the Austrian Employee Protection Act (‘ArbeitnehmerInnenschutzgesetz’ or ‘ASchG’). Other laws that contain health and safety regulations include the Mother’s Protection...
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Health and safety provisions are enforced by the Labour Inspectorate (‘Arbeitsinspektorat’). The violation of statutory employee-protection provisions can lead to high administrative fines. The amount varies greatly according to t...
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In general, employers are not liable for the activities of third-party con...
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An employer must immediately notify the Labour Inspectorate (‘Arbeitsinspektorat’) of any accident at work resulting in an employee’s death or serious injury, unless a report has been made to the police (who are in turn requir...
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Equal treatment law aims to ensure that men and women are treated equally at work. In 2000, two EU directives came into force with the following objectives: to implement the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of raci...
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Exceptions to the general rules against discrimination may arise if the differential treatment is an occupational requirement and is therefore justified. For example, an exception would apply where religion or belief is a substantial, legit...
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Indirect forms of discrimination are prohibited. For example, part-time employees must not be treated less favourably than full...
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Disadvantages placed on employees with religious beliefs, for example Muslim women who wear a headscarf at work based on their religious conviction, can be considered prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, religion or ethnic origin....
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Harassment is deemed to be a form of discrimination under equal treatment law. Sexual and other forms of harassment are prohibited in this context, including any negative behaviour in relation to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, religi...
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An employee must not be discriminated against or dismissed simply because he or she has brought an equal treatment claim or acted as a witness in discrimination proceedings. T...
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A job applicant who is discriminated against by an employer in the recruitment process is entitled to compensation. Essentially, the amount of compensation for not getting a job based on discrimination is equal to at least two months’ rem...
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If there is a claim for discrimination in employment, the claimant must present credible evidence of discrimination to the competent Labour and Social Court. The employer as defendant party has the burden to prove that the difference in tre...
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Equal treatment law not only prohibits discriminatory behaviour on the part of the employer, but also that of its representa...
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There is no general legal obligation for employers to report gender pay differences. However, employers of more than 150 people must prepare an internal income report every two years, covering the average income of all employees in the co...
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In general, employers have a statutory obligation to organise the working conditions in a way that protects the life and health of employees. In addition to physical health, Austrian labour law also protects mental health. This includes men...
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There is no publicly available information about recent types of claims. We are aware that discri...
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The typical amounts of awards made in cases of unlawful discrimination are limited by the minimum and maximum payment levels defined by the Austrian equal treatment law. In the event of a discriminatory failur...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an emplo...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There is no case law concerning access of employees’ social media by employers. However, there is legal doctrine concerning the use of the Internet and emails by employees for private reasons to the effect that if private use of the Inter...
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In 2023 the EU Whistleblowing Directive was implemented into national law. The Austrian law (the ‘HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz’) covers the following areas: public procurement; financial services, products and markets and the pr...
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According to Austrian law an employee must act in good faith in relation to his or her employer. This means that he or she must safeguard the employer’s interests. The employee is obliged to keep professional secrets if the employer has a...
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By law, employees must not take part in activities that compete with their employer during the employment relationship. It is grounds for dismissal if employees operate an independent commercial enterprise or engage in trading act...
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There is generally only a duty to keep work-related informat...
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Generally, the prohibition against competition ends when the employment relationship ends, unless otherwise agreed. In accordance with the law for white-collar and blue-collar workers the duty not to compete can extend beyond termination ...
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The Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ‘ÖGB’) is an umbrella organisation of labour unions of employees. It is the only voluntary association of employees in Austria. It is subdivided into seven membe...
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The Austrian Trade Union Federation has approximately 1.20 million members (union density of approximately 40%), while the Chambers of Labour have appro...
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In Austria employers are not required to work with trade unions. The majority of employers are represented by the Austrian Federal Economic Chambers (Österreichische Wirtschaftskammer...
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A works council must be set up if a business permanently employs at least five employees over the age of 18. A ‘business’ means a workplace that forms an organisational unit that has a production process or operation largely independent...
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There is very little law about strikes and other industrial action in Austria. Only a few isolated regulations in constitutional law, labour law, and social security law exist. There is no law that obliges the unions to inform the employer ...
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Under Austrian law the employer can give notice without giving a reason. It is not necessary to demonstrate a redundancy situation or any other reasons. In principle, giving notice in writing is only obligatory when contractually agreed, bu...
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Employees employed for more than six months in a business with at least five permanent employees are entitled to general protection against termination. This means they have the option to appeal against a dismi...
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There are no statutory selection criteria that need to be used in redundancy situations. The employer can give notice without giving a reason. In terms of termination for employee-related reasons, such as poor performance, the employer may ...
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Special protection against termination applies to the following groups of employees: disabled employees who have been with the organisation for at least six months, with certain exceptions (the degree of disability must be officially deter...
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The statutory notice period for employees is one month from the end of each calendar month. It is possible to contractually agree on a longer termination period for the employee, but it must not be longer than the notice period for the empl...
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The employee is entitled to the same financial treatment during the notice period, as Austrian labour law does not provide for payment in lieu of notice. The employee is also obliged to work during the notice period. It is possible to relea...
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Ordinarily, an employee who resigns is subject to the same notice terms and notice period that apply to termination by the employer (see section 12.5). If the employee resigns with immediate effect, the employment will be deemed terminated ...
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It is not possible to retire an employee compulsorily when he or she reaches the statutory retirement age. T...
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The employee is entitled to the same financial treatment during the notice period as during ordinary employment and this covers the following: remuneration until the end of the notice period; pro-rata holiday pay (i.e. pay for unused annua...
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It is possible to settle claims by employees by means of a voluntary termination payment, bu...
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The employer must notify the works council if it plans to give notice of termination to an employee. The works council has one week to consent, disagree, or offer no views. This so-called ‘preliminary procedure’ must be observed for eve...
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In cases of collective redundancy, the employer must provide the Public Employment Service (the ‘Arbeitsmarktservice’, or ‘AMS’) with written notification of the planned dismissals within a 30-day period. Before notifying AMS, the e...
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There is no minimum consultation period, but it must be held when the works council still has a genuine opportunity to assess the consequenc...
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If an employer fails to conduct the so-called ‘preliminary procedure’ (i.e. the ...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Austrian law. However, if an employer is basing dismissals on operational reasons, the employer must prove...
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In principle, there are no compulsory additional payments to be made in addition to the statutory severance payment that dismissed employees may be entitled to (if they belong to the pre-2003 severance payment schem...
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A transfer of undertaking requires a change of the identity of the employer (owner). This will not generally be...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, the buyer, as the new employer, becomes automatically bound by the rights and obligations contained in each individual employment contract. The employee transfer rules apply to sales, leases, and ...
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For the old employer: It must inform and consult in advance with the works council, if one exists, about the planned transfer. If no works council is established, either the old employer or the new employer must inform the employees in adv...
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There is no general right for employees to object a transfer and therefore the employment contract with the transferee remains valid. However, employees have a right to object that...
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Terms The transferee, as the new employer, must take over all rights and obligations contained in each individual employment contract. This happens automatically by operation of law. Therefore, employees may not be employed by the transfere...
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As soon as the transferee steps into the existing employment contract as the new employer, replacing the transferor, any liabilities resulting from that contract are also transferred. For obligations arising from the period prior to the tra...
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Upon transfer, the employment contract will be governed by the collective agreement of the transferee. If both the transferee and the transferor are subject to the same collective agreement, there will be no change. If a different collectiv...
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Changes to individual contracts can be made only by mutual agreement or if one party has reserved the right to unilaterally change employment conditions. This right can only be exercised in good faith and is usually connected to bonus or pr...
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Neither the transferor nor the transferee may dismiss employees by reason of the transfer. Such a termination might be effective at first, but the employee could bring an action for a declaratory judgment that the dismissal was based on the...
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The seller must inform and consult in advance with the works council, if one exists, about planned transfers. If no works council has been established, either the seller or the buyer must ...
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The following information must be provided: the date or proposed date of the transfer; the reason for the transfer; the legal, economic and social ...
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If a works council has been established and the changes are detrimental to employees, the works council may make recommendations to alleviate or avoid negative effects, and might wish to co-op...
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There are no direct sanctions if the obligations to inform and consult are disregarded, but the emplo...
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If the entire business is transferred, the existing works council and any works agreements remain unaffected. However, if only part of the business is transferred (i.e. becomes legally independent), the existing work...
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Both employees and employers pay social security contributions into the compulsory public ...
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Employers are required to pay contributions to the compulsory public pension scheme but there is no other requirement for an employer to provide its employees with access to ...
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Employers are free to provide company pension schemes for their employees. These pension schemes are regulated by a law which provides a framework to ensure the payment of benefi...
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A company group insurance scheme (‘Betriebliche Kollektivversicherung’) or commitment to a pension scheme (‘Pensionskassenzusage’) must be established by way of a works agreement. Pension schemes may be set up by co...
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Pensions are subject to taxation. However, employees�...
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A pension scheme can be based on an individual contract between the employer and the em...
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Employers have the right or, in some cases, the duty (e.g. in respect of a duty of care, establishment of a compliance organisation, antitrust audits) to carry out inspections and investigations. The main purpose of conducting investi...
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In general, where an employee’s own work processes are affected or where the employee has a management function with control and supervisory authority over other employees, it is not only permissible but also mandatory for the empl...
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In principle, there is no legally stipulated period of time in which the employer must take action after being informed of the conduct. Under the general duty of care, the employer must take action as soon as possible to begin ga...
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Employees are generally obliged to participate in internal investigations, based on either the employer’s right to issue instructions or the employee’s duty of loyalty. Insofar as the investigation concerns work-related info...
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There is no explicit statutory rule that entitles an employee to involve third parties from outside the company in the investigation. If the employee does not wish to answer the questions asked, the employer may consider giving the em...
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We are not aware of any statutory rule requiring the employer to disclose all of its evidence to the employee during the internal investigation. If the employer keeps a personal employee file, the employee generally has a right t...
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Starting in 2013 the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor has had its own website that allows reports of corruption and economic crime to be made with a guarantee of full anonymity. Because of its success, this system�...
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First of all, it should be noted that while the employee is obliged to make honest efforts, he or she owes only his job performance, but no particular success. The employer may admonish/warn the employee in case of low performanc...
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If the employees’ grievance is, for example, a complaint about other employees or supervisors (e.g. mobbing), there are no specific legal regulations on how the employer should deal with it. However, under the general duty of care, th...
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There is no prescribed form of wording required for job advertisements or details that need to be included. However, care should be taken to ensure that the advertisement does not discriminate between applicants on grounds of race, origin,...
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Employers are not prohibited from carrying out background checks and these can be done at any stage in the hiring process. Nevertheless, it is recommended that checks should only be carried out where they are proportionate and necessary, ...
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Bahrain labour law allows employers to apply a probationary period where this is expressly stated in the employment contract. Probation can be applied only once during the period of employment. The probationary period can last up to t...
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The employer or the employee can give notice to terminate the employment contract at any time during the probationary period. At least one day’s written notice must be given. ...
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The Bahrain Labour Law does not expressly extend any protection to job applicants. It is arguable that applicants can bring a claim of discrimination on grounds of race, origin, religion, language or belief where they have been denied a...
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Foreign nationals are required to have a work permit sponsored by an employer in Bahrain. The application for the work permit must be submitted to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (‘LMRA’) using the online Expat Managem...
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Employers should retain copies of the employee’s passport, work permi...
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Employers can keep their records about unsuccessful job candidates provided that the individual has given consent in writing for his or her data to be processed and retained. ...
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Whilst there is nothing in the law that prohibits employers from asking any particular questions during interviews, they should nevertheless refrain from asking questions regarding the individual’s political or religious beliefs, sexu...
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The Bahrain Labour Law applies to all employees, who are defined as ‘natural persons working in return for a wage and under the employer’s management and supervision’. The concept of independent contractor does not expres...
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There are no key distinctions between employees who are blue collar/white collar/sales representatives under the Bahrain Labour Law. However, the Labour Law does not apply to domestic workers and persons regarded as such, including ag...
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There are two types of directors in Bahrain: (i) a company director who is officially appointed via a board or shareholders’ resolution and is listed in the company’s Commercial Register, and (ii) an employee simply having an o...
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Bahraini labour law does not address part-time or flexible working. As such, there is no prohibition or restriction on such arrangements, but employees do not have a legal right to request them. ...
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There are certain rules under the labour laws governing fixed-term employment. Fixed-term employment contracts automatically terminate at the end of the contractual period unless renewed by an express agreement between the partie...
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A fixed-term employment contract will convert into an indefinite-term contract in the following circumstances: if the employer and employee continue executing the employment relationship after the expiry of the fixed contractual�...
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The concept of a temporary worker does not exist in the Bahrain labour laws. Individuals engaged through an agency will not become the employees of the end user client unless there is an express agreement to this effect or the ...
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Bahraini labour law does not address secondments, although in practice they are not uncommon. While there are no restrictions in this regard for Bahraini employees, expatriate workers are restricted from working for third parties ot...
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A written employment contract is required and must be executed in duplicate, with one copy to be retained by the employer and the other to be given to the employee. The contract should be written in Arabic but can be written in another la...
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An offer letter is not required but is sometimes issued to support an application for a work permit for an expatriate employee. However, it is increasingly common now for an empl...
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The employment contract should be written in Arabic but can be written in a different language provided that an Arabic translation is included too. ...
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The employee’s statutory rights to leave such as annual leave and sick leave, the end of service gratuity, protection against unlawful termination, and other basic statutory rights are implied into the employment contract. Likewise, the...
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The employment contract should contain all of the terms and conditions of employment as far as possible, but refere...
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Generally, in order to change contractual terms, an employer must obtain consent from the employee in writing. If the employee does not agree to the employer’s proposed change and the employer nevertheless proceeds to amend a term, th...
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Employees are normally provided with the employer’s handbook and/or the following policies: disciplinary and grievance policy; code of conduct; health and safety policy; data protection and/or IT usage policy. ...
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Bahrain labour law provides for maximum ordinary working hours of 48 hours per week, calculated at the rate of eight hours per day unless the parties agree otherwise. In any case, the ordinary working hours must not exceed ten ho...
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An agreement providing for more than 48 working hours per week or ten hours per day would be in contradiction with the Labour Law, and hence, it may be void. ...
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There are no employees who are exempt from the rules about working time in Bahrain. Certain categories of employees are entitled by law to working time limits that are lower than the generally applicable limits. Muslim workers Musli...
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There are no time-recording obligations imposed on employers under Bahrain laws. ...
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Bahrain labour law does not address such working arrangements, and employers are therefore generally free to implement them if they wish. ...
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Overtime hours must not exceed two hours per day, except where business conditions necessitate...
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It is mandatory for the employer to obtain an employee’s written consent where he or she is required to work overtime for more than two consecutive working d...
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Where an employee is required to work overtime hours, he or she is entitled to 125% of the normal hourly rate for hours worked during the day, and 150% of his or her normal hourly rate for hours worked during the night. Where an emplo...
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Employees are entitled to a daily break of at least 30 minutes for the purposes of prayers, eating and resting. Employees may not work for more than six consecutive hours without such a break. The break should not be calculated a...
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Employers can be subject to penalties imposed by the Ministry of Labour for breaching the working time provisions of the Labour Law. Additionally, employees could refuse to work overtime hours or bring a claim for compensation for overtime ...
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Trade unions are recognised in Bahrain and are empowered by statute to p...
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Whilst trade unions have been recognised for so...
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There is no requirement for employers to establish a union, bu...
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Trade unions perform the role of works councils and are the employee representative bodies in Bahrain. Generally, there is no obligation to inform and/or consult with trade unions or their members unless this is agreed as part of a collecti...
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Strikes and other industrial actions can only be carried out by a recognised trade union. In order for a strike to be lawful, the following conditions must be satisfied: The majority of the G...
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Employers can lawfully terminate employment by serving not less than 30 days’ notice in writing on the employee, provided that there is a legitimate reason to do so. Legitimate reasons for termination include: redundancy, including total...
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Employees have the right to bring a claim of unlawful termination in the Labour Court and to obtain compensation. The compensation...
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Where dismissal is applied as a sanction for improper behaviour or actions, the following process must be followed: An investigation must be commenced within 7 days of the employer’s discovery of the alleged improper behaviour. The emplo...
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The employer must not terminate employment on grounds of illness before the employee has exhausted the statutory entitlement to sick leave, or whilst the employee is on maternity leave. The Employer also must not terminate an employee due t...
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The minimum notice period is 30 days. The minimum notice period may be incre...
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Strictly speaking, there is no provision in the Labour Law that allows for an employer to terminate with immediate effect by making a payment in ...
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An employee can resign by giving not less than 30 days’ notice in writing. The employee can also terminate the contract and claim constructive termination if: the employer o...
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Yes. Employees ...
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The employee is entitled to receive the following upon termination of employment: salary and benefits up to the termination date; payment in lieu of notice if the employee is not required to work du...
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Settlement is possible by way of a written agreement with ...
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There is no general requirement to consult with employees or their representatives unless there is a collective labour a...
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There is no general requirement to provide any information to the employees or their representatives about the dismiss...
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There is no obligation to inform or consult with employees unless...
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Unless there is a collective labour agreement that requires the employer to inform and consult, there wil...
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Where the employer is making redundancie...
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Employees who are dismissed for redundancy (collective or otherwise) must be paid a compen...
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Where there is a change in the identity of the employer as a result of a share takeover the employment contracts of employees are not terminated, and the successor employer is held jointly liable with the previous employer for the fulfilm...
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Where the business is merged or disposed by means of inheritance or a will, through a donation, sale (including at an auction) or any o...
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The predecessor and successor employers are held jointly liable for the fulfilment of all of the obligations arising from the empl...
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Employees do not have a right to object to a transfer where it occurs as a result of a share acquisition, merger, or disposal through inheritance, donation or sale and does not terminate the employment contra...
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Where a transfer occurs as a result of a share acquisition, merger, or disposal through inheritance, donation or sale, the employment contracts are not terminated and remain in effect with the new employer. There is no principle of...
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Where there is a share acquisition, merger, or disposal through inheritance, donation or sale of the business, the predecessor and successor employers will be held jointly liable for the employees’ employment rights. ...
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Collective agreements do not automatically transfer by force of law. Whether a collective agreement transfers will depend on whether the agreement contains a provision binding future employers. ...
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Changes can only be made with the express agreement of employees. ...
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There is no specific protection in the law for dismissal in the context of a transfer. If an employer wishes to terminate employment during or after a transfer, it must have a lawful reason to do so under the same rules that would ...
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There is no obligation to inform or consult with employees or their representatives where there is a business transfer. ...
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There is no obligation to provide any information. ...
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No consultation is required. ...
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The employer is under no obligation to inform or consult. ...
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In Bahrain, trade unions act as the employee representatives and take the place of works councils. The trade union will not be disbanded upon transfer unless this is provided for in the collective agreement. ...
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Bahraini nationals must be registered with the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO), and both the employer and employee are required to make contributions to the pension fund. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals working in Bahrain must ...
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There is no requirement to provide employees with access...
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An employer can fund and operate its own pension scheme and, for Bahraini national...
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There are no requirements to consult with employees...
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Pensions administered by the SIO are not ...
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There is no requirement...
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The law does not prohibit employers from looking for information about job applicants that is in the public domain. However, privacy and data protection rules must be respected at all times during the selection and recruitment process (nota...
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Since 1 January 2014, it is no longer possible to include a probationary perio...
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Probationary periods are no...
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Job applicants can bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer. Belgian anti-discrimination law prohibits unlawful discrimination in relation to conditions for access to employment, including selection criteria a...
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A major overhaul of Belgian business immigration laws took effect as of January 2019. This overhaul largely abolished the previous ‘two tier’ system that required both a work permit (authorization to work in Belgium) and a separate resi...
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The employer must declare foreign workers who are posted from abroad (including EEA nationals) at www.limosa.be before the start of the employment in Belgium. A copy of the Limosa declaration must be kept by the employer. The foreign worker...
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In general, records about rejected candidates should be deleted as soon as it is clear that no job offer will be made or that the candidate does not accept such offer. This is based on the general GDPR principle that personal data may not b...
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The interview process aims to determine whether the applicant’s profile corresponds to the hiring criteria. Under the general GDPR principle of ‘data minimisation’, employers can only request information that is relevant to that funct...
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Under Belgian law, an individual will be considered an employee if he or she is managed by an employer, who can exercise ‘authority’ over him or her. This is the characteristic which distinguishes the self-employed worker from the emp...
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Belgian employment law continues to recognise the basic distinction between blue and white collar employees. However, the Constitutional Court has declared the distinction between blue collar and white collar employees discriminatory with r...
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Belgian law has created a presumption of self-employed status for people who exercise a ‘mandate’ in commercial companies. As the definition of a company mandate was not always clear, the issue of whether someone exercised a mandate, an...
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There is specific legislation regarding part-time employment. The legislation mainly focuses on working hours and work schedules. Strict formalities also apply to part-time employment contracts. There are several mechanisms t...
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Specific formalities apply to fixed-term employment contracts. Fixed-term employment requires a written ...
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Successive fixed-term contracts, concluded without any interruption caused by the employee, will convert into an indefinite-term contract unless the employer is a...
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An agency worker signs up with a temporary employment agency to work for one or more of the agency’s clients. Usually agency workers carry out their duties in the client’s workplace alongside the client’s employees. Only temporary wor...
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Generally, the leasing of personnel is prohibited, meaning that an employer must not let its employees work under the authority of another organisation (the ‘user’). In the case of a breach, the employee will be deemed to have an indefi...
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Generally, a written employment contract is not required. However, it is common practice for employers to provide a written employment contract. If there is no written contract, the contract will be considered to be a full-time contract for...
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It is not common practice in Belgi...
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There are mandatory legal provisions on the use of language for employment contracts, depending on the region in which the employer has its ‘operational offices’ (this is not necessarily the registered office of the company or where the...
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Certain terms are implied by law in all employment contracts. These are mandatory minimum obligations that must be respected by all employers and employees. For example, the parties must treat each other with mutual respect, decency and dig...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. The most common documents or parts of documents that exist alongside the employment contract and the mandatory legal provisions are wor...
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Generally, the employer must not change the contractual terms and conditions without the worker’s consent. However, changes to the terms and conditions by mutual agreement are possible and are often confirmed by signing a written addend...
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Each employee must be given a copy of the work regulations. If the employee has not received a copy, he or she is not bound by them. In the case of a dispute, the employer must prove the employee received a copy of the work regulations. The...
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The minimum wage is not set by law in Belgium, but by collective bargaining agreement. The wage varies according to the consumer price index. A national collective bargaining agreement concluded by the Conseil National du Travail provides a...
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Most sectors of industry set a sector-specific job category grid linking each function to a minimum wage. Employers must comply with the job category grid applicable within the relevant sector of industry and must pay the em...
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Tax The employer must withhold tax from the employee’s taxable salary and pay it to the Treasury. The withheld tax will be deducted from the employee’s final tax liability. The employer must also issue pay slips and an annual tax slip. ...
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An annual gross income of EUR 100,000 costs the employer EUR 127,000 (i.e. EUR 100,000 plus approximately 27% for employer social security contributions for a white-collar employee (April 2020), except where there are special social securit...
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There are no general rules governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can operate on an individual or collective level. Most bonus schemes are based on objectives to be achieved over a reference period. They can be either contractual o...
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Sector or industry-level rules, which are laid down in collective bargaining agreements, provide for various benefits and reimbursements. The most important and common benefit is the ‘13th month premium�...
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Most relevant and common benefits in kind include: luncheon vouchers which are exempt from social security contributions and tax and which can be used to purchase meals or food; group insurance for life, death and incapacity coverage; ...
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There are limits on daily and weekly working hours as follows: The maximum daily working time is generally nine hours in a five-day working week. As a rule, the average weekly working time is 38 hours. This may be increased to an effective...
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Employers may not deviate from the limits set in individual agreements with employees. However, systems may be introduced allowing an organisation to deviate from the daily and weekly working time limits, pursuant to a collective bargaining...
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Yes. The most common exempt categories are: sales representatives; home workers and teleworkers; employees with manageme...
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For now, there is no general time-recording obligation in Belgium. Employers are required to record working time only in certain cases. The following are the most notable: When applying gliding work schedules (i.e. where there is a ‘core...
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Yes. The law allows several forms of agile working, including the following: ‘Gliding’ work schedules (see section 5.2). Occasional teleworking, which simply requires a prior agreement between the...
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Overtime work is only permitted in exceptional cases determined by law, and it somet...
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No, if the legal conditions for overtime work are met, the employee must perform overtime. However, there are a few exceptions to t...
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In principle, overtime entitles employees to overtime pay and paid compensatory rest. Overtime pay consists of: at least 50% in addition to normal pay, for overtime during weekdays (including Saturday); at least 100% in addition to normal ...
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Employees are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. There are various exceptions to this rule depending on the type of activity. Young employees (i.e. 15 to 18 years old) are entitled t...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be: a claim by the employee to obtain arrears of salary and overtime pay if he or she was not sufficiently pa...
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Under Belgian law, the right to paid annual leave is accrued based on the days worked, and equivalent periods, in the calendar year immediately preceding the calendar year in which the employee takes leave. Consequently, a distinction must ...
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In relation to pay for holiday, a distinction must be made between blue-collar employees and white-collar employees. Blue-collar employees are entitled to annual leave pay equal to 15.38% of the annual gross salary that is taken into consid...
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Employees are entitled to ten public holidays per year in addition to annual leave: New Year’s Day (1 January); Easter Monday; Labour Day (1 May); Ascension; Whit Monday; National Holiday (21 July); Assumption (15 August); All Saints’ ...
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For the first days of sickness resulting from a non-occupational accident or illness, the employer must continue paying the employee’s gross salary. This is called ‘guaranteed salary’. Employees are not required to provide medical...
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The main statutory rights to family-related leave and pay are summarised below. It is rare for employers to offer more generous arrangements. Time off directly related to birth or adoption of a child A mother expecting a child is entitl...
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‘Career reduction 55+’ Employees who are at least 55 years old and who have worked for at least 25 years, of which at least two years must be with the relevant employer, are entitled to reduce their working time by half or one fifth. ...
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An employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. This obligation implies that the employer must ensure: a safe place of work; safe means of access to the place of work; a safe system of work; sa...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which the Health and Safety Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing. Inspectors have the power to enter premises and interview employees, supervisors or any other person, ...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, health and safety inspectors can issue an ‘improvement notice’, requiring a breach to be remedied within a specific period of time. They may also issue a ‘prohibition notice’, direc...
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Generally the employer will not be liable for accidents caused by the faulty work of a third-party contractor. However if a contractor is carrying out work on the organisation�...
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In Belgium, there is a legal obligation to notify the Occupational Health and Safety Inspectorate immediately after a fatality or after an accident which has led to permanent injuries. In addition, a report of the circumstances of the work ...
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There are 13 specific characteristics protected by the anti-discrimination law which came into force in 2007: age; sexual orientation; marital status; birth; wealth; religion or philosophical beliefs; political beliefs; language...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic if the difference in treatment is objectively justified by a legitimate objective and the requirement is proportionate to that objective. However, ...
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Indirect discrimination is prohibited. Indirect discrimination occurs where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice...
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Belgian anti-discrimination law stipulates that employees with a disability are entitled to reasonable adjustments. Refusal of these reasonable adjustments constitutes direct discrimination. The only possible justification for refusing an a...
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Harassment based on a protected discrimination criterion is considered to be a form of prohibited discrimination. As a result, the victims of harassment are protected by the same provisions as the victims of discrimination. Fu...
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If a discrimination complaint is filed by or on behalf of a person, the employer should not take a ‘disadvantageous measure’ (i.e. dismissal, unilateral modification of working conditions or a damag...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or victimisation is successful, an employment tribunal could: declare the discriminatory act or document void and possibly grant the victim the difference between any advantages he or she missed an...
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Under Belgian anti-discrimination law, when a person alleging discrimination presents facts sufficient to presume the existence of discrimination on the basis of one of the protected criteria, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to ...
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An employer is civilly liable for any discriminatory acts committed by its employees in the scope of the employment contract to the extent that the employees are u...
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All employers that are required to make a ‘social balance sheet’ (i.e. an annual accounting document) must split salary data in this sheet based on gender. Employers that employ at least 50 people on average must also pr...
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In Belgium, employers have a general legal obligation to guarantee the wellbeing of their employees at work, including their so-called psychosocial wellbeing. This means an employer must take measures to prevent psychosocial risks, includin...
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Discrimination claims based on anti-discrimination law are not very common in Belgium, but analysis shows that the number of cases is increasing. The Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism, called ‘Unia’, keeps ...
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In the event of unlawful discrimination, the victim may claim damages. Under the Anti-Discrimination Act, the person who has violated the principle of non-discrimination must pay compensation to the victim. The compensation will be (at...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an emplo...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for a use of social media that brings the employer into disrepute or i...
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At the time of writing there is no specific Belgian legislation on whistleblowing in the private sector. The new European Whistleblower Directive (discussed below) has not yet been transposed into Belgian national law. As a result, the empl...
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The law prohibits employees from revealing confidential information to third parties not only during but also after termination of the employment agreement in various ways. On the one hand, employees are prohibited from unlawfully obtaini...
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The law obliges an employee to act with loyalty in relation to his or her employer. This implies that an employee may not harm the employer’s interests and means that an employee is never allowed to compete with the employer during the em...
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There are certain legal prohibitions that apply during the employment relationship that also apply after termination. These involve a duty of confidentiality that prohibits revealing trade secrets as defined above and secrets concerning per...
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An employee is never allowed to compete with his or her employer in the course of employment, but when the contract is terminated, the employee regains the freedom to do so. Consequently, the ex-employee may engage in a competing business...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purpose is to regulate relations between employers and workers in the workplace. The unions are involved at all levels where employment conditions are discussed, as follows:...
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Workforces tend to be unionised. There is no official data on the number of union members, but the total number, including the retired, unemployed and students, is estimated at around 3.5 million....
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Employers are obliged to work with established trade unions. In Belgium there are four recognised trade unions: Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond – Conféderation des Syndicats Chrétiens (‘ACV-CSC’), which has catholic origins; Al...
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The role of employee representative bodies A works council is a joint body, comprised of workers’ and the employer’s representatives. It is primarily empowered to obtain economic and financial information, to be consulted on various m...
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There is no legal definition of what can be considered as a strike. As a rule, the right to strike means the right to stop working, as a coercive measure to achieve a certain goal. Although there is no legal provision in Belgium that recogn...
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Employers need to be able to provide a reason for the dismissal of any blue-collar or white-collar employee with more than six months’ service upon the employee’s request. There are certain exceptions, for example, the termination of te...
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Generally speaking, if an employer fails to communicate the reasons for a dismissal within two months of a request from the employee and does not respect the required formalities, the employee will be entitled to an additional lump sum inde...
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There are two processes used for termination and the employer has a discretionary right to choose between the two processes. An employment contract for an indefinite term may either be terminated by giving notice or by terminating the emplo...
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Several protections against dismissal on particular grounds apply. An employer that wishes to dismiss certain types of employees will need to adhere to strict dismissal procedures including adhering to the limited grounds for dismissal. The...
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Harmonised notice periods and dismissal rules for blue-collar and white-collar employees came into force in Belgium in 2014. These changes were provoked by the Belgian Constitutional court’s ruling that the different notice periods previo...
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The employment contract can be terminated without any formalities and with immediate effect upon payment of a lump sum corresponding to the remuneration the employee would have received had the employment contract been terminated with notic...
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In a situation where the employee decides to resign, the employee must either serve the statutory notice period or terminate the employment contract with immediate effect and make a payment in lieu of notice. In the event that the employee ...
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It is not possible to retire an employee compulsorily at the age of 65. Clauses in the employment contract providing for termination automatically on reaching retirement age are void. Therefore, the employment contract must be terminated by...
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Severance As a general rule, employees are not entitled to additional payments if they are terminated for reasons such as poor performance or redundancy except under specific conditions and/or up to a limited amount in cases of collective...
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The parties may validly enter into a settlement agreement concerning, amongst other matters, the length of the notice period or the payment of an indemnity in lieu of notice as soon as an employee is terminated with immediate e...
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An employer must inform and consult with employee representatives if considering multiple dismissals for economic or technical reasons. The information and consultation obligations are relatively limited and informal as long as the threshol...
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The following information must be provided to employee representatives in case of a collective dismissal process: The reasons for the proposed dismissals. The proposed method of selecting employees who may be dismissed. The number of emplo...
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Consultation must allow the employee representatives to ask questions, challenge the management’s proposal and suggest alternatives, aimed at: avoiding the dismissals; reducing the number of employees to be dismissed; mitigating th...
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If the employer fails to comply with the information and consultation requirements the consequences are the same for breach of either one or both requirements. If trade unions or individual employees believe that they have not been pr...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Belgian law. No specific order needs be taken into account in carrying out dismissals, unless this is determined at the level of the Joint Committee (a permanent body composed of em...
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Other payments that might apply in cases of collective redundancy include: Collective dismissal indemnity: if applicable, this corresponds for most employees to about 500 EUR per month, for a maximum period of four months. Closure inde...
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There is no specific protection for employees on share takeovers, as a share deal will not be...
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General Employee transfer law applies upon a change of employer resulting from a transfer of ‘an economic entity which will retain its identity after the transfer’. Various criteria must be considered, including: the type of business b...
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For the old employer: It must inform and consult with its respective employee representative bodies (i.e. the works council or, in its absence, the trade union delegation or, in their absence, the Committee for Protection and Prevention ...
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Generally, if the employee is not confronted with...
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Terms The employment contract is passed on automatically as it exists at the moment of transfer. This implies, for example, that notice periods or periods of leave (e.g. for pregnancy or time credits) continue to run and seniority continues...
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The old employer and new employer are jointly liable for the payment of debts flowing from employment contracts, if the debts existed at the moment of transfer. This means that, for example, ar...
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The new employer must respect the collective bargaining agreements by which the old employer was bound until their expiry. There are three types of collective bargaining agreements: A national agreement binds the entire private sector ...
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Employment contracts may not be changed at the time of the transfer. Unilateral changes are in principle not allowed. However, once the transfer has occurred, the new employer enjoys the ‘ius variandi’, i.e. the right to make reasonabl...
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There is no specific timeframe for a safe dismissal. Any employee involved in a transfer of business is protected against dismissal: the transfer as such cannot be a reason for the old employer or the new employer to terminate the employmen...
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Before making a decision about the transfer, both the old and new employer must inform and consult with their respective employee representative bodies (i.e. the works council or, in...
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The following information must be provided: the intended date of the transfer; ...
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Prior to making the decision concerning the transfer, both the old employer and the new employer must consult with their respective employee representative bodies (i.e. the works council or, in its absence, the trade union delegation or, in...
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The Social Criminal Code provides a sanction level 2 (administrative or criminal fine) for failure to inform and consult with the employee representative bodies. Moreover, the failure to inform or consult is also an infringement of the term...
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A transfer may affect the employee representative bodies (i.e. the works council, the Committee for Protection and Prevention at Work and the trade union delegation). If the old emp...
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The Belgian state pension for employees operates on a pay-as-you-go basis through social security. It provides a defined benefit (in the form of an annuity) determined on the basis of three factors: the duration of the individual’s car...
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There is no statutory requirement for an employer to provide employees with access to a pension scheme. However, once a pension scheme has been established, all employees meeting the eligibility criteria must become members of the scheme. H...
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Pension schemes must be managed by an insurance company or an institution for occupational retirement provision (‘IORP’). An IORP must be established as a legal entity separate from the sponsoring organisation, that is, an Organisation ...
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The employer has a statutory duty to inform and consult employees regarding the following aspects of pension schemes: the introduction or modification of the pension scheme, or its rules; a change of pension vehicle (e.g. group insuran...
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The employer’s contributions to a pension scheme are tax deductible provided they do not result in a total pension benefit, including the state pension expressed in annual annuities, which exceeds 80% of the last annual gross salary o...
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There is no legal requirement to discuss the pension scheme in the employment contract. Once the employee meets the eligibility conditions he or she will be entitled to participate in the pension scheme irrespective of any provisions in the...
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Well-being at work The employer must carry out investigations regarding well-being at work, in particular: Specific risk analysis of psychosocial risks at work when requested by a member of the employee’s hierarchical line or by at least...
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Employees are not generally obliged to report suspected misconduct, with the following caveats: Misconduct must be reported in situations where a failure to report would amount to failure to assist a person in danger under criminal laws. E...
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An employer should start an investigation as quickly as possible after becoming aware of the conduct, as strict legal deadlines apply if the employer wants to take action towards an employee. In particular: If the facts justify a dismissal...
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If an employee is interviewed about suspected misconduct, he or she can remain silent and refuse to comment, especially when the employee is suspected of behaviour that could be...
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The employee is usually not assisted by a lawyer i...
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The employer is in principle not obliged to provide all the evidence to the employee during an investigation. However: The employee should be given sufficient information t...
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At the time of writing there is no specific Belgian legislation on whistleblowing in the private sector. The new European Whistleblower Directive (discussed below) has not yet been transposed into Belgian national law. As a result, em...
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When a worker is accused of low performance, it is strongly advised that the employer document this, especially in cases where there may be subsequent legal action. Too often, low performance cannot be proven simply because evaluations or w...
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An employer must have informal and formal procedures in place for employees who believe that they have been the victims of (sexual) harassment, violence or other psychosocial risks at work. These procedures must be in line with the applicab...
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There are no legal requirements about wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. However, there is a legal prohibition against making any reference in a job advertisement to sex, age, race or fami...
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The recruitment process is part of the pre-contractual stage of an employment agreement. For this reason, both the employer and the candidate are under obligations to comply with labour law. However, the Brazilian consolidate...
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During the probationary period, the employment agreement is considered a contract for a fixed t...
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If a dismissal occurs at the end of a probationary period (i.e. a fixed-term agreement) the employer must only pay the balance of the salary, the prorated 13th month salary and holiday pay (i.e. one 12th for each month or period of 15 to 30...
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Yes. An applicant may bring a claim against an employer for discrimination in the hiri...
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Short-term work visas for technical assistance (up to 180 days, with no employment contract in Brazil) may be granted upon direct application to a Brazilian consulate, but only in the case of a legitimate emergency. These applications are a...
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The employer must keep records about foreign workers in the same way as Brazilian workers, t...
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Employers are not legally pre...
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Employers cannot ask questions that are irrelevant to the job or that woul...
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The basic factor used to determine whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor is whether there is subordination (i.e. where the employee is subject to orders from the organisation). The practical difference is that em...
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There are no special distinctions between blue and white–collar employees except that upper management may be exempt from regulations regarding work hours and overtime. Employees with a university degree earning more than twice the ma...
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Company directors and officers appointed pursuant to the corporate charter need not be registered as employees ...
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Part-time employment cannot exceed either (a) 30 hours per week, in which case overtime is forbidden; or (b) 26 hours per week, in which case up to six hours of overti...
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Fixed-term employment is only allowed in special circumstances, as follows: where the nature of the services justifies the fix...
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A fixed-term employment contract converts...
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The engagement of temporary workers through an employment agency is only permitted in special circumstances, namely: where there is a need to substitute the regular and permanent workforce during a transition period; or in the event of a t...
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The employer may put its employees at the disposal of another organisation only in the special circumstances of temporary employment through an employment agency. The maximum ...
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The employer is required to specify the main terms of the employment on the employee’s labour card (the ‘Carteira de Trabalho e Previdência Social’, the ‘CTPS’). These are: the name, address and taxpayer number of the employer; ...
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It is not common practice in Brazil to issue an...
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The employment contract must be in Portugue...
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Terms that are always implied into an employment contract include anything provided by labour law or a collective bargaining agreement applicable to the organisation, for example: the right to weekly paid rest; a 13th month salary; holiday...
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The written employment agreement need not repeat the provisions of the law, collective bargaining agreements or the internal norms of the company, as these are automatically in...
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Changes to employment contracts are only permitted if both parties agree, unless otherwise provided by law (e.g. the employer’s right to change the remote work regime into onsite work, or to designate the employee to work for other compan...
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In Brazil, all policies and rules are deemed to form part of t...
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The minimum wage in Brazil depends on location and professional category. There is a federal minimum wage set by the government which applies by default if there are no specific rules in the relevant collective bargaining agreement or in st...
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The minimum wage is normally adjusted once a year by a little more than the rate of inflation, depending on political factors. For wages generally, adjustments depend on whether there is a collective bargaining agreement or c...
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Tax Income tax rates vary depending on the employee’s remuneration. The employer must make the deductions from the employee’s salary both for social security and income tax and pay those amounts to the government. Currently, the...
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An employee with an income of EUR 100,000 who is married with two children would be treated for tax and social security as follows. The employee would be subject to a 27.5% income tax rate, but for the monthly withholding of income tax ther...
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There are three fundamental categories of bonuses: Bonuses stipulated by contract, company policy or a job offer must be taken into consideration for the purposes of income tax withholding and other payroll costs. Those payroll costs inclu...
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By law, only a transport voucher (‘vale-transporte’) need be provided as a benefit to the employee, but the employee must bear the cost of it up to 6% of his or her salary and the employer must pay the remainder. It is comm...
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The following benefits are usually made available...
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There is a daily limit of eight hours and a weekly limit of 44 hours on the number of hours an employee may work. Collective bargaining agreements may change these limits to six and 36 in rotating shifts, or under justifiable c...
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The limits on working hours may be increased by collective bargaining agreement by up to two hours per day through an ‘hour account’ (‘banco de horas’) whereby employees can take time off work instead of being paid for overtime. Aft...
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There are three categories of exempt employees in Brazil: management, meaning employees who can legally represent the company or have some degree of authority to carry out transactions or administrative actions on behalf of the company...
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Any employer with more than twenty employees must keep a written record of the employees’ working time. The record may be manual, mechanical or electronic. If the record is made electronically, the employer must use one of the systems p...
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All of these types of initiatives are permitted, provided that: employees switching positions will have an equivalent workload and responsibilities, and will not undertake assignments for which they have no training or qualific...
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The law provides that a worker cannot be required to work more than two hours of overtime per day, unless there is an urgent and unpredicted need. In practice, however, employers do sometimes require employees to work more than two hours of...
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No, consent fro...
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The legal rate for overtime is 50% for overtime wo...
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Employees who work between four and six hours per day are entitled to a 15 minute meal break. Employees who work more than six hours per day are entitled to a meal break of a minimum o...
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If an employer exceeds the limit on daily or weekly working hours, it must pay employees at the overtime rate. If an employer breaks the rule...
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Employees are entitled to 30 calendar days’ leave a year. Leave must not be split into more than three periods, one of which must be at least 14 days and none may be shorter than five. The employee may sell up to ten days ...
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During holidays, employees are entitled to normal remuneration, including: salary and any other fixed amounts of this kind, including additional pay for hazardous or dangerous work or for length of service; and the average of any variable ...
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Employees are entitled to paid time off for one day per week (on Sunday at least once a month) and public holidays. There are both national and local public holidays in Brazil. The national holidays are: 1 January; Holy Friday (unfixed d...
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For the first 15 days of sickness, it is the employer’s responsibility to pay the salary of a sick employee. From the 16th day, the employee can claim a social security benefit. It is the government, through the Social Security system (...
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Maternity leave is generally for a period of 120 days. Additional periods of 15 days before and 15 days after are permitted if necessary for health reasons. The total cost of the salary is borne by the government through the Social Security...
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Other types of paid leave include: three consecutive days for marriage; two consecutive days for the death of a spouse, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, sibling or other person who is financially...
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Since the enactment of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, employees are entitled to a reduction in the risks of work by means of health and safety rules. There is an obligation on the em...
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Occupational health and safety rules are set out in rules issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Emp...
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An employer that does not comply with health and safety laws could be held civilly and/or criminally liable for any occupational accidents and diseases. It is a criminal offence to expose someone’s lif...
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An organisation engaging temporary or outsourced workers is responsible for health and safety for any work performed at its premises or at any oth...
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In Brazil there is a legal obligation to issue a ‘W...
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The Brazilian Constitution and law forbids any form of discrimination, including but not limited to: gender; origin; race; colour; marita...
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Brazilian law has certain exceptions which permit and, indeed, require that the employer treat employees differently. These exceptions are for: employees with any type of disability (for jobs requiring particular physical skills); pregnant...
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There is no duty on...
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Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees, including adjustments to the workstation, equipment (e.g. softwa...
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A new ordinance effective as of March 2023 issued by the Ministry of Labour amends the existing regulation on employers’ internal occupational health committee (the ‘CIPA’) to include new obligations to prevent and remedy incidents of...
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There is indirect protection against victimisation and retaliation, but no direc...
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The employer could be held civilly liable for breaches of discrimination law, and the penalty imposed on the employer could be a payment of an indemnity for moral harm caused to the employee. If the court finds that the employer has discrim...
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The plaintiff has the initial burden to prove the facts and causation, i.e. that a discriminatory act occurred and that it was connected to the work/employment. The employer then has the burden to either disprove the facts...
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The employer is vicariously l...
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On 3 July 2023, Brazil implemented a new law aimed at enhancing existing regulations on salary equality. The law builds upon the foundation of the previous legal framework, which already included the principle of equal pay for equal work. T...
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Employers have a general obligation to keep work environments physically and mentally safe and reduce inherent risks. Workers in stressful jobs may have special conditions set by governmental regulation or collective bargaining agreements. ...
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Discrimination claims a...
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Under Brazilian statutory law, the amount of an award in a discrimination case depends on the circumstances. Awards for non-economic (i.e. moral) damages in cases of discrimination range from five to 50 times the employee’s monthly salary...
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The employee’s privacy, private life and honour are inviolable and are protected by the Brazilian Constitution and various laws. These laws include the recently enacted Personal Data Protection Law or ‘LGPD’, which comes into full for...
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A court may impose a penalty on an employer that breaches the privacy, private life and honour of employees. The penalty could be the payment of an indemnity for moral damages caused to the individual. The amount will depend on the facts,...
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Any and all processing of personal data (including employees’ confidential information), regardless of the lawfulness of the processing activity, must abide by the principles provided for by the LGPD, namely: necessity, purpose, transpare...
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Monitoring of employees is permitted if it is reasonable and justifiable, and provided that their personal data is processed in accordance with a legal basis established by the LGPD, as set forth in 9.3 above. Surveillance cameras are permi...
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Employers’ proprietary information is legally protected from unauthorised disclosure or use. Violation may be a criminal offence. Therefore, the primary purpose of any policy concerning social media should be to prevent disclosure of prop...
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There is no specific legal provision on whistle-blowing. However, if the employee can prove that termination occurred because of this, he or she might be entitled to moral damages and maybe reinstatement. It is not necessary for employers t...
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All employees have a statutory duty of confidentiality, which survives the employment agreement. If an employee has access to any knowledge, information or confidential data through a contractual or employment relationship and divulges, exp...
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During an employment contract, a non-compete obligation is automatic and ...
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Brazilian law forbids the use by employees of any confidential information belonging to the former employer. Brazilian law is silent on the issue, but what is reasonable will depend on the industry. For example, in IT, the informati...
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The employer can enter into a non-compete agreement with the former employee. This agreement must observe the requirements for the non-compete clause. A specific definition of the type of business that is prohibited must be provided in the ...
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Trade unions have statutory authority to represent and defend the economic, professional, social and political interest...
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All employees are, by law, represented by a trade union. As of 13 November 2017, they are no longer required to make an annual contribution of one day’s pay. The relevant collective bargaining agreement may provide for voluntary contribut...
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If an established trade union exists, the employer must work with it. In Brazil, there are separate trade unions responsible for representing employees’ and employers’ interests. Trade unions and trade associations are organ...
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There are two representative bodies in Brazil: the union and the employees’ committee. The union has exclusive authori...
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Strikes are permitted only if the company or companies refuse to negotiate with the union. Other stoppages are illegal, but in practice are not ...
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Termination without cause is legally permissible at the employer’s will, unless the employee has special protection against dismissal of some description ...
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In cases of termination without cause, the employer must pay an...
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There is no legal process that must be followed before terminating an employee. However, there is an exception to this in cases of termination for cause of union representatives. In such cases, the employer must bring an action (‘judicial...
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The types of legal ‘stability’, or special protection against dismissal, are: pregnancy or maternity (from the beginning of pregnancy until five months after the child’s birth); union representation (from the moment the employee ente...
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For indefinite term employment contracts, the minimum notice period is 30 days. If the employee has more than one year of service, the employee has a right to an additional three days for each new one-year period, up to a limit of 90 days, ...
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The employer can make a payment in lieu of notice. In cases of termination for cause, termin...
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If the employee resigns, he or she will normally be paid accrued wages and benefits only, and will forfeit severance. However, if ...
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Although compulsory retirement exists in the publ...
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In the event of termination without cause at the end of an open-ended employment agreement (i.e. expiry of the term), the employer must pay: the balance of salary and other compensation or incentive, pro-rated as appropriate; an indemn...
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Settlement agreements are not binding, unless entered into before a judge in a labour court. Law reform in effect from ...
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In Brazil termination is ‘at-will’, meaning that both the employee and employer can terminate the employment relationship at any time. The law does not distinguish between multiple and individual dismissals. Nevertheless, employers are ...
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Organisations should give notice to the relevant trade union of the number of employees being dismissed and the...
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Although there is no legal requirement to consult the trade union, best practice would be to communicate the dism...
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According to case law, where an employer has failed to provide information about terminations to the trade union, the t...
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There is no statutory selec...
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There are no further specific payments mandated by law. However, under the case la...
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Employment agreements are protected by labour law from changes in the corporate structure. Employees are not protected from termination, but from detrimental changes to the terms and conditions of the employment agreement if the pe...
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Sale of a business There is an automatic transfer if the deal is an equity deal. If it is sale of assets, the employees’ prior consent in writing is needed, unless the deal involves a major sale of the assets (e.g. the entire operation)...
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If a business is sold, the new employer replaces the old employer, except in cases of fraud. The employment agreement, along with all its terms and conditions and any labour liabilities transfer to the new employer. The same rul...
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If the transfer is the result of an equity deal, it will take effect automatically by operation of law. If it is an asset sale, the employees’ express consent is required unless the deal involves a major sale of the corporate assets ...
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Terms New employment contracts and policies can be agreed but the transferee must preserve the most favourable provisions of the old contracts and not make new arrangements that are to the detriment of the employees. Benefits If the...
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All labour, tax, civil and administrative liabilities transfer with the employee. This includes all liabilities that are still within the statute of limitations of five years. The only exception is individual liability for criminal prose...
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There are two types of collective agreements: those that apply to the entire industry (between the trade union and the employers’ association) and those specific to one company (or group of companies). The ones that apply to the whole ind...
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Changes can be made to the employees’ terms provided they are not detrimental to the employees. If the new employment terms are less favourable than the terms offered by the transferor, the transferee can still implement them, provided ...
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Whether or not the business has transferred, the rules are the same. Generally, an employer may terminate any employee who does not have special protection (‘stability’) at any time. It is not necessary for the role to be redundant. How...
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There is no requirement to consult with employees or their representatives if there is a business transfer. However, if the transfer of the business requires a change to the employees’ place of residence, the employees must be con...
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No information need be provided. ...
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No consultation is required by law. ...
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No consultation is required by law. ...
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Brazil does not have work councils. Trade unions are not affected because they are organized by trade and region, not by company. ...
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Brazil has a public social security system and a private pension system. Public Social Security System The social security system is funded by employers and employees. As a matter of law, under every ordinary employment agreement both the e...
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Under every ordinary employment agreement, both the employer and the employee are required to fund, directly or indirectly, the public social security system. This gives the employee automatic entitlement to the public pension scheme.�...
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The employer may operate its own pension plan within the closed system of private pension schemes. This is a specific pension arrangement which applies to employees in a particular organisation or group of organisations. ...
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According to Brazilian law, in all cases, details of any change to a closed pension scheme (i.e. a specific pension arrangement which applies to all employees in a particular organisation or group) must be submitted to the ...
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Employer contributions to the employees’ pension scheme can be deducted from corporate income tax (‘Imposto de Renda das Pessoas Jurídicas’, or ‘IRPJ’) and social contribution over profit (‘Contribuição Social�...
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Given that the social security system is mandatory and applies to all labour relationships, nothing in this regard need be mentioned in the employment agreement. In the case of closed pension schemes (i.e. specific pension arrangement...
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Employers are not legally obliged to conduct an investigation except to substantiate the dismissal of a union legal representative. These representatives have protection against involuntary dismissal, and termination for cause...
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Employees are not generally obliged to report misconduct, but there are sanctions applicable to employees holding specific duties subject to regulation, such as occupational health, corpor...
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Investigations should be undertaken as soon as possible, because disciplinary actions cannot be delayed after the facts and responsibilities are known; otherwise, a tacit pardon will apply. There are no statutory deadlines, and common s...
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No. Employees (including employees suspected of misconduct) may participate in an investigation based on the principle of good faith and cooperation with company policies and abiding by its authority, but they are not obliged to do...
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No. The investigation is an inquisitorial procedure, so the employee does not have the right to defence, legal representation or cross-examination of witnesses. Interviewing the subject of an investigation is generally advisable, and...
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No. The investigation is solely for the employer’s internal use to substantiate an...
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There is no specific legal provision on whistleblowing. However, if the employee can prove that termination occurred because of whistleblowing activity, he or she might be entitled to moral damages and possibly reinstatement. E...
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The law does not require any specific standards or processes for dealing with low performance. However, in Brazil, termination without cause (i.e. for convenience) is always a possibility, except for temporary circumstances of protection ag...
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There is no specific requirement for how grievances should be handled, and consequently the company is free to set up its own internal rules and process. The process usually varies according to the complexity of the case. Situations of c...
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There is no express legal requirement regarding the wording or details of the job advertisement. However, under data protection law the employer should o...
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Certain pre-hire background checks are mandatory in Bulgaria. In particular, the employer is required to obtain the following documents in order to enter into an employment contract with an approved candidate: identity card or passp...
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The parties may agree to a probationary period of up to six months where the nature of the work requires confirmation of the employee’s ability to perform it, or where the employee wishes to verify that the work is suitable. In practice, ...
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During the probationary period the parties have the same rights an...
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An applicant can bring an action in the courts against the prospective employer for discrimination in the hiring proces...
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EU Nationals Citizens of countries within the European Economic Area and Switzerland (EU nationals) do not need work authorisations in order to work in Bulgaria. However, when an EU national is posted to Bulgaria by a foreign employer, th...
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Upon employing a worker who is a foreign national, the...
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Employers may keep personal data of candidates they did not hire for up to six ...
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Employers cannot ask questions relating to discriminatory criteria such as gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, human genome, citizenship, origin, religion or belief, education, political affiliation, personal or social status, disa...
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An employment contract is a contract under which an individual provides his own labour to perform work (as defined in a job description) in return for remuneration. Employment contracts are governed by the mandatory provisions of the Bulgar...
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Bulgarian law does not expressly regulate the status of th...
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Statutory managers of companies (managers, Executive Directors, and members of the Management Board or Board of Directors) enter into management contracts rather than employment contracts. Statutory managers working under management contrac...
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An employment contract for part-time work must specify the duration and allocation of the working time. A contract for part-time employment will be treated as a contract for normal working time if the labour authorities find that the employ...
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Fixed-term employment contracts may be concluded only in the following cases: for a period not longer than three years for temporary, seasonal or short-term work, or for new employees entering companies that have been declared bankrupt or ...
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An employment contract for a fixed term is converted into an indefin...
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Bulgarian law includes statutory rules regarding the activities of enterprises providing temporary or leased workers (outsourcing companies) and the employers that use these temporary workers (user undertakings). The primary rules are as fo...
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An employer may put its employees at the disposal of another employer in two main cases: In the context of secondment, where explicit rules apply. Employers may second their emplo...
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Employment contracts must be in writing, and may be either for an indefinite period of time or for a fixed term. They must specify as a statutory minimum: The identities of the parties. This includes a detailed description of the employer ...
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Under Bulgarian law an offer letter is not...
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There is no statutory requirement for an employment contract to be executed in the...
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The Bulgarian Labour Code sets minimum standards for the relationship between the employer and the employee. The majority of its provisions...
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No. In most cases the employment contract contains only the statutory minimum contents required unde...
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In general, changes to an employment contract can be made only with the express written consent of the employee in the form of an annex or addendum to the contract. There are only few instances (exhaustively listed in the Labour Code) in wh...
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Apart from contractual documents, the employer must provide to employees: information on workplace and working conditions; information on maintaining a healthy and safe working environment; a job description; instruction on the per...
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The basic statutory minimum monthly wage, effective as of 1 January 2023, is BGN 780. The Council of Ministers sets the minimum basic monthly wage, taking into consideration factors such as economic development and inflation. The amount is ...
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Apart from updating the amount of the statutory minimu...
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Tax Employers are required to make deductions from the employees’ salary for income tax in the amount of 10% of the employees’ gross pay on an annual basis. Social Security Both employers and employees have to make manda...
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The amount of social security contributions is subject to a cap on the maximum monthly insurance income, which for 2021 is BGN 3,000 (approximately EUR 1,500). An increase of the maximum monthly insurance income in mid-year 2022 is expected...
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An employee is entitled by law to additional monthly pay for relevant length of service and professional experience in the minimum amount of 0.6% over the base monthly salary for each year of relevant professional experience. This minimum...
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Employers are required to provide employees with hot food, beverages and other facilities for the effective performance of night work. Otherwise, there are no required employee benefits. ...
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Employers may (but are not required to) provide employees the following benefits: organized food service (i.e. canteen); shopping and welfare services; commuter transport services between the place of residence and the w...
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The normal working time is limited to eight hours a day within a five-day working week. The maximum working week is 40 hours. The normal working hours are reduced for two categories of employees: The normal work day is limited...
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The normal working time cannot be exceeded by agreement except as provided by law in the following cases: Extension of daily working time: for production reasons, the employer may, by a written order, extend the working time on so...
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There are certain exceptions from the rules as discussed in sections 5.1 and 5.2 above. However, there are no blanket categories of employees who are exempt from the rules on working time. ...
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Employers must have a mechanism for measuring and reporting the duration of their employees’ working hours (this implicitly includes breaks during the working day). However, there are no further statutory criteria that the system m...
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Self-managing interdisciplinary teams There are no specific rules on interdisciplinary teamwork. Flexible working time Part-time work is generally allowed, so long as the parties specify the duration and the allocation of the working ...
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Overtime work generally cannot exceed 150 hours in a calendar year. It also cannot exceed: 30 hours of day work or 20 hours of night work during one calendar month; six hours of day work or four hours of night work duri...
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In general, consent from employees is not required. However, an order for overtime work must be communicated to the affected employees at least 24 hours in advance. When necessary, the overtime order for each employee must specify which ...
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Overtime work is compensated by an increased rate of pay agreed between the employee and the employer but no less than: 50% for work on working days; 75% for work on weekends; 100% for work on public holidays. ...
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Employees are entitled during each normal working day to a rest break for a meal, which may not be shorter than 30 minutes. These meal breaks are not included in the working time. In continuous production processes and at enterprises...
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There are no sanctions that relate specifically to a breach of the limits on working hours and breaks. However, any employer that violates the provisions of labour legislation (other than the health and safety rules) is ...
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All employees are entitled to basic paid annual leave if they have at least four months of service (with any employer). The amount of the basic paid annual leave is twenty working days in each leave year, not counting public and bank holida...
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During annual leave, the employee is entitled to remuneration calculated on the basis of the average daily gross remuneration paid by the employer for the last calendar month during which the employee...
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Employees are entitled to paid time off for official public holidays. The official public holidays in Bulgaria are as follows: January 1 – New Year; March 3 – Day...
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Employees are entitled to leave for temporary incapacity to work due to: general sickness; occupational disease or employment injury; rehabilitation treatment; urgent medical examinations or tests; quarantine or suspensio...
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Maternity leave Female employees are entitled to 410 days of paid pregnancy and childbirth leave for each child, 45 days of which must be used before birth. They have the right to cash benefits during this leave, provided that they have a...
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Employees are also entitled to leave for the performance of civic, public and other duties and educational leave. Some of these are paid and others are unpaid. ...
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Employers are required to ensure healthy and safe working conditions. Employers’ primary obligations in this regard are set out in the Labour Code and workplace health and safety legislation. There ...
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The first main action that the employer must undertake is to conclude an agreement with a labour medicine service. The appointed labour medicine service will be the most important partner of the emplo...
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Any person who violates the rules for provision of health and safety at work will be subject to a fine between BGN 100 and BGN 500, unless the law provides for a more sev...
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Whenever an employer’s employees are working in a workplace administered by another employer, both employers have a joint obligation to ensure that the conditions of health and safety at work are ensured. ...
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Where there is an accident at work the injured employee, his or her manager or the witnesses to the accident must notify the Manager of the employer or another official appointed by&nbs...
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Bulgarian anti-discrimination legislation provides that any direct or indirect discrimination on the following grounds is forbidden: gender; race or ethnicity; nationality&nbs...
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Despite the general rules set out in section 8.1 above, some actions do not constitute discrimination, and these include (among others): treating persons differently on the basis of their citizenship where th...
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Bulgarian law prohibits discrimination on any protected ground in recruitment, working conditions, pay, performance-evaluation criteria, vocational training, qualification, career, disciplinary measures, and the most common types of un...
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Employers have a duty to ensure equal working conditions for their employees. This can include making reasonable adjustments in several areas: Employers are obliged to adapt the work...
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Yes. The employer, in cooperation with the trade unions, is required to take effective measures to prevent any form of discrimination in the workplace. An employer who has received a complaint from an employee who believ...
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Persecution (i.e. retaliation or victimisation) is also considered discrimination. Persecution is: less favourable treatment of a person who has taken, or is assumed to have taken or will take, action ...
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An employee who believes that he or she has been discriminated against is entitled to bring a complaint against the employer before the Commission on Protection Against Discrimination, which may impose administrative measures or f...
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The statutory rule is that in proceedings for protection against discrimination, after the party claiming to have been discriminated against provides facts suggesting that discrimination has occurred, the respondent must prove that the...
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The employer, in cooperation with the trade unions, must take effective measures to prevent any form of unlawful discrimination in the workplace. If the employer fails to fulfil this obligation, it is...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. ...
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Under Bulgarian legislation when a termination is based on (i) a partial closure of the enterprise or staff cuts, (ii) a reduction of the volume of work, (iii) the employee’s inability to efficiently perform the work, (iv) changed jo...
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As per the official statistics maintained by the Commission for protection against discrimination, in 2020 there have been: 910 filed complaints; 591 proceedings initiated upon these complaints; 412 proceedings self-initiated b...
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In the event of discrimination or a breach of rights and duties in an employment relationship, the employee or the job applicant has the right to bring a claim before the Commission on the Protection against Discriminati...
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Personal data protection, including the protection of employee information, is regulated in detail at the EU level by the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’). The GDPR establishes various rights and obligations pertaining to the...
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The maximum sanctions for violation of the personal data protection rules established in the GDPR could reach up to...
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The employer must carry out and document an assessment of whether the intended personal data processing operations are in compliance with the requ...
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There are no specific local restrictions related to the described surveillance practices. However, the European Data Protection Board has issued multiple guidelines on...
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The employer has the right to limit the usage of social media in the workplace and on company owned devices. However, monitoring employees’ access and use of social media websites would likely be a disproportionate (and therefore illegal)...
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Bulgaria has transposed the 2019 EU Whistleblower Directive by means of the local Protection of Persons Who Report or Publicly Disclose Information on Breaches Act (the ‘Whistleblower Act’). The Whistleblower Act provides protecti...
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Employees have a legal obligation to keep confidential information that has become known to them through or in connection with their employment. This duty stems directly from the Bulgarian Labour Code and the general principle that one must...
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The employer may negotiate and include a non-compete clause in the employment contract that is enforceable throughout the duration of the employment. Under Bulgarian employment legislation, the employee may enter into employment contracts w...
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In practice, any contractual restriction of the use of confidential information is not agreed at the end of the employment relationship, but rather at the start of it or during its course. The confidentiality clause usually includes a post-...
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In 2010 the Bulgarian Supreme Court issued a milestone decision on the validity of post-termination non-compete clauses, expressly ruling that such clauses are invalid as violating the law. The court held that under the Constitution of the ...
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The Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Labour Code guarantee the freedom of trade union association. Employees are entitled, by their own choice and with no prior permission, to freely form trade union organisations ...
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There are two major trade unions with nationwide coverage: The Confederation of Independent...
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The initiative to form a trade union or join a broader union organisation belongs solely to the employees in the enterprise. The Bulgarian Labour Code only requires an employer to conduct negotiations with a trade union for a collective bar...
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All employees within an organisation form the Employees’ General Meeting, regardless of the headcount at the employer. Where a limited liability company or a joint stock company has more than 50 employees, their representatives are al...
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Bulgarian law regulates the procedure for settling collective labour disputes between employees and employers on issues pertaining to employment, social security relations, and living standards. Under the law, employees are represented in c...
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An employer may terminate an employment contract only on certain grounds listed in the Bulgarian Labour Code and following a specific procedure. The procedure and grounds for termination are not freely negotiable between the parties. The pr...
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The employee can challenge a dismissal in court within two months. If the court finds the dismissal unlawful, the consequences for the employer could include: Annulment of the dismissal and a declaration that it wa...
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Yes, each termination ground is associated with a specific procedure to be followed and documents to be issued. As a minimum requirement, the employer must serve a written notice to the employee, indicating the grounds for the termination a...
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When termination is based on (i) a partial closure of the enterprise or staff cuts, (ii) a reduction of the volume of work, (iii) the employee’s inability to efficiently perform the work, (iv) changed job requirements that the employee do...
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The statutory notice period is at least 30 days but not mor...
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Yes, in cases where the employer terminates the empl...
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The employee may terminate the employment contract with notice without stating any reasons. The employee may terminate the employment contract without notice in the following circumstances (this list is not exhaustive): the employee is un...
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It is not generally lawful to force an employee to retire. However, when the emp...
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In each case of termination (irrespective of the termination grounds) the employee is entitled to compensation for any accumulated unused paid annual leave. Where the termination is due to (i) closure of the enterprise or of a part thereof,...
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If the termination is done by mutual consent, the employer and the employee usually...
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There are detailed rules regarding information and consultation for mass dismissals. Mass dismissals are dismissals on the employer’s initiative for one or more reasons not related to the individual employee concerned, where the numbe...
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Where an employer is contemplating mass dismissals, the employer must begin consultations with representatives of the employees and the trade unions in good time but not later than 45 days before the dismissals are to take effect. The emplo...
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The procedure and manner for conducting the mass dismissal consultations i...
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In the event an employer fails to perform its information and consultation obligations, the trade union or the employee representatives ...
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A selection process is compulsory when the employer keeps identical or similar positions to those that are eliminate...
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No additional payments are associated with c...
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The Bulgarian Labour Code provides that the employment relationship is not terminated in the event of a change of the employer due to: merger by incorporation; merger by acquisition; distribution of the operations of one enterprise between...
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Yes, the sale of the employer’s business (or part thereof) to a new employer triggers the rules regarding automatic transfer of employees as a result of a transfer of undertaking. These rules set out the framework for the transfer of the...
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In a transfer of undertaking, the following general legal principles apply: The rights and obligations of the old employer arising from employment relationships existing as at the date of the transfer are transferred to the new employ...
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In Bulgaria affected employees transfer ...
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Terms The terms and conditions of the individual employment contracts transfer automatically (i.e. by operation of law). Benefits Benefits which are not part of the employment contract must be carefully reviewed. There is no express legal r...
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In a transfer of undertaking, the rights and obligations of the old employer ari...
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The Labour Code provides that in a transfer of undertaking,...
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Changes to the employment contracts can generally only be made with the explicit written consent of the employee (in the form of an amendment or addendum to the employment contract). There are only few instances (exhaustively listed in the ...
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In Bulgaria any dismissals made around the time of the transfer (either by the old employer or by the new one) must be conducted as any other dismissal accordin...
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Prior to effecting a transfer, the old employer and the new employer must provide information to the trade union representative and employee representatives of e...
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Both the old employer and the new employer must provide written information to their employees regarding the following: the change and the scheduled date of the transfer; the reasons for the change; the possible...
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Usually the consultations are focused on potential changes to the organization of the working process (e.g. working shifts and reporting line...
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If any of the employers fail to follow the information and consultation procedures, the trade union or the employee repr...
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If the enterprise, activity or a part of an enterprise or activity preserves its self-contained nature after the transfer, the elected employee repres...
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The pension security system in Bulgaria is based on the so called ‘three pillars’: The first pillar is mandatory state pension insurance through the State Social Security Institute, paid for by obligatory contributions to the state P...
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Employers do not have an obligation to provide employees to access to private pension schemes. The only requirement for employers is to withhold and pay the mandatory social security contributions to the state budget. Part of these contribu...
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Additional voluntary pension insurance is implemented through participation in funds which are incorporated and managed by licensed pension insurance companies. Any natural person who has reached the age of 16 and who works for an employe...
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The terms and conditions of a professional pension insurance scheme established by a collective bargaining agreement or another type of collective agreement may only be changed through the procedure provided in such agreement. This will in ...
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The income from compulsory social insurance in Bulgaria or abroad (including pensions) is not subject to taxation. ...
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Employment contracts do not generally contain special provisions regarding pensions entitlement. This is neither required under the law nor customary. ...
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Under Bulgarian anti-discrimination legislation, employers are obliged to carry out an investigation if they have received a...
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Employees have no general legal obligation to repo...
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In the event of a complaint of harassment at the workplace, the employer must immediately investigate, take measur...
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Whether employees are obliged to participate in an investigation is not expressly regula...
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Representation in an investigation is not expressly regulated by ...
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In general, there is no legal requirement on the employer to provide the employee with all of the evidence. However, where an investiga...
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No. The EU Directive on the prote...
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The law entitles the employer to terminate a low-performing or non-performing employee unilaterally with notice. The specific legal grounds for such termination are referred to as ‘lack of qualities by the employee for efficient work perf...
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The specifics of handling grievances (other than what is discussed in ...
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There are no legal requirements for wording of job advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. Employers should avoid wording that is discriminat...
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Chilean law does not prohibit or restrict background checks. A future employer may obtain information regarding new applicants without any statutory limitations. However, organisations should avoid questions, tests, or enquiries that could ...
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The law does not provide for a probationary period. The only exception to this is a two-week term that i...
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There are no rules governing dismissal during a probationary period, as probatio...
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Job applicants can bring claims for discrimination against a prospective employer before the Labour Authority, which is the Labour Inspection Body. A claim may be based on any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, ...
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Employers are only allowed to hire foreign nationals who have a temporary residence or permanent residence permit which enables them to work, or those who are otherwise duly authorised to do so. The hiring of foreigners without such permits...
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There are no specific rules in relation to employing foreign workers. However, in order to prepare for inspections of the immigration authority employers should retain a copy of the relevant permission to work. In addition, for national a...
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Yes, employers can keep recor...
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Employers should avoid any potentially discriminatory questions. This would inclu...
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The distinction between employees and independent contractors is based on the characteristics of the services provided. The employer/employee relationship exists when it is subordinate or dependent. When the services are performed without t...
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Employment law does not draw distinctions between types of employees and applies equally to all, so as to offer protection r...
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Special rules apply to the employment of company directors in terms of dismissal and severance payments. Employees who have the power to represent the employer, such as managers, executives, directors, assistant managers, agents or lawyers ...
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Part-time employees are classed as any employee who works fewer than 30 hours per week. Part-time employees are entitled to the same rights and benefits as full-time employees, proportionate to the number of hours actually worked. Although ...
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Fixed-term contracts may be executed for a maximum period of one year. However, the maximum period is two years for managers or...
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The continued performance of duties after a fixed term of one or two years (depending on the employee’s position or level of education as mentioned above in section 2.5) converts the contract into one of indefinite duration. A second exte...
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Employees providing services for a temporary period are subject to a fixed-term employment contract, which may be agreed to for up to one year, and exceptionally for two years. A temporary...
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The general rule in Chile is that an employee works for the organisation which hired him or her and provides services to the employer which gives orders and instructions...
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According to labour law, every employment agreement is consensual, but must be established in a written contract. Two copies must be signed, one for the employer and one for the employee. The employer must prepare the employment contract ...
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In Chile is not standard practice to issue an offer letter to ...
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According to labour authority criteria, the employment contract, employment contract addenda, internal rules and the employer’s policies must be written in Spanish. However, the contract may be executed in English and Spanish, both of whi...
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Certain obligations derived from the legal and ethical nature of the contract are implied into all employment contracts. The most significant implied obligations are: the mutual duty of trust and confidence between employer and employee; a...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents into the contract of employment. The most common do...
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Employers may change the contractual terms and conditions of an employment contract if the employee agrees to the change. Generally, any modification to the employment contract needs the mutual agreement of the parties and the employer is n...
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Some companies provide employees with a handbook which contains internal policies and rules. An employer might also have other policies, depending on the type of organisation and its business. If a document is intended to be contractual, it...
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The minimum wage in Chile is CLP 410,000 gross monthly salary for people between 18 and 65 years old. For employees under 18 years old the gross monthly minimum wage is CLP 305,851, and for people over 65 years old it is CLP 264,282. By Apr...
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There is no legal requirement or mandatory system for wages to be adjusted for inflation. However, it is common for the parties to mutually agree in the contract of employment a readjustment of remuneration in line with inflation every six ...
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Social security obligations The employer is required on a monthly basis to withhold and pay social security contributions from the remuneration of its employees. ‘Social security contributions’ include the following categories: Pensi...
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As of March 2023, EUR 100,000 equates to approximately CLP 84,755,618. Tax For an employee with an annual income of CLP 84,755,618, ‘Second Category Tax’ of CLP 10,380,852.- will be payable. Social security obligations For an ...
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There are no rules regarding the payment of bonuses or common practices in the market in connection with the type or size o...
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The only mandatory bonus or benefit is the ‘profit sharing bonus’ or ‘gratificación. This legal bonus is mandatory for the employer if it has a net profit during its fiscal year. The profit calculation is the same as for the empl...
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Employers are free to decide on the benefits it wishes to make available to emp...
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The maximum permissible work schedule is 45 hours per week, distributed over no more than six and no fewer than five days. An ordinary working day must not exceed ten hours. Further, only two hours of overtime are permitted per day. ...
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It is not possible to exceed the working hour limitations through agreement of the parties. However, if the services are performed away from urban centres, the employer and employee may agree a working schedule of two weeks of continuous wo...
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Managers, employees with powers to manage the organisation and those who work without direct supervision, at home or outside the workplace are excluded from the application of the working hour limits....
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The employer must keep a record of the attendance and working time of its employees in an attendance book or an attendance record system, for example, a computer system used to record attendance and working hours. According to the Labour Au...
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Yes. A law regarding remote working and flexible working conditions went into effect starting 1 April 2020. Under this law, an amendment to the employment contract must be executed between the parties to reflect this type of work. The c...
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An employee may w...
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Yes. However, if there is no written agreeme...
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Overtime must be paid with a surcharge of 50% over the regular wage. ...
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Employees are entitled to a daily break for lunch of at least 30 minutes, which is not considered part of working time. There are no special rules about the length of breaks between shifts or working days. However, in the case of Sunday...
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If the employer exceeds the limits of daily or weekly working hours or the rules on breaks and rest periods, the employ...
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Employees with one or more years of service in an organisation are entitled to 15 days of paid annual leave a year. After the first ten years of work for o...
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During annual leave, employees are entitled to full remuneration in accordance with the empl...
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Public, statutory, or national holidays are restricted to those stipulated by law. Employees have the right to paid time off for these days. The following days, are holidays in Chile: Holiday Date New Year’s D...
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Chilean law recognises an employee’s right to sick leave based on a doctor’s certification. Employees are required to provide the employer with medical certification in order to take time off and claim sick pay. During the absence...
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The law provides four different types of mandatory, family-related leave. Maternity leave Female employees are entitled to paid maternity leave starting six weeks before childbirth (i.e. ‘prenatal maternity leave’) and for 12 weeks ...
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By law, the employer must provide the following paid mandatory leave: An employee whose spouse dies is entitled to seven days’ paid leave. An employee whose child dies is entitled to ten days’ paid leave. An employee whose sibl...
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The employer must take all necessary measures to protect the life and health of its employees, report any possible risks and maintain adequate health and safety conditions in its place of business. Further, the employer must provide the too...
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Employer’s health and safety duties are regulated by law. The Labour ...
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If an employer breaches health and safety obligations, the labour inspection bodies and authorities can impose administrative fines. The fines range depending on the number of workers employed by the organisation. If the organisation has le...
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An organisation must verify that the labour and social security obligations, incl...
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In the event of a fatal or serious accident the employer must inform the Labour Authority (‘Inspección del Trabajo’) an...
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As a general provision against discrimination, the Constitution establishes that all people are equal before the law and expressly protects equality between men and women. Likewise, the Chilean Constitution establishes that every person has...
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Any distinction, exclusion, or prefere...
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There are no special rules in law about avoiding ‘indirect’ discrimination. However, the Labour Authority (‘Dirección del Trabajo’) has stated that employers must avoid any indirect discrimination based on sex. In this regard, the ...
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Chilean legislation establishes rules on equal opportunities and social inclusion of people with disabilities. Equal opportunities for people with disabilities includes not only the absence of discrimination based on disability, but also th...
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Labour law contains special provisions regarding sexual harassment. If sexual harassment occurs, the employer is entitled to apply disciplinary sanctions to the perpetrator, which could include dismissal. The Chilean Labour Code also in...
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In the case of victimisation, retaliation or reprisal for making a discri...
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Labour law establishes an action called a ‘denuncia de tutela’, which seeks to safeguard the employee’s fundamental or human rights against potential breaches by the employer. This action protects the following rights: the right to l...
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Chilean labour law establishes an action (‘denuncia de tutela’) to safeguard employees’ fundamental rights, among them non-discrimination. See section 8.7 above for details of this action. In ‘denuncia de tutela’ trials the emp...
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The employer could be liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees whether or not it knew or approved of them, unless it...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. However, note that there are certain rules that allow for claims of infringement...
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Employers are required to take all necessary measures to effectively protect the lives and health of their employees, including their mental health. Employers must report any possible risks, maintain adequate hygiene and safety conditions i...
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According to the statistical compendium of the Labour Directorate, in 2021 there were 1,353 complaints made to the Directorate for violation of fundamental rights. In the previous year, 2020, the Labour Inspectorate issued 140 fines for mat...
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There are no statistics about the amounts of awards made in cases of unlawful discrimination. Compensation depends on the judges’ discretion. If the claim is for discriminatory dismissal, the award may include: compensation in li...
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Privacy law and employment law contain the most important provisions on the issue of protecting employee information. Personal data are those related to any information concerning identified or identifiable individuals which cannot be cla...
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If an employer breaches the law, the employee could file a claim before the Labour Directorate or the labour courts. Labour law provides for an action called ‘denuncia de tutela’, which safeguards the employee’s fundamental or human r...
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According to privacy law, personal information may only be processed as permitted by law or where the owner of the data gives written consent. However, there are exceptions to this provision. Consent is not required for private entities to ...
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The Labour Directorate has held that an employer can be authorised to regulate the use of computers, telephones, email and Internet and establish limits, conditions and opportunities for use. However, the rules imposed by the employer on th...
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There are no legal provisions on the employee’s use of social media either in the workplace or when off duty. Employers must include any rules on the use of social media at work in the ‘Internal Rules of Order, Hygiene and Safety’ of ...
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The employer is not legally required to put in place systems for anonymous reporting, but it should have a whistle-blowing policy which tells employees who they should make disclosur...
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It is common for employers to include clauses in employment contracts to ensure that the employee keeps work-related information, such as the organisation’s p...
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Employers can include non-compete clauses in the employment contract. In addition to confidentiality clauses, non-compete clauses generally are included in employment contracts of employees holding managerial or strategic positions. These n...
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The Labour Authority has accepted the validity of confidential information clauses that remain in effect after the termination of the employment contract, with some limitations: the information protected by the employer must be about matte...
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In Chile there are no labour or civil rules expressly regulating whether the employer can prevent the employee from competing post-employment. Non-compete clauses made after the termination of the employment contract are only accepted to a ...
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Employees have the constitutional and legal right to unionise and form labour unions. There are different types of unions recognised by law, including: organisation unions; inter-organisation unions; temporary workers’ unions; and indepe...
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Chilean union trends have been historically low. In recent years, unionisation has been at ...
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If there is a legitimate trade union within an organisation, the employer must work with it for collective bargainin...
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There are no special rules requiring that workers be represented. There are no employees who, by law, must be represented by trade unions. There is no legal obligation to inform and/or consult unions or other representative bodies, and they...
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According to Chilean law, the following individuals are prohibited from striking: state and municipal employees; and employees who work in organisations or businesses that serve a public fu...
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An employment contract can be terminated on grounds of redundancy. This means that the termination is carried out because of the needs of the organisation. This can include the need to rationalise or modernise to respond to changes in the m...
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If the employee believes that his or her dismissal is not justified, the employee is entitled to bring a claim before the Labour Courts. If the employer failed to give notice, the employee may be entitled to legal increases to the severance...
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The employer must deliver the termination letter personally or by certified post sent to the employee´s home address. The employer must enclose the relevant social security ...
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An employer cannot terminate an employment contract based on redundancy or organisational need when an employee is on sick leave. In addition, certain employees enjoy immunity from dismissal, or immunity privilege (‘fuero’). Employees p...
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In cases of redundancy or the dismissal of managers and those in a position of trust, the employer must send a written communication to the emplo...
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The employer is entitled to pay ‘compensation in lieu of prior notice’, equivalent to 30 days...
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Voluntary resignation will not be regarded as constructive dismissal, ...
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It is not possible to retire an employee ...
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In cases of redundancy or the dismissal of managers and those in a position of trust, the employer must pay the employee compensation based on the number of years worked, at a minimum. The law requires payment of one month’s salary for ea...
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In order to terminate the employment contract the parties must sign a labour agreement release or ‘finiquito’ and the employee must r...
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There is no legal concept of collective or multiple dismissals in Chile and there is no law in Chile regulatin...
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Under general rules about dismissals, the employer must send a communication to the employee informing him or her about the termination of the employment contract one month in advance, unless the employer agrees to pay the employee compensa...
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There is no legal concept of collective or multiple dismissals in Chile and there is no law in Chile regulating collective or multiple dismissals. In cases where dismissals are proposed, the employer must apply the rules relating ...
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There is no legal concept of collective or multiple dismissals in Chile and there is no law in Chile regulating collective or multiple dismissals. In cases where dismissals are proposed, the employer must apply the rules relating ...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Chilean law. ...
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No, the ordinary rules for individual redundancy or dismissal would apply. Under those rules, managers and those in a position of trust must be paid compensation based on the number of years worked. The law requires a minimum payment of one...
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Total or partial changes to the ownership of a company will not modify the rights and obligations of the employees arising out of their individual employment contracts or the collective bargain contracts that apply to them. Those will remai...
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Sale of a business If a business is sold, all the employees automatically transfer to the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies whether all or part of a business is sold to a new employer. Outsourci...
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In relation to the protection of employees, the old employer is unaffected by the transfer. The old employer does not retain any liabilities (e.g. outstanding wage payments, pension payments...
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No, employees cannot object to transfer...
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Terms All of the terms and conditions of the employment contracts are automatically transfer...
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All liabilities are transferred from ...
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Yes, all collective agre...
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Employers cannot make changes to employment contracts, bec...
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There are no restricti...
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There is no requirement to co...
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Not applicable,...
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Not applicable,...
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Not applicable,...
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The works council and other employee representatives ar...
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Currently, the Chilean state pension is divided into three main tiers of benefit: financial assistance; contributory; and voluntary. One of the main purposes of the first tier is to prevent poverty in old age or disabilit...
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Employers must withhold gross remuneration from employees’ in various amounts for social security contributions. This is mandatory and as such there are consequences for non-compliance. For example, if the employment contract i...
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In addition to the requirement to meet social security obligations from employees‘ wages, on 1 October 2008, the concept of collective voluntary pension savings was created. The aim of this scheme is to increase the soc...
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If any proposed changes to a pension scheme relate to mandatory social security contributions and these modifications are required by law there is no requirement to consult with employees. If the proposed changes relate to ...
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In order to encourage employers to offer employees collective voluntary savings plans, employer contributions are treated as business expenses. If the funds contributed by the employer do not become the property of the employee b...
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Given that social security contributions are mandatory, there is no obligation to state them in the employment contract. The employer will deduct the corresponding amounts for these contributions, without the need to include a pro...
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An employer must conduct an investigation if an employee files a sexual or workplace harassment claim. ...
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Employees are not obliged to report suspected misconduct. ...
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An employer must start an investigation immediately after a harassment claim is filed. Chilean legal regulations set forth the rules for conducting the investigation. The content of the investigation is reserved, must be conducted in writin...
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Employees are required to participate in an investigation into allegations of harassment, including employees who are suspected of misconduct. ...
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The employee can be represented by a lawyer during the investigation. ...
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The employer must provide the accused employee with all the evidence it gathers in the course of an investigation. The identity of the witnesses must be protected. ...
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The employer is not legally required to put in place systems for anonymous reporting, but it must have a whistle-blowing policy which tells employees who they should make disclosures to and the procedures to follow. This pol...
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In Chile there is no legally mandated process to deal with low performance. In addition, an employer cannot sanction or dismiss an employee on the grounds of low performance. ...
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There are no statutory rules about how grievances should be handled in Chile. Most employers set internal policies and procedures to manage employee complaints. ...
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There are no laws or regulations at national level requiring any particular wording or details about jobs to be provided in job advertisements. Some local level regulations may, however, provide general guidance in this reg...
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There is no legal guidance on checks an employer may carry out about the background and health of job applicants. However, tests for hepatitis B surface antigen must not be carried out as part of pre-hiring health checks un...
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Employment may be made subject to a probationary period. The length of the probationary period must be determined based on the length of the term of the employment contract, as follows: for contracts between three months and ...
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The dismissal of an employee must be based on one or more of the statutory termination grounds prescribed by Chinese law, regardless o...
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Job applicants can bring claims for discrimination against a prospective employer based on employment equality law, inclu...
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A nation-wide system for work permits for foreigners working in China was implemented on 1 April 2017. Employers must now use this system to apply for work permits. There are generally three steps to be followed in em...
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Chinese law does not differentiate between foreign and local workers in terms of recordkeeping. An employer must keep a record of basic, employment-related documents relating to all of its employees, including: employm...
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Chinese law does not prohibit employers from keeping records about unsucce...
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Employers are not allowed to ask whether the candidate is a hepatitis B surface antigen carrier during the interviews, except for c...
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There is no specific legal guidance on how to distinguish an employee (i.e. where the relationship is subject to employment law) from an independent contractor (i.e. the relationship is subject to civil and commercial law). In practice, a...
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Chinese law does not draw distinctions between types of e...
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Company directors in China are not necessarily employees of the company. Normally, an employee serving as company director has another senior management position in the company or with ...
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Chinese law imposes certain restrictions on part-time workers’ working time, which is the key factor that differentiates between these workers and full-time employees. A part-time worker’s average daily working time (i.e. with one emp...
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There is no substantial difference between the rights of a ...
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A fixed-term contract can be converted into an indefinite-term contract under the following circumstances: after an employee has worked for more than ten consecutive years for the same employer, the employer must grant the employee an inde...
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An agency worker, more commonly known as a ‘labour dispatch worker’ in China, is an individual who is employed by an employment agency and dispatched to work in other organisations. While Chinese law requires that agency workers onl...
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Chinese law is silent on whether an employer can put its employees at the disposal of another organisation to work in accordance with that organisation’s instructions, other than under a temporary employment arrangement through an employm...
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With the exception of part-time employees, all employees are entitled to a written employment contract, signed within one month of the commencement of employment. If this is not done, the employer must pay double the salary to the employee....
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It is common practice in China for an employer to issue an offer letter to employees in addition to and before signing an employme...
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Chinese law is silent on what language employment contracts should be in, but the general rule is that an employee must u...
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Certain terms are implied by Chinese law into all employment contracts. These include the conditions on which an employer may unilaterally terminate an employment contract. They cannot be altered or excluded by the contract. An employer m...
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It is possible for an employment contract to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. ...
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As a general rule, under Chinese law, employers cannot unilaterally change contractual terms and conditions (i.e. position, salary and duration) unless they obtain consent from employees. If an employer unilaterally imple...
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Non-contractual documents made available to employees normally include various internal policies and rules that are usually collected and compiled in a comprehensive employee handbook. For example: health and safety at work policies; dis...
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There is a minimum wage in China, the amount of which varies according to the requirements of different local regulations. The minimum wage does not have to be paid through basic salary only, but the following are explicitly excluded from t...
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Wages are not au...
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Tax An employee must pay individual income tax on the remuneration received from his or her employer. The employer must withhold individual income tax for all of its employees from the remuneration and pay the withheld amount to the tax a...
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Both individual income tax and social insurance must be withheld and paid on a monthly basis and do not depend on an employee’s marital status or family background. However, certain livelihood expenditures such as education, medical treat...
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There are no statutory rules governing payment of bonuses. In practice, common types of bonuses include performance bonuses, year-end bonuses, retention bonuses and sales com...
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An employer is required to pay statutory social insuranc...
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Other than benefits required by law, in practice, an employer may also offer one or more of the following b...
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An employee’s working hours are subject to the working-hour system which applies to him or her. There are three types of working-hour system in China: the standard working-hour system (the ‘Standard System’); the system of calculat...
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Under either the Standard System (i.e. the standard working-hour system) or...
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Employees working under the Flexible System are exempt from daily and/or weekly working time rules. This system applies to senior managers, sales representatives, and probably telework...
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There are no rules about the monitoring of employees’ working time. Howev...
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There is no law prohibiting or encouraging agile ...
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Under the Standard System (i.e. the standard working-hour system) an employee’s overtime must generally not exceed one hour per day. If there ...
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No, an employer has the right to unilaterally arrange overtime due to business needs. If an ...
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The rate for calculating overtime compensation varies under different working-hour systems. The Standard System Overtime compensation must be calculated and paid as follows, on an hourly basis: on regular working days (i.e. Monday to Frida...
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In general, breaks and rest periods can be agreed upon by employers and employees. However, sp...
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If an employer exceeds the limits on daily or weekly working hours, affected employees may file a labour dispute claim against the employer for overtime compensation according to the rate established b...
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An employee is entitled to statutory annual leave if he or she has worked for more than 12 consecutive months for one or more employers. An employee’s entitlement to statutory annual leave is based on his or her accumulative working years...
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An employee is entitled to be paid during annual leave as if he or she were working and therefore there is no reduction in salary. For an empl...
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Employees have the right to paid time off work for public holidays, which are treated as paid days. Further, if an employee works on public holidays, he or she will be additionally entitled to overtime comp...
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An employee is entitled to a statutory medical care period. The length of this is determined based upon an employee’s service years with the employer. During the medical care period, th...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay are summarised below. In practice, most employers follow the minimum legal requirement, whilst a few employers provide more generous arrangements. Marriage Leave Employees are entitled to ma...
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Employees are entitled to paid time off work during working hours to perform social duties, as required by law. These duties include: exercising the right to elect or be elected; attending court...
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An employer must take reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. As a minimum the employer must: provide its employees with a safe working environment with adequate protection appliances or equipment; where necessary...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by s...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, administrative penalties may be imposed by the competent labour, health and safe production authority. The penalties incl...
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Generally, an employer will not be liable for the acts of third-party contractors, provided the employer ...
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China does not have a consolidated anti-discrimination law. Protection against discrimination is spread...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic...
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There are no specific legal requirements relating to ‘indirect’ discrimination. Nevertheless, if employer disadvantages a protected group of employees by applying...
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There is no specific protection against harassment based on a protecte...
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There is no specific le...
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If a claim for discrimination is successful, a court could order the employer ...
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An employer can be liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees on the grounds that: it fails to ...
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Discrimination cl...
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The protection of personal information has been a hot topic in China recently and several laws have been issued or are in draft form. Under new law, the definition of “network operators” may include employers, as they administer network...
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In the case of breach of the rules, the competent authority will order rectification and may issue a warning, confiscate any income derived from the breach and impose a fine of between one and ten times the amount of the illegal income (or,...
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If the employer wishes to collect and process confidential employee information, it should: collect informati...
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The monitoring of employees using workplace surveillance cameras email systems or computers owned by the employer is generally permitted because the employer is the owner of its premises, systems and compu...
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There are no specific legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. The employer may adopt a policy providing that an employee will be disciplined or dismissed if his or her use of soc...
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There are no legal provisions about whistle-blowing. Employers have the option t...
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Though employees have an obligation in law to protect the confidential information of employers, which usually includes trade secrets and other proprietary or confidential information, in practice, employers usually adopt either or both of ...
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Under Chinese labour law, if an employee starts to work for another employer (but not necessarily a competitor of the original employer) and the new employment relationship mate...
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The employer can restrict the use of confidential information once employment has e...
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Employers that wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition once employment has ended must include an express contractual term that restricts the employee’s activities after termination of employment. Such clauses are know...
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The responsibility of a trade union in an organisation is to protect the rights and interests of the employees. These rights and interests are protected through, for example, collective representation and consultation. The following are exa...
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China’s trade unions are government-supported and so in most cases,...
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Once a trade union has been established, the employer must work wit...
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In China, state-owned enterprises (‘SOEs’) have been legally required to set up employee representative bodies, while companies other than SOEs (i.e. private companies) have had the discretion as to whether or not to do so. However, s...
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Currently, there are no specific legal restrictions on trade u...
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In China, an employer may only terminate an employee’s employment on statutory grounds. In addition, an employer must not dismiss any employee at will without cause. An employer may terminate an employee with 30 days’ prior written not...
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If there is an unlawful termination by an employer, the employer may be required to continue to per...
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The law requires an employer to shoulder the burden to prove that its termination of an employment contract is based on sufficient legal grounds. Therefore, the employer should obtain solid evidence before initiating the termination process...
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The following employees can only be terminated in restricted circumstances: employees who are engaged in operations exposing them to occupational disease hazards and who have not undergone pre-departure occupational health check-ups, or wh...
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In cases where notice is required (i.e. termination is not immediate), the employer must ...
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The employer is entitled to make a payment in lieu of notice on te...
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An employee is required to provide the employer three days’ prior notice of resignation duri...
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China operates a compulsory retirement system. Upon reaching the statutory retirement age, an employee must terminate his or her employment with the employ...
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In China, an employee is entitled to statutory severance pay for termination of employment, except where the employment is terminated as a result of voluntary resignation or gross misconduct. The formula for calculating an employee’s stat...
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An employer can settle claims by agreement with the employ...
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Chinese law defines collective dismissal as the dismissal of at least 20 employees, or 10% or more of the total workforce, under the following circumstances: where the employer is under ...
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To implement a collective dismissal, an employer is legally required to explain the circumstances to the...
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The following consultation process must be followed by the employer: The employer must give an explanation of the circumstances to the trade union or all of the employees 30 days in advance. The employer must make an employee dismissal pla...
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The law is not clear on what information must be provided and therefore, it is di...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Chinese law. However, for termination as a result of an employee’s incompetence, sickness, major changes in the employment contract or collective dismissals, the following employe...
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Except for statutory severance pay for termina...
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There is no specific protection for employees on share takeovers. Howev...
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Sale of a business There is no specific legal protection for employees on business sales. However, in those circumstances, the seller must continue performing the employees’ e...
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There are no rule...
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Yes. If the employee objects to transferring, the seller must contin...
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Terms The employment contract concluded with the purchaser is treated as a completely new contract. The purchaser is under no obligation to take over the same contract terms that the employee had with the seller. Unless otherwise agreed (e....
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Unless the purchaser agrees to recognize and credit the employee’s previous service years with the selle...
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Collective ...
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Yes. The employment contract concluded with the purchaser i...
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If the employee objects to transferring, the seller must continue to perform the emp...
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There is no requirement t...
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There is no requirement t...
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There is no requirement t...
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There is no requirement t...
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The seller’s works council does not...
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In China, pension insurance, together with medical, unemployment, occupational injury and maternity insurance, form the statutory social insurance system for employees. Both employees and employers are required to make payments to the pensi...
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An employer must provide its employees with basic statutory pension insurance. In addition, an employer may, at its discretion, provide its employees with a supplementary pension insurance scheme, such as commercial pension insurance and ...
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In addition to the statutory basic pension insurance, an employer may enter into commercial pension insurance arrangements with insurance companies and/or implement company annuity plans to supplement the basic requirements. Commercial pens...
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An employer is not entitled to make any changes to statutory pension insurance, which must strictly ...
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For employees, statutory pension insurance can be exempt from Chinese individual income tax. However, discretionary co...
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Generally, under an employment contract, there will be a clause...
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There are no mandatory labour requirements for job advertisements. We recommend that employers provide information about skills that will be considered. The advertisement should include the address or email where the application should be...
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In Colombia, it is common practice for organisations to review background records of new applicants for employment purposes. Permitted background checks include work experience, disciplinary records, personal references, credit info...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. During this period, the employer has the opportunity to evaluate the employee’s pe...
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There are no special rules about dismissal during the probationary period. During this period, either party may terminate the employment co...
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Since the employment relationship has not yet started at the hiring stage, job applicants cannot bring claims against a prospective employer, other than constitutional actions related to discriminatory practices and violation of ...
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Under Colombian immigration laws, a foreign national who intends to work in Colombia under a local employment contract or services agreement must obtain a visa (or for Venezuelans, a work permit). Colombian visas can have an open work per...
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The employer should keep the following records about the employment of foreign workers: a copy of the worker’s visa; a copy of the worker’s ID card; a copy of the employment contract; records of social security contribut...
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The authorisation for the processing of personal data will not have an expiration period. However, the candidate gives his or her authorisation for the collection of personal data only for the specific purposes. Thus, if the purpo...
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In a job interview, questions should be aimed at obtaining information that is directly relevant to the duties that would be performed or to the require...
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In Colombia, a labour contract is an agreement whereby a person agrees to provide to another (i.e. an individual or organisation) his or her services under a continued subordinate relationship and receives periodical payment in return for t...
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Colombian labour law only recognises two types of employees: ordinary employees; and employees in positions of management and...
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Company directors are employees in positions of management a...
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Before executing a contract, the parties may discuss the timeframes within which the work will be performed. If part-time employment is agreed, it will consist of four hours a day, 24 hours a week until 14 July 2023. Starting on 15 July 202...
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Fixed-term labour contracts must always be in writing. Additionally, fixed-term labour contracts with a term of less than one year may only be renewed for three equal or shorter terms. If an additional renewal is desired, the...
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A fixed-term labour contract with a term of less than one year may only be renewed for three equa...
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An organisation may decide to enter into a service agreement with a temporary employment agency, which is a company that provides personnel and temporarily assists with the organisation’s activities. The organisation benefits from the ser...
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The supply of employees from one company to another is expressly forbidden in Colombia. By Colombian law, the activity of supplying employees may be carried out only by individual...
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Initially, under Colombian labour law, it is not necessary to provide a written employment contract. Therefore, for a contract to be valid under Colombian law there are no special formalities that must be satisfied. If the contract is o...
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In Colombia, it is a common practice to issue an offer or a proposal of employment terms before an employment contract is executed between the parties. The offer or proposal must contain the essential elements of the contract to be signed i...
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Colombian labour law states that the employment contract must be in Spanish. However, it is possible to execute the contract in more than one language, in addition to the Spanish version, especially where the employee is a foreign national ...
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Under the Colombian labour regime, employment relations are governed by Colombian labour law. As a result, all obligations and duties on the employer and employee that are not included in the written employment contract will be provided for...
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It is possible for the employment contract to expressly incorporate terms from other agreements, addendums, or documents. These terms will be binding on the parties in the same way as the terms of the contract. The most common documents, ...
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Employers can usually change the contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change. The power of the employer to change the employee’s terms and conditions is known as ‘ius variandi’. The employer may change cond...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (i.e. internal working regulations). These typically include: a health and safety at work policy; disciplinary and grievance policies; a dignity at work or haras...
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In Colombia, no full-time employee can earn less than the monthly minimum legal wage, which is set at COP 1,160,000 per month for 2023. This rate applies to regular employees working eight hours a day and 48 hours a week (distributed over s...
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In Colombia, wages above the minimum are not adjusted automatically and, generally, it is not mandatory to increase the employee’s salary in the private sector. However, an inflationary increase is mandatory for the minimum wage and...
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Tax Pursuant to tax rules, all salaries, wages, bonuses, benefits in kind and other payments that an employee receives as consideration for his or her work, either directly or indirectly, are considered as labour income subject to income ...
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The income tax rate for individuals varies between nil and 39%, in accordance with the total taxable income received by the employee during the corresponding year, as follows: UVT Ranges Marginal Rate Tax Assessment 0 to 1,090...
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Colombian labour law establishes that employees who receive an ordinary salary are entitled to a legal service bonus equal to one month’s salary per year of service, payable in June and December of each year. In addition, the emp...
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Under Colombian labour law, every employer must grant its employees certain benefits, in addition to salary, known as legal fringe benefits. However, an employee earning an ‘integral salary’ is not entitled to additional fringe benefits...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits will be granted to employees. The mo...
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Until 14 July 2023, working hours are limited to eight hours a day and 48 hours per week, distributed over a maximum of six days per week. Employees in positions of trust and management are not covered by these restrictions. As from 15 Ju...
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With the proper authorisation, granted by the Ministry of Labour, an employee is entitled to work up to 12 hours of overtime per week, with a maximum of two hours of ...
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Yes. There are some exempted employees and special rules: Employees in positions of management and trust are not entitled to overtime, as the maximum working hours are not applicable to them. Domestic service employees wh...
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Colombian labour law does not establish any special rules for monitoring employees’ working time. Employers may monitor employees’ working time as long as the methods used do not violate the privacy, liberty or human rights of employees...
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Dematerialization and flexibility in workplaces is an emerging trend. Colombian law allows the employer and employee to agree on working conditions that permit or encourage agile working if such agreements respect equality with other employ...
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In Colombian law, there is a limit on the number of hours of overtime that an employee may work. An employee may work two hours of overtime daily and a maximum of 12 hours per week, if the organisation has the proper authorisation from the ...
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Colombian law does not provide that the employee must give consent for overtime. Employees are required to work overtime if it is required by their employer. ...
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According to Colombian labour law, overtime is paid with a surcharge. The rates are ...
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In Colombia, workers do not have an express minimum daily rest period. However, given the limitation on the working hours per day, there is an assumed minimum of 14 hours of rest in a 24-hour period for ordinary workers. In addition, wo...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be either a legal claim by the worker and/or administrative fines imposed by the Ministry of Labour. Fines can be up to 136,750 UVT (COP 5,799,841) fo...
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Employees who have worked for a year have the right to 15 days of paid leave. Employees who work in organisations that use x-rays and employees of centres that treat tuberculosis are entitled to 15 days of paid leave every six months. The t...
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Employees are entitled, at the beginning of the annual leave, to their usual level of pay. To determine this, the employer must consider all elements that constitute the employee’s pay excluding sums paid for work performed on days of man...
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Under Colombian labour law, Sundays and public holidays are considered days of mandatory paid rest. This implies that, as a general rule, the employee is not required to work during those days but is entitled t...
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Employees are entitled to time off work when sick, as long as a medical certificate is provided. Employees are entitled by law to receive remuneration from the employer for the first two days of sick leave. This remuneration is 66.6% of the...
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Colombian law prescribes various arrangements for family-related leave and payments. Generally, employers tend not to provide more than the minimum established by law. Maternity leave Pregnant employees are entitled to receive paid ma...
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The following types of leave are available: Bereavement leave: Employees are entitled to five days’ paid leave for the death of a family member. This leave is different from that granted to employees in situations of domestic emergency, ...
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An employer is responsible for the safety of employees in the workplace. As a result of this obligation, every employer must take all necessary measures to prevent accidents and illnesses related to the work. Likewise, employers must im...
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The Ministry of Labour is responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations through its Special Commission of inspectors for the Prevention of Labour Risks. It is also responsible for imposing sanctions on an organisation when it has...
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The Ministry of Labour is responsible for imposing sanctions on employers that do not comply with the standards for safety and health in the workplace. If breaches are found, the Ministry of Labour has the power to impose penalties accordin...
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In general terms, an employer will not be liable for the activities of third-party contractors. However, if the services provided by the independent contractor are similar or inherent to the employer’s regular activities, both parties wil...
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Employers must report any serious work accident to its Occupational Risk Insurance Company (‘ARL’ for its acronym in Spanish) and to the Ministry of Labour within 48 hours after the accident. The report must be filed by completing an el...
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The Constitution and Colombian labour law prohibit any form of discrimination. The characteristics that are expr...
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The first situation in which it is possible to treat an individual differently based on a protected characteristic is in the case of positive discrimination measures, which intend to remedy previous discrimination. These measures create a t...
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The Constitutional Court has held that the principle of non-discrimination may be breached by a direct action or as a consequence of an indirect measure. The Court has said that the failure to apply the principle of non-discrimination might...
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Colombian law includes general provisions aimed at the integration of disabled employees into the workforce. It also includes a general rule that disability is not a valid reason to hinder an employment relationship, and that an employee ca...
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Labour harassment is defined in Colombian law as any persistent and obvious behaviour that is directed at an employee by his or her manager, co-worker or subordinate, that is intended to instil fear, intimidation, dread or anxiety, to encou...
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In Colombian labour law there are specific processes that aim to avoid acts of retaliation against employees who have made complaints about discrimination or harassment in an organisation or witnesses to them. These protections are: that t...
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If it is proved that an employer permitted or engaged in harassment, it could: be sanctioned with a fine of between two and ten times the minimum monthly legal salary and this sanction is imposed on both the employer and the employee who...
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If an employee or job candidate brings a claim for discrimination, the claimant bears the initial burden of proof...
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An employer that has tolerated discrimination or harassment of an employee may incur in a penalty that can vary from two to ten times the minimum legal monthly salary. Alternatively...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. Colombian law includes an obligation on all employers to determine salaries based on the value of the work and to keep records of the pr...
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The law regulating the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental disorders in the workplace provides that occupational risk insurance companies (‘ARLs’) must ensure that their affiliated companies include permanent monitoring ...
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The law setting out the procedures and sanctions f...
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The most common awards in cases of unlawful discrimination are an order to cease the discriminatory conduct, or reinstatement if the employee has been terminated for discriminatory reasons. In addition, if an employer makes a decision based...
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The processing of personal data (i.e. information that can be directly or indirectly associated with a person), requires the data subject’s consent. The consent must be prior (before the processing takes place), express (through means whe...
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The processing of personal data about employees without or in excess of the prior, express and informed consent of employees may result in administrative penalties including the following: fines of up to COP 2.3 billion for 2023 (appro...
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From a privacy and personal data protection perspective, there is no limit on the use of personal data of an employee for the performance of an employer’s legal and contractual duties, provided the personal data were gathered and processe...
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The monitoring of employees is not prohibited. Nonetheless, the employer must obtain prior, express and informed consent to monitor employees, either for the purpose of fulfilling its duties in law or for other purposes. Please note that ev...
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If the employer monitors information gathered in moments where the employee has an expectation of privacy, following the Constitutional Court case law, the courts should balance the interests and fundamental rights at stake and decide wheth...
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There are no legal requirements governing whistle-blowing in general. There is also...
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The non-disclosure of confidential information is a legal obligation provided by Colombian law. It applies to all employees, regardless of their level or seniority. Thus, every employee must observe and strictly maintain the confidentiality...
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Employers often include clauses in the employment contract to the effect that all confidential information is owned by the employer. The clause will apply to information obtained by the employee because of his or her position and will cover...
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The employer can put a clause in the employment contract stating that, upon termination of the employment agreement, the employee will not retain or release to third parties any documents or other information that is confidential to the emp...
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It is difficult to enforce post-contractual non-compete and non-solicitation clauses against former employees. Generally, these provisions are not enforceable from an employment perspective once the employment contrac...
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Unions are employee organisations constituted for purpose of obtaining, improving and consolidating common rights vis-à-vis their employers. They aim at defending the individual and collective interests of their members. By Colombian labou...
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Employment relations in Colombia are characterised by a lack of strong industrial democratic institutions, with low union density, and hostile relations at a company level, in an environment in which social dialogue in the public sector has...
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The right to collective bargaining is guaranteed and protected by law in Colombia, for both unionised and non-unionised employees and it protects the right of employees to negotiate with their employer on a collective basis and to enter int...
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According to Colombian law, the employer must have a co-existence committee aimed at preventing and dealing with labour harassment matters. The co-existence committee must have two representatives of the employer and two representatives of ...
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Under Colombian labour law, a strike is defined as the collective, temporary and peaceful suspension of work, carried out by employees in an organisation, with the purpose of effecting changes to employees’ terms and conditions. A ...
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If an employee breaches the legal or contractual terms of his or her employment contract, the internal regulations of the organisation, or the applicable collective bargaining agreement, the employer may terminate the employment with cause....
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If the employer terminates the contract unilaterally and without proper cause (i.e. wrongful termination), it must pay an indemnity for unfair dismissal to the employee. This will vary depending on the salary and seniority of the worker. Fo...
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Before terminating the employment with cause, an employer must grant the employee the right to explain his or her point of view. This is a guarantee of due process. The employer must inform the employee of the facts and grounds on which it ...
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Labour law is protective of certain groups of employees. The protection means that they cannot be dismissed without special authorisation obtained by the employer from the labour authority or the labour courts. This is to guarantee that the...
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If the employer bases a termination on certain causes, it must give the employee prior notice of no less than 15 working days. Those causes are as follows: The employee has performed poorly relative to the average output of employees in si...
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Payment in lieu of notice should be agreed by mutual consent. This is because even though it is feasible to pay salary while the employee is not working, without his or her co...
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In Colombia resignation can take place in two ways: Simple resignation, which is the voluntary and non-compelled decision of an employee to terminate his or her employment contract. This type of resignation does not give...
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It is not possible to retire an employee before his or her retirement is ‘effective’, but it is possible thereafter. Retirement is eff...
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Severance Compensation is payable under the Labour Code for any unilateral termination of the contract by the employer. The amount varies depending on the worker’s salary and length of service in the company and is calculated in accordanc...
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To pre-empt claims, the parties to the employment agreement may have a conciliation hearing before the Ministry of Labour and can make a conciliation agreement or enter into a private settlement agreement. In both cases, the employee will d...
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There is no consultation right in the case of collective dismissals, unless this has been expressly agreed by the parties under a collective bargaining agreement. An employer that wishes to carry out a collective dismissal of employees requ...
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Employers cannot fully or partially close their businesses or dismiss a certain proportion of its employees within six months, without the prior authorisation of the labour authorities (i.e. the Ministry of Labour, in this case), except in ...
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There is no mandatory consultation obligation for collective dismissals at company level. However, an application needs to be made to the Ministry of Labour for its authorisation for the dismissals. As an alternative, th...
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If the employer does not comply with the requirement to file a request for authorisation with the Ministry of Labour in cases of collect...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Colombian law. However, employers need to be aware that some employees may have ‘reinforced stability’. This r...
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No. If the employer implements a voluntarily redundancy programme, through whi...
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In Colombia, ‘employer substitution’ is regulated by law. The employer substitution rules exist to protect the continuity of employment contracts when a company goes through a major change relating to its assets or administration, provi...
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Sale of a business Under the rules about ‘employer substitution’, the employment agreements will automatically transfer to the new employer. This means that the employment agreements will not be modified and there will be continuity of ...
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When an ‘employer substitution’ takes place, the new employer (i.e. the buyer of the business) substitutes the former employer (i.e. the seller). Until the date of substitution, both the former employer and the ne...
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Employees do not have the right to object to the transfer. When employees are transferred to the new employer, their employment contracts continue ...
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The existing employment contracts are not suspended, terminated or modified; the only change is related to the employer, which is replaced by a new on...
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The former employer and the new employer are jointly and severally liable for any and all ...
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The new employer must maintain the same labor te...
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Employers cannot do so unilaterally. M...
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There is no restriction on termination at any time during the transfer process unle...
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In Colombia, there is no legal obligation for the employer to provide prior information, to consult or to obtain the approval of the employees, their representatives, labour unions, or any authority for the purposes of an employer substitut...
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There is no legal obligation under Colombian law for t...
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There is no legal ...
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There is no legal obligation under Colombian law for t...
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It will depend on the business structure but in principle, if the legal entity s...
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In Colombia there are currently two pension regimes. The first is the Average Premium Regime (‘régimen de prima media’) and the second the Individual Savings Regime (‘régimen de ahorro individual con solidaridad’). The first is a ...
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Employers must register all employees for a pension scheme and pay monthly contributions. Employees must choose the pension scheme that they wish to join, that is, the Average Premium Regime (‘régimen de prima media’) or Individual Sav...
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Employers are not allowed to fund or operate pension schemes. Only ‘Colpensiones’, which is a state agency, and priv...
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There are no employer pension agreements in Colombia. If, however, an employer has put in place a benefit which enhances the pension rights of emplo...
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Under Colombian tax law, voluntary pension contributions are considered as tax exempt income for income tax purposes provided that the following requirements are met: With respect to contributions made by employees, the amount of the tax...
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Pension entitlement is expressly provided by law and therefore it is not necessary to include any reference to it in the employment contract. ...
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The most common types of investigations are disciplinary investigations. A disciplinary investigation can be initiated when employees breach or violate their contractual and/or legal obligations. Investigations are also common when ...
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There is no express legal obligation for employees to report suspected misconduct. However, the Employment and Labour Code provides that employees are obligated to notify the employer in a timely manner of any observations that are necessar...
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Disciplinary investigations must be performed in accordance with the rule of immediacy between the conduct and the investigation. This rule establishes that an employer must act promptly and quickly after it becomes aware of misconduct, eit...
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Employees are obligated to participate in the investigation conducted by their employer. However, the employer is free to gather evidence from any other sources. ...
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As part of the guarantees of due process, an employee can be represented by a lawyer during a disciplinary investigation. In addition, if the employee is affiliated to a union, two representatives of the union can participate in the discipl...
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The employer must provide the employee with the evidence it gathered during the investigation. According to the Constitutional Court, the disciplinary procedure must guarantee the employee’s right to defence. The employer must therefore n...
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There are no legal requirements governing whistleblowing in general. There is also no law prohibiting organisations from accepting anonymous reports via ethics hotline. Prior, express and informed consent will be required inso...
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When the ‘just cause’ for dismissal is low performance, the employer must take additional steps before initiating a disciplinary process against the employee. The special procedure that must be carried out is as follows: The empl...
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There are no general statutory rules about how grievances should be handled. However, when the employer receives a report or complaint of workplace harassment against any representatives of the employer, it must process it through the Coexi...
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There are no legal requirements for particular wording or details that a job advertisement must contain, other than the requirement that any job advertisement must be available to both genders under the same conditions, i.e. job listin...
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There are no limitations to the background checks the employer may carry out, as long as the information requested is available through government bodies or is publicly available (including on social media) and is related to employment. Whe...
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Yes. It is common practice for employees...
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Yes. If the employee’s performance during the probationary period is ...
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The applicant may bring a claim against the employer on the basis of discriminatory actio...
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Before employment commences, in order to work and reside in Croatia, third-country nationals (i.e. non-European Economic Area (‘EEA’) nationals) must, in general, obtain a residence and work permit (‘dozvola za boravak i rad’),...
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In general, an employer should keep at least the following records about foreign workers: work permits; data about the employed foreigners; employment contracts; proof of fulfilled tax and contribution liabilities; ...
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In general it is unlawful to keep records about candidates that were not hired after the application process is finished. However, such ...
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While Croatian law does not include a specific list of questions that employers cannot ask in interviews, employers are gener...
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The primary differences between an employment contract and a contract with an independent contractor (i.e. a service contract) are as follows: An employee works exclusively under the employer’s guidelines and instructions (i.e. the emplo...
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Croatian labour law does not distinguish among blue collar employees, white collar employees and sales representatives. However, Croatian labour law prescribes a special regime for certain categories of employees in terms of their maximum w...
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Provisions of Croatian labour law regulating employment termination, notice periods and severance pay do not apply to employment contracts with company directors....
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Any employment with working hours that are less than full-time working hours (40 hours per week) is considered part-time employment, with the exception of short-time work in cases where working conditions would be hazardous to employees’ ...
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Under Croatian law fixed-term employment contracts are permitted only in exceptional circumstances, where the end of employment is determined by an objective condition such as a specific date, the completion of a particular project, or the ...
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If a fixed-term employment contract is not made in accordance with the ...
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The contract between an employment agency and its employee may be for either a fixed term or an indefinite term. The agency employee is entitled to the same minimum salary that is paid to regular workers at the employer to which the employe...
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Where an employer has no need for an employee, it may temporarily assign the employ...
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Under Croatian law employment contracts must be concluded in writing. If there is no formal written agreement signed by both parties, before commencement of work the employer is required to provide a written certificate to the e...
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In Croatia, it is not common to issue an offer letter in addition to the employment contract. The employment contract, as a bilateral agreement, is concluded when the contracting parties agree on the essential terms and conditions o...
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According to the Croatian Constitution, the Croatian language and Latin alphabet are in official use in Croatia. Since th...
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There are a number of terms and conditions that are always implied into an employment contract from labour legislation, even if they are not expressly set out in the contract. These include but are not limited to the following: ...
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Certain terms and conditions of employment can be incorporated into the employment contract by reference. See section 3.1. above. ...
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Employment terms that are expressly stipulated in the employment contract may be amended only with the prior consent of the employee (i.e. they cannot be amended unilaterally by the employer). In practice, this is usually done by offering t...
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Before commencement of work, the employer must acquaint the employee with the employer’s internal regulations regulating employment matters, the rules regarding the organisation of the work, and the rules regarding protect...
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The statutory minimum wage is determined by the Croatian Government every year. For 2022, the minimum gross monthly wage for a full-time working emplo...
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The minimum wage is revised by the Government every calendar year, no later than 31 October of the current year for the following calendar year. The revise...
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The employer is required to deduct income tax, local surtax and social security contributions from the employee’s gross wages and make those payments to the relevant authorities for the benefit of the employee. Income tax Employment incom...
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EUR 100,000 would amount to approximately HRK 757,000. For an employee with that annual income, the applicable income tax rate would be 20% on the first HRK 360,000 and 30% on the remaining amou...
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There are no express rules regarding the types, schemes and manner of bonus payments, and they vary from one employer to another. In practice, the most common bonuses are performance-related bonuses which are usually paid to employees on an...
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Employers must pay mandatory social security contributions for the benefit of their employees (see section 4.3 above). There are no other benefits that the employers are legally required to provide to employees. ...
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On top of the mandatory social security contributions (see section 4.3 above), the employer can agree in the employment contract or in a unilateral internal policy to make additional and/or voluntary pension and health insurance contributio...
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The weekly maximum regular working hours for a full-time employee is 40 hours. If the employee works overtime, the weekly maximum is 50 working hours (i.e. the weekly limit for overtime is ten working hours). The cumulat...
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In certain cases, it is possible to stipulate different working hours in the employment agreement. Exceptions to the limits on working hours apply to employees in positions where, due to the specific nature of work, the working...
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Employers may regulate exceptions (only for adult employees) to the application of the rules on the duration of night work and daily and weekly rest (see section 5.9 below), provided that the employee is provided with a compens...
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Employers are required to keep records regarding employees and their working hours. In general, the records must contain the following information: name and surname of the employee; dates of commencement and end of work�...
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In general, there are no legal restrictions on having self-managing interdisciplinary teams with employees switching between them based on company requirements, flexible working time or open-plan offices. Although many employers r...
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The maximum total duration of work is 50 hours per week, including overtime hours. Where there is an unequal distribution of working hours, the working time cannot exceed 48 hours per week during the period when it is longer ...
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Employers can require overtime work in exceptional situations such as force majeure, an extraordinary increase in the scope of work and other cases of urgent need. The general rule is that employee must work overtime at the employer’s...
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There is no specific rate; the law only prescribes that employees are entitled to an increased salary for overtime work. The exact amount or percentage of increased salary for overtime work is usually regulated either in the collec...
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An employee who works at least six hours per day (or four and a half hours per day for a minor) is entitled to a minimum 30 minutes of continuous break which is included in the working hours. Employees are also entitled to a minimum 12 h...
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For the most severe breaches of the rules on working hours and rest periods, a corporate employer is subject to a fine of up to HRK 100,000 (approximately EUR 13,330), and an individual employer and the responsible person in a corpora...
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Under Croatian labour law, employees are entitled to annual leave of at least four weeks per calendar year. This means that, for example, employees who work five days per week are entitled to a m...
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The amount of compensation that employees are entitled to receive during annual leave is normally set by a collective agreement, employer’s rulebook or the individual employment agreement. ...
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Employees are entitled to paid time off on official public holidays in Croatia. Those days are exhaustively listed in the law. In 2021, there are 14 public holidays in Croatia: 1 January – New Year...
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Paid sick leave is governed by the provisions of Croatia’s mandatory health insurance laws, including the applicable bylaws regarding temporary inability to work. In short, a sick employee must contact his or her family medical care pract...
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Croatian law provides for several types of family-related leave, including paid maternity leave, parental leave, work exemption of the employee who gave birth or is breast-feeding a child and leave for nec...
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Paid leave Employees may request paid leave for a number of important personal reasons and needs such as marriage, the birth of a child, and serious illness or death&nb...
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Employers are required to implement and maintain occupational health and safety (‘OHS’) by following certain core principles: avoiding risks; assessing risks; preventing risks at their origin; adapting the work process (...
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Depending on the number of employees, the employer may perform OHS obligations itself (through an internal OHS officer) or by engaging an OHS expert (either by hiring the expert as an employee or by contracting with an external service prov...
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If the Labour Inspectorate’s Sector for Occupational Safety Supervision confirms OHS implementation and compliance failures by the employer, it can either (i) record the failures and ...
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As a general rule, the employer is liable for all breaches of the implemented OHS measures, and its actions are judged on an objective basi...
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The employer is obligated to notify the Labour Inspectorate immediately upon the occurrence of any fatal injury, or any injury for which an employee required immediate medical assistance or hospitalisation, and which occurred on the employe...
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Under Croatian law, discrimination means placing any person at a disadvantage based on the following grounds: race, ethnic origin or skin colou...
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Discrimination is prohibited in all its manifestations. However, there are exceptional situations prescribed by law where treating a person differently will not be considered discriminatory, including for example: measures taken to maintai...
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Both direct and indirect discrimination are prohibited in employment and working conditions. This includes criteria and con...
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Employees must take measures to enable disabled persons to use publicly available resources, to participate in public and social life, to access the workplac...
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Under Croatian law, harassment is any form of unwanted conduct based on any of the protected characteristics listed in section 8.1 above with the purpose or the effect of violating the dignity of a person or creating an intimidating, hostil...
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It is prohibited to place an employee at a disadvantage in retaliation f...
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If the court determines that discrimination has occurred, it may impose an order prohibiting the discriminatory action or requiring the employer to take affirmative actions aimed a...
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If the victim of alleged discrimination presents facts showing that it is probable that discrimination or harassment has occurred, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to show that discrimination or ...
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An employer can be held liable for discriminatory actions by its employees and third...
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The National Policy for the Promotion of Gender Equality includes an obligation on employers to address the gender pay gap: employers that are legal entities are required ...
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Croatian occupational health legislation defines occupational stress as health and mental changes resulting from the accumulating impact of work stressors over time, which are manifested as physiological, emotional, behavioural or cognitive...
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The frequency of discrimination claims is not easy to assess, due to a lack of publicly available information. The numb...
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Amounts of compensation for successful discrimination claims are not prescribed by law, and they depend on the extent of damages that ...
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The EU General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) is the cornerstone of personal data protection regimes in all EU member states and applies equally to employee personal data. Certain rules applying specifically to the protection of em...
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The employer as the processor can be subject to corrective measures and administrative fines issued by the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency (‘AZOP’). In addition, the employer can be held liable for any material or non-material ...
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If an employer collects and processes employee data in such a way that the information is anonymous (i.e. no individual employee as...
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If a person can be identified from recorded video or audio material, such recorded material constitutes personal data and therefore falls within the scope of the GDPR. The same applies to other methods of monitoring employees which entail a...
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According to the Croatian data protection agency (‘AZOP’), the employer has a broad right to control and regulate information systems and Internet access in the workplace. This means that the employer may restrict access to certain webs...
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Croatian law includes legislation regarding whistle-blowers. The law provides that any employer with at least 50 employees must introduce an internal system and procedures for employees to report irregularities. The system and procedures mu...
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Work related information that may be deemed to have market value is protected from unlawful disclosure under Croatian trade secrets legislation. To warrant protection under trade secrets law, the employer must introduce an obligation to the...
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Croatian labour law prohibits the employee from acting in competition with the employer without the employer’s consent. The employee is under this legal obligation for the entire duration of employment, and the obligation does not have to...
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Yes, the employer can restrict an employee’s use of confidential information after the end of employment by means of a confident...
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Yes. The employer and the employee can expressly agree that the employee will not act in competition with the employer for a maximum of two years after the termination of employment. Based on such a ‘non-compete’ agreement, the employee...
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Trade unions are established as legal entities (i.e. associations), independent of the employer. The main role of a trade union is to achieve and protect interests of its members. A t...
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Unionization of workforces varies from one sector to another....
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The employer has to work and cooperate with an established trade union if any of its employees are members of that union, especially if the...
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Works councils are the main form of employee representation at the employer level in Croatia. If established at the employer, a works council protects and promotes the interests of all employees (regardless of their trade union membership)....
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Trade unions have the right to organise and undertake strikes for the purpose of protecting and promoting the economic and social interests of its members, or in response to the non-payment of salary or other remuneration when due. In the e...
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The Croatian Labour Act provides that an employer can lawfully terminate indefinite-term employment based on the following grounds (‘regular termination’): if the need for performance of certain work ceases due to economic, technologic...
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Under the Labour Act, an employee who believes that his or her employment has been unlawfully terminated has the right to seek reconsideration and reinstatement from the employer within 15 days ...
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The following procedures for terminating employment must be followed: The termination decision must be in written form, must contain a detailed explanation of the reasons for termination, and must be delivered to the employee. The employer...
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It is unlawful to terminate the employment of a pregnant employee or an employee who is on maternity or parental leave, during the leave period and for 15 days thereafter. It is also unlawful to terminate t...
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Minimum notice periods are prescribed by the law. The minimum notice period ranges from two weeks to four months; the exact duration depends...
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Termination with immediate effect by making a payment in lieu of notice is not recognized in Croatian labour law. The employer may unilaterally decide to put the employee on ...
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An employee can lawfully resign without giving reasons or explanation, but must adhere to the same notice period that would apply to ter...
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Employment can be lawfully terminated when an employee reaches 65 years of age and has at least 15 years of pensionable service. The employer...
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An employee whose employment has been terminated by the employer after at least two consecutive years of work for reasons other than misco...
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Apart from resolution of employment disputes in the courts, the employer and employee can mutu...
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Under Croatian law, an employer is required to engage in prior consultation with the works council (or, in the absence ...
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The employer’s written request for prior consultation with the works council (or, in the absence of a works council, the labour union representative) must contain the following information: the reasons for the proposed collective dismiss...
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During consultations with the works council or the labour union representative, the employer is required by law to take into account and address all reasonable proposals and suggestions that could reduce or eliminate the need for the intend...
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If the employer moves forward with collective dismissals without conducting prior consultations with the works council or the labour union representative, its decisio...
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Before reaching a decision on a dismissal due to economic, technological or organizational reasons (i.e. business-related or redundancy dismissal), an employer th...
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An employee who is terminated after at least two consecutive years of work for reasons other than misconduct (e.g. redundancy or poor performance) is entitled to a severance payment in an amount not less ...
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If the identity of employer changes as a result of a merger, or any other statutory change recognized by Croatian corporate ...
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Yes. Croatian law prescribes that in the event of the transfer of an undertaking or business (or a part of an undertaking or business which retains its economic integrity after th...
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Upon the described transfers, transferred employees retain all rights arising from the employment relationship that they acquired up to the transfer date. The transferee employer assumes all of the rights and obligations arising from the tr...
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No, employees have no right to object or refuse automatic transfer to the new employer as a result of the transfer of an un...
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Terms Contractual employment terms remain unaltered, along with all rights which the employee has obtained until the transfer date. Benefits If benefits are determined under the individual employment agreement, those benefits rema...
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The new employer and the old employer are jointly and s...
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If a collective agreement is in place at the old (i.e. transfero...
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If an employer proposes to change any term or condition explicitly stipulated in the employment agreement, such change can be executed only with the approval of the employe...
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Employees can be safely dismissed during or after the transfer, but the dismissal must in no case be based on or rela...
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The old (i.e. transferor) employer must inform the employees who are to be transferred (see section 14.11). In addition, before rendering a final dec...
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The transferor employer must submit a written notification to the works council and all the affected employees about the transfer of the employment agreements. The n...
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In practice, the prior consultation typically lasts for a few weeks. However, unless otherwise provided in the agreement between the...
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If the old employer fails to fully and truthfully inform the new employer in writing regarding the rights of the employees who are to be transferred, the old employer will be held liable for a fine ranging from HRK 31,000 to HRK 100,000 (ap...
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Where the undertaking, business, or part of the undertaking or business being transferred retains its economic integrity, a works council (if one has been established) conti...
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State pension coverage in Croatia is very broad: it applies to all employees, self-employed persons, and farmers. It also extends to the following categories unless they have other pension insurance: members of management boards; priests, ...
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The employer must ensure that contributions for the first and second pillar of the pension system are deducted every month from the employee’s gross salary, reported, and paid on behalf of employee. Employers are obligated to register new...
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Under Croatian law, the employer can fund its own voluntary pension scheme, but only as a closed fund. Any such scheme must be operated through a company specifically incorporated for operating voluntary pension funds. The...
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There is not any legally prescribed consultation requirement. However, the w...
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Employers must pay contributions for compulsory insurance, including contributions for state pension insurance, and these contributions are collected by the Tax Admi...
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Under Croatian law, salaries are an obligatory part of the individual employment agreement; since the salary must be exp...
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Under current Croatian law, there are two separate regimes on internal investigations in the context of employment: Investigations relating to discrimination and workplace harassment (including sexual harassment, ‘mobbing’, and other f...
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The Whistleblowers Act does not impose a legal obligation on employees to report suspected misconduct. The Act’s main focus is on the protection of whistl...
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With regard to whistleblower complaints, the Designated Person must conduct the investigation and resolve the complaint within 60 days after it is received. The Designated Person must take all necessary actions to protect the whistleblower ...
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There is no statutory obligation for employees to participate in an investigation, regardless of whether they are a wi...
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There is no statutory provision giving employees a right to be represented by a lawyer during an...
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An employee who reports an irregularity under the Whistleblowers Act must be granted access to the casefile within 30 days of making a request for access to the Designated Person. An employee who is the subject of the investig...
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As discussed in section 16.1 above, Croatia has a Whistleblowers Act that specifically covers violations of any laws and regulations as well as mismanagement of public goods and/or national or EU funding relating to the performance of work ...
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While the specific means by which the employer keeps records on employees’ performance will vary, the most common methods include digital databases tracking working hours, most often on an automated basis. Annual or semiannual individual ...
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Workplace harassment complaints are the only grievances regulated by law, as discussed in sections 16.1 and 16.3 above. However, internal mechanisms for dealing with other types of grievances adopted by employe...
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Employers should be careful not to discriminate against any job applicant when advertising a job vacancy. Cypriot law incorporates anti-discrimination provisions similar to those contained in international human rights conventions. The Cons...
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There are no specific restrictions or prohibitions against background checks into prior work experience and qualifications of a potential employee. Employers may ask relevant questions about the applicant’s educational background and...
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The law provides for a fixed probationary period of 26 weeks. This period may be extended for up to 104 weeks by written agreement at the start of emp...
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During the probationary period, the provisions relating to notice and protection of the employee from termination do not apply. The employer may dismiss the employee without reason or notice, subject to any provision in the contract of empl...
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There are some exceptions to the anti-discriminatory provisions that allow differential treatment by the prospective employer for certain job applicants (e.g. differences in treatmen...
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EU nationals may work in Cyprus without any restrictions. An application for a registration certificate must be submitted to the Civil Registry and Migration Department within three months of the date of entry into Cyprus. The employee may ...
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An employer should keep records of all contributions payable to the Cypriot authorities in relation to the employment of foreign nationals. Further, it should retain all the documentation proving the...
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Employers must obtain a candidate’s explicit consent i...
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Employers cannot ask discriminator...
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The ‘employer-employee relationship’ is not expressly defined in Cyprus law. According to relevant case law, the establishment of the relationship is always a question of fact and the facts of each particular case have to be taken into ...
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There are no distinctions in the law regarding types of employees. The terms and conditions of employment are subject only to the contract of employment, in which the terms of employment are specifi...
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There are no restrictions prescribed by la...
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According to law, part-time employees and full-time employees must be treated equally. There must be no difference with regards to the working conditions and the same level of protection must be...
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Fixed-term employees have the same level of p...
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Successive renewals or extensions of a fixed-term contract, as...
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Temporary work agencies must be licenced prior commencing business. They must provide a signed copy of the contract between the agency and the temporary worker to the user undertaking. Temporary workers can be appointed to a user undertakin...
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Depending on the terms of employment, employees may be seconded to another ...
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Under Cypriot law it is not necessary to provide a written employment contract. A contract may be created orally between the employer and employee. However, the employer must provide the employee with specific information in writing regardi...
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It is not common in Cyprus to issu...
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The employment contract should be in a language that is understood by both parties. If the contract is in a language the employe...
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Terms are implied both by virtue of statute and common law. Statutory implied terms include rights of and obligations on both the employer and employee while common law creates an implied duty of trust and fidelity on the employee to the em...
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It is possible to incorporate other terms and conditions into the contract of employment by reference to collective agreements, laws, regulations and orders which regulate the matter under consid...
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There are no specific legal limitations on making amendments to the employment relationship. However, any unilateral change in...
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In addition to the employment contract, the employee is very often provided with an employees’ manual or handbook, and/or a disciplinary code and internal policy of the organisation. Contractual documents are distinguished from non-contra...
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The minimum wage in Cyprus was established by an order of the Ministerial Council and is mandatory starting as of 1 January 2023. For full-time employment the minimum wage is EUR 885 (gross) per month initially, and it increases to EUR 940 ...
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Wages in Cyprus are made up of the basic salary and the cost of living allowance (the ‘COLA’). Usually, every six months, in January and July, the government decides the percentage readjustment of the COLA, which must be in accordan...
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Tax The main employment-related taxes prescribed by law are income tax and social insurance. Employment income (after all allowances) is taxed as follows: Income (EUR) Tax Rate (%) up to 19,500 0 19,501 – 28,000�...
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For an employee with an annual gross salary of EUR 100,000, the rates of income tax are as set out in section 4.3 above, with a marginal rate of 35%. The social security contribution rates a...
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There are no legal rules regarding the payment of bonuses. It is a matter of agreement between the parties. Bonuses are considered part of remuneration and are therefore included in the calculation of social insurance, tax and other con...
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Employers are not required to provide any particular benefits to their employees apart from any agreed contractual benefits ...
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A 13th month salary, payable around mid-December of each year, is customary and widely practiced in Cyprus although it is an optional payment. There are no mandatory bonuses and whether bonuses are paid largely depends on the industry. For...
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According to law, the number of working hours for a five-day week must not exceed 48 hours per week, including overtime. However, in certain sectors (e.g. the hotel industry) different limitations may apply. Night workers must not, on avera...
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Employees may opt out of the limits on worki...
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The following employees are exempted from the rules about working time:...
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The monitoring of employees’ working time is not regulated by law in Cyprus and the employer may therefore decide how to regulate this. Rules may be provided in internal regulations or through a policy. There is no legal requiremen...
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The law does not directly refer to agile working, but it is encouraged by the Ministry of...
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Cypriot law states that the number of working hours for a five-day week should not exceed 48 hours, including overtime. However, an empl...
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Subject to the general rules and regulations regarding health and safety in the workplace...
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Overtime pay is generally not regulated by law in Cyprus and is usually a matter of private agreement between the emplo...
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According to Cypriot law, employees are generally entitled to a minimum of 11 continuous hours of rest per day, 24 c...
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Cypriot law provides that any employer that does not comply with th...
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According to Cypriot law, employees who have worked 48 weeks in a year are entitled to annual leave. For emp...
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During annual leave, employees are paid their normal wages. ...
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There are no statutory provisions stipulating which days of the year are public holidays. In the public sector, public holidays are considered to be those days when government offices are closed. Time off for public holidays in the private ...
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In Cyprus there is no obligation for an employer to provide paid sick leave. If the employee meets the requirements set by the Social Insurance Law, the employee may apply for a statutory sick benefit (‘SSB’) to the Social Insuran...
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Maternity leave Pregnant employees are entitled to 18 weeks of maternity leave for the first child, 22 weeks for the second child and 26 weeks for the third (or subsequent) child. If the delivery results in the birth of more than one chil...
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Employers must grant paid leave for one or more days a year to male employees who have completed their military service and are required to attend the National Guard Service. ...
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Employers must: Keep a list of, and prepare reports on, occupational accidents. Take the necessary measures for first aid, fire-fighting, evacuation of workers and action required in the event of serious and imminent danger. Inform and...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities are responsible for enforcing. The aim of the Department of Labour Inspection is to ensure health and safety at w...
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If an employer breaches health and safety law, it may be found guilty of an offence and may be given a fine not exceed...
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Generally, an employer will not be liable for the acts of third-party contractors, as long as the employer has exercised due diligence in selecting the contractor for the task. An employer can be liable for harm caused to employees or vis...
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A workplace accident must be notified to the authorities in the following situations: when it causes loss of life to an employee or a self-employed person or makes him or her unable to perform his or her normal work for more than three...
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The following characteristics are protected by discrimination law: racial or ethnic origin; religion or belief; language; sex; political or other beliefs; national or social background; pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding,...
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The law allows for some differential treatment based on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, disability and sexual orientation. Discrimination on these grounds is permitted when the nature of the occupational act...
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Cypriot antidiscrimination law also prohibits indirect discrimination against an individual employee or a specific employee group based on protected characteristics as defined by the law. Examples of such behaviours may include provisions, ...
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Employers in Cyprus are required by law to make adjustments to accommodate employees with specific health issues, conditions, or disabilities, in order to enable them to perform their job duties effectively and participate fully in the work...
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Any form of harassment is prohibited and protected by law. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a prohibited type ...
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The Law provides protection against dismissal or unfavourable amendment of the terms of employment after an employee has filed a complaint and/or protest in connection with a matter relating to discrimination and equal treatment (especially...
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The potential consequences for the employer if a claim for discrimination, harassment, or victimization/retaliation is successful in Cyprus primarily involve compensation awards for civil claims brought by employees in the Cypriot Labour Co...
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According to case law, if the person claiming discrimination or harassment sets out facts and circumstances that prima facie show a probability that there was a breach of the law, then the burden of proof shifts to the employer to show that...
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An employer can be held liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees whether or not the employer was aware of such acts or approved of them, unless it has taken reasonable steps to prevent the employees from performing those acts. Th...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. However, note that the law provides that an employer must produce a report on such matters if so requested by the labour authorities. Specifically, according t...
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Cypriot law imposes on employers the responsibility to ensure the safety, health and welfare (both physical and mental) at work of all their employees. This responsibility, unlike most employer responsibilities under Cypriot employment law,...
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There are very few reported cases regarding discrimination filed in Cyprus courts. According to the Cyprus Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights, in 2020 62 discrimination complaints were reported to the authori...
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In Cyprus there is no ceiling on the maximum amount of compensation that can be awarded for discrimination cases. However, very few discrimination claims have been tried by the courts in Cyprus, which makes it di...
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Employee information in Cyprus is protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) as well as under national legislation that provides protections with regard to the processing and free movement of personal data. ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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At present, privacy matters arising from the use of social media by employees in and outside the workplace remain untested in the Cypriot Courts. The Commissioner for Personal Data has not issued any guide...
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There is a specific legal framework in Cyprus offering independent protection to whistleblowers. Cyprus implemented the EU Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law in February 2022 with a new law aimed at detecti...
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Under Cypriot employment law there is an implied duty of fidelity that forms the basis of a contract of employment. It has been long recognised by the Cyprus courts that the employee should offer his or her services to his or her employer i...
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Under Cypriot employment law there is an implied duty of fidelity and the employee must not act in a way that is directly and substantially prejudicial to his or her employer’s interests. Therefore, the implied duty of fidelity is one of ...
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Employees have a continuing duty of good faith in relation to the confidentiality and protection of the employer’s property. This duty continues after the termination of employment, regardless of the reason for termination. Therefore, unl...
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Employers may insert a ‘restrictive covenant’, that is, an express term, into the employment contract restricting the employee from acting in competition with the employer after the employment has ended. U...
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In Cyprus, trade unions usually deal with issues such as the bargaining and implementation of collective agreements, work organisation, discipline, and the settlement of disputes arising out of collective agreements....
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In general, there are industries with extremely high union density, such as the public and semi-public sectors and the banking sector, where the largest segment of the workforce employed is unionised. However, in the private sector, and par...
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Under the law, an employer does not have to work with a trade union, but it must not prevent employees from joining one. If the employer refuses to grant recognition of a trade union, the law provides for a procedure to overcome such refusa...
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Workplace representation in Cyprus is primarily through trade unions. Union workplace committees typically deal with issues such as health and safety, work organisation, employee grievances, discipline, and the implementation of the colle...
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The right to strike is protected in the Constitution, with the exception of the armed forces and the police. The prohibition may be extended to the civil service in the interest of the security of the Republic and the maintenance of pub...
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The law provides specific reasons under which an employee can be lawfully dismissed. In such an event an employee is not entitled to compensation. The valid grounds for dismissal are as follows: the employee fails to perform his or her w...
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If the employer terminates an employee’s employment without a valid lawful reason and the employee has worked for the required length of service, the employee may bring a claim for unfair dismissal before the employment tribunal. The mo...
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When terminating an employee, the employer is required to give the employee: written notice of dismissal, stating the reasons for the dismissal, the termination date, and the notice period if applicable (or payment in lieu of notice); ...
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Some categories of employee enjoy increased protection from dismissal. This applies to employees who participate in trade union-related activities, pregnant women and employees on sick leave. In general terms, employees are protected from...
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The law provides the following notice periods, which depend on the employee’s length of service: Length of service (weeks) The employer’s notice of dismissal 26-51 one week 52-103 two weeks 104-155 four weeks�...
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The employer has the right to require the employee to accept payment in lieu of notice, which must cover the employee’s full salary entitlement for the notice period. An employer may dismiss an employee without notice for reasons of g...
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If an employee resigns, the employee should give the appropriate statutory or contractual notice to the employer, and is not entitled to receive any compensation. For a resignation to be regarded as constructive dismissal, the employee mu...
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It is generally not possible to retire an employee compulsorily, and if the employer does so it runs the risk of both an unfair dismissal claim and an age discrimination claim. However, termination of an employee’s employment will be cons...
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Severance Statutory severance payments in cases of redundancy as described in the law are paid by the Redundancy Fund. The amount of payment is generally calculated based on the number of years of service multiplied by the last weekly wag...
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Settlement agreements can be concluded between the employer and employee. Under the law it is ambiguous whether such an agreement can have legal effect. However, the agreement will have the best chance of being enforced if the following fac...
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Collective dismissals under Cypriot law are defined as dismissals for one or more reasons not related to the employees and where the number of the employees dismissed within a 30-day period is: at least ten employees if the organis...
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A notice to the employee representatives and to the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance must be given on a standard form and must include the following information: the reasons for any proposed collective dismissal; the number and the ...
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Under collective redundancy law, when an employer is contemplating collective redundancies, it must consult with employee representatives with a view to reaching an agreement within a reasonable timeframe. Consultations must cover at leas...
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An employer that fails to comply with the information and consultation requirements is guilty of an offence and on conviction liable for a fin...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals. Those made redundant as part of a collective redundancy and those made redundant individually have the same termination payment rig...
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No. The employer may at its discretion pay the d...
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Share sales do not constitute transfers that fall within the scope of the law protecting employee rights on business transfers. ...
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Sale of a business On a business sale, all rights and duties of the transferor stemming from the employment contract or work relationship as it exists at the date of the transfer are transferred by law. Any of the transferor’s rights an...
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All rights and duties of the transferor existing at the date of the transfer and stemming from the employment contract or work relationship, are transferred to th...
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Employees have no legal right to object to the transfer. ...
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Terms The transferee must retain the same terms and conditions of employment for at least a year after the transfer. If the working conditions or the contract of employment are materially changed to the employee’s det...
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The transferee will be liable for all claims made by the transferring employees, whether made befo...
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Following the transfer, the transferee must continue to honour the terms and conditions of any co...
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Changes to the terms and conditions of employment in connection with a business...
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The transfer of a business does not constitute a valid re...
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In a business sale, the transferor and tran...
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The information to be provided by the employer relates to the terms and conditions of the employment. Specifically, the employer mus...
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Consultation (with a view to reaching an agreement) must take place before any intend...
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The sanction for failing to ...
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Upon transfer, the status and duties of the employee representa...
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Every employee is entitled to receive state pension benefits under the social insurance scheme, which provides a wide range of benefits in Cyprus. The Cyprus social insurance scheme is compulsory for all those working in Cyprus and is funde...
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There is no requirement for an employer to provide its employees with access to a pension scheme. The only mandatory retirement payment...
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An employer can establish a pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. Private pension schemes (defined contribution and defined benefit) are regulated by specific legislation under which all Funds are required to register with the Cy...
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There will probably be an obligation to consult with employees, or their representatives, in relation to proposed changes to an employer’s pension arrangements if the pension scheme arrangements are mentioned i...
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Employer’s contributions to supplementary pension schemes offered to employees are deductible for corporate tax purposes up to a limit ...
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Usually an employment contract only provides that a pension scheme is offered by the employer as a bene...
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Whether a matter must be investigated generally depends on the specific policies and procedures of the organisation, which may or may not obligate it to conduct a formal investigation on the matter under consideration. For disciplinary ...
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In general, there is no statutory obligation for an employee to report any suspected misconduct. This obligation depends on the employer’s workplace policies or procedures....
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For disciplinary matters that may lead to dismissal, the employer must begin the investigation within a reasonable time unless the report falls under the scope of the whistleblowing law (see section 16.7 below). The employer must complete i...
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In general, employees must abide by the employer’s established workplace policies, including the disciplinary policy. Employees must make every effort to attend meetings or hearings conducted in accordance with that policy, and failure to...
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The general principle is that employees have no statutory right to be accompanied by a lawyer in an investigatory meeting unless an internal contractual disciplinary policy gives them that right. However, when the person attending the mee...
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It is advisable after a proper investigation for the employer to give the employee a written notice of invitation to a disciplinary hearing, including sufficient information about the alleged misconduct or poor performance and its possible ...
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A new law on whistleblowing was passed in Cyprus in February 2022. The new law enables whistleblowers to disclose information by establishing effective and secure reporting channels and protecting them from retaliation. Protection exists no...
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Under Cypriot law, employees can be lawfully dismissed if they fail to perform their duties in a reasonably efficient manner. What might be considered to be ‘reasonably efficient’ will depend on the circumstances applicable to each empl...
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There are no statutory rules about how grievances should be handled. Usually employers have their own internal grievance policies and procedures. Issues that could give rise to grievances may include terms and conditions of employment, heal...
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There are no legal requirements about wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. However, employers should avoid wording that is discriminator...
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An employer may only request information from a job applicant that relates to the work to be performed or that is necessary to complete the employment contract. This information may be requested directly from the applicant. If the emplo...
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An employer and employee may agree on a probationary period and whilst this is not an automatic factor in employment relationships, it is common practice in the Czech Republic. The probationary period enables the employer to assess employee...
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During a probationary period, both the employer and the employee may terminate the employment without prior notice or reason with immediate effect (or with effect from a later date if specified in the notification of ...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer. The primary prohibited grounds are nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion and beliefs and political views. Further, an...
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Special rules for employing foreign nationals only apply to third-country nationals. Czech law does not consider citizens of the EU, European Economic Area or Switzerland or the family members of these citizens as foreign nationals. These c...
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The employer must keep records of all third-country nationals, citizens of the EU, European Economic Area or Switzerland or the family members of these citizens which it employs or which have been seconded to it. The records must con...
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Employers may generally keep their records about unsuccessful candidates. The rules for keeping these records vary depending on the purposes for doing so. If the candidate consented to processing of his or her personal data by the emp...
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Within the recruitment process, the employer may ask a candidate (and other persons) only for information which is directly related to the conclusion of the employment contract and which is not against good morals. The employ...
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Labour law creates the concept of ‘dependent work’ which must be always performed in an employment law relationship by an employee, rather than an independent contractor. Dependent work is defined as work performed: within a relationsh...
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Czech law applies equally to most employees. The only significant group of employees with different rules, not only in the area of remuneration, are public sector workers whose employment is governed by the Public Service Act which contains...
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Company directors who represent a company as a statutory body, or are members of a statutory body, should not perform the activities of a statutory body (i.e. business management) as standard employees under an employment contract. Accordin...
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The employee must perform full-time work unless otherwise agreed and the employer must assign work accordingly. The employer may agree with an employee (usually in the employment contract or an amendment to it) that he or she will work part...
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A fixed-term employment contract may be agreed for no more than three years. It may be repeated no more than twice (i.e. a maximum of three times three years and a total of nine years). Once the number of fixed-term contracts concluded betw...
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If the employer has agreed to a fixed-term employment relationship with the employee in breach of the restrictions on fixed-term contracts, ...
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An employment agency must obtain a special licence for ‘work mediation’ issued by the general headquarters of the Czech Labour Office. This licence covers: seeking employment for a person who is looking for work and seeking employees f...
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An employer may temporarily assign its employees to work for another ‘host’ company without obtaining an employment agency licence. During the assignment the employee remains employed by the original employer. The following conditions m...
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All employment contracts must be concluded in writing before the start of work, otherwise a sanction of up to CZK 10 million (approximately EUR 416,666) may be imposed on the employer. A verbal contract is deemed invalid. However, a claim t...
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It is not common practice in the Czech Republic to ...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts. The general rule for legal acts to be valid is that both parties mu...
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Conclusion of an employment contract automatically results in the application of all obligations and minimum entitlements of the employer and employee regulated by labour law. The employer is, in particular, obliged to: assign work to the ...
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The written employment contract does not have to contain all the terms and conditions of employment. The employee and employer may conclude separ...
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The employer must not change employees’ terms and conditions below the minimum standards required by labour law (e.g. minimum salary and supplements, minimum paid leave, limits on working hours, entitlements relating to termination of emp...
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Employers generally provide employees with the following non-contractual documents: information about employment conditions; a salary assessment determining the amount of the employee’s salary and conditions of remuneration, if the s...
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The law sets minimum wage levels for eight categories of work activity. These are grouped according to complexity, responsibility and difficulty, with the minimum monthly wage ranging from CZK 17,300 to CZK 34,600 within these categories. T...
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Czech law does not include a provision for wages to be automa...
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Tax The following payments must be made in relation to income earned by employees: health insurance; social security (i.e. sickness insurance, pension insurance and contributions to state employment policy); and personal inco...
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In 2023, the income of an employee with an income of EUR 100,000 and two children, whose spouse earns more than EUR 2,833 per year, equates to approximately EUR 76,558 net. The employer will pay an additional EUR 29,001 for such an empl...
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Generally, Czech labour law does not regulate the provision of bonuses to employees in the private sector. Therefore, providing employees with bonuses is not mandatory. There are no generally applicable legal rules specifically governing ...
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Labour law sets out mandatory allowances that an employer must provide to its employees including allowances for: overtime work; work on holidays; night work; work in a difficult working environment; work on Saturdays a...
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Employers are free to decide on the benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits include: five weeks of paid holidays (i.e. providing on...
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In general, a full time working week must consist of 40 working hours. However, exceptions are set out in law for: employees working underground; and employees working in shift patterns or in a continuous work regime. The...
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The limit on work scheduled (i.e. 40, 38.75 or 37.5 hours per week and 12 hours per shift) must not be exc...
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Sales representatives may be exempt, depending on whether they are directly employed based on an employment contract or work independently. If the contract provides that the sales representative is subject to the supervision of the employer...
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An employer must keep records of every individual employee’s: working hours; overtime work; night work; periods of being on-call; periods of work while on-call. Working hou...
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Employees are not legally entitled to agile working arrangements, but they are fairly common in practice. The employer and the employee may agree on a teleworking arrangement whereby the employee performs work from somewhere other tha...
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The employer may require a maximum of eight hours of overtime work per week, but ...
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Any overtime work exceeding eight hou...
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In the case of overtime work, the employee is entitled to: the ordinary rate for the work done during the period; and additional pay of at least 25% over the ordinary rate. If the employer agrees with the employee, the additi...
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Employees are entitled to a break for lunch and a rest no later than every six hours of continuous work. This break must be at least 30 minutes long. Breaks for lunch and rest are not included in the working hours. Special laws define categ...
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Exceeding the limits on working hours and breaching the rules related to breaks and rest periods constitute offences under Czech labour law. The State Labour Inspection Office may impose a fine of up to CZK 2,000,000 (EUR 83,333) on employe...
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Employees have the right to a minimum of four weeks’ paid annual leave. Public sector employees have five weeks, whilst teachers and academic employees have eight weeks’ paid annual leave. This applies to employees who have performed wo...
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An employee is entitled to pay equal to the average earnings for each day of absence from work when taking annual leave. Average earnings are calculated based on the employee’s hours worked and income earned in the previous calendar quart...
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There are 13 public holidays each year in the Czech Republic, as follows: Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State / New Year’s Day, 1 January; Good Friday in March or April; Easter Monday in March or April; Labour Day, 1 May; Libe...
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Employees are entitled to time off for the period of sickness evidenced by a medical certificate. Some employers voluntarily provide employees with several paid sick days – usually no more than fi...
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The main statutory rights to family-related leave and pay are summarised below. Employers sometimes agree on additional unpaid leave with employees after any statutory entitlements expire, most often until a child reaches four years of age....
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The employer must allow an employee time off work in the following situations, if these activities cannot be performed outside working hours (this list is not exhaustive): medical examinations or treatment (paid); unpredictable traffic...
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The employer must ensure health and safety protection both for its employees and for other persons present at the workplace with the employer’s knowledge. The cost of ensuring workplace safety is borne by the employer. There are several g...
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The issue of health and safety at work is regulated by extensive legisl...
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The inspectors of the State Labour Inspection Authority are entitled to take any necessary measures in order to eliminate defects found in the course of investigation. In addition, the Authority can issue decisions prohibiting the most seri...
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An employer is liable for harm sustained by an employee during the performa...
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In the Czech Republic, the employer must notify without undue delay: the competent district labour inspectorate after a fatal accident or an accident which requires hospitalisation longer than five days; the competent department of the...
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General discrimination law protects the following characteristics: racial or ethnic origin; nationality; sex; sexual orientation; age; disability; religion and beliefs; and other views or beliefs. Employment l...
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Generally, differential treatment based on one of the protected characteristics is not considered discrimination where it is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means to achieve this aim are proportionate and necessary. Furthe...
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Generally, any kind of discrimination is prohibited, if it leads, directly or indirectly, to unequal treatment on one of the protected grounds. Czech law defines indirect discrimination as an action or omission where, on the basis of a ...
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For employees who are disabled persons, employers are required to provide (at their own expense) any necessary adjustment of the working conditions or workplace, any necessary training or in...
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Harassment is generally considered to be discrimination. Therefore, employees are protected against harassment based on the protected characteristics. Harassment is defined by law as inappropriate conduct related to one of the protected cha...
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Retaliation is considered to be discrimination and is therefore prohibited. Retaliation is defined by law as unfavourable treatment, sanctions or disadvantages that occur because an individual has claimed his or her rights under anti-discri...
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If an employee successfully claims discrimination in any form (i.e. direct or indirect discrimination, harassment or retaliation) by the employer, the court can order the employer: to cease the discrimination; to rectify the consequenc...
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The procedural burdens in labour-law cases of alleged discrimination are distributed between the parties in compliance with the relevant EU law. Under these rules, the burden of proof is significantly shifted towards the defendant employer,...
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An employer is liable for any harm caused to an employee in the course of carrying out work tasks or in direct connection with those tasks by a breach of legal duties. Therefore, if an employee suffers any harm as a result of another employ...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. However, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs asks some...
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There is no specific legal requirement for employers to protect the mental health of their employees. However, it is a part of general health protection. A mental health condition does not in itself provide protection against dismissal. How...
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Generally, claims concerning discrimination are quite rare in the Czech Republic. This is mainly because of the length of court...
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In the Czech Republic, the amounts of awards in cases of unlawful discrimination to date have been quite low. In the few ...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an emplo...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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One of the employee’s general obligations is to use working hours and means of production entirely for performing the assigned work. Further, employees are not entitled to use the employer’s production equipment or other means necessary...
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Generally, an employer must not put an employee at a disadvantage merely because he or she has lawfully claimed rights arising from the employment relationship. An employee who makes a complaint in good faith either to the employer or to a ...
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Employees must not act contrary to the employer’s legitimate interests. This is a basic obligation which prohibits employees from breaching confidentiality obligations with regard to work-related information. Employers often incorporate m...
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During employment relationships, employees may not perform paid activities that are identical in scope to those performed by the existing employer, except with that employer’s prior written consent...
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Confidentiality obligations of employees (contractual or imposed by law) can survive the end of employment. S...
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A non-compete clause, which prevents the employee from pursuing any paid activity that competes with the business of the employer after the termination of employment, may only be concluded with employees: from whom such an obligation can b...
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Trade unions are the most common form of employee representation. They are created independently from the state and ensure an open dialogue with the employer. For this purpose trade unions have following rights and responsibilities: collec...
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The number of unionised employees gradually decreased during most of the last decade. Nevertheless, in the past several years the decrease has...
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An employer must work with a trade union once established. A trade union is considered as established at an employer from the day after the union notifies the employer that the follow...
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In addition to trade unions, all employees have the right to decide to elect a works council or a representative for the protection of occupational health and safety. The role of works councils is limited only to consultation and informatio...
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The right to strike is regulated by Czech law only in relation to strikes arising from disputes over the conclusion of a collective agreement. In a collective agreement dispute, a strike may be declared only by a trade union and only where ...
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During the probationary period, the employer may terminate employment on any grounds or without giving a reason. However, the employer may not terminate the employment in the first 14 calendar days of an employee’s temporary unfitness to ...
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If the employer has given an invalid notice to an employee, the employee must inform the employer in writing, without undue delay, that he or she insists on continuing the employment. If the employer does not accept the notice – which...
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The employer may only terminate the employment on the grounds expressly stated in the labour code, and so the employer should consider the reason for dismissal before dismissing the employee. The employer should also consider other factors ...
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An employer may not dismiss employee during the ‘protected period’, namely during a period when: An employee is temporarily unfit to work as a result of illness or injury, unless the employee intentionally caused the incapacity or it w...
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The employer must give the employee proper notice of termination (i.e. written, signed by an authorised person and giving the reason for termination), otherwise the employee may claim the dismissal is void. The notice period is th...
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Generally, if an employer wishes to dismiss an employee it must provide written notice of termination. Following this, the notice period must be observed. It is not possible to terminate employment by payment in lieu of notice to the employ...
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The employee may terminate the employment by a unilateral notice of termination on any grounds or without stating the grounds. In that case a notice period of at least two months applies. The length of the notice period may be extended only...
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Reaching retirement age does not automatically result in termination of employment and is not a legal ground for termination of employment by notice. An employee who has reached retirement age may continue to work in an employm...
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Severance If the employment relationship is terminated with notice or by agreement on the grounds of organisational changes, or because of the employee’s incapacity to work due to a work-related injury, occupational disease or threat of s...
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The employer may make a settlement agreement with the employee. This must be in writing. If the parties wish, the settlement agreement may be also endorsed by a court. An agreement endorsed by a court will have the same effect...
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For collective dismissals, an employer must consult with employee representatives (i.e. a trade union or a works council). If there are no employee representatives in the organisation, the employer must consult with each affected employee i...
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No later than 30 days before giving notice of termination the employee representatives or, in the absence of representatives, all affected employees individually must be informed of the employer’s intention to carry out collective dismiss...
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According to labour law, consultation means an exchange of statements with the aim of reaching an agreement on any measures preventing or restricting a collective dismissal and mitigating consequences for employees. However, no agreement ne...
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If either the information or the consultation obligations toward the employee representatives is breached, the State Labour Inspection Office may fine the employer up to...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Czech law. However, employers must abide by the rules concerning equal treatment and ...
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Except for severance pay for termination ...
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There is no specific protection for employees for share takeovers under Czech law. The rules providing general protection of employees on business transfers do not apply to share sales. ...
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Sale of a business If a business is sold, the employment contracts are transferred in full under the same terms and conditions to the new employer. This applies where all or part of a business is sold and when all or part of some tasks or...
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For the old employer: It must inform and consult on certain matters with employee representatives. If there are no employee representatives, it must inform all individual employees affected by the transfer. However, consultation is not r...
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The employer must inform the employees of the transfer no later than 30 days before it takes effect. An employee can refuse to be transferred by giving notice of termination within 15 days after he or she was duly informed of the transfer. ...
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Terms The transferee, as the new employer, assumes all existing rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship. All rights and obligations arising from both individual and collective agreements must be transferred to the ...
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The transferee assumes all of the transferor’s employment liabilities, but Czech case law provides that the transferee does not assume obligations ...
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All rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship (including under a collective agreement) transfer automatically from the transferor to the transferee at the time of the tran...
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Terms and conditions of employment contained in the employment agreement may not be unilaterally changed by the transferee as a result of the transfer. Employment contracts are subject to the transfer of rights and obligations arising from ...
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Employees may not be dismissed by reason of the transfer, but this does not prevent the transferor or transferee from dismissing the employee for other reasons (e.g. organisational reasons, health reasons, and disciplinary reasons). If a tr...
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The employers must (i) inform and (ii) consult, with the employee representatives (primarily trade unions) at the latest within 30 days before the transfer takes effect. If no employee representatives exist at either the transferor’...
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Employers (both the transferor and the transferee) must inform the employee representatives or affected employees that the transfer will take place and this must cover the following issues: the date or proposed day of transfer; reasons...
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The employers must arrange a consultation in all cases (whether or not the measures will affect the employees) and this must take place at an appropriate time at least 30 days before the transfer. The employer must meet with the employee re...
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Failure to inform and/or consult with the employee representatives on behalf of the affected employees does not make the transfer void. However, if there is a breach of the obligat...
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If the employees who are members of an existing employee representative body are transferred to the transferee, that existing employee representative body is automatically transferred to the transferee. The trade union (the most common empl...
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The state pension is the main, and in many cases the only, income for pensioners in the Czech Republic. Each citizen has a right to receive the state pension provided two conditions are met. He or she must have (i) reached retirement ag...
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The employer is not required to provide its employees with access to a pe...
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Employers do not currently fund and operate pension schemes in the Czech Republic. This is p...
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If there is a recognised trade union, the employer must inform and consult with the trade union on changes to the s...
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An employee saving for his or her pension in a commercial pension scheme may deduct income tax in the amount he or she has contributed to the commercial pension scheme during the respective year, if the contribution is more than CZK 12,000 ...
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There is no requirement for the employment co...
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The employer does not have any duty to conduct an investigation except for investigations related to occupational injuries. In practice, investigations are usually also initiated in cases of employee misconduct and in cases of ...
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Employees are not generally obliged to report suspected misconduct....
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If the employer becomes aware of unsatisfactory work performance, the employer may commence an investigation after a reasonable period of time. In cases involving a breach of an employee’s duties, the employer intending to c...
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If the employee is suspected of misconduct, the employer cannot generally force him or her to actively take part in the investigation; while there are no statutory rules, the employee cannot be forced into any self-incriminatio...
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As the process of investigation is left entirely up to the employer, there are no rules related to the possibility of legal representation in the course of an investigation. Thus, it is up to the employer to allow or prohibit l...
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There is no specific duty to provide the employee with all the evidence the employer has gathered. From the personal data protection perspective, the employee has a right to access his or her personal data. If it is necessary for the...
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There are no special regulations protecting whistle-blowers. However, an employer must not put an employee at a disadvantage merely because he or she has lawfully claimed rights arising from the employment relationship. An employee who make...
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First, employers commonly orally ask the employee with unsatisfactory work results to improve his/her performance. If there is not sufficient improvement, employers usually commence a formal proceeding consisting of a written�...
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Czech employment law does not provide any rules or guidance on how grievances should be handled, except for the employer’s obligation to discuss the grievance with the complaining employee. Employers usually implement�...
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There are no legal requirements on how advertisements should be worded or details about the job that should be provided in the advertisement. However, there are certain requirements that employers must not include in the recruitment p...
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Employers may ask applicants any questions that seem relevant for the assessment of the applicant. However, there are certain types of information employers must not request and certain types of information applicants must provide to employ...
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Employment of a salaried employee (i.e. an employee protected by the relevant law) may be made subject to a probationary period, but the period must not ...
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For salaried employees, employment may be terminated during the probationary period by the employer giving at least two weeks’ notice. The employer c...
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If an applicant believes that the prospective employer has not complied with the rules on use of health data or processing personal data, he or she can claim compensation under Danish law. An applicant who believes that his...
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The process to be followed in employing foreign workers primarily depends on the worker’s national origin. Different rules apply to Nordic nationals, EU or EEA nationals and third-country nationals. Further, special rules apply to cross-b...
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The process to be followed in employing foreign workers primarily depends on the worker’s national origin. Different rules apply to Nordic nationals, EU or EEA nationals and third-country nationals. Further, special rules apply to cross-b...
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Under the GDPR and the Danish Data Protection Act, employers must process personal data in accordance with good data processing practice. Data must be collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes, and any subsequent proces...
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Employers may ask applicants almost any question that is relevant for the assessment of the applicant. However, employers may not ask applicants about: race; colour; religion or belief; political opinion; sexual orientation; gender identit...
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If an individual is an employee: he or she is under an obligation to perform agreed work; the employer is entitled to control and direct the work; the work is performed on the employer’s behalf; there are fixed hours...
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The main distinction between salaried employees and blue-collar workers is that salaried employees are protected by Danish law governing salaried employees. Salaried employees are entitled to benefits including: full salary during sickness...
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There are no special rules that apply to the employment of chief executive officers (‘CEOs’) and employment protection law does not apply. The employment relationship between the company and the CEO is (with few exceptions) governed by ...
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By law, employers must not treat part-time employees less favourably than full-time employees who carry out the same type of work. Any less favourable treatment must be objectively justified. For example, paying a part-time employee a propo...
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By law, employers must not treat employees on fixed-term contracts less favourably than emp...
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Under Danish law on fixed-term employment, a fixed-term employment contract may only be renewed if there ar...
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The legal and practical implications of engaging temporary workers depend on whether the temporary worker is engaged on a contract between the employer and the worker. If so, the relationship will be considered a fixed-term employment relat...
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The employer can put its employees at the disposal of another organ...
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In Denmark, an oral agreement is just as valid as a written contract. An employment relationship entered into orally will therefore be valid. However, employers are required by Danish law to provide employees with written pa...
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It is not common in Denmark to issue an offer letter prior to ...
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There are no legal requirements regarding the language of the employment contract and no case law exists in this regard. However, employers ...
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An employment relationship is a strictly contractual relationship and as such, is governed by Danish contract law. This means, for example, that a duty of loyalty and trust between employer and employee will always be implied into an employ...
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An employment relationship is a strictly contractual relationship and as such, is governed by Danish contract law. This means, for example, that a duty of loyalty and trust between employer and employee will always be implied into an employ...
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Employers are free to implement minor changes to employees’ terms and conditions at will. If the changes in question are material, however, the employee must be given the same notice of the changes as the contractual notice of termination...
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Employees are usually provided with various company rules and policies upon employment. Most employers choose to compile such rules in an employee handbook, w...
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There is no statutory minimum wage in Denmark. However, a minimum wage is often set out in collective agreements. At present, there are several hundred collective agreements in Denmark. The minimum wage set out in a collective agreement...
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There are no statutory requirements as to the adjustment of wages in line with inflation. Automatic wage adjus...
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Tax Employees must pay tax in Denmark on salary and any taxable benefits provided by an employer. The tax year follows the calendar year and the employer must deduct and withhold tax, prior to payment of salary to the employee, and pay th...
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As mentioned in section 4.3 above, the Danish income tax rates are progressive, with a marginal tax rate of 55.9% (in 2023) exclusive of church tax (payable if the employee is a member of the Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Church) on ...
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There are no general rules governing the payment of bonuses. Typically, bonuses are agreed as a part of an employment contract. An employee’s entitlement to a bonus may, however, be based on an expectation to receive that bonus result...
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According to Danish employment law, salaried employees are entitled to receive 50% of the normal salary during 14 weeks’ statutory maternity leave. Further, salaried employees are entitled to receive salary payments during sickne...
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The most common benefits are: supplementary private healthcare insurance; contractual maternity and paternity pay in add...
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There is no legal limit on daily working hours. However, employees are entitled to a period of rest for a minimum of 11 consecutive hours in every 24-hour period. In practice, this means that there is a limit on daily working hours. Under s...
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As a general rule, it is not possible to exceed the...
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No employees are completely exempt from the working time rules in Denmark. Some managers are, under certain circumstances, exempt from the working time rules regarding the 11-hour rest period and the 24-hour rest period. However, managers a...
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There are currently no ...
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Danish law generally allows for agile working, but it does not affirmatively encourage it. There are no obstacles under Danish law to establishment of flexible working time arrangements. Some collective agreements provide blue-collar work...
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Employees are, as a general rule, obliged to carry out a reasonable amount of overtime work when it is necessary for the operation of the employer’s business. There are no statutory ...
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There are no statutory requirements for obtaining consent for overtime work from employees. Further, salaried employees are generally considered to be under an obligation to work overtime if their employer so requires. However, dependi...
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There are no statutory requirements regarding compensation for overtime work. Any entitlement to compensation for overtime work must be agreed in the employment contract, and th...
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Under Danish law, employees are entitled to a break of a reasonable length if the working day is longer than six hours. The most common example is a daily 30-minute lunch break in an...
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If the employer fails to comply with the rules on maximum weekly working hours, the right to breaks or night work, t...
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With effect from 1 September 2020, the Danish holiday system changed from a staggered holiday system to a concurrent holiday system. The concurrent holiday system allows employees to take holiday (annual leave) in the same period as that in...
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Employees are entitled to pay when taking days of accrued holiday. Employees can be paid in one of two different ways: Salaried employees and employees with a fixed monthly salary ar...
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There are 11 public holidays a year in Denmark: New Year’s Day; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Easter Sunday; Easter Monday; General Prayer Day; Ascension Day; Whit Sunday; Whit Monday; Christmas Day; and Boxing Day. There is no statutor...
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Employees in Denmark are entitled to be absent from work during sickness. The employee must inform the employer as soon as possible and no later than the beginning of the working day of his or her sickness and, under certain circumstances, ...
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Employees are entitled to leave for a number of family-related reasons, including pregnancy and childbirth. Doctors’ visits and antenatal appointments during pregnancy Pregnant employees are entitled to leave for doctors...
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Employees in Denmark are not entitled by law to personal days off work, for example for a wedding day. Any such days must be agreed with the employer and will be unpaid unless agreed ot...
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In Denmark, employers are required by law to ensure that safe conditions are maintained at the workplace. This includes, among other things: a duty to ensure that the place of work is designed and fitted out so as to ensure a s...
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The Danish Working Environment Authority under the Danish Minis...
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If an employer does not meet the legal requirements or comply with orders issued by the inspectors of the Danish Working Environment Authority, ...
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It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the workplace is safe for em...
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There is a legal obligation to notify The Danish Working Environment Authority (‘Arbejdstilsynet’) and the employer’s occupational insurance provider (or the Danish Labour Market Insurance (’Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring’) if t...
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The following characteristics are protected under Danish anti-discrimination law: race; colour; political opinion; sexual orientation; gender identity, gender expression or gender characteristics; ...
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There are certain exceptions to the general prohibition against discrimination in relation to some of the protected characteristics. Mandatory retirement ages in employment agreements are generally&...
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As a general rule, indirect discrimination can be justified in certain circumstances. Indirect discrimination is defined as a situation where a provision, criterion or practice seems neutral, but where employees who fall within the scope of...
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There is no explicit obligation for employers to make reasonable adjustments for employees with religious beliefs. However, an employer’s rules, policies, procedures and practices, or a refusal to alter them to accommodate an employee’s...
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Harassment based on any of the protected characteristics is considered discrimination under Danish law and is therefore prohibited. Harassment is defined as a situation where an employee experiences unw...
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Under Danish law, if an employee is dismissed or treated less favourably because he or she has claimed the right to equal treatment or equal pay, this constitutes a violation of the law and ...
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When an employee brings a successful claim for discrimination or victimisation before the courts or a tribunal, he or she may be entitled to compensation from the employer. If the employee is dismis...
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Special provisions apply in discrimination cases regarding the burden of proof. If an employee or a job applicant claims that he or she has been discriminated against, the burden of proof is shared between the employer and the emp...
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An employer may, under certain circumstances, be liable for discriminatory actions of employees, customers, suppliers and other third parties as well. For example, in relation to sexual harassment, if the offender is an employee (a co...
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Under the Danish Equal Pay Act, companies with 35 employees or more and at least ten employees of each gender performing similar functions must prepare an annual pay statistics r...
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Employers are required by law to ensure that healthy and safe conditions are maintained at the workplace. This includes a duty to take the necessary measures to secure the employees’ mental health.  ...
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Discrimination claims are quite common in Denmark. The Danish courts do not, however, publish statistics on the number of claims divided into legal areas. There are substantial numbers of employment law cases concerning discrimi...
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There is no statistical information on the average amount of compensation awarded under Danish anti-discrimination law. However, compensation is usually calculated on the basis of the employee’s pay or candidate’s potential pay, for exa...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would includ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no statutory requirements regarding employees’ use of social media in the workplace. Therefore, it is entirely for the employer to decide whether or not employees may use, for example, Facebook or LinkedIn when they are at work....
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Employers in Denmark may choose to implement a whistle-blowing system. If they wish to enable employees to report irregularities (either anonymously or not), processing of personal data in this regard must comply with the requirements of th...
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As a general rule, employees are subject to a duty of loyalty to the employer during employment. This includes an obligation not to reveal confidential information to a third party or take other action contrary to good market prac...
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It follows from the employee’s duty of loyalty to the employer that the employee must not engage in competing activities during the employment relationship. Therefore, the employee must not run a competing business in his or her time off ...
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There will often be a clause in the employment contract saying that the employee has a duty of confidentiality which applies after the employment relationship has ended. In such cases, the former employee must not reveal any confidential in...
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As a general rule, once the employment has ended, the employee is entitled to take up new employment with another employer or start up a business activity competing with the former employer’s activities. The employee may also do business ...
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Trade unions play a major role in the Danish labour market. Historically, terms and conditions of employment have not been regulated by law but provided under collective agreements. Various employment laws have been enacted over the years c...
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The majority of employees in the Danish labour market are members of a trade union. The percentage varies from sector to sector, but approximately 70% of the workforce is unionised. The trade unions ...
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If an employer is not a party to a collective agreement, it is not under an obligation to enter into a collective agreement or work with a trade union even if the majority of employees are members of that particular trade union. However, so...
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Most collective agreements contain provisions about trade union representatives and the establishment of works councils and co-operation committees at the workplace. The purpose is to provide a forum for information and consultation with re...
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The parties to a collective agreement are entitled to take industrial action under certain circumstances. Before taking industrial action, the party wishing to take it gives the other party notice in accordance with the rules under the appl...
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As a starting point, there is no general protection against unfair dismissal under Danish law. However, employees who are salaried (i.e. white collar workers performing certain types of work e.g. trade, office work, technical or...
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An employee may bring a claim against an employer for unfair dismissal in the following circumstances: where he or she is a ‘salaried employee’ (i.e. a white-collar worker performing certain types of work, including trade, office work,...
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There are no statutory provisions which specify a particular procedure that must be followed when terminating employment. However, most collective agreements do specify a procedure to be followed in certain situations. If the emplo...
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There are a number of statutory provisions that prohibit dismissal based on various criteria or factors. The main examples are: pregnancy, including pregnancy-related illness and childbirth-related leave, including adoption; gender, race, ...
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For ‘salaried employees’ (i.e. white-collar workers performing certain types of work, including trade, office work, technical or clinical assistance and management, who are protected by statute), the notice that must be given by the emp...
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Employees are entitled to a payment in lieu of notice only if dismissed summarily (without notice) and the summary dismissal is not reasonably justified by the employee’s conduct, or if the employee resigns with immediate effect as a resu...
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If an employee wants to resign, he or she must give notice of resignation in accordance with the applicable law, collective agreement or contract of employment. The statutory notice period for resignation is one month for salaried emplo...
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As a general rule, Danish anti-discrimination law prohibits dismissals based on the employee’s age, including dismissal as a result of the employee having reached the usual retirement age. The parties to an individual employ...
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Severance Salaried employees who have been continuously employed with the same employer for 12 or 17 years are entitled to a severance payment amounting to one or three months’ pay respectively. Monthly pay includes all fixed salary ele...
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The employer and employee may enter into a severance agreement in full discharge of any claims relating to the employment and its termination. There are no legal requirements for making a settlement binding and enforceable. However, ...
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Under Danish law, an employer proposing to carry out collective dismissals must consult with the employees or their representatives if a certain number or proportion of employees may be affected, depending on the size of the organisation. T...
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The employees or their representatives must be given all relevant information about proposed dismissals in writing, including at least the following information: the reasons for the proposed dismissals; the number of employees who will be ...
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In order to ensure a genuine consultation process, the employer must consult with the employees or their representatives as soon as possible and, in any event, before a decision is made with regard to the dismissals. Under Danish law, the p...
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An employer that fails to provide the employees or the relevant regional employment council with the required information about the dismissals or fails to undertake the consultation process may be subject t...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Danish law and t...
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Assuming the collective redundancy procedure h...
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There are no statutory provisions that protect employees where the identity of the employer changes as a result of a share takeover. Danish law on business transfers does not cover share takeovers. ...
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Sale of a business There are laws that protect employees in a business transfer. To fall within the scope of these provisions, a transfer from one legal entity to another and a change in the identity of the employer are requir...
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If employee transfer law applies: employees assigned to the undertaking transfer from the transferor to the transferee on their existing (i.e. pre-transfer) terms of employment; collective agreements transfer, unless the transferee no...
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According to Danish law, employees are entitled to object to a transfer by handing in their resignation, but objecting to work for the new employer – even in the notice period – may constitute a material breach of the employment contr...
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Terms From the date of the transfer, the transferee will become a party to the employment contract and thus take over all rights and obligations under the employment contract. The employment will continue unaffected by the transfer, unles...
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Only liabilities arising directly from a) a collective agreement; b) terms relating to pay and working conditions laid down or approved by a public authority; and c) an individual agreement concerning pay and working conditions, will trans...
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Generally, the obligation to be bound by collective agreements will transfer. If the transferee does not wish to become party to those agreement(s), it must notify the trade unions within five weeks of becoming aware of it or three weeks a...
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By virtue of their managerial authority, both the transferor and transferee are entitled to introduce non-fundamental changes to employment terms. With respect to material changes, the employer must give contractual notice to the relevan...
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The transfer of an undertaking is not in itself a valid reason for dismissing employees, but the employees affected by the transfer can be dismissed if the dismissals are for economic, technical or organisational reasons entailing changes ...
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There is a statutory requirement for the transferor to inform and consult with the affected employees or the employee representatives. The employer must inform the employee representatives or, if there are none, the affected employe...
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When informing the employee representatives or the affected employees, the employer must, as a minimum, provide the following information: the actual or proposed date of the transfer; the reason for the transfer; the legal, economic ...
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If there will be measures that affect employees as a result of the transfer, the employer must consult employee representatives or the employees themselves to try to negotiate an agreement within a reasonable time before the transfer. Ho...
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If an employer fails to properly inform employees of a transfer, the employer may be liable jointly and severally with the transferee in respect of claims by employees until the employees have been properly informed. If found li...
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As a general rule, employee representatives retain their legal position and function irrespective of a transfer. However, the parties’ agreements or the applicable collective agreements can provide otherwise. Under those agre...
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The rules on pension schemes in Denmark have been amended several times in the last few years. Most significantly, the retirement age has been increased. Employees born on or before 1 July 1955 are entitled to the state pension at age 67. T...
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There are no statutory requirements for employers to provide employees with access to a pension scheme, apart from the mandatory labour market supplementary pension scheme (‘Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension’, or ‘ATP’)...
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The employer can, in accordance with the rules set out in any collective agreement, either choose a pension provider or set up its own pension scheme. Under Danish pensions’ law, there is a requirement for all pension c...
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Generally, there are no statutory requirements to consult with employees or their representatives if the employer plans to change its pension arrangements. However, if the pension scheme has been established under a collective a...
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The tax treatment of pensions varies, depending on whether it relates to the payment of contributions, returns on pension scheme investments or the payment of benefits. If the pension scheme is structured in such a way that ...
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According to Danish law, the employer must provide the employee with an employment contract within the first month of the employment relationship. If the employee is covered by a pension scheme provided by the employer, the e...
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Estonian legislation does not provide any requirements for the wording of job advertisements or require that they provide any specific details. The wording of the job advertisement must not imply any discrimination on grounds of sex, ag...
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Acquiring information about the job applicant Estonian legislation has no specific rules in regard to the types of checks that can be carried out prior to employment. However, the law provides that the employer may only ask the job applican...
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Upon hiring an employee, a probationary period of four months applies automatically to the e...
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During the probationary period, the employer may terminate the employment contract without having to prove a ma...
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Compensation claims can be brought fo...
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Before employing a non-EU national, the employer must verify that he or she has a legal right to stay and work in Estonia. In the case of short-term employment, the employer must register the employment with the Police and...
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During the employment of foreign employee, and within ten years after termination of such employment, the...
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Employers may keep their records about the candidates they did not hire if the requirements of data processing laws (including the GDPR) are followed. If the employer wishes to retain a job applicant’s records for the purposes of notifyin...
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Employers are generally prohibited from asking questions that disproportionately concern ...
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The distinction between employees and independent contractors is mainly based on whether the person works under the subordination of the mandator (employer) or not. An employee is generally not independent in the choice of the manner, time ...
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Estonian law does not distinguish between different types of employees (e.g. blue collar employees, white collar employees, and sales representatives). However, there are certain categories of employees who are subject to exceptions to ...
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A company director is, as a rule, a member of the management board (i.e. the board of directors), and contracts with the members of the management board are not considered employment contracts under Estonian law. Instead, su...
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It is presumed that an employee works 40 hours over a period of seven days (full-time work) unless the employer and the employee have agreed upon a shorter working time (part-time work). Employees have the right to request working conditi...
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An employment contract may be entered into for a fixed term of up to five years if it is justified by legitimate reasons arising from the temporary characteristics of the work, such as a temporary increase in work volum...
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A fixed-term employment contract will be treated as having been an indefinite-term contract from the start if: The employee and employer have entered into a fixed-term employment contract for the performance of similar work on more than ...
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Estonian law does not set any mandatory terms for temporary agency staffing agreements. In practice, the use of employees who perform duties by way of temporary agency work allows the user undertaking to flexibly engage additional workforc...
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Yes, by way of temporary agency work (as described in section 2.7 above). Unless the employees are put at the disposal of another company due to an intra-group transfer or similar agreement (without this being one of the core activities of ...
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Under Estonian law, an employment contract must be in writing unless it is for a term of two weeks or less. However, failure to adhere to this formal requirement does not void the employment contract. An employment contract also exists if a...
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It is not common in Esto...
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The employment contract must be in Estonian unle...
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The law provides for a number of terms that apply automatically to an employment contract even if they are not set out in the written employment contract. These terms include: A probationary perio...
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The written employment contract does not have to contain all the te...
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If the employer wishes to make changes to employees’ terms and conditions, it must determine whether such changes require the employee’s consent. The employment contract itself may be amended only by express agreement between the partie...
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In addition to contractual documents, the employee is normally provided with the r...
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Bonuses are treated essentially the same way as basic salary under Estonian law. However, specific regulations address two types of bonus payments: (i) bonuses payable on the employer’s economic results and (ii) commission&...
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Employers are required to provide the following benefits: Holiday pay calculated on the basis of the employee’s average salary in the six month period preceding the holiday. Sick pay in the amount of 70% of the employee’s av...
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It is common to provide a sports benefit to the employees. Some employers also provide additional health insurance benefits or extra paid days off for health reasons. ...
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It is generally presumed that an employee’s normal working time is eight hours per day and 40 hours over any seven-day weekly period (full-time work), unless the employer and employee have agreed upon a shorter working time (part-time wor...
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The daily working time limit of 13 hours cannot be exceeded by the agreement of the employer and the employee. However, the employer and the employee may agree to exceed the average weekly working time limit of 48 hours. The absolute maxi...
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The daily rest time requirement does not apply to health care professionals and welfare workers, provided that working does not harm their health and safety. Certain other exemptions from the daily rest time requirement can be made by colle...
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The employers are required to ensure compliance with the agreed limits on working and rest time and keep account of the actual hours worked, including night work. Employers must also keep separate accounts of employees working on the basis ...
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The law does not explicitly regulate the work organisation of self-managing interdisciplinary teams with employees switching between them based on company requirements. The description of an employee’s duties must be stipul...
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Yes, Estonian law includes limitations on daily and weekly overtime work. See sections 5.1 and 5.2 above for details. ...
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Under the law, overtime work is carried out at the employer’s request and with the consent of the employee. The employer and the employee need to reach an individual agreement each time the need to work overtime arises (i.e. the empl...
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The employer must compensate for overtime work by time off equal to the overtime, unless it has been agreed that overtime will be compensated for in money. If overtime work is compensated by money, th...
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In general, employees are entitled to a rest break of at least 30 minutes for work lasting longer than six hours (or in the case of minors, four and a half hours). An agreement pur...
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Failure by an employer to adhere to the limits on working time or the daily or weekly rest period requirements is punishable by a fine of up to EUR 1,200 for an individual employer or up to EUR 32,000 for a corporate employer. ...
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In Estonia an employee is entitled to an annual leave of at least 28 calendar days per calendar year, unless the employee and the employer have agreed upon a longer annual holiday or unless otherwise provided by law. The duration of the hol...
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The holiday pay is calculated based on the six months` remuneration received by the employee prior to the holiday. Public holidays and the days when the employee was absent for a significant reason (e.g. illness, vacation, military servic...
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If a public holiday falls on a working day, employees receiving monthly salary are entitled to their regular remuneration for time off on that day. For employees who are&...
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Generally, temporary sick (incapacity) benefits are paid to employees starting from the fourth day of the illness or injury. From the fourth to the eighth day of the illness or injury, the employer pays the incapacity benefit in the amount ...
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Maternity leave A woman is entitled to 100 calendar days of maternity leave. This leave can be used starting from the 70th calendar day prior to the estimated birth date. If the woman waits to begin using maternity leave until l...
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Besides family and care-related leave, an employee has the right to study leaves for participating in formal education or continuing education. During study leave for the purpose of professional development, the employer must pay the employ...
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Estonian occupational health and safety legislation requires employers to (among other things): design and furnish the workplace so as to avoid occupational accidents and damage to health, and to maintain the employees’ well-being an...
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State and administrative supervision over complian...
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Violations of occupational health and safety requirements are mostly punishable as misdemeanours by fines of up to EUR 1,200 if com...
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If employees of at least two employers work at a workplace concurrently, the employers must coordinate their activities to prevent dangerous situations and inform each other and their employees or working environment representatives of any ...
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An employer must promptly report any occupational accident that has caused a life-threatening condition or fatal occupational accident to the Labour Inspectorate. If the accident is fatal, the employer must also notify the police. Employe...
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The following characteristics are protected by law: nationality (ethnic origin); race or colour; religion or other beliefs; age; disability; and sexual orientation. Discrimination against persons on these grou...
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A difference in treatment on the basis of any of the protected characteristics does not constitute discrimination where, by reason of the nature of the particular occupational activities concerned or of the context in which they are carried...
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Yes, indirect discrimination is also prohibited. In practice, indirect discrimination may occur for example in a s...
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Employers must take appropriate measures, where needed in a particular case, to enable a person with a disability to have ac...
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Harassment Employers are required to refrain from harassment and ensure that employees are protected from gender-based harassment in the working environment. Gender-based harassment occurs where unwanted conduct or activity rela...
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Adverse treatment of a person or causing negative consequences for the person bec...
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Discrimination is, in practice, usually established in connection with unfair dismissal claims, in which case the termination of employment is deemed unlawful and the employee is awarded unfair dismissal compensation. This compensation typi...
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A person asserting a discrimination claim before a court, a labour dispute committee or the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner must set out facts on the basis of which it can be presumed that discrimination has occurred. I...
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Employers are required to take reasonable measures to protect their employees from discrimination and may be held liable for failure to apply such measures even if the discriminatory actions were performed solely by its employees or third p...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences, but the Estonian Gender Equality Act makes unequal p...
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Employers are required to assess the psychosocial risk factors present in the working environment and to take measures to ensure that such factors do not endanger the life or health of employees or other p...
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Discrimination claims are not common. Some discrimination and unequal treatment claims practice has evolved in proceedings before the labour dispute committees, but only a few cases have reached the Supreme Court in the last decade. ...
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The awards for moral damages in discriminat...
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The primary laws regulating the protection of employee information in Estonia are the Personal Data Protection Act (‘PDPA’) (which implements the EU General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) into Estonian law), the GDPR, national ...
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Breaches of the personal data protection requirements may be subject to supervisory actions by the EDPI. In such cases the EDPI has (among other rights) the right to: require correction of personal data; require erasure of personal data; i...
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Any collection and processing of confidential employee information must follow the rul...
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The law does not stipulate express prohibitions on the monitoring of employees; however, the following examples highlight the expectations of privacy that employees must be provided in the workplace in accordance with the legislation and gu...
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In Estonia, there is no specific legal position in place regarding the use of social media, however all of the general privacy rules referred to in the other sections of this chapter apply. If the employer has particular expectations in r...
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Currently, there is no legislation in Estonia regulating the protection of ‘whistleblowers’ within the scope of the employment relationship. To date, Estonia has not yet transposed the EU’s Directive on the protection of p...
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The confidentiality obligation arises from the law, but an employer must define the content of the confidential information (usually either in the employment contract or the internal rules). The confidentiality clause must define what speci...
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In order to prevent employee competition, the employer and the employee must enter into a written agreement on a non-compete clause. An agreement on a non-compete clause may be entered into only if it is necessary for protecting the employe...
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Yes, the employer can restrict post-termination use of confidential information if so agreed with the ...
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Yes, the employer may prevent the former employee from acting in competition with it for u...
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The Estonian constitution guarantees the right to form non-profit associations, including trade unions. Estonian labour law further provides the right to form trade unions freely and without prior permission, and to join (or not to join) th...
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Less than 10% of Estonian employees are members of trade unions, which is one of the lowest ra...
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The trade union does not need to be formally recognised by the emp...
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Estonian law provides for the following employee representatives and representative bodies: Employee trustees and trade union representatives, who have broad authority to represent the employees’ interests. A working environment represen...
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Estonian law recognises the right to strike within the limits set by law. Employers providing essential public services, such as state and local governmental agencies and rescue services, are p...
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Termination during probationary period During the probationary period (the maximum duration of which is four months), the employer may terminate the employment contract if it appears that the employee is not suitable for the position ...
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Termination of an employment contract without a lawful basis or in conflict with the law is void. An employee may bring an action before the court or a labour dispute committee challenging the termination within 30 calendar days after recei...
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The law requires prior written notice of termination (see section 12.5 for the applicable notice periods). Although the law allows delivery of the termination notice in any format that can be reproduced in writing, it is advisable to ...
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Restrictions on extraordinary termination for reasons arising from the employee The employer may not terminate an employment contract for the following reasons: The employee is pregnant or has the right to maternity leave. The employ...
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The employer must notify the employee of the termination of employment contract in advance as follows: Duration of employment Advance notice Less than one year No less than 15 days 1-5 years No less than 30 days 5-10 ye...
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If the employer wishes to terminate the employment contract before the expiry of the required notice period, it must pay the employee compensation in the amount of income the employee would have been entitled to if he or she ha...
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Termination during probationary period During the probationary period, the employee may terminate the employment contract by giving the employer at least 15 calendar days’ advance notice. Ordinary termination After the probat...
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It is not law...
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Upon termination of an employment contract, all claims deriving from the employment relationship become payable. Therefore, on the last working day the employer must pay the employee all outstanding salary and other remuneration, compe...
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Depending on the type of claim, it may be possible to agree on a later payment or a waiver of the claim. As a general rule, it is not possible to waive claims arising from the law (e.g. a salary claim). The employer may also ta...
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Termination of employment contracts is considered to be a collective dismissal if within 30 calendar days the following numbers of employees are dismissed: Employees in the enterprise Employees dismissed Up to 19 No less than ...
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The employer must provide the trustee (or, if there is no trustee, the employees) with all necessary information about the planned collective termination. The employer is required to submit, in a format that can be reproduced in writing, at...
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Employers must comply with the consultation and i...
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Failure by an employer to comply with its obligations to inform or consult prior to collective termination of employment co...
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Certain categories of employees are protected from termination of their employment contracts due to redundancy (except in cases of liquidation or bankruptcy of the employer): women who are pregnant or who have the right to maternity l...
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The payments upon termination are the same as in cases of individual redundancy: If the employer terminates the employment due to redundancy, the employee is entitled to additional compensation of one month’s average salary (regardless ...
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A change of ownership of the employer does not entail any special employe...
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Employees are protected in cases of a transfer of an enterprise or a part of an enterprise. The employees’ contract...
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The following legal principles apply to both the old employer (the transferor) and the new employer (the transferee) upon the transfer of enterprise: They cannot terminate employment due to the transfer. Employment contracts...
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No, the emplo...
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Terms The terms of employment contracts transfer to the transferee of an enterprise unamended if the enterprise continues the same or similar economic activities. Benefits Benefit...
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By taking over the assets and rights that make up an enterprise, the transferee takes over all of the transferor’s obligations and liabilities related to the enterprise, including obligations with rega...
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Upon the transfer of an enterprise or an org...
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If the transferor or the transferee wishes to change the terms and conditions of the employment contracts, such...
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Both the transferor and transferee are prohibited from terminating an employment contract due t...
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Where there is a transfer of enterprise, both the...
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The transferor and transferee of an enterprise must submit to the trustee (or, in the absence of a trustee, directly to the employees) a notice in a form...
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Within 15 days after the notice of the transfer (see section 14.11), or a longer term agreed by the parties, the trustee (or, in the absence of a trustee, the employees) has ...
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Failure by an employer to comply with its oblig...
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Upon transfer of the enterprise, the trustee and the working environment representativ...
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The Estonian pension system comprises three pillars: i) state pension, ii) mandatory funded pension (despite its name, funding of this pillar is voluntary as of 1 January 2021), and iii) supplementary funded pension (also voluntary). The ty...
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There is no requirement for an e...
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An employer may fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. There are several different options for the ...
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This issue is not explicitly re...
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Pensions are subject to income tax. For employees earning up to EUR 1,200 per month, the first EUR 5...
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The employment agreement must contain all taxes and payments payable and withheld by the employer, including a reference to the authorities receiving the taxes and payments and the coverage provided by the payment of those taxes. Therefore,...
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Employers are required to investigate occupational accidents and diseases. There are no other mandatory investigations that are expressly required...
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Employees are not required to rep...
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Occupational accidents The employer must commence an investigation of an occupational accident without delay if the accident results in temporary incapacity for work, serious bodily injury or death. In the case of minor occupational acciden...
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The working environment representative is required by law to participate in an ...
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There is no specific regulation on this issue ...
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There is no requirement tha...
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There is not yet a separate whistleblowing regime. Estonia is...
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There is no specific legal regulation addressing low performance as such. In practice, performance interviews are conducted and feedback is usually provided at least once a year. If there are specific issues with an employee’s performance...
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There are no statutory rules on how grievances should be handle...
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There are no legal requirements about the wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. However, employers have a statutory duty to avoid discrimination based on, for example, gender, age, religion, or...
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Pre-employment checks are permitted in Finland. However, there are strict and detailed rules governing this process. The most central issue is that only enquiries that are directly necessary for the application process are permitted (the �...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. The employer and employee may agree on a probationary period of up to six months from the start date. The employer...
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During the agreed probationary period, the employment contract may be freely ...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer based on characteristics protected by equality legislation such as age, gender, religion or ethnic origin. For example, if the employer rejects an ap...
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As a general rule, employing foreign workers is not considerably different from employing domestic workers. When hiring foreign workers, the obligations of the employer depend on the work permit as well as the nationality of the employee. T...
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An employer must keep information on its foreign workers, including their right to work, easily available at the workplace for potential inspection by occupational health and safety authorities. Information on the right to work must include...
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Employers may keep their records about candidates they did not hire as long as they have a legal basis for the processing and storage of that ...
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Employers may only collect information necessary for the recruiting process and the employment relationship, and therefore the questions the employer can ask are similarly restricted. Thus, all questi...
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When distinguishing between employees and independent contractors, influencing factors have traditionally been independence and freedom in performing the work, as well as financial engagement in the activity. In particular, the existence of...
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Finnish employment law does not tend to draw distinctions between different types of employees. It applies equally both to blue-collar and white-collar employees. However, historically there is higher trade union activity and membership is ...
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Directors (other than managing directors) are considered employees under Finnish law. Therefore, the only real and exhaustive exception to the scope of employment legislation is to a managing director...
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Finnish employment legislation states that less favourable terms must not be applied to, for example, part-time employment, than those applicable to other employment relationships without proper and justified cause or based solely on the du...
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Finnish law states that an employment contract may be for a specific fixed term. Conclusion of a fixed-term contract requires a justified reason, which is not narrowly defined in law. The substance of the justified reason has emerged from c...
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Employment legislation includes a provision on tacit extension of the contractual relationship. It states that, if the employer a...
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In general, parties to the employment contract are not permitted to assign any of their rights or obligations under the employment contract to a third party without the other party’s consent. Therefore, the employee must give consent for ...
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In general, the parties to an employment contract are not permitted to assign any of t...
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There is no legal requirement to conclude a written contract of employment. An employment contract may be oral, written or electronic. Although there is no statutory requirement for a written employment contract, it is recommended and custo...
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It is not a common practice ...
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There are no requirements about the language in which the employment contract should be drafted. However, it must be in a language understood by the employee. If the employment contract contains a t...
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Finnish employment relationships are extensively governed by statutory law and collective agreements. Most employment law provisions in favour of the employee are mandatory and therefore cannot be departed from, even with the employee’s c...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other documents into the employment contract. This is generally done through appendices to the contract or by referring to certain policies in the employment agreement. The appendices may consist of,...
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It is always possible for the employer and the employee to mutually agree on changes to the employee’s terms and conditions. Employers may to some extent unilaterally change employees’ terms and...
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Employers generally make available to employees various policies and rules. The amount and nature of these may vary depending on the type of organisation. Such policies and r...
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There is no statutory minimum wage that must be paid by the employer to the employee for work performed. The law states that if no collective agreement applies to an employment relationship, and the employer and the employee have not agreed...
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There is no requirement or system for wage...
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Employer tax obligations As a general rule, employers in Finland have an obligation to withhold income tax and certain employee contributions from the employee’s salary. The tax percentage withheld depends on the tax rate that applies to ...
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The municipality of residence, church membership and the age of the employee affect the employee’s income tax and social security rates. For example, for a 50-year-old employee with an income of EUR 100,000 residing in Helsinki, not belon...
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There are no generally applicable rules governing the payment of bonuses. The employer has no statutory obligation to pay bonuses to its employees, but many collective agreements provide employees with the possibility of earning a bonus. In...
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The employer is required to provide its employees with ...
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In addition to compulsory benefits, employers are free to decide on other benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits i...
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Finnish law on working hours states that normal working hours must not exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. However, the normal weekly working hours may be arranged in such a way that the average is 40 hours per week when averaged o...
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It is, to a certain extent, possible to exceed the limits on regular working hours. The employer and employee may agree to increase the regular daily working hours by a maximum of two hours unless otherwise provided in the applicable ...
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The rules on working hours do not apply where an employee has autonomy to decide on working hours and one of the expressly listed exemptions applies. Exemptions include, for example, management of the company or an independent part thereof,...
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The employer must document the hours worked and the relevant remuneration for each employee. Regular and additional hours, overtime, emergency and Sunday working hours and relevant remuneration must be recorded separately. The employer must...
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A new law on working hours that entered into force on 1 January 2020 aims to safeguard employees’ working hours protection while creating new tools for employers and employees to agree on flexible working arrangements, such as flexible wo...
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Overtime work refers to work carried out on the employer’s initiative. Overtime is divided into daily and weekly overtime work. Daily overtime work means working hours which exceed the maximum regular daily working hours, entitling the em...
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Employers generally must get the employee’s consent for overtime. The principal rule is that consent is required each time overtime work is to be performed. However, the employee may give consent for a finite, short period if this is nece...
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The surcharge (i.e. the payment in addition to normal pay for daily overtime work) is 50% for the first two hours and 100% for the following hours. For weekly overtime work, the surchar...
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The law on working hours sets out the statutory rest periods, as follows: Daily rest periods The employee must be granted at least a one hour’s break per day if his or her dail...
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If the employer or its representative deliberately or carelessly violates the rules on working hours, breaks or rest periods, it may be sanctioned with a fine. If the employer intentionally or negligently proceeds in a manner punishab...
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The determination period for annual leave runs from 1 April to 31 March. The main period for annual leave runs from 2 May to 30 September. An employee is entitled to two and a half days of leave for each full, holiday-qualifying month. Ho...
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An employee has the right to receive at least his or her regular or average pay for annual leave. Fringe benefits included in the employee’s pay must be given to the employee to the full value of the benefit. Fringe benefits that are not ...
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In general, public holidays are not considered as working days, and hence as a rule employees have a right to paid time off for public holidays. Employees can be required to work on Sundays or public holidays (to perform ‘Sunday work’) ...
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Employees who are prevented from performing work due to illness or an accident are entitled to pay during illness. If the employment relationship has lasted for a minimum of one month, the employee is entitled to full pay for the period of ...
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The arrangements for family-related leave and pay are strongly based on the system of parental allowances paid by the Finnish social insurance institution, Kansaneläkelaitos (‘Kela’). Following a recent family leave reform, an employee...
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An employee whose full-time employment relationship with an employer has lasted for at least one year is entitled to up to two years of unpaid study leave during a period of five years. Further, an employee is entitled to five days of study...
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By law, employers must take the initiative to promote safety and health at the workplace. The employer has a general duty to protect the safety and health of its employees whilst at work by taking all necessary measures. To this end, the em...
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The occupational safety and health authorities monitor compliance with occupational safety obligations in the workplace. These authorities have extensive information and inspection rights. Mo...
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An employer that intentionally or recklessly breaches its legal obligations will normally be fined, unless a more severe punishment is prescribed by law. If an employer fails to comply with safety and health law, an inspecto...
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If one employer exercises the main authority at a workplace (the ‘main employer’) but more than one employer operates there (the ‘subcontractors’), the employers must cooperate to ensure their activities do not endanger employees’...
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The employer must immediately notify the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Regional State Administrative Agency and the police of occupational accidents that result in death or a severe injury. An injury is regarded as se...
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Various provisions on prohibition against discrimination can be found in Finnish law. Collectively, these protect people against discrimination based on the following characteristics: sex; sexual orientation; gender; age; origin; race; ...
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As a general rule, an employer must not treat job applicants differently on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, health, language or any other reason relating to these characteristics. When an employer is selecting future em...
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Indirect discrimination is where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice puts a person at a particular disadvantage compared with other persons based on a personal characteristic. Issues of indirect discrimin...
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As a general rule, an employer must make appropriate and reasonable case-by-case adjustments to enable a person with a disability to perform his or her duties on an equal basis with others and to advance in his or her career. The employer m...
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Deliberate or de facto infringement of the dignity of a person or a group of people relating to a protected characteristic that creates a threatening, hostile, degrading and offensive atmosphere is prohibited harassment under non-discrimina...
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The law explicitly states that no one may be placed in an unfavourable position or treated in such a way that he or she suffers adverse consequences...
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Both civil law and criminal law consequences are possible in successful claims of discrimination or harassment. With regard to civil law consequences, Finnish employment law states that an employer that intentionally or negligently breaches...
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Under the general burden of proof in employment matters, the employer has the burden to show that it had legitimate grounds for its conduct. However, in matters concerning discrimination and equal treatment, the burden of proof is reversed....
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The employer has a general statutory duty to exercise care over its employees, which means that the employer is required to take care of the safety and health of its employees while at work by taking the necessary measures. The employer mus...
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If an employer regularly employs at least 30 employees, it must prepare an equality plan at least every two years. The plan must address wages and other conditions of employment in accordance with measures that are imp...
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Finnish law imposes an extensive duty of care for occupational safety and health (both physical and mental) on employers. Employers have a duty to monitor and analyse the work environment, take whatever measures are necessary to address wea...
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Although the number of discrimination claims has risen significantly during the past decade, they are still relatively uncommon (at least as stand-alone claims). At present, when an employee brings an employment-related claim against the em...
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The amounts of compensation in cases of unlawful discrimination are typically fairly modest in Finland. The maximum amount of compensation for discrimination is not capped, except for a cap of EUR 18,690 for job applicants under gender equa...
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There are specific rules on the protection of employee information based on Finnish national legislation. However, the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) lays down the general rules applied to the processing of data, includ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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In Finland, employer’s right to monitor employees has been strictly restricted by law to certain situations. Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but...
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There are no express legal restrictions on the employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. The employer may, however, impose restrictions by issuing guidelines or directions to be observed by the employees at the workp...
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There are different reporting systems in use in Finnish working life, varying from electronic data systems to email and phone reporting. A new era of whistleblowing reporting schemes in Finland began when the national adaptation of the EU w...
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The employee has a statutory obligation to keep the employer’s business secrets confidential during the term of employment. The concept of a business secret was defined in a new law, which entered into force in August 2018. According to t...
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During employment, the employee must not work for another employer or engage in an activity that would clearly harm the employer in contravention of fair employment practices. Further, the employee must not take action during the course of ...
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The employer and employee may agree that the obligation of confidentiality will remain in force after the termination of employment. This can be achieved through the inclusion of a provision in the employment contract or through a separate ...
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Provided that certain statutory conditions are met, the employer and employee may agree on a post-employment non-compete obligation. The agreement may be in any form. However, it should be in writing for clarity. The agreement can be conclu...
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Trade unions play a significant role in the Finnish labour environment, ranking amongst the most effective union regimes in the world. The main function of trade unions is to safeguard and impr...
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Both Finnish employees and employers are highly organised. More than 60% of Finnish employees are members of a trade union. There are about 80 trade unions in Finland. A trade union is usually formed by employees of the same industry (e.g. ...
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The employer does not have to establish a trade union. However, the employer may be required to recognise one, as a result of being bound by a collective agreement. There are two different ways through which the employer may become bound by...
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Employees have a statutory right to participate in decision-making in the organisation. The duty to include the employees in the decision-making process depends on the size of the employer. Employers regularly employing 20 or more employees...
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A collective agreement binds all parties to refrain from any hostile action aimed at the collective agreement. Therefore, the parties to the collective agreement have a legal duty not to organise strikes or other industrial action for the d...
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The threshold for terminating an employee is very high in Finland and the prerequisites for termination of employment are detailed and strictly interpreted. The employer has a right to terminate employment only if the reasons for the termin...
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An employee who is the subject of unlawful termination can claim compensation. The minimum compensation for unlawful termination is three months’ salary and the maximum is 24 months’ salary. (The minimum compensation of three mo...
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An employer must provide notice of termination to employees prior to dismissal, regardless of the grounds for the termination. The employer must also observe the notice period, during which the employee is entitled to full salary and benefi...
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The law does not specify grounds for termination of employment, but sets out the grounds that cannot be considered lawful. This non-exhaustive list includes the employee’s participation in industrial action, political, religious or ot...
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An employer must give notice of termination to employees prior to dismissal, regardless of the grounds. For terminations on individual grounds, notice must be given a reasonable time after the employer first has knowledge of the...
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The employer and employee may agree on payment in lieu of notice. Such a payment is effectively considered as compensation and equivalent to the salary and benefits that the employee would have received if he or she had worked unti...
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Finnish law does not include specific provisions on resignation. Employees with an employment contract for an indefinite period may resign at any time without giving a specific reason. However, the resigning employee must follow the notice ...
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It is not possible for the employer to compulsorily retire an employee before the employee has reached the maximum retirement age or before the employee chooses to retire. The retirement age was raised in pension reforms, which ...
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Severance The employer is not liable to pay any additional compensation for legally valid terminations. Therefore, the employer has no statutory obligation to pay severance pay. Provided that the termination is performed lawfully and the em...
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The employer and the employee may mutually agree to settle their differences. Claims can be settled both before and after they have been initiated in court. The right to reach a settlement is, however, often limited by mandatory�...
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The provisions on collective redundancies apply equally to the dismissal of one or several employees, triggering consultation obligations that must be observed by the employer. The applicable law and procedural consultation requirements...
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When dismissing employees on collective grounds, an employer that is subject to full consultation and cooperation obligations under cooperation law (i.e. it is regularly employing at least 20 employees) may not make final decisions on redun...
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There is a strict legal process for the required consultation. The employer must give the employee representatives written notice five days before consultations begin, including information required by law, as follows: the time and p...
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If an employer that is subject to the law on cooperation obligations (i.e. it regularly employs at least 20 employees) intentionally or negligently fails to observe the consultation provisions in connection with redundancies, it may be he...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Finnish law as such, but the law lays down a minimal number of rules regarding the order in which an employer may dismiss its employees on financial and production-related grounds....
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The employer is not liable to pay any additional compensation for legally valid terminations. However, it should be noted that the pay period ends when the employment terminates, and therefore the employer is obliged to pay all the employee...
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A sale or acquisition of shares in a Finnish company is not considered a transfer of business under employment law because the employees remain employed by the same employer. Therefore, there is no special protection available for employees...
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Sale of a business A sale of assets is often regarded as a business transfer if tangible and intangible assets are transferred and the business remains the same or similar after the transfer. Generally, a transfer of business, within the me...
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The transferee must employ all the transferred employees on their existing terms of employment. This means that the transferee has the same rights and obligations towards the transferred employees as the transferor. In practice, this means ...
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A transferred employee has no right to continue his or her employment with the transferor without the transferor’s specific consent...
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Terms When a business is transferred the rights and obligations relating to the employment relationship transfer to the new owner of the business on existing terms. The same applies to collective agreements. Thus, the transferee must comply...
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All of the employer’s liabilities transfer automatically to the transferee at the moment of the transfer. Generally, the transferor and transferee are jointly and severally liable for the employees’ pay and any other claims that der...
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The transferee must comply with the collective agreements, which the transferor was bound to on the date of transfer, until the date of their termination or expiry or the entry into force of another collective agreement (e.g. by the...
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The employer is not allowed to change the terms of an employment contract to the detriment of the employee. Therefore, as a general rule, the terms of an employment contract as well as other terms of an employment relationship which have be...
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The transfer of an undertaking as such does not constitute a legal reason to terminate an employment contract. Consequently, dismissal must be based on the normal grounds for termination, that is, a proper and significant reason. This might...
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If the business transfer does not result in redundancies, neither the transferor nor the transferee need to conduct cooperation consultations with employees before the transacti...
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The transferor and the transferee must inform the representatives of the employees affected by the transfer of the following: the time, or the estimated time, of the t...
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The employer is obliged to inform employees about the grounds for and effects of the transfer, but this does not constitute a negotiation, as long as there are no redundan...
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The transfer may not be declared ineffective because of breaches of the rules on information-sharing. However, if the ...
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Works councils as such are not common in Finland. Instead, the employees are generally represented by a shop steward or an employee representative. The law does not specifically address the status of the representative upon a business tra...
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An employee is entitled to receive state pension benefits provided that certain criteria are met. Finland has two statutory pension systems: national pensions supplemented by a ‘guarantee pension’ (i.e. a supplementary pension paya...
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Earnings-related pension rights in Finland accrue through employment. Employers have a statutory duty to provide their employees with the mandatory pension insurance. If the employer neglects to take out statutory pension insurance, the Fin...
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In Finland, an employer can arrange statutory pension coverage for its employees either by taking out pension insurance from a pension insurance company (which is the most common way), or by establishing or joining a company pension fund or...
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Finnish law does not explicitly impose any consultation requirements on employers regarding changes to pension arrangements. The employer may not make changes to the statutory pension arrangements. The employment agreements may incl...
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Earnings-related pensions Earnings-related pensions are taxed based on the employee’s income. The taxation of earnings-related pensions is affected by all income and deductions granted to the employee. The taxation of pension inco...
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There is no statutory requirement to include a clause on pension entitlement in the employment agreement. However, it is common for director agreements, for example, to have a provision stating that the director is entitled to statutory p...
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There is no generally applicable direct requirement to conduct an internal investigation, although the employer has a statutory obligation to intervene with certain investigatory actions. Investigations may concern any suspected breache...
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There is no specific obligation imposed by law which would oblige employees to report suspected misconduct, but employees are obliged to report certain workplace health and safety risks in order to ensure their own and their col...
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There is no specific Finnish legislation on investigations. Generally, the investigation should be started as soon as practically possible, but there is no set time limit. The employer’s rights and obligations with respect to how ...
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In general, an employee cannot be obliged to actively participate in an investigation concerning himself or herself. However, in general, it should be in the interest of the suspected employee to g...
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There are no specific regulations on this issue, but in practice it would be exceptional for the employee to be represented by a lawyer. Typically, employees are allowed to request a shop steward to be present in the hearing ...
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Generally yes, with minor exceptions. ...
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Prior to the coming implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive, Finland has not had a general whistleblowing legislation, but such regulation does exist for certain specific operations. The Finnish government on 19 September 2022 subm...
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Standards and processes for dealing with low performance are in the discretion of the employer, and there are no specific rules set out in Finnish law. However, the employer must take into consideration that it is always required to treat e...
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There are no statutory rules in Finnish legislation, and it is generally in the employer’s discretion to determine how to handle grievances. Sometimes, the grievance process is specified in the employer’s internal g...
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There are no legal requirements with respect to the wording of advertisements or details about the job that must be provided....
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Employers must not ask questions about a job applicant’s health. Shortly after hiring, new employees must make a specific visit to the employer’s occupational health service to deal with any health issues. The visit will be more thoroug...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. Employers use this period to assess the employee’s suitability and performance in the job. A probationary period must be spec...
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As a general rule, the usual rules on dismissal are not applicable during the probationar...
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Citizens of EU Member States, European Economic Area Member States and Switzerland do not need a permit to work in France. Holders of certain residence permits are also exempt from work permits. Before hiring a foreign national alread...
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The employer should monitor the expiry date of the work permit, to ensure the legality of the employee’s stay. Fur...
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If an employer decides not to hire an applicant, the employer must inform the applicant if it wishes to keep ...
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Employers cannot ask questions that would be discriminatory or violate the applicant’s data privacy, including but ...
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The employment contract is a de facto relationship. The relationship is between a person (the ‘employee’) who puts his or her labour at the disposal of another (the ‘employer’). The former is subordinate to the latter. The labour is...
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The most important distinctions between types of employees are those between executives and non-executives. Executives are sometimes granted extra benefits, for example, by collective agreements, but these benefits tend to be considered con...
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The position of ‘company director’ is an ‘office’ rather than employment. A director may be an employee as well as being a director but this is not automatic and is subject to ...
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There is specific legislation allowing part-time workers to challenge less favourable treatment because of their part-time status. The contract of employment must be in writing and must specify how working time is organised. Changes in the ...
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An employment contract of indefinite duration is the rule and fixed-term employment the exception. A fixed-term contract may not have the object or effect of filling a job in the long term which is linked to the usual and permanent activity...
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A fixed-term contract will be regarded as an indefinite-term employment contract as a result of any failure to respect the provisions regarding: cases in which the use of a fixed-term contract is a...
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The provisions regarding hiring temporary workers through an employment agency are almost identical to those that apply to fixed-term contracts. This means that there are limited circumstances in which the employment o...
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The employer may put its employees at the disposal of another organisation (the ‘host’) provided the following criteria are met: the employee concerned agrees; the contract of employment signed by the employee is amended, specifying th...
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It is not legally required to provide a written employment contract for indefinite-term employment. However, it is usually done in practice to avoid future litigation. Some collective agreements may impose an obligation to provide a written...
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We do not advise employers to issue an offer letter in addition to the employment contract. If the employee does not sign the contract, and there are any v...
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The employment contract must be written in French. As a French version is mandatory, if th...
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Public order rules which are mandatory are always implied, for example, the right to end the employment contract according to the legal provisions. Duties on the employer include: to provide for the terms of the contract; to provide a safe...
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‘Collective’ rules, such as company rules and regulations or collective agreements, are binding on the parties and are not a par...
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The process for changing employees’ terms and conditions depends on the legal source of the terms and conditions in question. Thus: Contractual terms must not be changed without the employee’s express consent in writing. A change...
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Certain documentation is normally made available to the employee in addition to contractual documents. For example, an employee handbook may summar...
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The minimum wage in France is set by government decree. It is the gross hourly wage below which it is forbidden to remunerate an employee, whatever his or her professional category, and it applies regardless of the form of remuneration (i.e...
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It is strictly prohibited to provide fo...
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Tax Until 2019, employees were required to pay income tax (rather than withholding wages) on all income including any benefits in kind, for the previous year. Since January 2019, income tax is withheld by employers when paying wages. Employ...
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An employee with an annual income of EUR 100,000 would pay aroun...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any discretion as to whether to pay a bonus, or the amount of any bonus...
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Employee profit-sharing (‘participation’, i.e. allocating employees a fraction of company profits in accordance with clearly defined rules) is mandatory in compan...
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Employers are free to decide the benefits to make available to employees, unless a branch collective agreement makes them mandatory. The most common benefits off...
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The working time limit is ten hours per day and 48 hours per week, or 44 hours per week on average over any 12-week period (46 hours if so stipulated by a collective agreement). Workers are also entitled to a mi...
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There are various exceptions to working time limits but none can be put in pla...
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Executive Managers (‘Cadres Dirigeants’) are exempt from the provisions of the law relating to legal working hours, overtime, maximum daily and weekly working hours, daily and weekly rest periods, night work and public holidays. This ex...
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In terms of monitoring employees’ working time, if the working schedule of the organisation is irregular, the organisation’s monitoring system should mainly ensure: compliance with legal requirements; and that each employee does not wo...
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The general rule for working time in France is standard collective working hours, except for employees working on a flat-rate agreement (in days per year, hours per year or hours per month). The employer may introduce an ‘individualised w...
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A quota of overtime applies and this may be negotiated in a collective agreement. If this is ...
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The employer may occasi...
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Overtime hours must be compensated with an extra 25% more than normal p...
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Workers are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. In addition, workers are entitled to a break, away...
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Exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could result in a claim for compensation by the worker and/or criminal prosecution. Workers mu...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of five weeks�...
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Remuneration for paid leave is calculated in one of two ways: using the ‘rule of the tenth’, which provides for an allowance equal to one tent...
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The following days are legal holidays in France: 1 January; Easter Monday; 1 and 8 May; Ascension Day; Whit Monday; 14 July; 15 August; 1 and 11 Nove...
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There is no statutory right to take time off work on account of sickness or for medical or dental appointments. The contract of employment usually deals with any entitlement to time off work in these circumstances. However, in practice, the...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay are summarised below. Maternity leave Number of children expected Number of existing children Prenatal leave Postnatal leave One None or one Six weeks ...
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Certain employees are entitled to a reasonable period of paid time off work during working hours to perform duties, including as trade union official...
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An employer must take measures necessary to ensure the safety and health of its workers, including preventing occupational risks and providing information and training, as well as providing the necessary arrangements and means. The employer...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which la...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, inspectors can issue a notice prior to a sanction being imposed. The notice requires the breach to be remedied or a risk to be eliminated within a specific period of time. Breaches of occupat...
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Generally, an employer will not be liable for the acts of third-party contractors, as long as the employer has...
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The employer must report any work accident of which it becomes aware to the social security authorities within 48 hours, not including Sundays and public holidays. The victim (or his or her representatives) may also make a declaration r...
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A number of characteristics are protected by anti-discrimination law, as follows: origin; sex; morals; sexual orientation; gender identity; age; family situation; pregnancy; genetic characteristics; special vulnerability due to an apparent...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic if that characteristic is an occupational requirement because of the nature or context of the work. The employer must show that applying the requir...
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It is unlawful to discriminate indirectly by applying a provision, criterion or practice to everyone equally, which puts a person with a protected characteri...
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Disabled employees are entitled to individualised working hours at their request. They also benefit from specific accommodation rules, including in particular: Accessibility of workplaces: workplaces in a new building (or in a new section ...
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Professional harassment can be a form of unlawful discrimination. It occurs when a person (i.e. the harasser) does something unwanted which is related to a protected characteristic and which has the purpose or effect of breaching the ...
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Retaliation is a specifically defined form of discrimination that occurs when someone is treated badly because he o...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or retaliation is successful, an employment tribunal could: make a declaration that the claimant had been discriminated against; order the employer to pay the claimant com...
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In the event of a discrimination claim, the employee bears the burden to present facts suggesting the existence ...
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An employer is liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees whether or not it knew or approved of them, unles...
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French law requires organisations with at least 50 employees to annually publish indicators relating to the pay gap between women and men based on average pay. Large organisations must also measure the following four additional indicators: ...
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Every employer, regardless of the size of the undertaking, must take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and protect the physical and mental health of workers. This safety obligation applies to (among ...
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The Defender of Rights, which is the independent administrative authority with responsibility for anti-discrimination, recorded in its Report for 2021 that 26.4% of discrimination-related complaints (which ...
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There is no standard or typical amount for awards in discrimina...
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Pursuant to the French Labour Code: information requested, in any form whatsoever, from a job applicant can only have as its purpose the evaluation of his or her capacity to fill the job proposed or of his or her professional aptitude. Thi...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for any use of social media that brings the employer into disrepute or...
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In March 2022 a law transposing the 2019 EU directive on whistleblowers came into effect in France. A whistleblower is a natural person who reports or discloses, without direct financial consideration and in good faith, information relati...
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The extent to which work-related information can be kept confidential depends on whether it amounts to: ‘trade secrets’, which are defined as any information that (i) is not generally known or readily accessible to persons who are fami...
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The implied duty of loyalty means that, during working hours, employees must devote all their time and attention to their job. It also includes an implied duty of fidelity which requires that, during the period of employment, the employee d...
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Employers who wish to protect confidential information that does not amount to a manufacturing process secret once employment has ended can include a confidentiality clause in the employment agreement, which can cover the employment period ...
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A non-compete clause is valid provided that it meets the following requirements: The employer has a legitimate interest to protect, for example, its relationships with customers, clients and suppliers, the stability of its workforce, trade...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purpose is to regulate relations between employers and workers in the workplace (e.g. p...
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Traditionally the public sector is more unionised than the private sec...
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An employer must work with a trade union that is established within the organisation. The range of obligations depends ...
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Employee representative bodies may exist at the international, European, national or local level. In practice, elected representation has consisted mainly of the Social and Economic Committee, which is mandatory in organisations that have a...
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In the public sector, five days’ notice is required prior to tak...
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If the employment contract is for a fixed term, it expires at the end of the term. It may, however, be terminated prematurely in the case of serious misconduct by the employee. If the employment contract is for an indefinite period, two...
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The employee can bring an unfair dismissal claim before an employment tribunal if the employer terminates without a lawful basis to do so. If successful, the tribunal may order: For the dismissal of an employee with at least two y...
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The dismissal procedure is governed by law. The employee must be invited for an interview at least five days prior to dismissal. The interview allows the employer to explain to the employee why it plans to dismiss him or her and the employe...
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Certain employees are protected against dismissal. A dismissal carried out in spite of their protected status is void. The following categories of employees are protected: strikers; pregnant women; employees protected against discrim...
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Minimum notice periods are prescribed by law. These are: for employees with less than six months’ service, the notice period customary within the sector; for employees with between six months’ and two years’ service, one m...
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The employer can decide to exempt the employee from working out his or her notice. If so, it must pay the remuneration the employee would have been entitled to if he or she had worked. An act of gross misconduct by the employee justifies ...
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If the employee resigns for his or her own reasons, the termination of the contract will be treated as a resignation. However, an employee may terminate the employment contract at the employer’s expense if the employer has seriously f...
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An employer may ask an employee in writing at least three months before his or her 65th, 66th, 67th, 68th or 69th birthday if the employee intends to leave the company voluntarily and retire during the coming year. The employee has one mont...
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Severance The amount of statutory severance pay in cases of dismissal is determined by law. However, industry-wide collective bargaining agreements (and more rarely, company-wide CBAs or employment contracts) normally provide a different ...
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An employer can settle claims by agreement with the employee. The agreement should be in writing and must be concluded after termination of the employment contract. It must provide for concessions from both parties. There are no other r...
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Employers must consult with staff representatives (i.e. the social and economic committee) when they propose to make a number of dismissals on grounds of redundancy. The consultation must cover all affected employees, including those who ma...
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The following information must be provided to staff representatives: the reasons for the proposed dismissals; the number of employees who are proposed to be made redundant and their details; the total number of employees emplo...
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Collective dismissals for economic reasons are highly regulated and very complex. The procedure lasts a minimum of twenty days for the dismissal of two to nine employees, and at least five months for the dismissal of ten or more employees i...
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If the employer fails to comply with either the information or consultation requirements, the procedure and subsequent dismissals will be void. In addition, the employer could be found guilty of obstruction, which is punishable by a prison ...
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A dismissal plan must target positions rather than individual employees, and criteria must be established to determine which employees will be dismissed. When considering dismissal on economic grounds, the employer must divide the workfo...
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The amount of the legal minimum compensation applies to dismissal for both personal and economic reasons, but collective redundancy may give rise to other compensation measures, in particular through the plan to safeguard employment. ...
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There is no specific protection for employees with respect to share takeovers. The rules protecting employees in relation to business transfers and in outsourcing scenarios do not apply to share takeovers. However, in companies with few...
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Sale of a business If a business is sold, employees have a right to transfer to work for the new employer under their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of a business is sold to a new employer and it...
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The old employer must provide information to and consult with employee representatives. If it dismisses any employees by reason of the transfer, the dismissals will be ineffective. In terms of the new employer: all employees who work i...
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Where the employee transfer law applies, the transfer of the employment contract is automatic and obligatory for both the transferee and employees. Employees cannot block the change of employer. In the past, the courts had ruled that an e...
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Terms Upon transfer, the transferee takes over all the elements of the individual employment contracts including length of service, amount and calculation of pay, position and place of work. Contracts that have been terminated prior to ...
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Unless the change of employer takes place either in the context of insolvency proceedings or without any agreement between the transferor and transferee, the transferee will become liable for all obligations of the transferor at the date of...
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If the transferee operates in the same business sector as the transferor there will be no change to the collective agreement, as it applies to all companies in the same sector. If the main business activity changes (e.g. in the case of a ...
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The employment contracts of the employees assigned to the transferred entity automatically continue with the transferee by operation of law. After a transfer, transferees commonly prefer to harmonise the terms of transferring employees wi...
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Under the public policy rule regarding continuation of the employment contract, the transferor cannot dismiss employees before the transfer is effective, and the transferee cannot refuse to employ the employees at the date of transfer. Ca...
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Employers must inform and consult the representatives of all ‘affected’ employees. This covers the employees who are transferring and employees of both the old and new emplo...
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The information provided must include the reasons for and description of the transfer, its consequences for the business and employees, details of the business and financial rationale and the legal and financial structure of the operation.�...
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The transferor must obtain the social and economic committee’s opinion on the proposed transfer prior to any decision being made. This opinion can only be obtained once the works council has been provided with and had sufficient time to r...
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Failure to consult the social and economic committee prior to making a decision to transfer an undertaking (or part of one) is a criminal offence which can result in a fine of up to EUR 7,500. The soci...
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Where a social and economic committee is in place, it may continue to exist after the transfer, provided that the transferred entity retains its legal autonomy. ...
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The mandatory state pension is a contributory pension scheme based on a redistribution of contributions from those working to those in retirement. The scheme aims to provide up to a maximum of 50% of the retiree’s salary over his or her 2...
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There is no statutory obligation to provide access to any scheme other tha...
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French law prohibits organisations other than insur...
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The employer must consult staff representatives (the ‘social and economic committee’) before implementing or...
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An employee’s contributions to a mandatory pension scheme are deductible from income tax. The employer’...
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In practice, employees are informed of the available pension scheme in the employment cont...
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For the private sector, there are no general requirements about the wording of job advertisements. However, it is important that employers avoid any wording that might, directly or indirectly, be considered discriminatory. One common mistak...
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The employer’s legitimate business interests and right to information are generally limited by the employee’s personal rights, which include keeping private information confidential. Employers may inquire about an applicant�...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. Employers may use this to assess the employee’s suitability for and performance in a given role. Employees may use the time to get an impression of the working environment and the tasks ...
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The statutory notice period for dismissals during a probationary period is two weeks for both sides. The parties may agree on a longer notice period. However, this is impractical and therefore typically not done. ...
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Job applicants may bring two types of claims against a prospective employer: claims for unlawful discrimination and claims for disbursements made in vain. The first type of claim may be relevant where the prospective employee&nbs...
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In order to be legally employed in Germany, foreign employees from third countries require a visa or other residence permit which allows the employee to perform this specific employment. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland are exem...
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The employer must ensure prior to start of the prospective employee’s employment that the employee has a residence permit which allows the employee to perform the specific job with the employer. The residence permit will&nb...
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Yes. According to data protection law, the employer may store all legally collected personal data of the candidate until the end of the application procedure. Consent by the applicant for this is not neces...
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Any questions that the employer does not have a justified interest in asking are prohibited and the employee may lie without repercussions. If the lie is discovered later on, the employer must not terminate or ...
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German law distinguishes between two main categories in the workforce, employees and ‘freelancers’ (also called ‘independent contractors’). An employee is someone who works under a contract o...
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While traditionally German law has distinguished between blue and white-collar employees, this was declared unlawful some time ago and is therefore no longer practiced except in rare cases. The question remains relevant, however, with regar...
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Directors, under German law, may be non-executive employees, Executives (as defined by law) or board members/managing directors. Executives are employees, but are represented by a special committee (...
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Employees may claim part-time employment after six months of service, provided that the organisation in question has more than fifteen employees. The employer must agree to this request if there are no operational ground...
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Fixed-term employment is permitted and may be extended indefinitely where justified by legitimate reasons. These reasons include, but are not limited to, the following: to cover short-term workload ...
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Fixed-term employment automatically converts into indefinite-term employment if either: the fixed term was not agreed in writing; the purpose does not justify the limitation; or the permitt...
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A temporary worker (or ‘temp’) is an individual who signs up with an employer (the ‘lessor’) and is subsequently leased out to work for one or more of the lessor’s clients. Temporary workers ...
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An employer may temporarily assign an employee to work for another company in one of four possible situations: If the employee explicitly agrees. This is usually the case with secondment agreements or temporary wo...
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In general terms, whether a written contract is required depends on whether the contract is intended to be indefinite or fixed–term. The former does not have to be agreed in writing. However, the employee must at least be provided wi...
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While offer letters are sometimes issued, especially by US and UK companies doing business in Germany, the usual method is to negotiate the most important terms in person or over the telephone and to then send a detailed employment con...
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There are no specific rules governing the language for employment contracts. Any language spoken and understood by both parties is therefore sufficient in theory. However, all terms must be as clear as possible if the employer does not...
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Certain terms are implied into all contracts of employment by way of statutory law, including, but not limited to: minimum notice periods (for termination by the employer); regulations on working time, occupational health and s...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents by way of reference. Such terms will be binding on the parties in the same way as other terms of the contract, unless they are specificall...
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There are three legally effective ways to make changes to employees’ terms and conditions: Employers may change contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change. If the employee does not agree to the chan...
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Most policies provided by the employer serve only to implement and clarify the employer’s instructions and/or requirements under law. Beyond that, they serve to describe the procedures used, especially with regard to certain benefits, for...
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With effect from 1 January 2021, the German Parliament and the Federal Council have set the national hourly minimum wage for all industries and regions at EUR 9.50. There is no fixed statutory monthly minimum wage. The gross month...
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There is no law requiring the adjustment of wages in line with inflation. ...
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Employers must document remuneration, payment of wage tax and payment of social security contributions. This is known as the ‘payroll’. Tax Employees pay income tax on ...
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In the tax year for 2020, the first EUR 9,408 of income is exempted from income tax. The remaining income of EUR 90,592 is subject to progressive taxation. &nbs...
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There are no specific rules governing the payment of bonuses. Payment of a bonus can be non-contractual, contractual or based on collective bargaining agreements or works agreements. Employers are otherwise fre...
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Employers must register an employee for social insurance and pay the relevant share. Statutory social insurance includes pension insurance, unemployment insurance, health insurance, nursing care insurance and e...
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The practice of offering benefits in order to attract highly qualified employees has grown in popularity over the last few years. The most common benefits offered include: Christmas and holiday...
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Employment law stipulates a limit on daily working hours. Daily working hours in general must not exceed eight hours. Monday to Saturday are regarded as working days. However, working hours can be in...
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The limits on working time are mandatory and generally speaking, individual agreements exceeding these limits are void. It is only permissible to exceed ten working hours per day based on a collective bargaining agr...
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The rules on working time generally apply to all employees. However, there are several important exemptions. Executives are exempt from the working time rules. An Executive is an...
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In Germany, this is currently a hotly debated topic due to recent rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The traditional view was that there is no obligation to record the actual working hours of employees, but ...
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German law permits such forms of flexible and agile working, but does not necessarily encourage them, taking a much more traditional view on employer-employee relationships. This also holds true with regard to emplo...
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There are no statutory rules concerning a minimum of overtime working. The general limits on normal working hours apply equally to overtime. Overtime conditions are normally agreed in the contract of employment or in the applicabl...
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Potentially, depending on the provisions in the employment agreement and/or the collective rules in place. Employers must also observe co-determination with the union or works council on overtime where relevant. ...
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There is no specific rate of pay for overtime. The rate is normally agreed in the contract of employment or applicable collective bargaining agreement. ...
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The employer must set breaks and the minimum break time is determined by law. Depending on daily working hours, the following breaks are mandatory: 30 minutes for six to nine working hours per day; 45 minutes for more than n...
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According to German law, the intentional or negligent assignment of work to employees beyond the limits of permissible working time, on Sundays or public holidays and failure to grant the minimum breaks or rest time constitut...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of 20 days’ leave for those who work five days a week. Entitlement for part-time employees, who work less than five days per week is reduced by the appropriate proportion. ...
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An employee is entitled to be paid at the rate of a week’s pay for each week of leave. The method of calculation depends on the employee’s working patterns: Employees on normal working hours, whose pay does not vary, should be pa...
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There is a statutory right to paid time off on public holidays. The number of public holidays depends on the federal state in which the employee works. There are nine public holidays that apply across Germany each year: New Year’s ...
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Employees are not obliged to work if they are unable to do so because of sickness. The employee must notify the employer without delay of his or her incapacity to work and its estimated duration. If the employee is unable to work for more t...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay are summarised below. As the statutory provisions are quite generous, employers do not usually offer more generous arrangements. Some employers grant additional (i.e. one or two) days off fo...
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Certain employees are entitled to a reasonable period of paid time off work during working hours to perform duties as: works council members; members of European works councils; volunteers for emergency management (i.e. the German Fe...
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An employer must adopt all measures necessary to ensure the health and safety of its employees. The employer is subject to the following general obligations: implementation of required health an...
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Occupational health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation. The Employer’s Liability Insurance Associations are responsible for the supervision of employers’ complian...
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If an employer breaches occupational health and safety rules, a fine of up to EUR 5,000 may be imposed. In addition, a competent authority may issue a directive compelling the employer to take an occupational safety measure. If an employe...
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Generally, an employer can be held liable for harm caused to employees or other visitors because of unsafe premises, where this is due to faulty work by a third-party contractor. However, the employer will not be liable if it can prove that...
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If a work accident results in a fatality or an injury that causes an employee to be unable to work for more than three days, the employer must notify the accident insurance provider. Specific evidence of an occupational illness must also be...
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Seven characteristics are expressly protected by discrimination law in Germany: race; ethnic origin; gender; religion or worldview beliefs; disability; age; sexual identity. A further set of unwritten characteri...
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German law provides that it is possible to treat individuals differently based on a protected characteristic if that characteristic is an occupational requirement, taking into account both the nature and context of the work. Howev...
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German law prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination. The latter occurs when an apparently neutral practice, criterion or provision is applied to an individual in a way that would put them at a particular disadvantage compared to ot...
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Companies with at least 20 employees have an obligation (enforced by fines) to employ a certain percentage of severely disabled persons. Severely disabled employees have the right to employment that enables them to use and develop their ski...
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Harassment is a discrete form of unlawful discrimination, defined as unwanted conduct relating to one of the protected characteristics, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, host...
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German law prohibits differential treatment of individuals because they have brought discrimination claims, helped bring such claims, refused to carry...
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If an employer is found to be responsible for discrimination or harassment, it is required to compensate the employee for any material damages. The employer can be held liable for its own intentional or negligent breaches of the rules ...
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If there is a claim for discrimination, in general the burden of proof is on the claimant (i.e. the employee or job applicant). However, if the claimant can provide sufficient proof for the court to presume that there has been dis...
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Every employer is required to provide a workplace free from discrimination, regardless of the source of discrimination. This means that an employer must take every reasonable step to prevent such behaviour, regardless of whether it originat...
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Under the Pay Transparency Act, employers with over 500 employees must produce a management report on equality and equal pay every five years if the employer is bound by a collective wage agreement, otherwise every three years. These report...
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Legal obligations Employers owe a general duty of care towards their employees. Among other things, employers are obliged to furnish facilities, devices and equipment for the performance of the work in such a way that the employees ar...
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There are no official statistics on discrimination claims in Germany, and no practical statistics have been issued by third parties. However, since the enactment of equal treatment law in 2006, the number of discrimination claims file...
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There are no statistics on typical award amounts; the amount depends on the particular case. An employee can claim for material damages if he or she has suffered empirically measurable financial damage as a result of the disadvan...
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There are no rules in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the GDPR are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would i...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have an interest to implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workplace. In addition, in ...
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Based on current German statute, there are no explicit legal restrictions on the use of social media by an employee, either at work or when off duty. However, the employer may, by an instruction or policy, prohibit the use of social media o...
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The new German Whistleblower Protection Act came into force on 2 July 2023, finally implementing the 2019 EU Whistleblower Directive. The statute aims to ensure comprehensive protection for whistleblowers. To this end, the new law provides ...
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During the employment relationship, the employee has a duty to keep trade secrets and other work-related information confidential, even if there is no express clause in the employment contract. The duty of confidentiality is one of the empl...
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Employees have a secondary obligation or implied duty not to compete with the employer for the duration of the employment contract. The employee is paid by the employer and must therefore not harm the economic interests of th...
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Generally, an implied duty of confidentiality continues after the employment contract has ended. However, it is restricted to the protection of business and trade secrets, that is, sensitive data directly related to the business of the empl...
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The obligation not to compete with the employer ends with the termination of the employment. To prevent the employee from competing, a non-compete clause is needed. Depending on the interests of the employer such clauses can take the ...
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The main purpose of the trade unions, as defined in the German Constitution, is the ‘preservation of working and economic conditions’. The trade unions are organisations of workers that supervise working conditions of mem...
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Almost all sectors of the economy are covered by the existing trade unions in Germany. The biggest umbrella organisation of trade unions is the Confederation of German Trade Unions (‘Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund’...
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Where no trade unions have been active, the employer does not have to establish or recognise one. However, if a trade union has members within the organisation, the employer can be forced to negotiate a co...
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The main role of employee representative bodies is to improve the working conditions of employees and, if necessary and practicable, act on their behalf. Employee representatives consist of: works...
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In order to be lawful, a strike must meet several conditions. The most important are that: the aim must be to achieve collective working conditions which can be the subject of a collective bargainin...
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For an ‘ordinary dismissal’ (‘ordentliche Kündigung’) with notice (as opposed to a dismissal for cause with immediate effect) to be lawful, the employer must observe the notice period as defined in the contract of employment, colle...
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An employee may bring a claim before a labour court against a dismissal he or she considers unjustified. In cases where the employee is not protected by law against dismissal, he or she will most likely be unsuccessful...
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The procedure that must be followed by the employer when terminating employment depends on several factors, most importantly the type of dismissal and its grounds and whether there is a works council at the employer. For termination on grou...
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Several groups of employees benefit from special protection against dismissal. Most importantly, these are: · mothers during pregnancy and up to four months after childbirth; · employees on pare...
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There are several factors which can determine an employee’s notice period, including the employment contract, law and any collective bargaining agreements applicable to the employment relationship. The statutory minimum notice period is f...
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German law does not recognise the concept of payment in lieu of notice. Therefore, unilaterally paying the employee a certain amount of money will not excuse the employer from giving the required notice. The employer and employee may end th...
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An employee who resigns must provide the statutory minimum notice of four weeks...
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If the employer decides to retire an employee compulsorily at any arbitrary point in time, it risks dismissal prot...
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If the employer gives the correct notice and the termination is justified, the employment will end without any payments in addition to those owed up to the termination date (e.g. annual leave and pro-rata bonuses). Even if the employee chal...
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The employer can settle claims by entering into a contractual agreement with the employee. However, this only e...
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There is no requirement to consult with individual employees or trade unions where multiple dismissals are proposed. However, if there is a works council, the employer must involve the council in collective dismissals by informing and consu...
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There are different procedures for negotiating with the works council, notifying the local employment office and fulfilling the general co-determination rights of the works council. These procedures can be carried out separately or together...
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The details of the required consultation between the employer and the works council are set out in section 13.2 above. The best practice process for the required consultation is for the employer to carry out the negotiation with the works c...
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Procedure for notification of the local employment office If the employer fails to give proper notification to the local employment office before the termination notices are delivered to the employees, the termination is considered void. Th...
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For a dismissal for operational reasons in a company with no more than ten employees, the employer is, in general, free to decide who it wishes to dismiss. If the organisation has more than ten employees and the employment relationships hav...
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The works council (or in some instances the trade union) will generally negotiate a ‘social plan’ in cases of collective redundancy, and in many cases such a plan is required by law (see section 13.2 above). The social plan will usually...
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There is no specific protection for employees where the identity of the employer changes as a result of a share takeover. A...
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Sale of a business The rules protecting employees on business transfers generally apply if the sale of a business or part of a business to a new employer is involved and the economic identity of the sold business retains its identity irresp...
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For the current employer: · The old or new employer must inform each employee individually prior to the transfer. This is usually done by informing the employee in writing of the date or proposed date, reason and consequences of the transf...
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Employees are entitled to object to the transfer without giving a reason for this decision. If an employee objects, the employment relationship will continu...
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Terms If an undertaking is transferred, the transferee is bound by all rights and obligations resulting from the employment relationships in existence at the time of the transfer. Rights which depend on the length of the employment relation...
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The transferee assumes all liabilities vis-à-vis transferred employees, but the transferor remains jointly and severally liable for all obligations under the employment relationship that arose prior to the transfer and fall due within ...
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If the employment relationships are subject to a collective bargaining agreement or a works agreement, the transferee is bound by it. The provisions will often be transposed into individual employment agreements and cannot be modified to th...
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Generally, without the consent of the employee, no changes can be made to the employment agreements of the transferred employees. The transferee and the employee may amend the terms and conditions of individual employment contracts immediat...
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The dismissal of an employee either by the transferor before the transfer or by the transferee afterwards is invalid if the transfer was the main reason for the dismissal. Transfer does not in itself constitute grounds for dismissal. Howeve...
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The old or the new employer must inform every employee individually prior to the transfer. It is not sufficient to inform the employee representatives. Involvement of employee representatives Although consent of the employee representatives...
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Either the old or the new employer must inform each employee prior to the transfer in writing of: · the date or proposed date of the transfer; · the reaso...
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The works council and the employer must try to agree to a ‘reconciliation of interests’ and, if necessary, a social plan. The reconciliation of interests will stipulate if, when and how the planned operational chang...
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Failure to negotiate a reconciliation of interests may result in claims by employees for compensatio...
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In a ‘Transfer of Undertaking’ (i.e. a sale or transfer of a business where the economic identity of the transferred business remains intact), a works agreement will ...
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The national social security system, to which employees are required to belong by law, provides different types of benefits and includes statutory pension insurance. The statutory social security system is regulated by the social securi...
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Overall, the German pension system is based on three cornerstones: statutory state pension; company pension schemes; private pension schemes. As the state pension is under significant pressure, the government is takin...
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A wide range of options exists for employers in Germany who wish to operate a pension scheme for the benefit of their employees. The most common option still is the direct pension scheme (`Direktzusage`). A direct scheme is operated...
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While the employer is free to decide whether and to what extent to grant company pension benefits, the specific structure of the pension plan and any later change to that structure is subject to the co–determination of ...
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In Germany there is a difference between the tax treatment of contributions to a company pension scheme and the pension income an individual may receive on retirement. During employment, contributions to direct pension schemes...
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On the first day of work at the latest, an employer must provide a written statement of certain essential terms of the employment. This must include any terms and conditions relating to pensions and pension schemes. If the employer promises...
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An obligation to conduct internal investigations can arise from the employer’s general management duties. If there are sufficient factual indications of a compliance violation, management must immediately initiate appropriate measures t...
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If the witness-employee exercises a supervisory function vis-à-vis an employee who misbehaves, the supervisor has a duty to report the misconduct. The same applies if the witness-employee exercises a control function towards the mis...
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There are no rules relating specifically to internal investigations that set a time period to act. There is therefore no general deadline which applies to investigations as such. However, it is advisable to proceed quickly and pru...
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Under its right to issue instructions, the employer may require an employee to participate in an internal investigation. This follows from the fact that an investigation with the aim of uncovering criminal offences and breaches of du...
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In principle, the employee has no right to have a lawyer present for the employee interview. The case law on personnel interviews provides for exceptions to this principle only in limited cases. For example, if the employer has invo...
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There is currently no such obligation. Depending on the content of the documents, a right to information under data protection law could apply, but this does not per se cover all documents gathered in the investigati...
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Germany does not yet have a separate law on whistleblowing. However, due to the implementation of the EU Directive on Whistleblowing, the proposed Whistleblower Protection Act (‘Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz’) will probably be passed ...
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In Germany, one means of sanctioning poor performance by employees is a warning letter. A warning letter acts as both a reprimand (by drawing the employee’s attention to the breach of duty) and a warning (by making it clear t...
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As a rule, the employer first checks the plausibility of the complaint and then, if necessary, takes further appropriate measures (e.g. discussions, investigations, hearings, warnings, termination). Depending on the content of the com...
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There are no legal requirements about wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. Employers sho...
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Employers may carry out background checks at any stage during the hiring process, but there are some limits. During the hiring process, employers must not ask questions about a job applicant’s health or any other personal information that...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. Employers use this to assess the employee’s suitability and performance in the job. A probationary period can take the form of an independent, fixed-term contract, when it is agree...
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Dismissal during a probationary period depends on the type of probation. In the case of a ...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer based on one of the protected characteristics in equality legislation. These are sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, sexual orien...
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The most common type of employment for foreign workers is through sponsorship, by a specific employer for a particular type of work. Any employer who wishes to recruit foreign nationals may file an application with the Agency for Foreign Na...
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Legislation on the prevention of illegal working requires employers to check and copy documentation relating to each employee’s right to work in Greece. This must be done before the employee starts work and should include a check of, for ...
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Greek law requires data controllers to promptly delete any personal data, the knowledge of which is no longer necessary for the performance of their duties. Similarly, the GDP...
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The employer’s right to information must be balanced against the candidate’s right to privacy. For this reason, employers should avoid any questions that can be considered discriminatory (e...
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An employee is someone who works under a contract of employment. The key indicators of ‘employee’ status are: the employer’s control over how the individual performs the work and compliance with instructions; the employee’s obligat...
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There are some distinctions between types of employees, particularly between white-collar and blue-collar employees. A white-collar employee performs intellectual work and a blue-collar worker performs physical labour. Further, a white-coll...
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A company director may be either employed or self-employed. The employment status will depend on an assessment of all the relevant factors. It is more common for a director to work under ...
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According to the law, part-time employment requires an individual written contract and official notification to the Labour Inspectorate within eight days. If this is not done, it is considered to be full-time employment. The employer may re...
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Fixed-term employment must be justified by the nature and purpose of the employment or the operational needs of the organisation (e.g. seasonal needs, replacement of an employee on leave or pro...
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A fixed-term employment contract will convert into an indefinite-term contract, in cases where: The fixed-term cannot be justified by the nature and purpose of the employment or the operational needs of the organisation. The employee has b...
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A temporary worker is an individual who signs up with an employment agency to work for one or more of its clients. The temporary worker is an employee of the employment agency. Usually, temporary workers carry out the duties in the client�...
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An employer may temporarily assign an employee to work for another ‘host’ company. This is usually called a secondment, the normal arrangement being that the employee remains employed by the original employer. There are no s...
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It is generally not necessary for employers to provide a written contract of employment, since employment contracts can be made informally. However, in the following cases a written contract is required by law: For part-time or rotating em...
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It is not common in Greece for the employer to issue an offer letter to employees, ...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts. However, the following points apply. If the contract is in more than one language and Greek law is stated to be the applicable law, the Greek l...
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Certain terms are implied by law into all employment contracts in accordance with ‘good faith’ and common practice. If either the employer or the employee is in breach of an implied term, the other may claim for breach of contract...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to expressly incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. Often, terms from binding agreements are inc...
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Employers can normally alter contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change. If the employee does not agree, the employer can unilaterally implement the change. However, the change cannot be unlawful or contrary to an...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collected together in a staff handbook). These would typically include: a health and safety at work policy; disciplinary and grievance policies; equal oppor...
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The minimum wage is set by the Minister of Labour, based on consultation with representatives of the social partners, scientists and others. There is no set schedule for reviewing the minimum wage; increases or decreases of the minimum wage...
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There is no requirem...
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Tax Employees pay income tax on their salary, including any benefits in kind. The tax year in Greece runs from 1 January to 31 December of the same year. Each person has an income tax personal allowance, and income up to this amount in each...
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A married employee with two children and an income of EUR 100,000 in the 2021 tax year will be liable to pay EUR 35,900 in tax. There is a deduction of EUR 900 for the two dependent children. For taxable income from salaried services exceed...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any discretion as to whether to pay a bonus, or the amount of any bonus...
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According to Greek law and collective agreements in force, employers must provide certain benefits to employees related to marital and family...
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Employers are free to decide on the benefits they wish to make available to employees. The most common benefits include: private medical insurance; use of a company c...
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The legal working week in Greece is 40 hours. An employee may work five additional hours a week at the employer’s request. These additional hours (i.e. ‘additional work’) do not count as part of the permissible overtime. The work...
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It is possible to exceed the limit on working hours through two mechanisms: additional work and overtime. Additional work is work exceeding the 40-hour week by five hours a week, distributed equally over five days. This is permitted at the ...
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Managerial employees (i.e. high-ranking executive employees or those who have a special relationship of trust) are exempte...
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Before a new employee starts work, the employer must notify the Labour Inspectorate electronically via the ‘ERGANI’ system regarding the hours that he or she will work, including any additional work or overtime. Employers mu...
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Greek law allows teleworking and flexible working time by defining various types of part time employment, rotation work, and the like. There are no specific legal rules regarding self-managing interdisciplinary teams or open-pla...
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There are no rules concerning the amount of overtime work, other than the legal general limits on working time. There is a maximum daily overtime limit of three hours, and a...
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Overtime work falls within the contractual obligations of the employee. If there is a need for extra...
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The 41st to the 45th hour of additional working time is compensated at the hourly wage plus 20%, and is not counted as part of the maximum overtime work allowed by law. For employees who work a six-day working week, additional working time ...
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Workers are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. Workers are entitled to a break, away from their work stations, of no more than 30 minutes if they work for more than four hours. Young w...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be either a claim by the worker or criminal prosecution. An employee may bring a claim in an employment tribunal if the employer has refused to al...
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Employees’ minimum entitlement to annual leave depends on their years of service with an employer as follows: Years of service with the same employer Days of annual leave for those working six days a week Days of annual leave for those...
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Employees are entitled to receive for their annual leave their ‘normal remuneration’, meaning the remuneration they would have received if they had worked during the corresponding period. Remuneration includes anything paid to the emplo...
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Generally speaking, employees working at businesses that are closed on public holidays have the right to paid time off work for those public holidays. The mandatory public holidays in Greece are the following: 1 January; 6 January ...
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Employees may be absent from work for temporary periods as a result of sickness, without the absence being considered as grounds for unilateral termination of the employment relationship. Thus, after the sickness period, the employer must a...
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Maternity and paternity leave Female employees are entitled to 17 weeks of maternity leave, eight weeks before the child is born and nine weeks afterwards. In addition, new mothers who are insured under the Unified Carrier of Social Secur...
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There are many situations where an employee would be entitled to take leave of absence, under certain conditions. The most significant examples, together with the corresponding maximum duration of each, are as follows: Leave for training...
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An employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. As a minimum the employer must provide the following: a safe means of access to the place of work; a safe system of work; a safe plant and equi...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, inspectors can issue a notice and impose a fine for every breach from a minimum of EUR 300 to a maximum of EUR 50,000. Inspectors may order temporary closure of a department or an entire busi...
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An employer will be liable for the acts of third-party contractors if it cannot prove that it has exercised due diligence in selecting ...
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If there is a serious work accident, the employer is required to notify the nearest police station and the Labour Inspectorate within 24 hours and the Social Security agency (‘e-EFKA’) within five days from the date of the accident. The...
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There are nine characteristics protected by discrimination law in Greece: race; colour; national origin; genealogical origins; age; disab...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic if that characteristic is an occupational requirement because of the nature or context of the work. The employer would have to show that applying t...
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It is unlawful to discriminate indirectly by applying a provision, criterion or practice to everyone equally, which puts a person with a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage. This will not...
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Under the Greek Constitution and non-discrimination law, employers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and those with religious beliefs, to the extent that such adjustments do not impose a disproportionate bur...
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Harassment is a discrete form of unlawful discrimination. It occurs when a person (the ‘harasser’) does something unwanted which is related to a protected characteristic and which violates the victim’s dignity or creates a hostile, in...
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Victimisation is a specifically defined form of discrimination that occurs when someone is treated badly because they have done a ‘protected act’. According to Greek Law, the termination of the employment contract or relationship, as we...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or victimisation is successful, the court could: make a declaration that the claimant had been discriminated against; order the employer to pay the claimant full compensation, covering ...
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If an employee brings a discrimination claim, t...
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An employer is liable for the discriminatory acts of employees acting as its legal representatives or as managers, or on its behalf. The employer is a...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relatio...
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Greek law requires employers to take measures to promote the health and safety of employees at work, and to reduce the risk of workplace accidents and diseases. Employers that routinely employ more than 50 employees must also provide a safe...
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According to the Greek Ombudsman, employment discrimination claims by employees increased during 2021. The majority of the complaints relate to discrimination due to sex, age, type of employment and disability. ...
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There is no fixed or typical amount that is awarded in cases of unlawful ...
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The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an employer processing personal data belonging to an employee). ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for use of social media, especially when this disrupts the working environ...
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Under a law passed in 2022, employees are protected from unfair dismissal or unfavourable treatment by an employer if they have made a ‘protected disclosure’. There is no limit on the compensation that can be recovered in these circumst...
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A duty of confidentiality exists for all employees, no matter how senior. This duty arises out of the concept of the general duty of fidelity. Under the duty of fidelity, the employee must carry out his or her job in a way that respects the...
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There is an implied duty of fidelity on employees, which means that, during working hours, employees must devote their entire time and attention to the job. Taking a job outside working hours is not a breach of the implied duty provided tha...
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Employees have an implied duty of fidelity, but after the employment contract has ended, this survives only to protect ‘trade secrets’ (i.e. the most sensitive and valuable types of information) from use or disclosure by the employee.&n...
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Employers that wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition once employment has ended must include an express contractual term which restricts the employee’s activities after the termination of the employment relationship. Such ...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purposes are to protect and promote the economic, social and labour interests of workers. For the purposes of...
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The tendency to unionise is declining in Greece. A key factor is that the workforce includes a significant percentage of self-employment (an estimated 30%), while unemployment is constantly increasing. There is no official record of the n...
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Trade unions obtain statutory recognition following an application to the civil court. Employees are members of particular trade unions based on the employer’s business, the branch of the economy or their profession. There is generall...
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Employee representative bodies can negotiate with the employer in order to regulate the employment relationship in the workplace and this may lead to the establishment or amendment of workplace policies. Employers are required to inform and...
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In order for a trade union to organise a legitimate strike or other industrial action, certain procedural requirements must be met to support a legitimate trade dispute. In particular, the call for a strike must be decided by the union’s ...
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When terminating an employee’s employment, an employer should take into consideration the terms of the employment contract, the law on redundancies and certain social criteria if the dismissal is made for economic or restructuring reasons...
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The employee may bring an unlawful and/or abusive dismissal claim in an employment tribunal. If su...
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The employer can proceed with a lawful dismissal as long as it informs the employee in writing about the dismissal and pays the applicable severance pay. The employee can bring a claim before a court if he or she believes he or she can prov...
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The employer must not dismiss employees who have a special protection according to law. For example, the employer must not dismiss: pregnant women; women who have recently given birth, for a period of 18 months following the birth, as ...
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The minimum notice periods set out in law are: Years of service Advance notice required to terminate the employment contract Up to 12 months none More than 12 months up to two years one month Two full years up to five years two m...
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The employer can make a payment in lieu of notice. The employment contract can specify circumstances in which it may carry out an immediate termination. An example is serious misc...
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An employee may resign by giving notice to the employer without specifying reasons for the resignation. In cases where the employer has unilater...
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Retirement is not in itself a valid ground for termination. The employer may be able to show that it has a fair reason for dismissal but it still must follow the procedure prescribed by ...
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Provided the employer gives the correct notice or a payment in lieu of notice and pays the severance pay required by law, no further payments need be made to the employee unless agreed otherwise in the contract. However, a payment for untak...
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An employer can settle contractual claims and claims regarding abusive, unlawful or invalid dismissal by making...
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The employer has a general obligation to inform and/or consult with employee representatives whenever employment contracts might be affected in any way. In addition, it has a special obligation to consult collectively in certain circumstanc...
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The following information must be provided, in writing, to the trade union or elected representatives: the reasons for the proposed dismissals; the numbers and descriptions of employees whom it is proposed to make redundant; the numb...
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The legal minimum requirement is for the consultation to cover ways to: avoid the dismissals; reduce the number of employees to be dismissed; mitigate the consequences of the dismissals. Consultation must take place ‘with a view to reac...
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The consequences if the employer fails to comply with the information and consultation requirements are the sa...
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For individual or collective dismissals for economic reasons, the employer must follow certain stat...
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No, employees are entitled to receive the same severance pay and clearance of the...
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Employees are protected if there is a change in the identi...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees have a right to transfer to work for the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of a business is sold to a new employer, as lon...
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The old and new employer should consult with the employee representatives of both the businesses regarding the transfer. The old employer is liable along with the new employer for any obligation that has arisen because of the employment con...
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A transfer may take place without the employees’ consent. Transferred em...
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Terms All rights and obligations of the transferor in relation to the employment contract or employment relationship are automatically transferred to the transferee at the date of transfer. After the transfer, the transferor and transferee ...
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After the transfer date, the transferor is jointly liable with the transferee for all obligations ari...
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The transferee must observe the terms and conditions of the employment contract as supplemented by all applicable collective agreements, mediation decisions, bye laws and individual employment contracts, without distinctio...
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Generally the term of the employment relationship, any obligations on the employer and any employee rights existing at the time of transfer must be transferred to the new employer without modification. This includes: employees’ salary;...
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The normal rules apply to dismissal and therefore there is no ‘safe’ time after which it is reasonable to dismiss employees following a transfer. The transfer must not be the sole reason for an employee’s dismissal and this prohibitio...
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Employers must inform and consult the representatives of all ‘affected’ employees. This covers the employees who are transferring and employees...
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The employee representatives should be informed of: the date or proposed date of transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, economic and s...
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The transferor and transferee must consult with the employee representatives before the transfer about any measures which will change the conditions of employment of the transferring emplo...
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The consultation obligation requires a consultation to be held for the purpose of achieving a consensus. The performance of the consult...
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If the undertaking (or part of the undertaking) retains its autonomy after the transfer, the status and operation of the employee representatives will continue. However, this does not apply when there is a change in the number of emplo...
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The basic mechanism for providing for old age in Greece is pension benefits that derive from employment and pre-paid contributions. The conditions for awarding benefits are based on completion of a specific period of insurance days and soc...
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The employer should consult with its employees on the choice of a suitable pension scheme and notify all eligible employees of its fi...
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A defined contribution arrangement (i.e. a money purchase scheme) can be funded and operated by the employer for the benefit of its employees. Such an arrangement can be set up by an employer to provide income in retirement for its employ...
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The benefits of a pension scheme will normally be considered to be voluntary benefits offered by the employer, provided the employer has reserved the right to terminate, suspend or alter the pension scheme at its discretion. However,...
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The current tax bands and tax rates are as follows: Taxable bracket from EUR Taxable income bracket to EUR Tax rate on income as a percentage 0 20,000 22 20,001 30,000 29 30,001 40,000 37 Over 40,000 45 ...
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There is no requirement for a clause on pension entitlement to be included in the contract of employment. ...
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There are no legal requirements about the wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. However, employers should avoid wording that may be discriminatory. In Hong Kong, discrimination is unlawful unde...
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In Hong Kong, an employer can carry out most types of background checks, including checks on education and past employment records (i.e. reference checks), health checks and social media checks. These checks are usually carried out at the p...
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Yes, a probationary period can be agreed in the employment co...
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Yes. Under the Employment Ordinance, if an employee is under a continuous contract (which is defined mean being employed by the same emplo...
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A job applicant may bring a claim for unlawful discrimination or bring a complaint to the Equal Opportunities Com...
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Generally, a foreigner (who is not a permanent resident of Hong Kong) must obtain a valid employment visa prior to commencing work in Hong Kong. Employers will usually ac...
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Employers are required to keep a record of the type of ide...
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If an employer is planning to keep records of unsuccessful candidates (for future recruitment or other reasons), it should inform the candidates of the purpose of keeping such data and the period duri...
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Following guidance from the Equal Opportunities Commission, questions which directly discriminate on the basis of gender, family status, race, religion, marital status or disability should be avoided. Questions which are indirectly related ...
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There is no single conclusive test under the Hong Kong Employment Ordinance (‘EO’) and case law to distinguish an ‘employee’ from an ‘independent contractor’. Generally speaking, when assessing whether an individual is an employ...
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Hong Kong law does not make distinctions between blue/white collar employees or sales representatives. Generally speaking, all employees are entitled to certain basic rights and benefits under employment-related legislation, which include p...
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The Employment Ordinance applies equally to all levels of employees in a company. Therefore, there are no special rules that appl...
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There is no legal definition of ‘part-time workers’ in Hong Kong employment law. Part-time workers generally mean those who work regularly but on a less than full-time basis. Both part-time and full-time workers are protected by employm...
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Fixed-term employment contracts are permissible in Hong Kong. There is no legal restriction as to the minimum or maximum duration of the fixed term. Generally speaking, a fixed-term employment contract termi...
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Under Hong Kong law, there is no automatic conversion of fixed-term employment in...
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In Hong Kong, temporary workers can be supplied by an employment agency in order to provide services to an end user. The general legal position with regard to this kind of arrangement is that the employment agency is the employer of these w...
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In Hong Kong, such arrangement is generally referred to as a ‘secondment’, which is legally permissible provided that the employer has obtained the employees’ consent to the secondment arrangement. During th...
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An employment contract does not have to be in writing. The normal principles of contract law apply: the offer of employment by the employer must be legally accepted by the employee, both parties must intend to be bound by the contract, and ...
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Yes, it is quite common in many professional sectors for employers to issue...
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There are no prescribed language requirements under the law with reg...
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Under Hong Kong employment law, all employees are entitled to certain basic benefits and protections, such as statutory holidays, employees’ compensation insurance coverage, Mandatory Provident Fund (the Hong Kong pension scheme) enrolmen...
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It is possible to include terms from other agreements or documen...
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Under Hong Kong law, any material variation of employees’ terms and conditions of employment requires the employee’s consent. If the employer varies the terms and conditions without the employee’s consent, the employee may potentially...
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Documents such as an employee handbook, a code of conduct and human resources policies are normal...
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Hong Kong has a statutory minimum wage (‘SMW’). The current SMW rate is HKD 37.5 per hour effective from 1 May 2019. However, the SMW rate will be increased to HKD 40 per hour effective from 1 May 2023. Under the law, ‘wages’ is w...
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There is no automatic adjustment of wages in line with inflation in Hong Kong. Generally speaking, the government reviews the SMW once every two years. ...
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Tax The employer must notify the Inland Revenue Department (‘IRD’) upon the hiring and termination of any employee. The employer must also file a tax return for each tax year for every employee. The employee must file a tax return for e...
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Using an average long-term conversion rate of HKD 10 to EUR 1, the income tax liability for a married employee at this salary with two children will be approximately EUR 6,300 per year (assuming the spouse has no taxable income). The income...
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There are two main categories of bonuses in Hong Kong: (i) annual contractual bonus and (ii) annual discretionary bonus. Annual contractual bonuses (which can be a fixed sum, a percentage of an employee’s remuneration or subject to a calc...
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Employers are required by law to provide certain statutory benefits to employees. Most of these benefits are only available to employees who are employed under a ‘continuous contract’, which means that the employee has bee...
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The following benefits are usually made available to employees in addition to those required by law: commissions (especially where an employee is employed in a sales capacity); medical insurance; bonus.&nbs...
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There is no legislation regarding maximum working hours in Hong Kong, other than for minors and registered apprentices. However, an employer may enforce maximum working hours through contractual terms if it wishes to do so. Hong...
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There are no statutory limits on daily or weekly working hours in Hong Kong except for minors and registered apprentices (see section 5.1 above). The employment contract will govern the employee’s contractually agreed working hours. The c...
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Hong Kong does not have any legal rules limiting daily or weekly working hours, other than for minors and registered apprentices (see section 5.1 above). There are no exemptions to the rules limiting working hours for minors.&nb...
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Hong Kong law requires that employers must at all times keep a record setting out the wage and employment history of each employee, covering the period of his or her employment during the preceding 12 months. If the employee’s monthly wag...
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The law does not refer specifically to agile working measures. However, these kinds of measures would not be contrary to any employment legislation, and employers are therefore free to adopt such measures ...
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There are no statutory limits in Hong Kong regarding overtime work, other than for minors and registered apprentices The law does not permit overtime employment of a minor in an industrial undertaking. The law permit...
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As stated in section 5.2 above, the employment contract may state that the employee will be required to work additional hours (i.e. in addition to the usual working hours set out in the contract) to comply with the needs of the role. Althou...
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In Hong Kong, there are no statutory entitlements to overtime pay. Overtime pay may be implemented at the discretion of the employer. Hong Kong law also does not dictate the amount of overtime pay or how it is to be paid. However, in term...
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Under Hong Kong law, all employees under a continuous contract are entitled to not less than one rest day in every period of seven days. A ‘continuous’ employee is one that has been employed continuously by the same employer for four we...
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An employer who, without reasonable excuse, fails to grant rest days or compels employees to work on rest days is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of HKD 50,000. An employer of a minor in an industrial undertaking...
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Employees who have been employed under a ‘continuous contract’ for at least 12 months are entitled to statutory annual leave with pay, and such entitlement increases progressively in accordance with length of service. An employe...
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The daily rate of pay for each day of statutory annual leave must be no less than the average daily wages earned by the employee in the 12-month period preceding the day of annual leave (if ...
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All employees, irrespective of length of service, are entitled to statutory holidays. In 2021, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council approved a bill to gradually increase the number of statutory holidays from 12 days to 17 days. Starting from 2...
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Under the law, employees employed under a continuous contract accumulate paid sickness days at the rate of two sickness days for each completed month of service during the first 12 months of employment, and four sickness days for ...
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Female employees are entitled to take a continuous period of 14 weeks’ statutory maternity leave, provided that they are employed under a continuous contract immediately before the commencement of maternity leave, and that they have given...
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There are no other types of leave entitlements under Hong Kong law. However, an employee under a continuous contract is entitled to at least one rest day of not less than 24 hours in every period of seven days....
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Employers in Hong Kong are subject to common law duties in respect of the health and safety of their employees. This includes a duty to take reasonable care to provide a safe place of work and to protect employees from foreseeable risk of i...
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The Occupational Safety Officers of the Labour Department are empowered to enter and inspect workplaces without warrant and they have the right to carry out certain actions, which include bu...
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If there are any breaches by the employer, the Commissioner for Labour is empowered to issue improvement notices and suspension notices with regard to workplace activities which may create an imminent hazard to the employees. Failure to com...
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An employer is generally not liable for the activities of third-party contractors, but there are a few exceptions to that general rule: when legislation expressly imposes a non-delegable duty upon the em...
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Hong Kong law requires notification to the Commissioner for Labour and/or an Occupational Safety Officer, depending on the nature of the incident. Notification to the Commissioner for Labour Under the Employees’ Compensation law, if t...
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The protected characteristics are: sex; pregnancy; marital status; disability; family status; and race. Discrimination law in Hong Kong falls under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Disability Discrimin...
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Under disability discrimination law, where an individual is not able to meet the inherent requirements of the job due to a disability, it may not be treated as discrimination if there are no reasonable adjustments t...
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There is a duty on employers to avoid indirect discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, pregnancy, breastfeeding, disability, family status and race. An employer may be liable for indirect discrimination on these grounds even if ...
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Generally, following the Code of Practice on Employment under disability discrimination law, if a person has a disability but is able to perform the inherent requirements of the job (see section 8.2 above) with adjustments being made ...
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Harassment Sexual harassment, disability harassment, breastfeeding harassment and racial harassment are unlawful. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is defined in sex discrimination law. Under that definition, a person sexually...
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Victimisation is defined as when a discriminator treats a victimised person less favourably than the way they would treat others and does so because (among other reasons) the victimised person has brought proceedings against ...
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Successful claims will often lead to an award of damages against the employer to the claimant. There is no statutory cap on compensation awards. Awards usually include compensation for injury to feelings, and for mo...
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The Equal Opportunities Commission is obligated to investigate complaints that have been lodged with it, and may request employers to supply it with any information in their possession&...
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Yes, an employer can be held vicariously liable for the actions of its employees, interns, volunteers, workplace participants and any agents that act on behalf of the employer. An employer can be held liable wh...
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There are no statutory gender pay gap reporting obligations in Hong Kong currently. ...
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As with other common law jurisdictions, employers have a duty of care to not place employees in a situation with foreseeable risk of injury, including psychological injury. Mental health conditions fall under disability discrimination l...
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The most recent figures published by the Equal Opportunities Commission show that there were 809 discrimination complaints made by employees to the EOC in 2022, with disability discrimination complaints being the most common, accounting for...
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In employment–related discrimination cases, there is no limit to the amount of damages that may be awarded, and compensatory damages will be assessed by reference to injury to feelings and loss of earnings and benefits caused by the a...
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The Personal Data Privacy Ordinance (the ‘PDPO’) sets out rules on the protection of personal data and applies to all individuals, including job applicants and employees. Therefore, if an employer wishes to collect the personal data of ...
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A breach of the PDPO does not automatically trigger any sanctions. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data will first serve enforcement notices on the employer who is in breach of the PDPO; contravention of a notice constit...
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An employer should take all practicable steps to explicitly notify the individual (i.e. an employee or a job applicant) on or before collecting his or her personal data. An employer should inform the individual of the following: whether th...
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The PDPO does not prohibit an employer from monitoring its employees, provided that the means and the manner adopted are in compliance with the six data protection principles under the PDPO. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Person...
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There is no specific legislation in Hong Kong that governs the use of social media either in the workplace or when the employees are off duty. There is also no relevant employment case law involving the use of social media in Hong Kong, alt...
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Unlike other jurisdictions, there is no statutory protection in Hong Kong for employees who ‘blow the whistle’. It i...
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Employees owe a duty of fidelity to their employer under common law. This has been broadly interpreted as the employee’s duty to act in good faith, loyally and in the best interests of his or her employer. While an employee has the duty n...
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During the course of employment, employees are bound by the duty to act in good faith under common law and therefore have an implied duty to not act in competition with their employer. Non-co...
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Upon termination of employment, the obligation to preserve confidential information does not necessarily survive the post-employmen...
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If an employee has signed any non-compete provisions, either in their employment contract or through a separate protective agreement (see section 10.1 above regarding the advantage of having in place a separate protective agreement), these ...
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Trade unions in Hong Kong must be registered under the Trade Unions Ordinance. As in other jurisdictions, trade unions are typically formed to advocate for the rights of employees. Each trade union seeks to advance employee interests in d...
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This depends on the industry, but unionised workforces are relatively less common in Hong Kong than in other jurisdictions. ...
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Hong Kong law guarantees the right of association for all employees to form and register a trade union. However, if there is no existing union, there is no requirement for an employer to establish one. There is also no statutory obligation ...
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There are no works councils in Hong Kong. Employers are not required to set up an employee representative body and only need to recognise those trade unions that are lawfully registered with the Registry of Trade Unions. Apart from organisi...
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If a trade union organises a strike which takes the form of a public procession, a public meeting, an unlawful assembly or a riot, then the legal provisions regarding public order may be triggered. Hong Kong’s Trade Unions Ordinance conta...
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Subject to any special protections which may be applicable (as described in section 12.4 below), an employer may lawfully terminate employment at any time by providing the employee with the requisite notice or payment in lieu of notice. ...
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An employee who has at least 24 months’ continuous service may bring an action before the Labour Tribunal against the employer for unreasonable dismissal. Where employment is terminated for a reason other than one of the listed ‘valid r...
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In Hong Kong, there is no mandatory process that must be followed for termination of employment. Unlike in other jurisdictions which require a ‘fair procedure’ and which prescribe certain minimum procedural steps which employers should ...
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The law prohibits an employer from terminating the employment of an employee: who is on paid statutory sick leave; who is pregnant and has served notice of her pregnancy to the employer; who has suffered an injury at work, when no a...
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For employees under a continuous contract of employment (i.e. where the employee is employed continuously for four weeks or more, with at least 18 hours worked in each week): Where the length of notice is set out in the employment...
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Under the law, the employer or employee may terminate employment with immediate effect by making a payment in lieu of the required notice to the other party. An employer may terminate employment with immediate effect either: on statu...
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Where an employee wishes to terminate his or her employment by resignation, he or she must give due notice to the employer or make a payment in lieu of notice. The length of notice required to be given by employees is the same as that requi...
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In Hong Kong, there is no mandatory retirement age prescribed by law for private-sector employees and an employer cannot force an employee to retire. ...
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Generally, an employer must pay the following to an employee on termination of employment: wages up to the termination date; payment in lieu of notice (if the employee will not be serving or will serve only part of his or her no...
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Prior to a claim being lodged with the Labour Tribunal or even thereafter, the parties should attempt conciliation. The Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department is on hand to assist with the conciliation process between an employe...
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Since there is no concept of ‘collective dismissal’ in Hong Kong, employers are not legally obliged to consult with employees where multiple dismissals are proposed. ...
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There is no legal obligation to provide any information regarding the collective dismissa...
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There is no consultation obligation where multiple dismissals are proposed. ...
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There is no requirement to inform or consult employees in relation to collective dismissals. ...
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Hong Kong law does not require any particular selection order in relation to collective dismissals. ...
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No, employees who are terminated for redundancy are entitled to the same severance payment regardless of whether the redundancy is individual or collective. ...
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Hong Kong law draws a distinction between share takeovers and business transfers. In share takeovers, the identity of the employer remains unchanged and employment contracts are not transferred or altered as a result of the takeover (unless...
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In the context of a business transfer, there is no special protection for employees when a business is transferred to a new employer. The transferee employer is free to hire or not hire the transferor’s employees, and to determine the ter...
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Since there is no special protection ...
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An employee can object to transferring, in which case the employee’s employment will be terminated by the transferor employer (or they could resign). ...
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In the context of a business transfer, employment terms and conditions do not automatically transfer with the transferring employee. The new employer (transferee) is free to hire or not hire the transferor’s employees, and to determine th...
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In a share takeover, the buyer would automatically assume the existing liabilities of the target company. In an asset sale (i.e. business transfer), both the buyer and seller can be exposed to pre-existing liabilities unless proper notice o...
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There is no statutory recognition of collective bargaining agreements in Hong Kong. Therefore, even if a deal is reached between a trade union and the employer, the terms of the deal will not automatically be binding on the individual membe...
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In the case of a change of ownership of the employer (e.g. a share takeover), changes can be made to the emplo...
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Employees can be notified of redundancy at any time during or after a transfer....
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There is no obligation...
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There is no obligation...
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There is no obligation...
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There is no obligation...
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Hong Kong does not have work councils. ...
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There are no state pension benefits in Hong ...
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Yes, employers are required to enrol their employees in the Mandatory Provident Fund scheme (‘MPF scheme’). The MPF scheme is an employment-based retirement protection system launched in 2000. Except for exempt persons, all employees (w...
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Yes. However, only a small number of employers (especially large conglomerates) have their own MPF schemes (known as employer-sponsored schemes). Most MPF schemes are master trusts operated by approved trustees, into which an employer can e...
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There is no legal requirement to ...
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In very broad terms, all payments from an MPF scheme deriving from mandatory contributions are tax free. All payments deriving from the employer’s voluntary contributions from an MPF scheme upon a member’s retirement, death, incapacity ...
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Most employment contracts will set out the type of pension arrangement (in most circumstances, that will be the MPF scheme) and provide t...
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Generally, employers in Hong Kong do not have any specific legal duty to conduct internal investigations in relation to allegations of wrongdoing or complaints raised by employees. If, however, there is an express term in the employment...
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In general, employees owe an implied duty of good faith to their employers. This may require that they disclose actual or suspected misconduct of fellow employees, depending on the circumstances of each case. The extent of the obligation co...
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Where the employment contract or a written policy or established practice expressly sets out the time frame within which the investigation must be commenced, then that procedure must be followed. Generally, as a matter of good practice, an ...
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Employees are generally not obliged to participate in any internal investigations, unless such an obligation is expressly included in the employment contract or the employee handbook, to the extent that the handbook has been expressly incor...
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Whether legal representation is permitted in internal investigations would be pursuant to the employer’s policy on such matters. In terms of general market practice, employee...
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There is no requirement that an employer must provide the employee with all the evidence gathered; however, in the interests of fairness, the employee should be properly informed of any allegations made against him or her and be presented w...
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Hong Kong does not have a separate regime or legislation dealing with whistleblowing generally. However, there is other legislation which offers protection to whistleblowers, such as the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, the Securities and F...
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There are no statutory rules in relation to how employers should deal with poor performance. If, however, the employer has a contractual written policy in place which sets out the procedure in this regard, then that procedure must be follow...
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There are no statutory rules in relation to how employers should handle grievances. If, however, the employer has a written policy in place which sets out the procedure in this regard, then that procedure should be followed. If, on the othe...
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There are no legal requirements about wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. Advertisements must comply with d...
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Under the Hungarian Labour Code, the employer may require an employee to make a statement or disclose personal data which is essential for the conclusion, performance or termination of the employment relationship or for the enforcement of c...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. The parties may agree on a maximum of three months as a probationary period. A collective agree...
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During the probationary period both parties may terminate the employment with immediate effe...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer based on one of the characteristics which are protected by equality legislation. Thes...
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A distinction is made between EU citizens and citizens of third countries. EU citizens, despite the fact that they qualify as foreign employees, may perform work in Hungary without a work or residence perm...
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In addition to the standard human resources records, at a minimum, a hard copy of the residence and work permit or the EU Blue Card must be kept at the registered...
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In order to keep records about a candidate it did not hire, the employer must obtain the consent of the candidate for an adequate data processing purpose. The adequate purpose in this case would be the possibility of...
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During an interview, employers should avoid any questions not relevant to employment. In general, the employers’ questions must not harm the candidates’ personal rights, the questions cannot be discriminatory, nor can they concern speci...
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Hungarian labour law does not define what an employment relationship is but establishes the characteristics of the relationship. Previously, a Hungarian directive set out guidelines for distinguishing between employment relationships and in...
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There is no distinction in Hungarian lab...
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The head of the employing organisation and employees under his or her direct control who may, completely or in part, exercise his or her powers of authority are classed as executive employees. If the employee is in a confidential position o...
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The following provisions apply to part-time employment: Under Hungarian law, employment is set up as either full-time or part-time. Payment for part-time employees must be applied on a pro rata basis if the wage or any other allowance of t...
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Fixed-term employment must be clearly indicated in the agreement and is set for a specific period or until an exact date or event agreed by the parties. It must not be longer than five years including possible extensions within six months o...
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According to labour law, there are no circumstances under which fixed-term employment automatic...
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An agency worker, often called a ‘temp’, is an individual who signs up with an employer to work for other employers on a temporary basis. There are certain limitations set out in legislation prohibiting the use of agency workers (e.g. f...
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An employer may temporarily assign an employee to work for another ‘host’ company by unilateral declaration. This is usually called a secondment. The normal arrangement is...
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Employment contracts must be concluded in writing by the employer and the employee by the first day of employment. The parties must specify the employees’ basic salary and job. The place of work must also be included in the employment agr...
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It is not common in Hungary for the employer to issue an offer le...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts, but as a matter of practice, employment contracts are normally drawn up in Hungarian. Bilingual employment contracts are also qui...
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Certain terms are implied by law into all employment contracts. Employment-related matters are governed by the Hungarian Labour Code, other legal regulations, the collective bargaining agreement (or in some cases the agreement with the work...
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The employment contract does not need to contain all the terms and conditions of employment. The parties are only obliged to specify the employee’s basic salary and job. If these things are not included in the employment agreement and are...
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Employment contracts may only be amended with the mutual consent of the employer and the employee. Any amendment to the employment contract must be made in writing. The employer must make any proposal to amend the contract to increase the s...
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In addition to contractual documents, there are certain others that employers commonly make available to employees....
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Under Hungarian law, the base wage of all employees must meet the statutory minimum wage. Another form of minimum wages in Hungary is the so-called ‘guaranteed wage minimum’, which is the minimum amount to be paid as base wage for skill...
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There is no requirem...
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Tax Employees pay personal income tax on income, including any cash and benefits in kind received in the relevant tax year, excluding any benefits expressly exempted from tax under Hungarian tax law. Currently the personal income tax rate i...
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As of March 2022, EUR 100,000 is approximately HUF 38,000,000. For an employee with an annual income of HUF 38,000,000, his or her gross monthly income is HUF 3,166,666.67 (approximately EUR 8,333). Tax and social security payment obligatio...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses and therefore no rules to restrict the amount that can be paid. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any disc...
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There are no requirements for employers to prov...
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Employers are free to decide on the benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits o...
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The general full daily working time is eight hours. For full–time employment, the scheduled working time of the employee must not exceed 12 hours daily. However, if agreed, ...
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A collective bargaining agreement between the parties may deviate from the rules limiting working hours, but only in the favour of the employee. Therefore, it is not possible to exceed the time limits by agreement. There is only one exempti...
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Hungarian law provides for several exemptions from the rules about working time and the usual fixed working time schedule. Executive employees work under a flexible working t...
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Under Hungarian law an employer is obliged to keep records for all workers, showing whether the limits on daily working time are being enforced. The records must show the start and finish&nb...
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Hungarian law allows for flexible working arrangements that give employees freedom in scheduling and managing their work. While there are no provisions that could be interpreted as encouraging the cre...
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Overtime is directed by the employer and the employee cannot choose whether or not to perform overtime (except in the case of the individual written overtime agreement referred to in Section 5.2). The employee’s scheduled ...
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In general, employers do not need consent from employees to order overtime. However, while overtime may be ordered exceptionally, it must not be a general practice. The limit of ...
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There are specific payment obligations relating to overtime. The employer and employee can agree for the employee to receive either time off in lieu or overtime pay. In the case of overtime pay, this...
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Workers are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 uninterrupted hours in a 24-hour period. If the parties agree, the employer may divide the employee’s working time into two, provided there is a period of at least two hours ...
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Employees may bring a claim against an employer if the limits on daily or weekly working hours, breaks or rest periods are not observed. If the Employment Inspection Authority inspects the employer and finds viol...
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Employees are entitled to a minimum of 20 working days of basic annual holiday. Depending on the age of the employee, he or she is eligible for additional holidays, as follows: Age Number of additional holidays 25 1 28 2 3...
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The employee is entitled to be paid an ‘absence fee’ for each day of annual leave. The amount of the ‘absence fee’ is calculated based on the base wage (basic salary) in effect at the time when the fee is due, or, if the salary is e...
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Usually employers do not operate during public holidays and therefore, there is a statutory right to time off work. However, in certain cases, work on a public holiday may be ordered by employers (e.g. in power stations or if the employer i...
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An employee has the right to sickness leave for up to 15 working days each year. For these days an employee must receive 70% of the daily ‘absence fee’ from the employer. If the employment began during the calendar year, the employee is...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay are summarised below. Employers do not typically provide contributions or payments in addition to the statutory entitlements during these periods. An employer and an employee may make differ...
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Certain employees are entitled to a reasonable period of paid time off work during working hours to perform their duties as: trade union officials and members; chairperson or member of the works council; health and safety...
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Hungarian law regulates occupational safety and occupational health. Under the occupational safety regulations, an employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees, which includes: g...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which must be follo...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, labour safety inspectors (amongst others) can: order the employer to provide written information about compliance with the specified work safety requirements; issue an ‘improvement notice�...
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An employer may be held liable for the activities of third party contractors. For example, if the authorities discov...
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In Hungary there is a legal obligation to notify the occupational health and safety (‘OHS’) Inspectorate immediately after a serious accident (defined in the relevant law as an accident that c...
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There are 20 characteristics protected by discrimination law: sex; race; colour; nationality; national origin; native language; disability; state of health; religious or ideological belief; poli...
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Generally speaking, a fundamental right can be limited in order to ensure another fundamental right if this is done in a way which is adequate and proportionate. Thus, it may be acceptable if it is found by objective consideration to have a...
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There is a general obligation that employers must not discriminate either directly or indirectly against employees. If it is not necessary to be a certain height in order to perform the job but the employer says in the job offer that ...
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When employing a disabled person, the employer has a general obligation to ensure the conditions for reasonable accommodation of that person’s needs. There is no similar obligation to make adjustments for employees’ religious beliefs. H...
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Harassment is conduct (sexual or otherwise) that violates human dignity related to a protected characteristic, or which has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. For exa...
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Retaliation is conduct that causes harm, is aimed at causing harm or threatens harm against a per...
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If the employee files a complaint with the Authority of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and the Authority finds a breach of the equal treatment rules, it may order cessation of the unlawful activity, prohibit the unlawful conduct, o...
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In the event of a discrimination claim, the alleged victim of discrimination must establish a prime facie case that: the victim or the victimised group suffered a disadvantage as a result of the employer’s actions; and at the...
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Employees can bring claims for potential breaches of the equal treatment rules against their employer before either the Authority of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights or a court. Note that claims can only be made against the employer,...
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Employers in a reference group designated by the Central Statistical Office (the ‘Office’) are required to report salary details (in...
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Employers have a general obligation to take into account human factors when creating the workplace and organising the work. Employers must pay particular regard to limiting the harmful effects of repetitive or monotonous work, scheduling wo...
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The most common discrimination claims are in connection with sex, nationality, disability, state of health, pregnancy, maternity, paternity, age and sexual orientation. The most common cases in connection with employment are discrimin...
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Victims of unlawful discrimination may appeal to a court for damages or restitution. The amount of damages awarded by the court depends on the actual damages proven by the employee, which is usually a loss of income, e.g. a gap in compensat...
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According to the Hungarian Labour Code, personal rights of employees may only be restricted if the restriction is strictly necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose directly related to the nature of the employment relation...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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The employer must inform the employee that he or she must not behave, even outside work or off-duty, in a way that jeopardises the good reputation or lawful economic interests of the employer or the objective of the employment. The employee...
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Hungary has whistle blowing legislation. Under this legislation, the employer is entitled to set up a whistle blowing system and is allowed to process the personal data of the whistle blower and those affected by what that person reports. T...
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The main principle of Hungarian labour law is that the employee must not behave in a way that endangers the employer’s legitimate economic interests during the employment relationship. An obligation on the employee to keep trade secrets o...
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During the employment relationship, the employee may enter into additional employment relationships or other legal relationships for the performance of work only after having notified the employer in writing. The employer may prohibit addit...
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The employee’s obligation of confidentiality continues after the end of the employment relationship. Even after this point, for an unlimited time, the employee may be liable for any harm arising from breach of the confidentiality obligati...
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Under Hungarian labour law, the employer and employee may conclude an agreement to prevent the employee from behaving in a way that breaches or jeopardises the employer’s legitimate economic interests after termination of the employment (...
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Trade unions are created on the basis of the right of association and are a special form of civil organisation. The main characteristic of a union is its purpose to protect and advance the interests of employees in relation to employment. T...
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In 1989, Hungary became a Republic and the legal system became democratic. Since this change, the number of unionised employees has decreased. In the previous regime, state socialism, many unions were established and a significant number of...
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Union rights are granted only for trade unions that are represented in the wo...
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In addition to trade unions (whose role is described in 11.1), works councils are established to represent employees and to help maintain a balanced relationship between the employer and employees. Establishment of a works council is mandat...
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Hungarian law does not restrict the right to organise strikes to trade unions. In practice, however, non-unionised employees usually do not organise strikes. The works council must remain neutral in the case of a strike and it must not orga...
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For indefinite–term employment, the grounds for ‘ordinary’ termination may only be in connection with: the employee’s capabilities; the employee’s behaviour; or an operation of the employer, for example, rest...
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The employee may bring an action for unlawful termination against the employer before the competent labour court. If, in the litigation process, the court decides that the termination was unlawful the employer must compensate the employ...
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The employer must give appropriate reasoning for the termination in writing. Reasons for termination are restricted to those stipulated by Hungarian labour law. Notice of termination may be served to the employee personally or may be se...
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The employer must not terminate the employment of the following employees with termination notice: pregnant employees; employees on statutory maternity leave; employees on unpaid leave to care for their child until the chi...
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If the employment is terminated with notice by the employer, the statutory notice period is at least 30 days. The statutory notice period will increase based on length of service with the employer, as follows: after three years of employ...
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In a settlement agreement, the parties may agree that the employer will make a payment in lieu of giving the required notice. Without a settlement agreement the employer must give the statutory notice period. In the case of termination with...
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Under Hungarian labour law, an employee may terminate the employment without giving reasons, except for: Termination of fixed-term employment. The employee can only terminate such employment for a reason that makes the maintenance of t...
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It is not possible to retire an employee compulsorily. However, if a person who claims a pension in addition to working on an indefinite term contract with the employer is terminated by the employer, the termination notice is not required t...
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Severance Employees with at least three years of service who are dismissed with notice for a reason connected to the operation of the employer are entitled to statutory severance pay. The same rule applies if the employment is terminated ...
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An employer can settle any claims by agreement with the employee in writing. If the employee brings a claim against the employer, the parties may settle in or out of court at any time until the judgment. For the court to approve the s...
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The employer must consult with the works council representative or shop steward for all collective redundancies. The dismissals must be for reasons connected to the employer’s operations. The information and consultation obligations conta...
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At least seven days before consultation, the following information must be provided to the works council in writing: the reasons behind the proposed collective redundancy; the number of affected employees according to profession; ...
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After receiving the information set out above in section 13.2 from the employer, the works council has seven days to consider this before consulting with the employer. Consultation must take place ‘with a view to reaching agreement’. ...
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If the information and consultation requirements are not fulfilled, the works council may approach the court to ask it to establish non-compliance with the mandatory rules. If the employer fails to notify the labour centre of the decisi...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Hungarian law. However, employees who are protected from termination are also protected from dismissal during collective redundancies. ...
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No, there are no additional payments to make to employees in cases of collective redundancy according to Hungarian law. But as a practical matter, the termination process is at least 30 days longer (an information letter must be served...
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According to Hungarian law, a share takeove...
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Business transfer Where a business is sold, the rules concerning a change in the identity of the employer are likely to be applied and the rules protecting employees must be observed. These will include a right to transfer to work for the n...
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If the employee transfer law applies: employees transfer from the transferor to the transferee on their existing (pre-transfer) terms of employment; the employment conditions set out in an existing collective bargaining agreement must ...
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Affected employees are not entitled to object to a transfer as it is a business decision of the employer. Objecting to work for a new employer may qualify as a material breach of the employment contract an...
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Terms All rights and obligations of the transferor concerning employment relations transfer to the transferee at the date of the transfer. All existing employment contracts remain in force, under their original terms and conditions. In some...
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Generally, all rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship in...
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The working conditions (with the exception of the work schedule), prescribed in any collective agreement that applies to the transferor at the time of transfer must be maint...
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Generally, employers cannot unilaterally amend employment agreements, but those issues not regulated in the employment contracts may be amended by the employer. This includes policies and bylaws. Amendments to employment contracts may be ma...
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The transfer of a business ‘in and of itself’ may not be used as a reason for dismissal, but employees may be dismissed for economic, technical or organisational reasons relating to the operation of the employer, such as in the case of ...
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When applying the rules protecting the employees’ interests upon a change in the identity of the employer, the works council or shop steward operating at the employer must be informed of certain matters. If there is no work...
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The following information must be disclosed to the works council or the affected em...
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The consultation with the works council (if one is in place) covers the principles of the planned actions and ways and means of avoiding or mitigating any detrimental consequences. I...
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A claim may be filed with the competent court within five days of the breach of the consultation obligation....
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As a general rule, the works council will be dissolved if the head of the establishment loses its authority with respect to the works council’s rights of participation due to the transfer. In the event that the transfer of the...
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Hungary has a universal social assistance scheme that ensures a minimum level of income for the elderly. The Hungarian state pension went through a radical overhaul between November 2010 and February 2011 and the private pension system was ...
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Under Hungarian law, employers are not obliged to provide a pension scheme. Hungary has a universal social assistance scheme to ensure a minimum level of income for the elderly. The obligation on employers regarding pensions is to deduct pe...
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Under Hungarian law, employers may establish and operate a pension scheme. However, according to the available data from the Hungarian National Bank, only one employer has requested and received permission to operate an employer’s pension...
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According to labour law, the employer must request an opinion from the works council 15 days before the implementation of any measures or policies affecting a significant group of employees. Therefore, the employer must request an opinion f...
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Starting in 2019, employers’ contributions to the voluntary-mutual pension scheme are taxed as income. 20% of employees’ contributions to the voluntary-mutual pension scheme are tax deductible up to HUF 150,000 per annum and benefits ar...
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According to the governing law all employees join the state pension scheme automatically by entering employment and as a consequence they are obliged to pay the pension contributions which create their pension entitlement when they reach re...
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The employer is obliged to conduct an investigation generally in two cases: (i) before taking disciplinary action and (ii) where there has been a complaint. In disciplinary cases, the events and circumstances of the possible breach of oblig...
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Generally, employees are not obliged to report suspected mi...
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There is no particular statutory rule regarding the timing of starting an investigation, but the employer must act in accordance with the principle of purposefulness and must initiate the investigation as soon as possible after becoming awa...
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Yes, employees are obliged to participate and cooperate in an investigation under the principl...
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Yes, the employee is entitled ...
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The employer is obliged to provide the employee with the findings of the investigation at the end of ...
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The employer is entitled (but not legally required) to set up a whistleblowing system, and is allowed to process the personal data of the whistle-blower and those affected by what that person reports. The employer must give a detailed expla...
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There are no statutory rules or obligatory processes for dealing with low performance; this is generally left up to the employer. The general practice in such cases is that the employer, in its sole discretion, may provide the employee with...
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Under Hungarian legislation regarding employee complaints, the employer is entitled (but not obliged, unless it is authority- or state-owned) to define rules of conduct applicable to their employees in the form of internal policies. The emp...
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There are no specific statutes governing the wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that mus...
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Background (including social media checks) and/or health checks may be carried out to ascertain the suitability of candidates. These checks should be limited to the extent they relate to the job requirements. This is especially true of heal...
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Employment may be made subject to a probationary period. A probationary period may be between thre...
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During a probationary period, an employee may be dismissed for unsatisfactory performance, lack of suitability...
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A claim against a prospective employer may be brought where a discrimina...
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A foreign national is required to have an employment visa (an ‘E visa’). An E visa is issued by the country of origin or domicile (i.e. where the foreign national has been a permanent resident for two years or more). It is a requi...
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The employer should keep the following documents: documents relating to social security benefits; copies of tax returns filed by the employee in India; a copy of the FRRO registration; a copy of the passport; a copy of the visa; documents ...
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Yes, employers may keep the records pertaining to candidates they did...
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The employers should usually avoid asking questions which are likely ...
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Several factors may be used to determine whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor. Factors that could indicate that the individual is an independent contractor include: The individual is not subject to detailed con...
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There is a difference between ‘workmen’ (blue-collar) and ‘non-workmen’ (white-collar) employees. Gener...
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Company directors are appointed under company law. An...
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There are no restrictions or separate rules for part-time employment. There is no legal right to request part-tim...
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The appointment of workmen (blue-collar employees) for fixed-term employment is restricted where the job requirement is perma...
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The fixed-term employment of a blue-collar worker may be...
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An employer engaging 20 or more blue-collar employees, whether temporary or permanent, through an employment agency, is required to register with the relevant labour authority. An employment agency assigning 20 or more blue-collar employe...
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An employer may put an employee at the disposal of another organisation, in accordance with the terms of employment and/or subject to the employee’s consent, dependin...
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There is no requirement for a written employment contract except in the case of some employment statutes and state-specific statutes that require employers to issue an employment letter covering certain aspects of the employment, such as th...
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It is not common in India to issue an offer letter in addition to ...
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The employment contract will generally be drafted in English. If the employee does not un...
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There are certain terms that are implied into an employment contract, even if they are not set out in written form. These include statutory obligations and rights of the employer and employ...
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The contract of employment should contain the essential terms and conditions of employment and the terms specific to the employee. However, it is possible to incorporate other agreements, in...
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If the employer wants to make changes to the employee’s terms and conditions, the rules differ depending on the type of worker, as follows: For blue collar workers, if the change is likely to adversely affect the ...
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In addition to the contractual documents, non-contractual documents such as employee handbooks and any policies issued by the employer wil...
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In India, the provision for minimum wages for employees working in certain specified professions is determined by the Government. The minimum wage requirement applies largely to employees who qualify as ‘workmen’ (i.e. blue-collar emplo...
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Wages are adjusted in line with inflation. The Government, in determining the minimum wage, takes inflation into considerati...
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Tax An employer must deduct income tax in accordance with the applicable laws and deposit the same with the income-tax department. Generally, the taxes are deducted and deposited on a monthly basis. Social Security The employer must deduct...
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The income tax rates for individuals under 60 years of age are as follows for the financial year 2017-2018: Taxable income (INR) Income tax rate (%) Up to 250,000 Nil 250,000 to 500,000 5 500,0000 to 1,000,000 20 Over 1,000,000 3...
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The law provides for a statutory bonus for employees with a salary of INR 21,000 or less. The minimum bonus payable to an employee is 8.33% of the annual salary and the maximum is 20% depending on the p...
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Statutory benefits payable to employees, subject to relevant law, include the following: employees�...
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In addition to the statutory entitlements, the following benefits are provided depending on the industry practice...
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In India, there are limits on daily and weekly working hours. The normal working hours in a non-manufacturing unit vary between eight to nine hours a day, depending on the location of the work, and 48 hours a w...
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It is not possible for an employer to exceed the maximum permissible w...
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There are no generally applicable exceptions in law to the rules on working ho...
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Legal obligations that apply to the monitoring of employees’ working time include the following: maintena...
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There are no specific rules with respect to agile working arrange...
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Indian law prescribes the maximum overtime an employee...
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Generally, there is no requirement to get consent from employees for ...
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There are specific rates at which overtime must be paid and, for non-manufactur...
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The rules regarding breaks and rest periods in the service industr...
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The consequences for an employer for exceeding the limits on daily or weekly working hours are that the employer must pay overtime...
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Depending upon the nature of the organisation and the state in which it is located, different laws on annual leave apply. The minimum entitlement for annual leave varies between seven and 21 days from st...
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An employee is entitled to be paid regular salary (i.e. inc...
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Employees have a right to be paid time off work for public holidays. The public holidays are: 15 August (Independence Day); 26 January (Republi...
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Employees are entitled to sick leave under the relevant state law and this leave may vary from seven to 12 days. Sick leave, as...
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The law provides for maternity leave for female employees. Any female employee who has worked for at least 80 days in the 12 months prior to the expected date of delivery is eligible for 26 weeks’ leave with pay, out of which no more than...
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Casual leave is generally governed by state-specific law. Not all states define casual leave and the leave to...
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Safety standards vary from industry to industry depending on the nature of activities carried out by the employer. In the case of manufacturing establishments, the law provides for the health, safety and welfare of workers (i.e. blue-collar...
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Safety rules are regulated by each state and enforced by the labour department in the relevant area. An employer a...
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Federal law stipulates that both the occupier and manager of a manufacturing establishment are liable for non-compliance with the law, including breaches related to health and safety regulations. An occupier cannot escape liability by claim...
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An employer can be held liable for the acts of a third party contractor if the contr...
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The Constitution of India provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens employed in the public sector and prohibits discrimination on the following grounds: race; gender; religion; place of birth; domicile; caste; or descent. Priv...
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Discrimination between equally placed persons is permissible if there is a reasonable classification based on clear and justifiable criteria. The Constitution of India provides various protections and safeguards ...
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In India, there is no duty in l...
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Private sector employers follow the principles laid down in the Constitution of India that apply to public employers, namely that they must prevent harassment based on the various protected characteristics, which are: race, gender, religion...
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In India, there is no specific law with respect to pr...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment, victimisation or retaliation is successful against the employ...
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The employer can be held liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees or of third parties (e.g...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. ...
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In India, claims about discrimination by the...
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The law provides protection of employee information that is considered to be personal information and sensitive personal information. This includes passwords, financial information, health conditions, sexual orientation, medical re...
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If an employer fails to comply with the law, it will be liable to pay compensation to the employee. The individu...
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Employers must have a privacy policy in place that deals with the following: details regarding the handling of confidential information; details regarding the type of information to be collected; the purpose of collection and use of the in...
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Employers are entitled to monitor employees using surveillance cameras an...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. However, in practice, employers often restrict th...
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There is no law specifically to protect employees in private employment, who whistle-blow on what they think are unlawful or immoral activities. However, there is law which requires certain types of...
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Depending on the nature and sensitivity of information being made available to an employee, an employer may require the employee to execute a confidentiality agreement (also referred to as a non-disclosure agreement). The employer can also ...
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An employer can ensure that an employee does not act in competition with it during...
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An employer can restrict the use of confidential information shared with an employee. However, the information should not be i...
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In India, non-compete clauses are not enforceable aft...
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A trade union is defined as any association, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations betwee...
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The level of unionisation in India varies ...
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If there is more than one trade union at an employing entity, the employing entity may only conduct necessary bargaining with the recognised trade union. The recognized union has the right to participate in negotiations regarding general is...
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In India, employee representative bodies have the following roles: to represent claims by employees; to participate in the certification process of standing orders (i.e. documents dealing with terms and conditions of employment such as l...
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Those employed in a public utility service may go on strike only after giving the employer prior notice of at least 14 days. In addition, if conciliation proceedings are...
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Under Indian law, the termination of employment of white collar employees (i.e. those who are not ‘workmen’) may be different from blue collar employees (‘workmen’). Employment of non-workmen can be terminated according to the terms...
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In cases of termination without lawful grounds, a workman (i.e. a blue-collar worker) may bring a claim for unfair dismissal in a labour court or...
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In the case of a workman (i.e. a blue-collar worker), an employer must follow different procedures for termination of employment depending on the reason for termination. In cases of termination for misconduct, the employer must issue a char...
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Termination of employment is unlawful if it is related to: trade union membership or activity; filing complaints against the employer; r...
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Under Indian Law, the minimum notice period is generally one month but the employment contract may provide for more than one month’s notice. If so, the employer is required to abide by the terms of the contract. In certain establi...
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Indian law provides for payment in lieu of notice. If the employment contract explicitly sets out a right for the employer to pay in lieu of notice, then the employer can make the...
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If an employee resigns, the employer is required to pay all st...
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There is no specific law providing a mandatory retirement age. Most companies stipulate the retirement age as either 58 or 60. Generally, federal government employees are retired at the age of 60 years. ...
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The payments that must be made to an employee upon termination of employment include the following: In the case of a ‘workman’ (blue collar employee): Salary until the employee’s last working day. Notice pay (if applicable) – i.e. ...
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An employer may settle any claim that the employee may have against it in the following way: Any claim raised by a ‘workman’ (blue-collar employee) can be directed to a ‘grievance redressal commission’ (‘GRC’) which may resolve ...
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Under Indian law, there is no legal requirement to consult with employees where multiple dismissals are...
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In the case of redundancy, an employer is generally required to provide certain information to the federal or state government, as appropriate, and to employees and it must also comply with certain requirements in relation to information. T...
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There is no legal requirement for consultation. However, in line with industry practice, organisations generally announce redundancies in a meeti...
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Unless an applicable collective agreement or employment contract makes information or consultation re...
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An employer will first need to determine which employees are ‘workmen’ under the Industrial Disputes Act (‘ID Act’) and which employees are ‘non-workmen’. A workman would generally be any employee engaged to do manual, unskilled...
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In all cases of redundancy (whether collective or individual), an employer is required to provide one month’s notice to the em...
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Under Indian law, the terms and conditions for an employee cannot be adversely affected withou...
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Sale of a business Indian law provides protection for blue-collar employees (i.e. ‘workmen’) affected by a transfer of business. In the event of termination or ‘retrenchment’ (i.e. redundancy), blue-collar employees are entitled to ...
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If the new employer proposes to employ blue-collar workers affected by a business transfer, it must: ensure the service of those employees is uninterrupted; ensure their terms and conditions are not less favourable than before the transfer...
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Yes, a workman can object to the transfer of his or her emplo...
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The new employer must ensure that the terms and conditio...
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Generally, in a business transfer, the new employer takes over liability for gratuity (a statu...
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The collective agreements are transferr...
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Employers can make changes to the employ...
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If the transfer results in a redundancy, it is possible t...
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There is no requirement to consult employees in the case of a bus...
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There is no information or consultation requirement in the case of a business transfer. However, employers gener...
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The information and consultation proce...
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There is no legal obligation in India to consult with employees. If the...
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The new employer is required to establ...
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The pension schemes for the private sector in India can be separated into two categories. General pension scheme For the ‘organised sector’ (i.e. for industries where the employment relationship is clear) the basic structure of pension ...
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An employee working for an employer to which provident fund law applies and earning wages up to INR 15,000 per month, has a statutory entitlement to benefits. Employees earning more than INR 15,000 per month can seek coverage by making a jo...
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An employer covered by provident fund law may fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of ...
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An employer with its own pension scheme is not required to consult employe...
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Withdrawal of pension entitlements on retirement is not taxable. However, ...
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Under Indian law, there is no r...
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There are no legal requirements in Ireland in relation to the specific wording used in job advertisement...
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The potential for background checks (including social media checks) is limited as a result of data protection law. Any background checks carried out must be proportionate and relevant to the role that is being applied for or the particular ...
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Employment can be subject to a probationary period in order to assess the employee’s suitability for the role. Probationary periods in contracts of employment are strongly recommended and are a common feature of employment contracts. Prob...
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There are no special rules about dismissal during probation. However, in practice contracts of employment often provide that the notice period will be shorter during the probationary period, for example, one week. (Under statute a...
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Job applicants may bring a claim against a prospective employer under equality legislation for discriminatory treatment during the recruitment and selection process. They could claim that they have been discriminated on ...
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If the employee is from a country within the European Economic Area, United Kingdom or Switzerland they will be entitled to work in Ireland without an employment permit. If the employee is from another country they will generally require an...
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An employer should retain documentation providing evidence of the foreign employee’s right to work in Ireland. This may include a copy of the employee’s passport, identification, employment permit, Irish Residence Permit card and/or vis...
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There are no legal requirements in Ireland prescribing a statutory period for the retention of records of candidates an employer did not hire. However, employers can keep records about candidates they did not hire so long as this retention ...
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Employment equality legislation means that employers should avoid discriminatory language or criteria at all stages of the recruitment process – in advertising, application forms, interviews, shortlisting, j...
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This is an area that is undergoing stricter review in Ireland from a tax, social welfare and employment law perspective. An employee is someone who works under a contract of service. An independent contractor is engaged on a contract for se...
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Generally, there are no distinctions between types of employees under Irish law. However, historically there has been higher...
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A director may be either employed or self-employed. This will be determined by the contractual documentation and the d...
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There are specific laws prohibiting less favourable treatment of part-time workers by reason of their part-time status. Such less favourable treatment is unlawful unless it can be objectively justified by the employer....
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There are specific laws prohibiting less favourable treatment of fixed-term employees by reason of their fixed-term status. Less favourable treatment is unlawful unless it can be objectively justified by the employer. There are also legal r...
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In most cases, a fixed-term employment contract will become a contrac...
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An agency worker is an individual who is employed by an employment agency to work for one or more of the employment agency’s clients (the ‘end user’). Usually, agency workers carry out their duties in the end user’s workplace alongs...
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An employer can temporarily assign an employee to work for another ‘host’ company. This is usually called a secondment, the normal arrangement being that the employee remains employed by the original employer. There are no specifi...
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It is necessary under Irish law for employers to provide a statement of terms of employment to employees. There are two aspects to this requirement. Initially, employers must provide five core employment terms to employees no later than fiv...
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Employers are not legally required to issue an offer letter. Certain employers send a short offer letter containing only key terms and provide a more detailed contract of employment se...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts but employers should ensure all employees fully understand what is contained in the employment contract. This may mean providing contracts or other employmen...
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Terms may be implied into a contract of employment by the Irish Constitution, by statute, common law, custom and practice, the conduct of the parties or by collective agreements. Terms implied by the common law include general duties the pa...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to expressly incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. These terms will be binding on the parties, but the intention for the parties to be bound should be clearly stated in the...
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In general, an employer may change contractual terms and conditions if the employee expressly consents to that change. There is no absolute right for an employer to make unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment. It is recomm...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules, often collected together in a staff handbook. These would typically include: a health and safety at work policy; disciplinary and grievance policies; an equal opp...
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As of 1 January 2022, the national minimum wage for adult employees (aged 20 years or over) is EUR 10.50 per hour. The national minimum wage is subject to annual review by the Irish Government when considering its annual fisc...
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There is no automa...
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Tax Employees pay income tax on their salary, including any benefits in kind. The tax year in Ireland runs from 1 January to 31 December. The tax rate band is the amount of income which will be taxed at a particular percentage (tax rate). T...
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For an employee with an income of EUR 100,000, married with two children, assuming tax credits are for a single earning married e...
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For most employments, there are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses and these are generally agreed separately with employees. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensu...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular compensation-related bene...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits offered by employers include: pension (with contributions from the employer – these usually match employee contributions up to a c...
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An employee cannot work more than an average of 48 hours in any period of seven days. Forty-eight hours is normally averaged over a reference period of four months. Employees must also have ...
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It is possible to agree to exceed the limits on the reference periods, daily rest breaks, weekly rest breaks and rests at work in a collective agree...
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In Ireland, a small number of jobs are exempt from the general rules on working time (subject to certain conditions). For example, doctors in training, members of the defence forces and the police are exempt from rules on working time, alon...
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Employers are required to keep records of the days and total number of hours worked by each employee each week; any days and hours of annual leave or leave for public holidays granted each week; and all payments made to each employee for th...
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This is a private contractual matter between the employer and employee. Other than a statutory right for employees returning from parental leave to request changes to working hours or patterns of work, there are currently no specific statut...
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There are no specific rules concerning the amount of overtime an employee is required or may choose to work, other than the general rules that apply to normal working time and maximum weekly work...
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There is no specific statutory requirement to get consent for overtime, but mo...
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There is no general rate of pay that applies to overtime and the rate is normally agreed in the contract of employment. The minimum wage must apply. Overti...
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Employees are entitled to a break of not less than 15 minutes for every four and a half hours worked and a break of not less than 30 minutes must be provided for every six hours worked, which may include the first 15-minute break. &nbs...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods are that the employee could claim compensation or there could be a criminal prosecution. In addition, employees have the right not to be treated badly o...
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An employee’s minimum entitlement to annual leave will depend on how many hours the employee has worked. An employee who has worked at least 1,365 hou...
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The calculation of holiday pay depends on how an employee’s pay is normally calculated. If an employee’s pay is calculated entirely by reference to a time rate or fixed rate or salary (which does not vary in relation to work done by the...
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Employers can grant employees one of the following for a public holiday: (a) a paid day off on the day of the public holiday itself; (b) a paid day off within a month of the public holiday; (c) an additional day’s annual leave; or (d) an ...
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Legislation came into force in Ireland in 2022 requiring employers, regardless of size, to provide statutory sick pay (SSP) to qualifying employees. Since 1 January 2023 employees are entitled to three days of paid sick leave. This will inc...
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Maternity Leave Employees have a statutory right to a continuous period of 26 weeks’ maternity leave and up to 16 weeks’ additional maternity leave commencing immediately at the end of the 26-week period. Employees must take at least ...
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Legislation was introduced in 2023 entitling employees who are suffering or at risk of domestic violence to five days of paid leave per year. At the time of writing, this entitlement is subject to a commencement order, which is expected lat...
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It is the duty of every employer to do whatever is reasonably practicable to ensure the safety, health and welfare at work of their employees. This includes some specific duties including to: manage and conduct work activities in such a wa...
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The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is responsible for enforcing and promoting health and safety at work. The duties of employers in this area are set out in the main body of legislation regarding health and safety at work, and there are ...
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Employers who breach their obligations can be prosecuted by the Health and Safety Authority and could face fines and/or imprisonment depending on the seriousness of the offence: Summary offences (which are less serious and are tried in the...
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Vicarious liablity is a complex and developing area of law. Generally speaking, vicarious liability refers to strict liability imposed on employers for the actions of their employees in the course of employment. However, modern work arrange...
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Work accidents must be formally reported to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) using standard forms prescribed by the HSA. All accidents and dangerous occurrences are reportable if they arise in the course of employment and cause injury ...
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There are nine protected grounds which are covered under employment discrimination law in Ireland: gender; civil status; family status; sexual orientation; religion; age; race; membership of the Traveller community; ...
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Exceptions are construed very strictly under Irish law, but there are a number of specific exclusions as follows: Gender It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of gender for a particular role if it is a genuine and d...
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There is a duty on employers to avoid indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination arises where an apparently neutral provision puts people of a particular protected characteristic at a disadvantage in comparison with other employees. H...
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Irish law may require employers to put supports in place for employees with disabilities (including mental health difficulties) in order to fully enable the employee to access, participate or advance in employment. These supports are called...
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There is protection against harassment in Ireland. Harassment on any of the nine grounds or sexual harassment may be regarded as discrimination. Harassment is any form of unwanted conduct related to one of the protected grounds which violat...
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There is protection against victimisation under discrimination law in Ireland. It arises where dismissal or other adverse treatment of an employee occurs as a reacti...
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Claims of discrimination, harassment, or victimisation are made to the Workplace Relations Commission (‘WRC’). An employee claiming discrimination on gender grounds can alternatively make a complaint to the Circuit Court. If the claim i...
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Under Irish law, the burden of proof is on the employee in the first instance to establish facts from which it can be presumed that there has been discrimination. If the employee can do this, then the burden of proof shifts from the employe...
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An employer is vicariously liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees and third parties over whom it exercises some co...
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Employers with 250 or more employees are obliged to prepare a gender pay gap report. This obligation will be extended to employers with 150 or more employees starting in 2024, and to employers with more than 50 but less than 150 employees s...
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The statutory obligations on employers in regard to the safety, health and welfare at work would include addressing any risk to the mental health and wellbeing of employees; their risk assessments and safety statements for the place of work...
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Of the total number of complaints made to the Workplace Relations Commission (‘WRC’) in 2022, 16% were for breach of equality legislation. There were 1,275 complaints under the employment equality legislation in 2022 citing 1,677 specif...
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It is difficult to assess the typical amounts of awards, as the types of redress available vary as set out in section 8.7 above. Moreover, where there are claims on a num...
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Data protection principles apply to how an employer handles employee personal data and Ireland has implemented the European General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’). Employees also have privacy rights under Irish common law and the I...
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If an employer fails to comply with applicable data protection laws, the Data Protection Commission, a statutory regulator, can take enforcement action. Under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Protection Commission has sig...
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If an employer wishes to collect and process confidential employee information which is employee personal data, it should: Determine what it needs the personal data for and ensure that it only collects and processes employee personal data ...
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Monitoring, whether by CCTV, location tracking or of email, telephone or Internet usage, will involve processing personal data and so the general principles set out above will apply. Monitoring of employees must be balanced with the employe...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. Employee use of social media should be dealt with by way of a social media policy which makes it clear that an employee may be d...
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There is a wide range of protection for whistle blowers. Workers are protected from penalisation and dismissal for having reported relevant information relating to a relevant wrongdoing. The term ‘worker’ includes employees, former empl...
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During employment, employees are bound by implied duties of good faith, fidelity, and the mutual duty of trust and confidence which protect the employer’s confidential information. This means that the employee must not disclose the employ...
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During employment, the employer can rely on the implied duty of good faith and fidelity, an aspect of which is that the employee may not compete directly with the e...
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Once employment has terminated an employee is free to use the skill and knowledge he or she has acquired for his or her own benefit and is only legally bound to keep information which can be regarded as a trade secret confidential. Therefor...
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There is no common law restriction on a former employee competing with his or her employer or soliciting the employer’s clients and customers on termination of the employment relationship, unless there is a specific contractual restrictio...
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Trade unions are organisations formed to protect the rights and interests of their members (normally employees in a particular industry). Trade unions with a negotiating licence or who are excepted bodies can collectively bargain with emplo...
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About one-fifth of employees in Ireland are trade union members, which is estimated to be around 460,000 people. The majority of trade union membership is in the public sector (i.e. education, health, state departments and local authority...
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There is no legal obligation on an employer to recognise or negotiate with a trade union, unless it has been previously agreed or a section of the workforce has transferred to the employer with trade union recognition or a binding collectiv...
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Employers may have representative bodies at international, European or national levels. There is a legal obligation on employers to inform and consult with employee representative bodies in certain circumstances, including: When there is...
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In Ireland there is no right to strike or take industrial action, but there are immunities from legal restrictions on strikes and industrial action provided certain conditions are met. Without that immunity, the trade union and its members ...
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An employer must consider both the contract of employment and the law on unfair dismissal to lawfully terminate employment. An employee can bring a ‘wrongful dismissal’ claim for failure to comply with the contract of employment and/or ...
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The employee may bring an unfair dismissal claim to the Workplace Relations Commission (‘WRC’). The complaint must be made in writing and within six months of the date of dismissal, which may be extended by a further period of up to six...
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Even when the employer can show it has a ‘fair’ reason for the termination, it must act reasonably and follow fair procedures and the employer’s disciplinary policy. Acting reasonably means that the reason for dismissal must be suffic...
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Certain reasons for dismissal are automatically deemed unfair. The following are examples of automatically unfair reasons for dismissal: pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave; exercise of rights under law, such as parental leave, ad...
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Minimum notice periods are prescribed by law. These are: For employees with more than 13 weeks’ but less than two years’ service – one week’s notice. For employees with more than two years’ but less than five years’ service...
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Sometimes the contract provides for a right for the employer to pay in lieu of notice. If so, the employer can make the payment instead of giving notice without breaching the contract. If the contract does not provide the right to mak...
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Depending on the circumstance which gave rise to the employee’s resignation, it may be regarded as constructive dismissal. To prove constructive dismissal, the employee must bring an unfair dismissal claim and persuade the WRC that the re...
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It is possible to retire an employee compulsorily, but the employer runs the risk of both an unfair dismissal and an age discrimination claim unless the employer has a clearly documented retirement policy, the employee has reached the age s...
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Severance Employees with at least two years’ service who are dismissed on grounds of redundancy are entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. This is calculated as follows: two normal weeks’ pay for each year of continuous employ...
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Employers can enter into a settlement agreement with an employee. In order to ensure that the terms of the settlement agreement will be upheld, the employer should try to ensure that the employee has given full and informed consent. Emplo...
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An employer must enter into a collective consultation process with employee representatives if there is a collective redundancy situation. A collective redundancy occurs when, within 30 days, the number of proposed dismissals by reason of r...
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In a collective redundancy situation the following information must be provided to the employee representatives: the reasons for the proposed redundancies; the numbers of employees and descriptions of categories of employees who may be mad...
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The legal minimum requirement for a consultation is that it must cover: ways to avoid the proposed redundancies; ways to reduce the number of employees proposed to be dismissed; ways to mitigate the consequences of the redundancies; and th...
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An employer who fails to comply with the information or the consultation requirements may be guilty of a criminal offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to EUR 5,000. Failure to notify the Minister for Enterprise, Trade an...
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There is no statutory selection order for collective redundancy dismissals under Irish law. However, if an employee is selected for redundancy based on trade union membership; for having taken statutorily protected leave (e.g. maternity o...
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In any redundancy scenario (whether collective or individual), employees may be entitled to a statutory redundancy payment where they have two years’ or more service with the employer. However, employees have no statutory entitlement to a...
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There is no protection for employees if the i...
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Sale of a business Where a business, or part of a business, is sold or otherwise transferred (for instance, by way of lease) to another employer, any employee who is assigned to that business (or part of it) is entitled to transfer to the n...
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The old employer must: inform the representatives of the affected employees of various matters in relation to the transfer; consult with the employee representatives if there are ‘measures envisaged’ in relation to the employees’ emp...
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There is no specific provision in Irish labour law a...
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Terms All rights and obligations arising from the contract of employment transfer. This applies not only to the rights and obligations which are written in the contract, but also those which are implied by operation of law, or custom and pr...
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All rights and obligations arising under the contrac...
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Yes, the new employer must continue to observe the terms and conditio...
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By law, any agreement which purports to limit or exclude the application of the t...
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Dismissals by reason of the transfer are prohibited, unless they can...
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The requirement to consult with employee representatives only applies where there are ‘measures envisaged’ with regard to the employees’ employment. However, the duty to inform employee representatives applies in any business transfer...
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Both the old employer and the new employer must give the representatives of those employees affected by the transfer the following information: the date or proposed date of the transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, soc...
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Where there are any measures envisaged in relation to the employees, consultation with the employee representatives must take place in relation to any such measures, with a view...
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Breach of the information and consultation obligations can result in an award being made against the employers of up to four week...
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If the business transferred remains autonomous, the status and function of the employee representatives must be pre...
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Currently, Ireland provides two types of state pensions to employees: contributory and non-contributory. A contributory state pension is available to employees who have made enough social insurance contributions. If an employee has not made...
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There is no current legal obligation on an employer to set up or contribute to a pension scheme but if the employer doesn’t have an approved pension scheme in place or if there are certain exclusions for em...
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A wide range of options exist for employers in Ireland that wish to operate a pension scheme for the benefit of employees. Defined benefit pension schemes reward employees with a pension that relates to a percentage of their final salary on...
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Depending on the changes proposed, there may be a requirement to consult ‘affected employees’ in connection with any changes to an occupational pension scheme. Detailed procedures may apply where this obligation arises. There are also o...
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In general, all income arising from a pension scheme in Ireland is subject to taxation in the same way as salaries and wages. Pension contributions are eligible for income tax relief subject to certain limits, investment returns earned by p...
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The employer must provide a written statement within two months with certain specific terms of the employment which includes any terms and conditions relating to pensions and pension schemes. The information in the employment contract c...
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An employer must conduct an investigation where there is a possible workplace disciplinary matter, grievance or other issue in relation to an employee. Workplace investigations can arise in many instances; most investigati...
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Under occupational safety and health legislation, employees must report to their employer any work practices which are likely to endanger the workplace, any defects in the workplace or systems and any breaches of the OSH legislati...
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Time period There is no prescribed time period, but in accordance with the duty of trust and fidelity and to be fair and reasonable, the investigation should be conducted as soon as possible and in accordance with the company policy and...
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Employees have a broad obligation to comply with reasonable instructions from the employer and failure to do so can be considered a disciplinary issue of itself, but it will depend on the purpose of the participation (e.g. if the employe...
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The bar is very high in Ireland for an employee to assert a right to be represented by a lawyer in a workplace investigation. Although an employee is entitled to representation, this does not necessarily mean legal representation; an employ...
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Any evidence that has been gathered, and which will be considered against the employee as part of the process, must be provided to the employee. The employee must also be provided with all relevant docum...
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Yes, Ireland has legislation to protect whistleblowers, which is due to be updated to cover the updated EU whistleblower directive on 1 January 2023. Currently, there is a wide range of legal protection for whistleblowers. Workers...
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Although there are no statutory requirements for dealing with low performance by an employee, best practice in Ireland is quite onerous. The various steps involved prior to terminating employment for low performance or incompetence and...
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Although there are no statutory rules, the Workplace Relations Commission have published a code of practice on grievance and disciplinary procedures which sets out various principles for employers to follow. Whilst not legally binding,�...
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An employer must not publish an advertisement offering employment unless the offer is gender neutral and it must not contain anything that constitutes discrimination under the law. Equal opportunities law prohibits any discrimination with r...
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In general, prior to a decision to employ a candidate, an employer is entitled to perform some background checks, provided that they are conducted in a reasonable manner, are relevant to the job and the specific requirements of the job, con...
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Probationary periods are permitted under Israeli law. However, the law does not refer specifically to probation periods or stipulate the length of probation periods. As such, probationary employees are considered as re...
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There is no law governing probation periods for employees and all such employees are considered by law to be regular employees. Employees in a probation period are therefore subject to the same legal requirements for termination of the empl...
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Job applicants may bring claims against prospective employers, including for the content of advertisements. The most common grounds for a candidate’s claim include: Bad faith in the conduct of the negotiations. Requesting information con...
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The law on employing foreign workers sets out the regulations with regard to the employment of foreign workers in Israel. Israel issues one type of temporary employment visa, a ‘B1 visa’. The B1 visa can be granted for a number of reaso...
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According to law, the employer must retain a copy of the employment contract with the foreign worker and a correct Hebrew language translation of the contract as ...
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Yes, employers may maintain such records (subject...
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Employers should refrain from asking for information related to protected criteria under the equal opportunities law or disability...
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There is no general statutory definition of an ‘employee’ and in some circumstances a specific authority may define a worker as an employee for limited purposes (e.g. the National Insurance Institute of Israel, the ‘NII’, may define...
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The law does not make any distinctions between types of employees. While there is no formal legal distinction between blue and white-collar workers, historically, blue-collar workers have had stronger representation through unions and colle...
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The role, appointment and dismissal, rights, obligations and liabilities of board members of Israeli companies are mainly governed by the Israeli Companies Law and by the company’s articles of association (the ‘Articles’). Pursuant to...
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There are no specific rules concerning part-time employment. An employer is not legally obliged to agree to an employee’s request for a flexible working schedule. However, the employer may agree to such a request at its discretion. Any ag...
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Employment contracts may be for a fixed term or for an indefinite term at the parties’ discretion and may be terminated with prior n...
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There is no law that governs the conversion of a fixed-term employment contract into a contract of indefinite term. The main difference between the two types of contracts relates to the termina...
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In general, according to law on manpower agencies (i.e. temporary employment agencies) a manpower agency is regarded as any person who is engaged in the provision of its employees’ manpower services in working for...
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Employees can be assigned or seconded by the employer (the seconder), to a host company (the recipient). No specific restrictions or law govern...
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In general, there is no requirement for an employer, under Israeli law, to provide an employee with a written contract, except for a worker who is a foreign national or for an employee of a manpower agency (i.e. a temporary employment agenc...
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An offer letter is not required under Is...
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Under Israeli law, there is no requirement that employment contracts be written in any specific language as long as the employee understands the lang...
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There is no requirement under Israeli law for contracts to be in written form. However, there are certain minimum rights and benefits owed by an employer to an employee under Israeli law, including: a monthly or hourly wage, which must not...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other agreemen...
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In general, employment terms can only be changed with the consent of the employee, including by implied consent. Certain changes in the terms and conditions of employees’ employment (e.g. change in scope of position), require the employer...
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As a general rule, in Israel, documents that contain a reference to an employee’s employment terms, such as internal policies and employee han...
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There is a duty to pay every full-time adult employee the minimum wage, currently a gross monthly amount of NIS 5,300. Due to the shortening of the workweek which entered into effect in...
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Wages are not automatically adjusted. However, collective agreements, which are usually extended to the entire market by an order of the Minster of the Economy, may d...
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Tax Employment income is subject to income tax, social security contributions and health tax. In addition, financial institutions and not-for-profit organisations are subject to salary tax. Income tax is set at progressive rates and withhel...
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The marginal income tax rate will be 35% for someone with an income of EUR 100,000 (i.e. on the assumption that the exchange rate is 3.6) and the marginal social security and health insurance r...
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There is no legal obligation to provide employees with bonuses, unless otherwise stated in, for example, an applicable collective bargaining agreement or the employment contract. As such, bonus payments to employees are subject to the discr...
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Under Israeli law, employers must provide employees with the following minimum statutory social benefits: The minimum wage. Annual leave and national holidays: employers are required to provide employe...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees, above the required minimum mandatory benefits. These benefits depend on the employees’ seniority within the organisation, the nature of the organisation and...
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The work week in Israel is 42 hours (182 hours per month). Where a business operates five days a week, an employee may work 8.6 hours a day on 4 days of the week and 7.6 hours on one day determined by the employer, taking into account the e...
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The only ways to exceed the limits on working hours (on the assumption that the employe...
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There are three categories of employees who are exempt from the general rules, as follows: managers, employees whose duties require a special fiduciary relationship, and employees whose employment makes it impossible for the employer t...
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The law requires employers to maintain a detailed work-hours log (with respect to employees who are not exempt from the general ...
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The law does not specifically refer to agile working arrangements. However, such arrangements are becoming more common in various workplaces in Israel. In any such arrangement...
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The maximum amount of overtime permitted is 3.4 hours a day and no more than 16 hours per week....
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There is no specific requirement to obtain consent from employees for overtime. However, if the opt...
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The statutory overtime pay provided by law is as follows: for the firs...
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Employees are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than eight consecutive hours between two work days. Generally, workers are also entitled to a break, away from their work station, of n...
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A breach of the general law on working hours (e.g. by exceeding the limits on daily or weekly working hours or breaking the rules on breaks and rest periods), will expose an employer to a fine of up to NIS 14,400, for each breach and/or up ...
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Employers are required by law to provide employees with the following minimum paid vacation days, although employment contracts or collective bargaining agreements may provide for more: 16 calendar days per year for each of the first five ...
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During annual leave, the employee is entitled to his or her regular salary and benefits. Any payment upon termination of the contract for ac...
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All salaried employees are entitled to at least nine paid holiday periods (in addition to annual leave), as follows: two days for the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah); one day for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); two days for the Tabernac...
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Fulltime employees are entitled to 1.5 sick days per month of employment, up to a maximum accrual of 90 sick days. An employee who claims sick pay should provide a medical certificate. Employees should notify to the employer within three da...
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Maternity leave (now referred to as a ‘Birth and Parenting Period’) Generally speaking, employees are entitled to 26 weeks of statutory maternity leave, if the employee has worked for the same employer or at the same workplace for ...
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The following types of leave and pay may be available to employees (out of his or her quota of leave): Any employee with at least three months’ service is entitled to take up to seven days’ paid leave in the event of the death of an im...
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Employers are required to: Manage a ‘general register’ documenting work accidents or professional illnesses that have occurred in the workplace. Fulfil a variety of health requirements at the workplace, including requirements in relati...
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is responsible for supervising employers’ compliance with safety laws and supervising enforcement. If a regional labour inspector finds that legal requirements regardin...
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An employer that fails to comply with the law may be subject to administrative or even criminal sanctions. For example, an employer that fails to implement the changes required in a Decree of Imp...
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In general, the employer is responsible for all violations of the law that occur on its premises. However, the employer is not liable for breaches of the law by e...
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There is no general requirement to notify the authorities of the occurrence of a work accident. However, there is a specific obligation to notify the regional inspector of labour relations if a work accident causes an employee’s ...
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The law prohibits any discrimination in respect of employment that is based on the following grounds: gender; sexual preference; personal status; pregnancy or the undergoing of fertility treatment; p...
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In general, according to case law, different treatment for employees of the same group may, in some cases, not be considered discriminatory. In addition, Israeli law may recognize certain affirmative action programmes as legitimate. A statu...
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The law covers discriminatory effects, as well as direct discrimination. It defines discrimination to include circumstances when an unnecessary but neutral employment criteria or practice disproportionately affects protected groups. However...
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According to the law, discrimination against an employee with disabilities includes an employer’s failure to make necessary accommodations for a disabled person’s special requirements, which would enable him or her to perform the employ...
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Israeli employment law does not provide protection against harassment, as such, but it may come within the scope of other employee protections. Sexual Harassment The law defines sexual harassment as any one of the following: Coercing a pe...
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According to case law, employees cannot be terminated solely because they have stood up for their rights. Employers are prohibited from harming an employee because of a complaint or claim made by the employee or because the employee has hel...
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The principal remedies for discrimination are monetary damages and injunctive relief. With respect to discrimination based on sexual harassment, the law provides for statutory damages of up to approximately NIS 120,000, without the plaintif...
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According to law, the burden of proof in employee claim...
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An employer can be liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees or of third parties. The employer has an obligation to supervise and take all reasonable steps to prevent discriminatory acts in the workpl...
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Employers must pay equal wages to men and women who perform the same, substantially the same or equivalent work. A recent amendment to the law imposes a duty on all employers that employ over 518 employees to publish annual information abou...
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The legal definition of ‘disability’ is very broad, and mental...
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Discrimination claims by employees against t...
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It is difficult to be precise about the amounts of compensatory awards for discrimination, give...
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The Israeli Protection of Privacy Law regulates the protection of personal data contained in computerized databases and their registration. The law defines a ‘database’ as ‘a collection of data, maintained by magnetic or optical means...
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If an employer illegally infringes on an employee’s right to privacy, the employee may bring a civil claim for damages against the employer. If the employee cannot prove actual damages, the courts may award statutory damages in the amount...
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Employers who collect and process any employee information, and keep it in a human resources database, may be required to register the database. Prior to collecting the data, the employer should give the employee notice, indicating whether ...
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According to the law, certain actions will be regarded as a breach of privacy if the individual in question did not grant his or her prior informed consent to the breach. These actions include the following: the use or transfer of personal...
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There is no general rule about the use of social media and so every case will be examined according to its circumstances. An employer is certainly permitted to set out rules for the use of the Internet in the workplace, such as the amount o...
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A specific law provides that an employer must not discipline or dismiss an employee or negatively change the employee’s employment terms because that employee submitted a complaint against the employer or another of the employer’s emplo...
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Generally speaking, employees are required by law to maintain confidentiality of the employer’s trade secrets. It is...
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Non-compete clauses in employment agreements are generally phrased so as to apply both during and after the employment relationship. While post-termination non-compete clauses are rarely enforced in Israel, limitations imposed by an employe...
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Non-disclosure clauses in employment agreements are generally phrased so as to apply to confidential information both during and after th...
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In general, in certain fields such as in the high-tech industry and for senior employees, it is customary to include post-termination covenants in employment agreements. However, in practice, post-termination non-compete clauses are rarely ...
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The day-to-day role of trade unions and work councils is to represent the interests of employees in the workplace. Trade unions and work councils have certain powers that stem from the relevant collective bargaining agreements, which may va...
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Historically there was one leading labour union, the Israeli General Labour Federation (the ‘Histadrut’) which represented employees in various sectors of the economy, including the public sector, and major industries, such as transport...
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Prior to 2009, the prevalent attitude in Israeli labour law was that an employer was not required to collectively negotiate or sign collective bargaining agreements in workplaces that were not governed by collective relationships. This situ...
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An employer is required to recognize an employee representative body that has acquired bargaining authority. To do this, the representative body must meet the numerical threshold of over one third of employees in the bargaining unit. With r...
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Only a representative labour organisation with bargaining rights can declare a lawful strike. Individuals or informal employee organisations cannot exercise any form of strike activity. Participating in an unlawful strike organised by an un...
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As a general rule, either party to an employment contract is entitled to terminate the employment contract at any time subject to (1) providing the other party with prior written notice, (2) undergoing a hearing process, and (3) certain lim...
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In general, if termination of employment is not made in good faith or for valid reasons, or if the employer does not meet all of the relevant requirements for the termination, the labour courts may decide that the termination was unlawful.�...
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An employee’s employment can only be terminated for a legitimate reason, not based on irrelevant considerations, such as discrimination. In addition, Israeli law prohibits the termination of certain groups of employees, such as pregnant e...
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In certain circumstances, the termination of employment of certain employees is either prohibited with no exceptions or subject to obtaining ministerial approval, as explained below. By law, terminating the employment of a pregnant empl...
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According to law, the minimum statutory written prior notice for either termination of, or resignation by, a ‘monthly employee’ is one day’s notice for each month during the first six months of employment and two and a half days for e...
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An employer may choose to pay the employee in lieu of the notice period. Payment in lieu is equal to the salary the employee would have received, had the employee continued to work throughout the notice period. Under Israeli law, in certa...
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In certain limited circumstances, detailed in law, an employee’s resignation may be regarded as a constructive termination for the purpose of receiving severance pay. These circumstances are as follows: resignation due to the emplo...
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Under Israeli law, mandatory retirement is legal when an employee has reached the age of 67. The law does not distinguish between employees with some form of job security and those who work on an at–will basis. The National Labour...
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Severance By law, as a general rule, an employee who is dismissed after completing at least one year of service is entitled to statutory severance pay. This is calculated based on the employee’s monthly base salary multiplied by the num...
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It is quite common in Israel for employers to request employees to sign a letter of receipt of their final payments and a release of claims towards the employer. According to Israeli case law, a release does not constitute a formal bar ...
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As a general rule, Israeli case law requires an employer to inform and consult with employees with respect to redundancies. In practice, this duty is only practical where an employee representative...
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The employees should be provided with relevant information regarding impending dismissals. However, the substance and the scope of this will vary from one case to another...
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The labour courts have set out three main obligations that employers must comply with in relation to any anticipated decision or steps that might impact on the employees’ working conditions. These are as follows: an obligation to provide...
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If the employer fails to comply with the information and consultation requirements and an employee represe...
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In general, employment contracts should only be terminated for a valid reason, such as misconduct, poor performance or redundancy, in good faith, and not on discriminatory grounds. The employer is required to follow a ‘hearing procedure�...
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No, none beyond the regular settlement of acco...
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As a general rule, and as long as the terms and conditions of the employment are not affected, there i...
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Sale of a business There are no comprehensive laws that specifically deal with employees’ rights when a business is sold. However, there are certain provisions under specific laws. In general, according to case law, an employer that inten...
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If the employee agrees to the transfer, the legal implications depend on the method chosen by the transferor for the transfer. In practice, there are two methods by which to transfer employees: The first method involves the transferor term...
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Yes. Employees cannot be forced to transfer to another employer...
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The legal treatment of the terms of employment contracts and benefits depends on whether the new...
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This depends on the method of transfer, as detailed above. Th...
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According to law, upon a merger or transfer of o...
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Generally yes, subject to the employee’s consent. Under the fire and re-hire method, the employees wi...
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Any dismissal must follow the general rules for dismissal, which include conducting a hearing prio...
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Where there is a structural change in the business or a change of employers, the transferor is required to: provide the employees with relevant information regarding the structural change; consult with the empl...
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The transferor must provide the employees with relevant information regardi...
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The timing of the consultation v...
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Where there is no active union or works council, it may be impractical to carry out the obligations. If there i...
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In most cases when employees transfer from an organized workplace, an agreement is signed in the course of the transaction, regulating the terms of their ...
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There is no form of state pension in Israel and, until several years ago, there was no general mandatory obligation to provide employees with any pension arrangement. In the past, the obligation to do so generally derived from industry-base...
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Since 1 January 2008, almost all employees have been entitled to be covered by a pension scheme. The salary which is taken into consideration for calculating contributions to the mandatory minimum pension is the determining salary (i.e. the...
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In Israel, pension schemes are not operated by employers, but by external bodies such as insurance companies. By law, employees have the right to choose the pension scheme under which they wish to be insured within the pension budget provid...
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Pension schemes in Israel are not operated by employers, but by external companies and therefore the question of consultation with employees does not arise. Generally, any changes to the employees’ terms of employment require the em...
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The Israeli taxation of pension savings is complicated. According to current law, saving in a pension fund entitles an employee to tax relief at three stages of the saving: Firstly, some of the funds deposited by the employer on account of ...
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There is no requirement under Israeli law for a written employment contract, but there is an obligation to provide new employees with a written notification form regarding certain employment terms. The notification form should include the s...
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Under sexual harassment prevention legislation, employers are required to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and related retaliation in the workplace. As part of employers’ obligations with regard to the prevention of ...
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Company policies can encourage employees to report suspected misconduct, but ultimately this is up to each employee. In sexual harassment matters, once the employer becomes aware of a potential harassment case, it is obligated to act ...
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Employers are required to investigate claims or suspicions of sexual harassment efficiently, and without delay. Employers must appoint an employee or other responsible person (preferably a female) to receive complaints, hold an inquir...
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Employees cannot generally be obliged to participate in an inv...
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In general, since the investigation is of a factual nature, it is not customary for the employee to be represented by a lawyer. However, any request by an employee to be represented in an investigation process should be examined base...
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The employer should generally explain the nature of the complaint, but is not required to disclose all evidence relating to the complaint, and should act in a manner that protects the privacy and dignity of the complainant. Following t...
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A specific law provides that an employer must not discipline or dismiss an employee or negatively change the employee’s employment terms because that employee submitted a complaint against the employer or another employee, or because that...
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There are no general statutory requirements governing processes for dealing with low performance. However, it is best practice to document all feedback discussions and performance improvement processes that are conducted. Note that prior...
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Grievance processes (other than in relation to sexual harassment) are not mandatory under Israeli law, and may place an unnecessary obligation on the employer. Accordingly, if a grievance process is adopted (which is not uncommon in gl...
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There are no legal requirements with regards to the content and wording of job advertisements. Organisations may describe the vacancy and outline the requirements. The law only requires that the description of duties is not gender-specific ...
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Since the 1970s, Italian labour law has expressly prohibited background checks on applicants (or employees). The sole exception is for checks to determine the suitability of the person for the job advertised and when the law expressly requi...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. The relevant clause must be in writing and must be signed and agreed before the start of the employment relationship. If a probationary period is not provided for in the original contract,...
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During the probationary period, either party is free to terminate the relationship and need only communicate this intention to the other party. No notice or indemnity is required. If a minimum probationary period is included in the contract...
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An applicant may bring a claim against a prospective employer, although this kind of claim is very rare in Italy. An applicant may challenge the content of an advertisement itself (e.g. claiming it was discriminatory) or the selection proce...
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In Italy, quotas for entry of non-EU workers are set every year by means of a decree. Employers may file an application to hire within the quotas using an on-line procedure. This is done on a specific date, known as ‘click-day’. &...
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Employers must retain all documents related to foreign nationals including visas, work permits and authorisations, communications from public bodies, copies of passports and other personal identification. Further, employers must check the a...
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Employers may keep their records about candidates they did not hire only when a legitimate purpose exists for it (e.g. when the employer intends to use the records for future searches for new emplo...
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As a general rule, employers can only ask for information that is relevant to assessing whether the candidate has the right skills, experiences and characteristics needed for the position. It is unlawful t...
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An employee is an individual who promises, in return for the payment of a salary, to cooperate with an organisation by performing intellectual or manual work under the authority and supervision of an employer. A self-employed worker is a pe...
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Italian law sets out different categories of employees, each governed by special rules, usually according to the nature of their work. The main categories are: executives (‘dirigenti’); middle manager...
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A director (a member of a company’s board of directors) is not an employee. He or she is a part of the body through which the company carries out its business. A direc...
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A part-time employee works for less than the normal 40-hour week. He or she is paid and has rights corresponding to the time worked. However, in general, the employee must not be discriminated against or receive less favourable treatment th...
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Fixed-term contracts normally terminate on the expiry of the term. The term for the contract must be set out in writing. The maximum duration of a fixed-term employment contract is 24 months (including temporary agency work contracts). If t...
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Fixed-term employment contracts must be in writing and must include the duration. Where this requirement is not met, the term will be considered void and the fixed-term employment is converted into open-ended employment. A fixed-term employ...
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A temporary employment contract is a contract through which a company (an ‘agency’), authorised by the Ministry of Employment, puts its employees at the disposal of an organisation, which uses the employees’ services. Agency work is p...
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A secondment is a situation where the employer temporarily assigns an employee to a local subsidiary or affiliated company or to another organisation in which the employer has a degree of interest in the p...
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An employment contract is valid and effective even if it is oral. However, certain types of condition must be in writing (e.g. that the contract has a probationary period, is for a fixed-term or includes a non-competition clause). In a...
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It is quite common practice for employers to issue an offer letter to the employee before conc...
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There are no rules on the language to be used in writing an employment contract. It can be written in any langu...
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In Italy, most of the terms of an employment contract are provided by law. Hence, if the parties do not expressly provide certain terms, the provisions implied in law will au...
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Not all the terms and conditions of employment need to be included in the employment contract. Indeed, the law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement will go...
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Once the contract has been formally agreed upon, any later amendments generally require the consent of both parties. However, there are cases where the employee’s consent is not required, for example, to transfer the employee ...
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In terms of additional information made available to the employee that may not be contractual, the employer will often provide the employee with hard copies of data protection information and the policies issued by it. Th...
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There is no minimum wage set by statute, but a minimum rate is normally fixed by collective agreement. If no collective agreement applies, the Italian Constitution gives employees the right to receive a wage that is proportionate to the qua...
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Currently there is no re...
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Tax Employment income, that is, all sums received by the employee in relation to the employment relationship, including bonuses and benefits in kind, is taxable on a cash basis at five progressive rates. Certain municipal and regional taxes...
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In Italy, an employee with the status of middle manager, with an income of EUR 100,000, who is registered on the Italian Social Security System as of 31 December 199...
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Under Italian law it may be possible for an employer to grant employees special kinds of variable payment, which, in the majority of cases, are linked to the achievement of pre-determined individual objectives ...
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There is no requirement for employers to provide employees with any particular benefits other than state pension contributions, which are mandatory and subject to...
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Employers are free to decide the benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits offered include: use of a company car or payment of a car allowance; mob...
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There is no cap on daily working hours, as such. However, employees are entitled to a daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours every 24 hours. This effectively restricts how many hours a worker may work in a day. There is a limit on ...
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Collective bargaining agreements regulate overtime. Where no collective agreement applies, overtime must be agreed between the parties, however, the amount of overtime worked must not exceed 250 hours per ...
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The restrictions on working hours do not apply to employees whose duration of work cannot be measured or pre-determined, or is determined by the employees themselves, or to: executives, managers and em...
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Generally, there are no specific legal rules regarding the control of employees’ working time. This matter is regulated by collective or individual agreements that, for example, provide for systems that all...
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Italian legislation encourages and regulates agile working. One such law concerns ‘smart working’, which is a flexible form of work organization that aims to improve employees’ work-life balance and to reduce labour costs and conseque...
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The amount of time worked by an employee must not exceed 48 hours p...
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Generally yes. Consent to overtime is usually provided in a collective agreement. Where no collective agreement applies, overtime must be agreed between the parties, however, the amount of overtime worked must not exceed 250 ...
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Overtime must be compensated with increased salary, but there is no specific rate of pay for overtime. The rate is normally agreed, set out in a collective agreement or in the contract of employment. Below is a list of the most ...
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Employees are entitled to a daily rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. Further, workers are entitled breaks, away from their workstations, for not less than te...
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Workers who have exceeded the limit on working hours or who did not take the requisite breaks or rest periods as a result of the employer’s failure to comply with the regulations, could claim against the employer before the...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of four weeks’ paid annual leave, excluding public holidays, of which there are currently 12. Collective agreements and individual contracts may stipulate longer periods of holiday entitlement. The ...
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An employee is entitled to be paid at the rate of a week’s pay for each week of leave. The method of calculation depends on the employee’s working patterns: Employees with normal working hours, whose pay does not vary with ...
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Employees usually have the right to paid time off for 12 Italian public holidays per year. Specifically, these days are: national civil holidays (i.e. 25 April, 1 May and 2 June); national religious holidays (i.e. 1...
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The right to healthcare is guaranteed by the Italian National Constitution. Therefore, although there is no statutory right to take time off work on account of sickness or for medical or dental appointments, an illness that renders it impos...
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Maternity leave Female employees are entitled to time off work for two months before and three months after childbirth. This compulsory period of maternity leave can be rearranged to one month before and four months after childbirth or fi...
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Certain employees are entitled to a reasonable period of paid time off work during working hours to perform duties as: elected public officials; trade union offici...
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According to Italian law on occupational health and safety, the minimum legal standards to be met to ensure the safety of employees are as follows: assessment of all health and safety risks; a prevention programme relating to the condition...
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Health and safety duties are governed by law and the employer is responsible...
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The consequences of a breach of health and safety law vary depending on the gravity of the breach, which can include a breach of criminal law. Therefore, depending on the offence, sanctions may include fines up to around EUR 8,000. In the m...
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Under Italian law, an employer can be held responsible for activities carried out by third-party contractors working at the employer’s workplace and activities that involve the employer’s workers, if those activities could endanger the ...
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The employer is required to report to the National Work Accident Insurance Body (‘INAIL’), for insurance purposes, any accident that causes injuries that result in an employee missing at least three days of work. This report is made ele...
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The characteristics that are protected by Italian discrimination law are: race; ethnic origin; language; political opinions; personal or social condit...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently because of characteristics connected with race, ethnicity, religion, personal beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation, as long as, in relation to the nature of the working activity or...
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It is unlawful to discriminate indirectly by applying an apparently neutral provision, criterion, practice, act, arrangement or behaviour to employees equally, which puts a perso...
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Employers have an obligation to comply with any medical requirements related to a disabled employee’s specific disability (e.g. mechanical adjustments or reduced working time). The general prohibition against d...
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Harassment is considered to be a form of discrimination and is defined as any unwanted conduct, which is related to a protected characteristic, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person and creating an intimidating, ho...
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The law provides the same protection against discrimination when anyone, including an individual who has suffered direct or indire...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or victimisation based on a protected characteristic is successful, the Labour Court may order that: The employer must pay compensation to the claimant for financial, as well as non-financial damag...
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In a claim for discrimination, the burden is on the claimant to provide evidence proving what action the employer took and how that action was discriminatory. The burden th...
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According to a general principle of Italian law, the employer is responsible for taking all necessary and reasonable measures, based on the nature ...
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There is a reporting obligation. Public and private employers employing more than 50 people are required to produce a report at least every two years containing information concerning the employer’s male and female employees with referenc...
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Employers in Italy have a general duty of protection which requires them to protect both the physical and mental health of the workers, by creating a healthy workplace for all employees. This includes the duty to protect employees from extr...
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Discrimination claims have not been very common in Italy because employees have enjoyed very b...
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In cases of discriminatory dismissal, the law provides for the reinstatement of the employee in his or her original position and compensation to be deter...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would includ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. The law allows employers to access and rely on any information about an employee that is publicly available, unless it relates t...
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In 2023 Italy passed a law transposing the 2019 EU Directive concerning the reporting of violations of European Union law and national legislative provisions (the ‘whistleblower’ directive). This law applies to employers that: have...
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Italian law sets out a general obligation of confidentiality to be respected by every employee during the employment relationship. The law provides that the employee must not disclose information concerning the organisation’s activities o...
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Italian law provides a general non-compete obligation, which must be respected by every employee during the employment relationship. This is expressed as an obligation of loyalty. The employee must not participate in business, personally or...
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Italian law governs the prohibition on the use of confidential information during the employment relationship. According to case law, however, confidentiality obli...
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Italian law allows the parties the option to extend the general non-competition obligation that exists during the employment, beyond the termination of the employment contract. The law provides that the parties may sign a non-compete agreem...
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Italian law gives citizens the right of freedom of association, as well as a right for employers and employees to join associations or trade unions. However, the law does not prescribe any model for the organisation of the trade unions nor ...
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In Italy, there is a high level ...
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An employer only has to work with a trade union if there is a specific obligation to that effec...
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Italian law states that, on the initiative of the employees, a works council (‘Rappresentanza Sindacale Aziendale’, ‘RSA’) can be formed within every ‘production unit’ with more than 15 employees, for each of the trade unions th...
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Italian law recognises the right to strike within the limits set by law. Essential public services such as transport and hospitals are protected by law again...
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An employer has the right to unilaterally terminate the employment contract if there is just cause, a justified reason or when an employee exceeds the predetermined maximum period of sick leave to which he or she is entitled. Just cause is ...
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Italian law protects both white-collar and blue-collar workers against unfair dismissal. In summary, the law protects employees against dismissals: without grounds (i.e. without a just cause or justified reason); based on discriminat...
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The employer must always notify a dismissal in writing, specifying the reasons for the decision. Dismissals on disciplinary grounds In cases of dismissal on disciplinary grounds there is a compulsory disciplinary procedure provided under I...
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Dismissals based on discriminatory reasons, such as political opinions, religion, membership of a trade union, race, gender or nationality, are not valid. Dismissals based on marriage, from the date the marriage is made public, until one ...
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In the case of a dismissal for justified reasons, the employer must grant the employee a period of notice or payment in lieu. The length of the notice period is provided for by collective bargaining agreements and depends on the employee’...
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In the case of dismissal for justified reasons, the employer may decide not to require the employee to work during the notice period and instead to provide a payment in lieu of notice. Circumstances which constitute just cause and provide...
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Italian law does not include the concept of ‘constructive dismissal’ as such. However, if an employee resigns for just cause, which occurs when there is a serious violation by the employer of its contractual duties, the employee may be ...
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It is not possible to compulsorily retire an employee and to do so would be discriminatory. However, in some circumstances, employees who have reached retirement age can be dismissed without the protection to which other employees are e...
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In the case of termination of the employment contract, the organisation must make several payments to the employee. Severance In all cases of termination of an employment contract and for resignation or dismissal for serious cause, th...
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Settlements may be reached between the parties, by signing agreements both in and out of court. The employee may waive, in relation to the organisation, all claims or rights relating to the employment contract or its termination. Italia...
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The collective dismissal procedure applies to organisations with more than 15 employees that intend to make at least five employees (including the executives) redundant within a period of 120 days in the same business unit or in multiple bu...
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Before proceeding with collective dismissals, the employer must present a written notification to the works council and trade unions. If there is no work council within the organisation, the notification must be sent to the most representat...
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The consultation procedure is strictly regulated by law. The employer must send the relevant information to the works councils, the trade unions and the public authorities. Within seven days of the date the written information is receiv...
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Different sanctions apply depending on the hiring date of the employees concerned. For employees hired before 7 March 2015, the following sanctions apply: If the employer fails to comply with the information and consultation requiremen...
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In a collective dismissal for economic reasons, subject to the special information and consultation procedure with the unions as described in sections 13.2 and 13.3 above, the law requires the employer to apply the following mandatory crite...
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During the collective dismissal procedure, the employer must pay the employees their full salary and social security contributions. Upon the termination of the employment contracts, the employer must make the following mandatory payment...
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A transfer of shares does not constitute a transfer of a business. Therefore, the rules protecting employees on business transfers do not app...
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Sale of a business Staff employed by the business or part of the business at the time it is sold, automatically become employees of the transferee at the date of the transfer. These employees are entitled to the same conditions of employmen...
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The rules protecting employees on business transfers affect the old employer as follows: A business transfer does not constitute a reason to terminate an employment contract. If the old employer dismisses an employee for any reason that ...
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The transferor does not need the employees’ consent to the transfer, as affected employees transfer automatically. However, an employee whose conditions of work change substantially in the three months following a transfer may resign. I...
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Terms Employees who are employed at the time of the transfer automatically become employees of the transferee from the moment of the transfer, and they are entitled to the same conditions of employment (such as salary and fringe benefits) a...
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All civil and economic liabilities transfer from the transferor to the transferee. With regard to outstanding debts on the...
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After the transfer, the transferee must apply the economic and legal treatment set out under the national, territorial and company collective agreements applicable to ...
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The new employer may not unilaterally change the existing terms of the employment contract, irrespective of the reason for the proposed change. Any changes to the employment contracts are possible only with the consent of the employees or i...
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The transfer of an undertaking does not constitute a reason to terminate an employment contract. If the transfer is the only reason for the dismissal, the dismissal will be considered unfair. However, a dismissal which is carried out for ec...
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In the case of businesses with more than 15 employees including executives, the law states that the transferor and the transferee must give written notice to employee representatives at least 25 days before either an agreement about the tra...
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The notice must include the following information: the date, or the proposed date of the transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, economic and social consequences for the affected employees; any measures that will be take...
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Within seven days after being given notice of the proposed transfer, the works councils and trade unions may ask for a joint consultation, which must start within seven days of this request. Once begun, the consultation must be concluded wi...
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In the event that an employer does not comply with its obligation to inform an consult, it could be subject to legal action under the Worker’s Statute for anti-trade union behaviour. However, such failure will not affect the validity of t...
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The status and function of the employee representatives affected by the transfer must be preserved on the same terms and subject to the same conditions as existed before the date of the transfer. ...
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All employees are entitled to receive state pension benefits. From 1 January 2012, with the exception of pensions for workers who had met the conditions for accessing the previous pension system by 31 December 2011, all pensions must be c...
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There is no legal requirement for an employer to set up a pension scheme and it is up to employers to decide whether or not to set one up. Employers can do so through direct written agreement with employees. If an employee decides to pa...
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An employer may fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. Only defined contribution (‘DC’) pension schemes may operate in Italy. Pension schemes can be set up under: a collective bargaining agreement...
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Pension schemes set up under a collective agreement or an agreement between groups of self-employed workers may be modified by agreement. There is no specific procedure for the initiation of a consultation process. ...
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Tax treatment of contributions Contributions made to pension schemes are deductible from employees’ total taxable income, up to a maximum of EUR 5,164.57. 4% of the accrued mandatory severance payment, or 6% for organisations with f...
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Employers must provide employees with information regarding entitlement to a supplementary pension, although this can be stipulated in a separate document, rather than in the employment contract itself. Employers must inform employees abo...
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An employer is entitled to monitor its employees’ activity under specific limits and conditions, but there is no general obligation to conduct an investigation. Such an obligation might come into play indirectly in cases where t...
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Employees are bound to perform their work duties with the required diligence and fidelity. An employee is therefore only required to report suspected misconduct by another employee if it is part of his or her duties to control or c...
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There is no specific deadline to start an investigation or assessment against an employee, but it is important to note that any connected disciplinary procedure (see below) must be started (with the delivery of a written warnin...
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There is no obligation on the employee suspected of misconduct to take active part in any investigation, and he or she can decide to remain inactive without giving any justification during the...
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The employee cannot be represented by a lawyer during the formal disciplinary procedure (see section 16.4 above), but they can be assisted by a member of the applicable trade union while giving their evidence and justifica...
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There is no obligation under employment law to provide the employee with the evidence gathered during the investigation or assessment. However, under data protection rules, any data subject is entitled to obtain a copy of all personal ...
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The law provides protection to public employees in cases of whistle-blowing. Public employees who disclose misconduct to their manager, a public authority or a prosecutor are protected from any adverse co...
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Low performance is not specifically regulated by the law in the private sector. According to case law, it is possible to take disciplinary action and even to dismiss an employee for poor performance if the low performance (e.g. the fai...
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Outside of general good faith and protection duties, there are no statutory requirements for handling a grievance; internal griev...
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There are statutory requirements prohibiting companies from disseminating information about jobs that contains restrictions or preferences based on the candidate’s sex, race, skin colour, nationality, language, origin, property, family, s...
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There is a legal limit on information an employer may collect about an applicant. Any information must be relevant to the job (e.g. education or professional experience). Requiring further information or documents is unlawful and applicants...
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A probationary period is generally allowed, provided a relevant provision is included in the employment contract when it is executed. Generally, the term of prob...
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An employer may dismiss an employee during a probationary period where the probation is unsatisfactory. The employer must give notice to the employee in writing not later than the last day of a probationary period before the d...
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Applicants may file claims against a potential employer for including discriminatory criteria in advertisements for the job (e.g. race, gender, age, maternity, or place of residence)...
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Generally, a foreign national needs a work permit and a work visa (unless the foreign national comes from an exempt country) in order to work in Kazakhstan. The procedures for hiring foreign nationals can be roughly divided into four types,...
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An employer must keep all documents related to the work of foreign nationals. These documents may be required for review by the state authorities for audit purposes. Examples of documents to retain include the following: copies of work per...
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Yes, employers can keep the collected personal data of candidates they did not hire. However, when a candidate submits information to a potential employer, the employer must get the candidate’s written consent to collect...
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The range of questions that an employer may ask a candidate in an interview is not specifically regulated by law. However, employers should take into account the candidate’s constitutional right to personal and family privacy and the ...
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Employees work under employment contracts governed by labour law and usually perform their job functions on a continuous basis. Employment relations are defined as relations between an employee and an employer concerning performance by an e...
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Kazakhstani labour law does not provide for any specific distinctions between ...
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There are certain rules that apply to the employment of heads of companies under both corporate and labour law. For example: An employment contract with the head of a company may be...
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There is a general rule that part-time employment is permitted where there is a mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. The employer must establish a part-time working regime for the following categories of employees on requ...
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Fixed-term employment contracts may be concluded only in certain circumstances as defined by law. These circumstances include cases where conclusion of a fixed-term employment contract is required and where the parties agree. The expiration...
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As a general rule, any changes relating to the term of employment may be made only by agreement of the parties, through a supplementary agreement to the employment contract signed by both parties. When selecting the new term, the parties ma...
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At the end of 2020 Kazakhstan put into effect new labour legislation provisions, pursuant to which an employee may be sent under an outstaffing contract by the sending party (i.e. an oustaffing&n...
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Kazakhstan labour legislation provides for secondment and intra-corporate transfer procedures (in addition to outstaffing contracts, which apply only to provision of employees by employment agencies). The concept of ‘secondment’ is esta...
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An employer must conclude a written employment contract with an employee before he or she begins working for the employer. There should be two originals, each signed by the employer and the employee. One original is given to the employee an...
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It is not common for Kazakhstani companies to issue offer letters prior to and in addition to the conclusion of employment contracts with employees and it is not mandatory in law. In practice, job ...
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By law, employment contracts must be executed in Kazakh (which is the official language of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and Russian (which is the language of inter-ethnic communication). Employment contracts may also inclu...
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Certain terms apply to the employment relationship irrespective of whether they are set out expressly in writing. These terms include employer and employee obligations, provisions regarding the liability of both parties, guarantees provided...
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The written employment contract must contain at least the mandatory provisions prescribed by law. Additional terms and conditions of employment, if not included in the employment contract, may be stipulated in the acts of the empl...
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As a general rule, the terms and conditions of the employment contract may be changed only by written agreement between the employer and the employee, by way of an amendment to the employment contract. However, in the following situations t...
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Kazakhstan law does not specifically distinguish employment-related documents as being either contractual or non-contractual. Upon hiring, the employer must make the employee aware of all internal policies and regulations which apply to emp...
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Employees are entitled to a salary not lower than the minimum established by law. At present, the minimum monthly sal...
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The law does not provide for the automatic adjustment of salaries. However, the minimum wage is reviewed annually to ensure that it keeps pace with consumer prices ...
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Tax Under Kazakhstani law, an employee’s salary is a taxable income. Salary is composed not only of base salary but also includes incentive and other compensatory payments (except for certain specified types of income that are not s...
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In making this calculation, we assume that: The employee’s monthly salary is EUR 8,333 (EUR 100,000/12), i.e. approximately KZT 4,040,000. The employee is a Kazakhstan citizen. The work performed by the employee is not classified as harm...
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In Kazakhstan, employers may provide bonuses to employees on a one-time basis (e.g. bonuses following annual performance results, according to the performance of certain work, or in connection with holidays), or in accordance with the organ...
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Kazakhstani law provides for a set of guarantees and compensatory payments that employers must provide to employees, including, among other things, the following: additional days of paid annual leave in the number of days and instances est...
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Employers have the discretion to decide what benefits will be provided to employees. The most common benefits offered include: voluntary medical insuranc...
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Kazakhstani law sets out certain legal requirements for daily and weekly working hours. Weekly hours The normal number of work hours for an employee must not exceed 40 hours per week. However, a reduced number of weekly wo...
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It is possible for an employer to hire an employee under a flexible working regime. This means that the employer is entitled to engage the employee, from time to time, to work beyond his or her normal daily working hours. It is also p...
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Other work time regimes different from the general requirements may be established for art workers, cultural workers, mass media workers, sportsmen and trainers. Special work time regimes that allow for longer hours f...
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Pursuant to Kazakhstani law, employers must monitor and keep records of employees’ working ...
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Kazakhstani law allows employers to establish a flexible work time regime, as discussed in section 5.2. Remote work is also expressly provided for by legislation. Remote work is subject to the following rules: ...
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Overtime work must not e...
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As a general rule, to engage an employee to work overtime it is necessary to get his or her consent. However, an employee may be engaged to work overtime without consent in the following cases: performance of work required for...
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Compensation for overtime should be no less than 1.5 times the usual hourly rate. Employment agreements, i...
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Pursuant to Kazakhstani law, an employee is entitled to the following paid rest periods, in addition to annual paid vacation: rest days; public and national holidays; daily rest or rest between shifts; and breaks during the working day (i....
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Exceeding the limits on working hours or breaking the rules on breaks or rest periods may lead to labour disputes with the employee as well as administrative liability for the organisation for breach of labour law. Administrativ...
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Under Kazakhstani law, an employer must provide an employee with annual paid leave. The minimum entitlement to annual paid labour leave in Kazakhstan is 24 days. The annual leave can be taken continuously or divided into parts by agreement ...
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An employer must pay the employee for the annual leave. Payment is made based on the number of days of work occurring within the period of granted annual leave, multiplied by the average daily salary of the relevant employee. The average ...
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By Kazakhstani law, employees are entitled to statutory holidays. The list of these holidays is established by law and all employees must be given the days off on those holidays. The following are the statutory holidays: New Year Holid...
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The length of sick leave is not limited by law but must be supported by a sick-leave certificate issued by the relevant medical institution. The employer must ensure the employee’s position in the workplace remains available, and sick...
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Kazakhstani law establishes certain rights to family-related leave for pregnant women and for parents with children up to the age of three years old. Maternity leave Upon request, and in accordance with a medical certificate, female e...
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Legislation provides for two types of leaves: annual leave and social leave. Annual leave includes the main annual paid labour leave (at least 24 calendar days) and additional annual paid labour leave. Additional leave must be provided to t...
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Under Kazakhstani law, an employer must guarantee safe working conditions and labour protection for employees. It must do as follows: ensure that all working conditions at each workplace conform to labour protection standards establi...
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The work safety rules established by law are mandatory and all employers must strictly observe them. Employers are also entitled to introduce additional regulations on work safety for employees in order to provide them with more reliable la...
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An employer (or its responsible person) may be exposed to administrative and, in exceptional cases, criminal liability for failing to comply with work safety rules. Administrative liability may take the form of an official warning or ad...
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An employer may be liable to its employees for third-party contractors’ activities in the case of a workplace accident. By Kazakhstani law an accident is a workplace accident if it has caused an employee’s injury or death and this occur...
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In the event of an on-the-job accident, the employer must notify: Close relatives of the victim immediately (no specific period is stipulated in the law). Authorised government agencies, in accordance with the established form,...
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Under Kazakhstani law an individual cannot be discriminated against on any of the following grounds: race; sex; nationality; language; origin; w...
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In certain cases, Kazakhstani law establishes specific preferences and restrictions that, in general, will not be considered discriminatory, in particu...
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Kazakhstani law is silent with respect t...
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Kazakhstani legislation includes a set of special requirements with regard to labour conditions for disabled persons. Disabled employees are classified into three groups depending on the severity of the disability. The requirements are as f...
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Kazakhstani law does not specifically address the issue of harassment. In more general terms, the Constitution of Kazakhstan guarantees protection of an individual’s dignity and prohibits cruel or humiliating treatment. Compelling a perso...
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Kazakhstani law has no specific provision protecting against victimisation ...
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The potential consequences for the employer if an employee’s claim is upheld by the court are summarised below. Discrimination In the event of discrimination that violates the employee’s right to equal pay for equal work and/or ...
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Under Kazakhstan’s civil procedure legislation, each party bears the burden to prove the facts forming the basis of their claims and objections. Accordingly, an employee who claims that an employer has discriminated (or allowed disc...
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An employer can be held liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees if those employees officially represent the employer, for examp...
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Men and women in Kazakhstan holding similar positions and ...
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The labour legislation of Kazakhstan does not separately regulate the protection of employees’ mental health; all legal requirements relating to occupational safety and labour protection refer to employee health in general. The law ...
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Even today, discrimination claims are not common in Kazakhstan, largely because it is difficult to prove discrimination....
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There are no official statistical data on the typical amounts of awards in cases of unlawful discrimina...
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The main laws regulating personal data in Kazakhstan are contained in the Constitution and personal data protection law. The personal data protection law regulates activities related to the automated processing of personal data or manual p...
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If an employer fails to comply with the rules on personal data collection, processing and protection, it can be subject to administrative liability in the form of a fine between KZT 241,500 and KZT 3,450,000. In addition, the authorized age...
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Prior to collecting and processing any personal data (including data relating to employees) Kazakhstani employers must approve certain rules and form documents within the organisation, including: internal rules for personal data protec...
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The process of monitoring employees involves collection of the employees’ personal data. Collection of personal data is permitted only when necessary for the employment relationship and only information related to the employment may be co...
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Kazakhstani law does not impose any restrictions on the use of social media in the workplace or when employees are off duty. However, some restrictions can be made by internal policies of the employer. The emp...
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‘Whistle-blowing’ in private (i.e. non-state) organisations is not regulated by Kazakhstani law. Therefore, Kazakhstani law does not provide any protective mechanisms for employees, who ‘blow the whistle’. Employees supervising or w...
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In order to protect the confidentiality of work-related information, the employer must introduce a ‘commercial secrets regime’ with respect to the information. This means the employer must take the following measures: compile a lis...
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The Constitution and labour law reflect the principles of freedom of labour, freedom to use abilities for work and to choose an activity or profession. These constitutional and employment rights cannot be restricted. Therefore, non-compete ...
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The employer is able to protect against the disclosure of confidential information (i.e. commercial secrets) by former employees once the employment has ended. However, these...
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The only lawful way to restrict a former employee’s competitive activities is by entering into a separate non-compete agr...
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Trade unions are voluntary public associations of citizens united by common industrial and professional interests established for the purpose of representation and protection of social and labour rights and interests. The main role of the t...
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In Kazakhstan, membership in trade unions is voluntary. Despite pressure by the state, many employees do not w...
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Once a trade union is established within the organisation, or if its employees are members of a trade union, the employer must recognise and co–operate with it by law. Further, under the collective agreement the employer must create t...
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Under Kazakhstani labour law, the employees’ interests are represented by trade unions, and if no local trade union is set up within the employer organisation or the employees have not joined any regional (industry) trade union, the e...
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Kazakhstani law stipulates certain restrictions on trade unions and other employees’ representatives in relation to organising strikes, including the following: The decision to strike should be adopted by a general meeting of the ...
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Generally, employees can only be dismissed by employers on the grounds set out in Kazakhstani law. The grounds most frequently used for termination by employers are the following: the closure of an organisation; redundancy; the employee’...
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If an employer terminates an employee without lawful grounds and the employee wishes to challenge this, the employee will need to apply to the conciliation board (a dispute resolution body ...
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Termination procedures differ depending on the chosen ground for dismissal. For example, if the organisation is closing down the employer must observe certain rules about notifying the employees, the state employment centre and the trade un...
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There is special protection against dismissal for various categories of employees, including: Pregnant women, female employees with children under the age of three, single mothers with children under the age of 14 or disabled children unde...
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The employer must serve notice on dismissal to employees in the following cases: in the case of expiration of a fixed-term employment contract the employee must be notified on his or her last working day; in the case o...
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There are only few cases where an employer may terminate employment with immediate effect, including the employee’s failure to pass the probationary period. Early termination of an officer of the employer’s executive body, a mem...
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An employee may resign at any time by submission of a written notice one month prior to the effective date of resignation, unless the employme...
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An employer may terminate the employment contract of an employee when he or she reaches t...
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Severance Kazakhstani law does not contain the concept of severance pay. However, employees are entitled to certain compensation payments (not considered as severance payments) if the employment contract is terminated for the following reas...
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A claim can be settled by the parties by way of negotiations. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, an individual labour dispute will be considered by the conciliation board (a dispute resolution...
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As a general rule, Kazakhstani law does not impose obligations on an employer to consult with employees or their representatives in the event of multiple (i.e. collective) dismissals. Moreover, the law does not define ‘multiple dismissa...
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Before terminating employment contracts with members of trade unions on certain grounds, the employer must obtain and consider the reasoned opinion of the trade union and follow specific procedures under the applicable bargaining agreement....
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In certain cases stipulated by law an employer must obtain the approval of the employees’ representatives or special bodies composed of representativ...
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If an employer dismisses an employee in disregard of the opinion of the employees’ representatives or special bodies or without their approval in cases where such opinion/approval is mandatory, the dismissal may be considered as illeg...
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Kazakhstani law does not specifically set out any statutory selection order that must be applied in cases of collective dismissals. However, there are certain categories of employees who either cannot be dismissed in...
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Kazakhstani law does not impose obligations on the employer to make additional payments to employees in cases of collective redundancy. The employer’s obligation to pay one month’s salary as severance for dismissal on the grounds of red...
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Under Kazakhstani law a share takeover does not lead to a change to the employer’s identity. Relations between the employees and employer ...
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Sale of a business Under Kazakhstani legislation, a business (or part of a business) may be sold only by selling the company shares or certain assets. These processes do not affect the employees’ rights. There is no option to transfer e...
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Under the Kazakhstan legislation, a share sale must not affect labour relation...
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Employees and their representatives cannot object to the sale of the company...
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Under the Kazakhstan legislation, sale of the company’s shares or assets must not affect labour relations with employees. Any changes to contractual terms and conditions or termination of employ...
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Under Kazakhstani law, employees are employed by the employer (i.e the legal entity or individual entrepreneur) and not by the owne...
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The conditions of a collective agreement must not be affected by the sale...
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Under the general rule, employers cannot unilaterally make changes to employment contracts. Moreover, it is directly prohibited to introduce changes to the employment contracts as a res...
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Employees can be safely dismissed at any time befo...
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Employee representatives and state agencies have no say regarding the sale of a company’s shares or assets. T...
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No consultation with the employees’ re...
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No consu...
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No consultation ...
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The work of the employees’ representatives must not be affected by the sale of ...
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Under Kazakhstani law, employees are entitled to receive state pension benefits. The pension is granted to retired persons from the day of application to the authorised pension organisation. Foreign employees are not entitled to participate...
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The state (mandatory) pension system is applied to all employers in Kazakhstan and all employees who are Kazakhstani citizens. In certain cases provided for by law and/or by international treaties, the Kazakhstan pension system may be app...
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Under Kazakhstani law, an employer may establish and operate its own pension scheme in addition to the mandatory state pension. Establishment, as well as participation in such pension schemes, is voluntary both for employers and employees. ...
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Kazakhstani law does not provide a procedure for employers to consult with employees and their representatives on proposed changes to employers’ pension arrangements (only the conditions of voluntary pension schemes may be changed). If th...
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State pensions in Kazakhstan are exempt from tax, as they are a state...
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There are no legal requirements regarding inclusion of mandatory provisions on state pension entitlement in the employment contract. However, the employer may choose to include necessary provisions on pension schemes in the employment contr...
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The Labour Code of Kazakhstan provides for two types of investigation procedures: investigations of workplace accidents and investigations as part of the cancellation of an employment contract due to the employer’s loss of trust in th...
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Kazakhstan labour legislation contains no general requirement for employees to notify their employer of any detected violations of duties and labour discipline by other employees. However, under the Labour Code, an employee must notify an...
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In the event of an on-the-job accident, the employer must notify the authorised government agencies and organisations, employees’ representatives and relatives of the injured employees within one day and the workplace accident insuran...
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Employees‘ representatives must participate in investigations of on–the–job accidents, as they are members of a commission formed to investigate the accident. There is no general legal requirement for employees to particip...
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Labour legislation does not regulate participation of a lawyer or advocate in internal investigations. With regard to workplace accident investigations, the list of persons participating in such investigations established by legislation is ...
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With regard to workplace accident investigations, the investigation commission’s ‘act of an accident’ (its final report) must be provided to the injured employee. The injured employee also may review (personally or through the employe...
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‘Whistleblowing’ in private (i.e. non-state) organizations is not regulated by the Kazakhstan legislation, and there are no legislative protections for employees who ‘blow the whistle’. Employees supervising or working with other ...
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In Kazakhstan, to exercise control over the employees’ performance employers may take the following measures: incentive systems; periodic attestation (certification) of employees; employee discipline; and termination of emplo...
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The procedure for filing complaints by an employee regarding the employer’s failure to perform its obligations, as well as the procedure and timeframes for the employer’s response, depends on the complaint addressee and its stat...
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The following mandatory requirements apply to job advertisements: The advertisement must not apply exclusively to men or women, unless gender is an objective and justified prerequisite of the particular job. The advertisement must not sugg...
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The employer may use any publicly available information about the applicant but it must not use the information in a discriminatory way. It is generally accepted practice to contact the previous employer to discuss the applicant’s perform...
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Probationary periods are quite common in Latvia. They are used by employers in order to ...
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During the probationary period the employer and employee may terminate the employment contract by giving three days’ notice. The notic...
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Job applicants may bring claims against a prospective employer for differential treatment (discrimination) during the recruitment process. Discrimination is prohibited on the basis of race, colour, gender, age, disability, religious, politi...
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If a Latvian company intends to hire a foreign national, it must first verify whether a work permit and/or residence permit is required. If the foreign national is a citizen of the EU, EEA or Swiss Confederation, no work or residence permit...
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The following records should be kept by employers with respect to foreign workers: the original employment co...
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Employers are allowed to keep records about candidates they did not hire for a reasonable time ...
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In relation to job interviews there is a general rule that only questions that relate to performance of the job and suitability of the appli...
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There are two types of working individuals under Latvian law: employees and independent contractors. An employee is a person who performs specific work under the guidance of an employer on the basis of an employment con...
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There is no legal distinction between the various types of employees. The protection provided by labour law applies equally to any pe...
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Company directors (i.e. management board members) may be employed on the basis of an employment contract or another type of civil contract (e.g. a service contract or authorisation contract). In many cases there is no formal contract betwee...
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Generally, part-time employees are entitled to the same level of protection as full-time employees. The refusal of the employee to switch from full-time to part-time, or vice versa, may not serve as grounds for dismissal or any other restri...
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The general rule is that an employment contract should be entered for an unlimited duration. Fixed-term employment contracts are allowed only under the following circumstances: seasonal work; work which is habitually fixed term, as specifi...
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If a fixed-term employment contract has been signed even though none of the justifications for fixed-term employment could be applied, it will be regarded as an ind...
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A specific legal framework for the protection of temporary workers engaged through an employment agency has been in force in Latvia since July 2011. Agency workers remain formally employed by the agency, but the work is usually carried out ...
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Two types of situations should be distinguished in cases where employees are placed at the disposal of another company. The first is when certain services are provided or goods are delivered to the client and the employees of the service pr...
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A written employment contract must be signed before an employee starts work. The following terms must be included in employment contracts: name, surname, personal ID code (or, for foreigners, the date of birth) and place of residence of ...
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It is not very common in Latvia for detailed offer letters to be sent to prospective employees. Howeve...
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Employment contracts must be in the Latvian language. It is a common practice for bilingual versions of employment contracts to be si...
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Latvian law is quite specific about the various obligations of employees and employers. Any provisions of an employment contract that are to the detriment of the employee in comparison to what is provided in law, are void. Thus, it may be a...
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It is possible to refer to the law or to other documents (such as collective agreements or internal regulations or po...
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Generally, employment contracts may be amended only by agreement of the parties. Employees are entitled to refuse to agree to any amendments proposed by the employer. There is one exception to this and it involves a proposal of amendments c...
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Upon hiring a new employee the employer must introduce the employee to its working procedures and internal regulations. Normally, the following documentation is provided to the employees at a minimum: work procedure regulations; gen...
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The minimum wage is usually revised annually by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia. There is no gradation of the wage depending on the type of job, the size of the employer or other criteria. The current minimum wage effecti...
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There is no automatic...
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Tax The tax year in Latvia for individuals corresponds with the calendar year. As of 1 January 2018, progressive personal income tax has been introduced in Latvia. Wages and benefits of any kind are subject to personal income tax at a rate ...
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For a person with a gross income of EUR 100,000 and two dependants, the income tax and social tax payments would be the following: income tax, EUR 19,000 (pro...
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There are no generally applicable rules regarding payment of bonuses. Employers are free to determine types and amounts of bonuses. As with other employment conditions, eligibility for bonuses should be non-discriminatory. Bonuses are taxed...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular benefits, other th...
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As with bonuses, benefits offered to employees vary greatly between different industries and companies. The most common benefits are: health (i.e. medica...
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The limits on normal working hours are eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. The working week usually consists of five working days. If the working time during any particular day is shorter than normal working hours, the number of work...
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If, due to the nature of the work, it is not possible to comply with the limits on the normal daily or weekly working time, the employer, after consultation with employee representatives, may intro...
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There is a general exemption for positions where, taking into account peculiarities of the particular job or trade, the working time cannot be measured or...
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Employers have a general obligation to record all hours worked by each e...
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There are no special...
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Working hours exceeding normal working time are cons...
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The employer may request that the employee perform ove...
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Any employee who performs overtime work is entitled to a supplement of not less than 100% of the hourly or daily wage rate. If piece-work pay has been agreed (i.e. where pay is calculated according to ...
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Workers are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 12 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. This limitation may be disregarded in case of ‘aggregated working time’ (i.e. where the limits on working time are extended by agreem...
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Employees are entitled to refuse orders of the employer that are not in line with the limitations on working hours, breaks and rest periods. In such cases the empl...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of four weeks’ paid annual leave, exclud...
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An employee is entitled to receive average earnings during leave. Average earnings are calculated based on the remuneration for the previous six months including supplementary payments specified in law, collective agreements, employment con...
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The employer must pay remuneration if an employee does not perform work for justified reasons. One justified reason is a public holiday, therefore, an employee is entitled not to perform work on public holiday and receive remuneration if th...
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The employer must pay sick pay to employees who have a temporary incapacity for work. This must be confirmed by a sick-leave certificate issued in accordance with the statutory requirements, except for incapacity for work that is related to...
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In Latvia, family-related leave and pay is arranged by the state. Once a maternity leave period begins, the employer is not required to make any payments to the employee. The employer must retain the employee on its staff for the entire per...
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An employer has a duty to pay the salary of an employee who does not perform work for a justifiable reason, in particular, where the employee: undergoes a health examination in a medical treatment institution upon the employer’s instruct...
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Every employee is entitled to safe working conditions. Therefore, on the instructions of the employer, the employee must undergo a health examination if required by law, a collective agreement or if there is reason to believe that the emplo...
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The main laws in the labour protection field are adopted by parliament and regulations regarding...
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The employer is liable for the health and safety of employees in the workplace and liability is not limited by the performance of certain obligations by employees, competent authorities or labour protection specialists. The employer’s sup...
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Employers have a general duty to ensure safe working conditions for employees. A...
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The injured person must be sent for a medical examination. In Latvia there is a legal obligation to notify the Labour Inspec...
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Labour law prohibits direct or indirect discrimination in relation to: sex; race; skin colour; age; disability; religion; political or other beliefs;...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic if that characteristic is an occupational requirement because of the nature or context of the work. The employer would have to justify the requirem...
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Labour law explicitly prohibits indirect discrimination of any kind. Indirect discrimination is involved if apparently neutral provisions, criteria or practices cause or may cause a disadvantage to persons belonging to a specific group. The...
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To comply with the principle of equal rights in relation to disabled employees, employers have a general duty to implement measures to adapt the working ...
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Labour law provides that harassment of, or instructions to discriminate against, an employee is discriminatory. Harassment of a person is a situation where the person is subject to an unwanted action (i.e. from that person’s perspective) ...
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Labour law does not include protective provisions specifically covering complaints about discrimination. However, discrimination cases are covered by the general provisions related to victimisation. Th...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or victimisation is successful, the court could: reinstate the employee in his or her previous position (i.e. if the employee was termina...
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In a dispute where an employee demonstrates facts indicating direct or indirect discrimination on any grounds, the burden is on the employer to prove that any differential treatment was based on objective, non-discriminatory grounds....
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As long as the employer has ensured that an employee enjoys fair and safe working conditions, has taken all reasonable measures to prevent possible discriminatory actions an...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation...
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Under Latvian law employers have a general obligation to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for all employees, which includes both physical and mental health. Latvian law does not distinguish between physical health and mental hea...
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Discrimination claims have not been very common in Italy because employees have enjoyed very broad protection from any kind of unfair dismissal, and the default remedy in such cases was reinstatement plus compensation. Following the labour ...
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The typical scenario, in terms of awards, is that the employee claims a ...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would includ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for a use of social media that brings the employer into disrepute or is dama...
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Latvia adopted a whistleblowing law as of 4 February 2022 (replacing the former whistleblowing law which had been in force since 1 May 2019). This law provides specific protection mechanisms for employees who ‘blow the whistle’. In addi...
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The general obligation to keep work-related information confidential is contained in labour law. An employee is generally bound not to disclose information that is a commercial secret of the employer. However, the employer must say expressl...
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The implied duty of fidelity means that, during working hours, employees must devote the whole of their time and attention to the job. Taking a job outside working hours will not be a breach of the implied duty provided...
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Employees have an implied duty of fidelity, but after the employment contract has ended the employee is bound only by express contractual terms agreed in the employment contract. In addition, any restriction must b...
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Employers that wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition once the employment has ended must include an express contractual term which restricts the employee’s activities after the termination of the employment relationship. S...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purposes are to regulate relations between employers and workers in the workpl...
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In 2018, around 100,000 employees in Latvia were trade union members. This represents approximately 15% of the ...
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An employer must work with a trade union where that ...
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Employee representative bodies may exist at international, European, national or regional levels. In certain circumstances employers are required to inform and consult with employee representative bodies. For example: Where there is a tr...
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A trade union will be immune from liability if the industrial action was lawfully organised in furtherance of legitimate action taken in relation to a tra...
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An employer wishing to terminate an employee can do so only if at least one of the situations stipulated in the labour law exists. These are expressed as: the capability or qualifications of the employee; the employee’s conduct; redundan...
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An employee may bring an unfair dismissal claim before a civil court. If successful, the court has power to order that the employee is reinstated in the same job or re-engaged by the employer in a comparable job. Such...
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Even when the employer can show it has a ‘fair’ reason for the termination, it must act reasonably and follow a fair procedure. Acting reasonably means that the reason for dismissal must be sufficient. For example, being late to work on...
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Certain reasons for dismissal are automatically unfair. The main examples of automatically unfair reasons for d...
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The length of the notice period depends on the reason for termination. Immediate termination is required for: illegal action by employee and loss of the employer’s trust; intoxication during work; or inability to perform the work due to ...
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The employer cannot make a payment in lieu of giving the required notice, but can put the employee on garden leave, so relieving the employee of his or her duties, whilst paying the salary. However, the employer and the emp...
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An employee’s resignation notice can take two forms. It can be a simple notice without any given reason for resignation. Alternatively, the employee can submit the resignation notice on the basis of the so called ‘important reasons’. ...
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It is possible to retire an employee compulsorily, but the employer runs the risk of both an unfair dismissal and an age discrimination claim. Retirement is not in itself a valid ground for termination. The employer may be able to show that...
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In particular cases, the employer must make a severance payment to the employee. These are where the employment is terminated because of the employee’s lack of professional skills; his or her poor health; because a former employee has bee...
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An employer can settle purely contractual claims by agreement with th...
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The employer must consult collectively in certain circumstances where several dismissals on grounds of redundancy are proposed. The consultation must cover all affected employees, including those who may be affected by the dismissal of ot...
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The following information must be provided to the trade union or elected representatives: the reasons for the proposed dismissals; the number and descriptions of employees whom it is proposed to make redund...
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The legal minimum requirement is for the consultation to cover: avoiding the dismissals; reducing the number of employees to be dismissed; mitigating the consequences of the dismissals. Consultation must take place ‘with a view t...
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The consequences of a failure to comply with the information and consultation requirements are the same for a breach of on...
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In respect of individual or collective dismissal for economic reasons the employer cannot randomly select employees. The employer must begin by comparing the performance and qualifications of employees in similar roles. If there are no subs...
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There are no additional...
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There is no specific protection for employees in sha...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees have a right to transfer to work for the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of a business is sold to a new employer, as long ...
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For the old employer: It must provide information to and consult with employee representatives. If it dismisses employees for a reason connected with the transfer, the dismissals will be automatically unfair unless they are for an ‘econo...
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Latvian labour law is silent on the right of employees’ to object to a transfer. Based on ECJ case law and the general aim of protecting employee...
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Terms The rights and obligations of the transferor arising from the employment relationship applicable at the moment of transfer will fully transfer to the transferee. Benefits Rights and obligations relating to benefits fully transfer to t...
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There are no limitations on the liabilities that pass over to the transferee. Liabilities transfer together with other provisions of the employment contracts. All rights and ...
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Following the transfer of an undertaking the transferee must continue to comply with the provisions of any collective agree...
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The employer cannot unilaterally change employment contracts. After the transfer, the transferee can offer to make any necessary amendments to the employment agreements. If the employees agree, those amendments can be effected. If the emplo...
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The transfer of an undertaking does not restrict the right of an employer to give notice of termination of an employment contract if the notice is based on economic, technical, organisational or similar measures. These measures may be effec...
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Both the transferor and transferee must consult employee representatives if they plan to implement any organisational, technological or social measures in relation to the transfer. Consultations ...
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Information must be provided regarding: the date of transfer or expected date of transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, economic and social consequences of t...
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The duty to consult arises only if the employer envisages taking measures in relation to employees. If no measures are envisaged, the obligation is merely to provide information. There is no guidance about consultations. Normally, they invo...
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A collective agreement may contain consequences for breaches of the information and consultation obligations and may provide employees with grounds to file claims with...
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If the undertaking (or part of the undertaking) retains its i...
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For the duration of the employment, part of the social security contribution is transferred by the employer to the state pension fund, which entitles the employee to an old-age pension ...
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For the duration of the employment, part of the social security contribution is transferred by the employer to the...
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Employers are free to provide optional pension benefits to employees, for example, contributions to private pension schemes arranged by banks or life insurance companies. Private pension schemes are...
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Contributions to the state pension are mandatory and the amounts of these are regulated by law. Therefore, employers are not able to make any changes to these. For optional pension arrangements, offered as an additional benefit by the emp...
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Pensions are treated as regular taxable income at the rate of 20% up to EUR 1,667 and 23% for the amount exceeding EUR 1,667. A tax-free minimum allowance of EUR 500 per month applies to pensions in 2022. Certain additional benefits (i.e. a...
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Unless the parties have agreed on a contribution by ...
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An employer must conduct an investigation whenever it learns that applicable laws or procedures are being violated. Apart from whistleblowing cases (see section 16.7 below), accidents at w...
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There is no statutory requirement for employees to report suspected misconduct. However, most standard employment contracts or internal procedu...
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Once the employer has received information on suspected misconduct, it must promptly start an investigation to ensure that all available evidence and information is collected; if a disciplinary penalty will be imposed, this must be�...
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An employee that is suspected of misconduct must be given the chance to provide their statement and opinion about the subject matter of the investigation, but the employee is entitled to not make use of such right. If an employee re...
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An employee has the right to appoint and consult a lawyer in the course of an investigation, but any statements must be provided by the employee himself/herself. ...
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Not all evidence must be made available to the employee; however, the employer must provide the employee with the documentation and evidence that is the basis for the investigation and any decisions that affect the employee. Thi...
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Latvia adopted a new whistleblowing law in February 2022 (the old whistleblowing law was in force from May 2019) that provides specific protection mechanisms for employees who ‘blow the whistle’. In addition, ‘whistl...
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The performance of an employee must always be assessed against the job duties set out in the employment agreement, job description, or performance plan mutually agreed between the employer and employee. Any targets to be achieved m...
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Under Latvian labour law an employee has the right to submit a complaint to an authorised representative of the employer for the purpose of protecting his or her employment rights or interests. Employee representatives also have this right....
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There are no legal requirements about the wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided, with the exception of salary. The a...
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In general, when gathering information about the job applicant, the employer must follow the GDPR and other data privacy legislation. Where labour laws make recruitment conditional upon health status, the employer must require the employee ...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. Employers typically use this period to assess the employee’s suitab...
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If the probationary period is unsatisfactory, the employer may...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer based on one of the characteristics protected by equality le...
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A foreign national may take up employment in Lithuania under a contract of employment. If his or her permanent place of employment is abroad, the foreign national may be sent to Lithuania to take up temporary employment. The employer may on...
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Employers should keep documentation relating to each employee’s right to work in Lithuania. This documentation includes a copy of the person’s passport cover, iden...
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Processing of records about candidates that the employer did not hire is subject to the GDPR. This means that the employer must have a valid legal ground to process such records and should only keep the records as long as the legal ground e...
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In general, potential employers can only request information that is relevant to the particular job function. The aim of the interview process is to determine whether the applicant meets the hiring criteria, so questions unrelated to the cl...
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There are two main categories of working individuals in Lithuania: employees and independent contractors. An employee is a natural person with legal capacity who is employed under an employment contract for remuneration. An independent cont...
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The general rule is that the minimum monthly salary should only be paid to employees who are unqualified. Qualified employees (i.e. white collar employees or blue collar employees who have technical s...
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Generally, company directors enjoy the same labour rights and obligations as any other employee. However, a director has less legal protection than an ‘ord...
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Lithuanian law generally does not oblige an employer to provide a flexible working schedule at an employee’s request (with the exception of remote work). Part-tim...
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A fixed-term employment contract may be concluded for a certain period of time or for the period of performance of specific wo...
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If the term of an employment contract has expired but the employment relationship has continued and neither of the parties has, prior to the expiry of the term, purported to terminate...
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A temporary worker is defined by legislation as a worker with a contract of employment or an employment relationship with a temporary employment agency. The purpose of the arrangement is for the worker to be assigned to a client organ...
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An employer may temporarily assign an employee to work for a ‘host’ organisation under secondment arrangement or under a servic...
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An employment contract must be made in writing and will be deemed concluded at the time the employer and employee agree on the employee’s place of work, duties and re...
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It is not common practice in Lith...
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The employment contract must be executed in L...
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The terms of employment derive from the employment contract, but in addition to the express terms that the parties have agreed, certain terms are directly implied by law (e.g. a minimum notice period, redundancy payments and minimum annual ...
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It is possible for the contract of employment expressly to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. Such...
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Employers can normally change contractual terms and conditions if the employee has been informed of the changes in advance and expressly consents to the change. For example, the employee’s place of work, duties to be performed and remuner...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collected together in a staff handbook). These would typically include: internal work regulations...
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Under Lithuanian law, confidential information is all information which is not public, while commercial and technological secrets are sub-categories of confidential information which have commercial value to the employer. An employer may...
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The employer may enter into a non-compete agreement with an employee or include non-compete obligations in the employment agreement. The non-compete agreement may cover the period of validity of the employment contract and/or for a period a...
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The employer can restrict the use of confidential information after the end of employment by way of a confidentiality agreement or confidentiality...
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Once the employment expires, a non-compete agreement will be valid for no more than two years. During the period of the non-compete agreement with the employer, the employee must be paid compensation in the amount of lea...
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The law does not require particular wording or details about the job. However, the employer may request a certificate regarding the applicant’s criminal record, which details certain decisions relating to punishments for criminal and mino...
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During the recruitment process, up until the applicant is hired, the employer cannot ask about his or health situation. Indeed, such questions would breach the principle of proportionality (i.e. only the information necessary to determine t...
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Probationary periods may apply to permanent or fixed-term contracts. The probationary period, if any, must be included in the employment contract when signed and before beginning work. Probationary periods may also apply without a specific ...
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During the first two weeks of the probationary period, it is prohibited for the employment contract to be terminated unilaterally except in cases of gross misconduct. Once the two weeks are completed, the contract may be terminated with not...
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Jobs applicants may bring claims against the prospective employer, though such claims are v...
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There are two categories of foreign workers: (i) EU citizens and nationals, and (ii) third-country nationals. EU Citizens, EEA nationals and Swiss nationals To enter Luxembourg territory for less than three months, an EU citizen must ...
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A Luxembourg company directly hiring foreign employees is not specifically obliged to keep a register of foreign employees. However, a register of all employees’ files must be held by the employer to keep records of employment contracts, ...
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Luxembourg law contains no express retention period for recruitment records, including records of rejected candidates, with the exception of the criminal record certificate and the extract of the criminal record related to driving infractio...
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There are no specific rules in Luxembourg governing the questions that an employer may not ask in the context of job interviews. However, employers must a...
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In Luxembourg, an employee is a person who is hired to provide services to an employer on a regular basis in exchange for compensation. An employee does not provide these services as part of an independent business or activity. The employee...
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In 2008, legislation established the same status for blue and white-collar workers. There is no longer a legal distinction between the two. Sales representatives are not subject to the provisions of the Labour Code on working hours for wo...
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A company director may be either employed by the company or self-employed. The employment status will depend on an assessment of all the relevant factors. To be a director and an employee w...
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According to labour law, any employment contract that provides fewer regular weekly working hours than the hours normally applicable for full-time work either by law or a collective bargaining agreement, is regarded as a part-time employmen...
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Labour law provides specific rules and restrictions about fixed-term employment contracts: fixed-term employment contracts are only permitted for the performance of specified time-limited tasks; fixed term contracts may be renewed only twi...
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A fixed term employment contract will convert into an indefinite-term contract: in the absence of a clause specifying that the contract is for a defined period; if the contract is conclud...
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An employer wishing to engage temporary workers through an employment agency must first inform and consult the staff delegation. In addition, the user organisation must provide to the staff delegation, on request, the temporary employ...
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A contract by which an employer temporarily puts one or several of its workers at the disposal of another employer is known as ‘staff leasing’. In Luxembourg, staff leasing is governed very restrictively. Labour law only authorises temp...
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Employment contracts must be evidenced in writing and signed, in principle, no later than on the first day of work. All employment contracts must contain the following essential terms: identity of the parties; date of the beginning ...
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It is not common practice in Luxembourg for employers...
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In Luxembourg, there are three official languages: French, German and Luxembourgish. However, Luxembourg law does not impose the use of any specific language...
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All rights and obligations contained within employment legislation are implied into all employment contracts. The principal obligations on employers include: a duty to provide a safe system of work and a safe workplace; a duty to provide a...
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The written employment contract need not contain all the terms and conditions of employment. If other documents apply, a reference should be put in the employment contract to those docum...
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The employer may only unilaterally modify essential clauses of the employment contract to the detriment of the employee if it has real and serious reasons to do so. The procedure to be followed is similar to the one applicable to dismissal ...
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Employers generally provide employees with the policies and rules that are applicable within the organisation. The most common documents that might be given to the employee in addition to contractual documents are: the remuneration policy;...
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Starting from 1 April 2023, the statutory minimum monthly gross wage is EUR 2,508.24 for unqualified (unskilled) adult employees and EUR 3,009.88 for qualified (skilled) adult employees. Every two years, the Government considers whether...
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Wage rates prescribed by law, by a collective agreement or by an employment contract are adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of living on a periodic basis. The cost of living index is published each month by the statistics and economi...
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Personal Income Tax Employees must pay personal income tax. Luxembourg residents (i.e. individuals having their domicile or who usually stay in Luxembourg) are usually taxable in Luxembourg on their worldwide income. Non-resident individu...
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An employee with an income of EUR 100,000 would pay income tax and social security as set out below for the financial year ending on 31 December 2023, provided that a risk class 2 is applicable and that the employee: has no other income ...
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There are no mandatory bonuses provided by law. The payment of bonuses (i.e. allowance and amount) is often left at the sole discretion of the employer. Bonuses may, however, be provided for in employment contracts or collective bargaining ...
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Other than an obligation to pay social...
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Employers are free to decide the benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits offered include: cont...
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In Luxembourg, the normal full-time working hours are eight hours per day and 40 hours per week (or up to nine hours per day so long as the weekly working time remains at 40 hours over a maximum of five days). Specific provisions apply in s...
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It is not possible to exceed the limits on working hours through individual agreement. Employment law, however, provides for some exceptions extending the legal limits. Un...
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Provisions concerning working time are not applicable to: family businesses employing only close family members (parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, step-parents,...
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There is a legal obligation under Luxembourg law for employers to keep records or files on all overtime hours. The register or file must be submitted to the Labour and Mines Inspectorate on request by its ...
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The law provides for several systems that encourage agile working: Flexible working time The law allows employees to organise their working time as they see fit, while observing the core work time imposed by the employer (...
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Overtime must not exceed two hours a day and eight hours a week for full time employees. Employees may be required to work overtime within the limits and under the conditions provided for by law. If an employee decides to work overtime, he ...
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Employees may be required to work overtime, especially if it is specified in the employment contract. In any case, the maximum working hours must be respected. Except in certain specific cases, all contemplated overtime hours must be ...
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Overtime is generally compensated by paid leave of one hour and 30 minutes for every hour of overtime, or credited at the same rate to a time savings account (‘CET’), the terms of which may be set by the applicable collective agreement ...
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Workers are entitled to a minimum daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period and a minimum weekly rest period of not less than 44 consecutive hours. If the daily working period is longer than six hours, t...
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If an employer violates the legal provisions regarding the limits on daily or weekly working hours, overtime or the rules on br...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of 26 working days’ paid annual leave. Annual leave must be taken over th...
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Payment during leave is equal to the average wages of the employee over the previous three months, including...
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There are normally eleven public holidays each year in Luxembourg. The public holidays are as follows: New Year’s Day; Easter Monday; Labour Day (i.e. 1 May); Europe Day (i.e. 9 May); Ascension Thursday; Pentecost Monday; National Day (i...
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In the case of sickness, employees are entitled to receive compensation. However, for long-term absence, there are two categories of periods, each of which is dealt with differently. The employee must inform the employer of his or her absen...
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In practice, employers generally only provide the minimum entitlements for family-related leave and pay. Maternity leave Maternity leave is divided into two periods, eight weeks for pre-natal leave and 12 weeks for post-natal leave. O...
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Employees are entitled to extraordinary paid leave days for family events as follows: one day for the death of a second-degree relative of the employee or of their spouse or partner (i.e. the employee’s grandparent, grandchild, sibli...
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In Luxembourg, all employers must ensure the health and safety of employees in all aspects of work. This obligation has been defined as an ‘obligation to achieve a result’ (‘obligation de résultat’) by the Court of Appeal. Conseque...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which the authorities (primarily the Labour Inspectorate (‘L’Inspection du Travail e...
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Non-compliance with health and safety rules may trigger liabilities for the employer. In the event of an occupational accident, an insurance system operates in Luxembourg and the employee will be covered by the insurance scheme paid by the ...
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If employees from various organisations work together at the same place, for example, in the construction sector, an injured employee covered by the insurance scheme (Association...
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In Luxembourg, any work accident must be reported to the Labour and Mines Inspectorate (L’Inspection du Travail et des Mines, the ‘ITM’). The declarati...
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The characteristics protected by labour discrimination law are follows: religion ...
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Labour law provides for several exceptions to the principle of non-discrimination. The principle of equal treatment is the general rule. However, a difference in treatment based on a characteristic protected by law will not constitute discr...
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The law prohibits employers from discriminating indirectly by applying a provision, criterion or practice to everyone equally, which puts a person with a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage. This will not amount to unlawfu...
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With regard to disability, measures to safeguard or promote integration of disabled persons into the working environment are not considered to be discrimination (se...
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According to labour law ‘moral harassment’ is unwanted conduct which has the aim or effect of undermining someone’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Moral harassment may b...
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Labour law prohibits reprisals and retaliation against employees who protest against acts or behaviour contrary to the principal of equality. Further, employees are protected against dismissal or other adverse treatment from the employer in...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment, victimisation or retaliation is successful, an employment tribunal could order the employer to pay moral damages to the affected employee. If the victim of discri...
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The Labour Code provides for a flexible burden of proof in discrimination disputes. The employee who...
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An employer is liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees or third parties, such as customers and supp...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. However, the employer must to inform and consult the staff delegates ...
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In Luxembourg, all employers must ensure the health and safety of employees in all aspects of work, including psychological aspects. (However, there are no specific legal provisions related to stress or burnout.) As part of its responsibili...
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Discrimination claims are very rare in Luxembou...
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Successful claims for unlawful discrimination are rare in Luxembourg (see section 8.12 above), and ...
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Following the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) in May 2018, the Labour Code has been amended and now incorporates a specific regime applicable to the processing of employee personal data in the con...
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In cases where employers process data in violation of the Labour Code provisions on monitoring in the workplace, the breach is punishable by imprisonment of eight days to one year, a criminal fine ranging from EUR 251 to EUR 125,000, or bot...
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The employer can collect and process the personal data of employees as part of its recruitm...
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Monitoring of employees cannot be implemented without meeting the basic principles set by the GDPR and without fulfilling the mandatory procedure set by the Labour Code. Before processing employee personal data in order to monitor employees...
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Luxembourg employment legislation does not contain any specific provision on the use of social media. Luxembourg case law establishes that a person’s right to privacy extends to the workplace, which in general means that employees are all...
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The Labour Code provides for specific protection for employees who report potential offences of private bribery, traffic of influence or illegal taking of interest. It does not matter whether the unlawful activity is by the employer, a coll...
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Any employment contract must be performed faithfully by both parties. Therefore, employees are bound by an obligation of loyalty towards their employers. Even though Luxembourg labour law does not expressly specify this obligation, it is im...
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The employee’s obligation of loyalty (implied in any employment relationship) covers competition during the employment contract. Employers may also include an exclusivity clause in the employment contract that requires the employee to wor...
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Specific restrictive clauses may be provided in the employment contract in order to protect confidential information after termination. For very sensitive or highly confidential information, non-disclosure provisions are often included in s...
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Once the employment has ended, employees are free to perform any competing activity, provided they are not bound by a non-compete clause. Non-compete clauses The parties may agree on a non-compete clause in the employment contract...
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The role of trade unions is to protect the professional interests of its members and to improve the working conditions for employees. Trade unions at the national general or sector level (e.g. in the financial and banking sector) and those ...
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According to the European Trade Union Institute, 38% of employees working in Luxembourg were members of a trade union as of 2016 (the most recent data available). The unionization rate has been decreasing in recent years. ...
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In Luxembourg, trade unions are not directly established within organisations. However, trade unions have a significant role as they can submit official lists of candidates for the staff delegates election. Thus, staff delegates who have be...
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Any organisation with 15 or more employees must set up a staff delegation. Role of the staff delegation The staff delegation’s general duty is to safeguard and defend employees’ interests with respect to working conditions, job ...
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A strike can only be initiated if all conciliation efforts have failed. A prior conciliation procedure is mandatory before any strike. If conciliation is not possible within the organisation, the parties must refer to the ‘Office National...
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An employer can dismiss an employee with notice or with immediate effect. Dismissal with notice Reasons for a dismissal with notice may include: the employee’s aptitude (i.e. professional incompetence, mistakes made or unsat...
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If the employee disagrees with the grounds for the dismissal, he or she is entitled to bring a claim against the former employer. The employee may claim reinstatement or material and moral damages on the basis of unfair dismissal, or an i...
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Preliminary meeting According to labour law, an employer employing 150 or more persons must invite any employee affected by a potential dismissal (i.e. with or without notice) to a meeting prior to giving notice of the dismissal. Pursuant t...
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A dismissal can be declared void in the following cases: Dismissal with notice of a staff representative or of a member of the European Works Council. Staff representatives are protected for up to six months following the completion of d...
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The notice period that must be given by the employer depends on the length of service of the dismissed employee. The notice period is as follows: less than five years, two months’ salary; five to nine years, four months’ sal...
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Luxembourg labour law does not provide for a lump-sum payment, that is, a payment in lieu of notice. However, the organisation may discharge the employee from the obligation to work for the entire notice period or a part of it. The releas...
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The employee may resign either with notice or with immediate effect. The resignation is only valid if the employee has expressed his or her desire to end the employment relationship in a clear and unambiguous manner. Resignation with no...
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Pursuant to labour law, the employment contract is automatically terminated the day the employee is granted a retirement pension or at the latest when he or she reaches 65 years if entitled to legal retirement pension. The employer is not r...
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At the end of the employment contract, the employee is entitled to: the payment of any remaining untaken annual leave calculated until the end of the notice period even if the employee has been released from the obligation to perform act...
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Both the employer and the employee may conclude, once the dismissal has been served on the employee, a settlement agreement under Luxembourg civil law. This agreement settles any potential or ongoing disputes about the termination. Settleme...
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Labour law contains provisions relating to collective redundancies. For multiple dismissals, the employer must provide information to and consult with the employee representatives at several stages of the procedure. The employer must info...
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After completing its information and consultation process and before entering into negotiations with social partners or at the beginning of the negotiations of the social plan at the latest, the employer must notify the employee representat...
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The employer must enter into consultation with employee representatives prior to the decision to launch collective dismissals. However, the Luxembourg Labour Code does not provide compulsory timeframes for informing and consulting with empl...
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If the employer carries out dismissals prior to signing a social plan, before the production of a ‘failure report’ from the National Conciliation Office (i.e. a report detailing the failure to reach agreement on the social plan), or bef...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Luxembourg law. In organisations that employ fewer than 150 employees, the employer may choose which employees to make redundant and need not justify the choice. In o...
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There are no legal requirements for additional payments in the context of collective redundancy. However, in addition to statutory severance pay, the employer will have to respect any payment commitments it has made in a social plan (e.g. m...
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For transfer of undertakings legal provisions to apply, there must be a transfer of an economic entity that retains its identity and that constitutes an organised grouping of resources that has the objective of pursuing an economic activity...
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There is no specific law on the impact of outsourcing employees or the sale of a business. Both are covered by the legal provisions regarding transfer of undertakings, which will apply if the general criteria are met. ...
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The implications of the transfer of undertakings legal provisions are as follows: Employment contracts and conditions automatically transfer to the transferee. Employees cannot be dismissed if the reason is the transfer itself. Employe...
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The transfer date marks the automatic transfer of affected employment contracts and conditions to the transferee, and there is no requirement for the transfer to be approved by employees. If an employee is not wi...
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Terms The transferor’s rights and obligations arising from the contract of employment or from the employment relationship existing at the time of the transfer are, by reason of the transfer, transferred to the transferee. Benefits ...
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The law provides for joint liability of transferor and transferee for obligations arising before a transfer of undertaking pursuant to an employment contract or an employment relationship existing at the date of the transfer, such as arrear...
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A collective agreement in itself does not transfer to the transferee. Nevertheless, the Labour Code provides that the transferee must maintain all conditions arising from any collective bargaining agreement concluded by the transferor unt...
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An employer can always amend an employment contract for the benefit of an employee. Minor modifications to employment contracts of employees to their detriment can be made without following any specific procedure. In case of substantial...
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The transfer of an undertaking in itself is not a valid reason for dismissal; either for the transferor or transferee. However, they retain their right to terminate the employment contract for reasons other than the transfer, provided they ...
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The transferee and the transferor must inform and consult the staff delegation before the decision to transfer is made. If there is no staff delegation, the employees must be informed directly. ...
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The information that must be provided is the following: the actual or proposed date of the transfer; the reasons for the transfer; the legal, economic and social consequences of the transfer for the employees; and the measures cont...
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Consultation means the exchange of views and establishment of dialogue between staff representatives and employer with a view to reaching an agreement on the employer’s proposals. The law does not prescribe the manner of consultation. C...
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The law does not expressly provide for any specific sanction when the above procedure is not respected. Nonetheless, according to the legislation regarding staff delegations, any individual employer who deliberately hinders the functionin...
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The Labour Code sets out the following rules concerning the mandates of the staff delegation: If the transferred undertaking retains its autonomy, the status and function of the staff delegation remains after the transfer. If the trans...
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Employees are entitled to receive state pension benefits provided that they have contributed to the Luxembourg social security system for a sufficient period and have met the minimum conditions provided by law. Several periods count tow...
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Employers have no obligation to provide employees with access to a supplementary pension scheme. However, once a voluntary pension scheme has been introduced in an organisation, all employees meeting the membership conditions of the schem...
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An employer may fund and operate its own supplementary pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. The scheme may take one of the following forms: internal funding, by setting up book reserves for future liabilities (however, if...
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Before establishing or terminating a supplementary pension scheme or making any changes to the arrangement, the employer must inform and consult with the staff delegation. The pension arrangements are considered to form part of the working ...
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For pension schemes established in accordance with the law on supplementary pensions, the pension arrangement benefits from favourable tax status. In Luxembourg, pension scheme contributions but not payments, are subject to tax. Contr...
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The employment contract need not refer to the state pension. However, the employment contract must indicate the existence and nature of any other pension scheme (i.e. whether internal or external), whether membership is compulsory or option...
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There is no generally applicable requirement to conduct an internal investigation, except under the convention on harassment and violence at work. Under that convention, employers must set up a procedure for handling harassment and workplac...
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Luxembourg labour law does not generally require employees to report suspected misconduct. Employees can (but are not obliged to) report any suspected misconduct. They are protect...
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The law does not provide for a general obligation for an employer to investigate or a requirement concerning any specific timeline or procedural rules for conducting internal investigations. However, as the parties are obliged to apply the ...
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There is no obligation for employees to participate in an investigation conducted by the employer. However, if the employee is suspected of misconduct, the fact that he or she refuses to participate can be an aggravating factor in the decis...
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In our view, an employee could in principle be represented by a lawyer in the course of the investigation if the employer allows it. However, there is no general right f...
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There is no general obligation to provide all evidence to the employee. However, the employer is obliged to act fairly, and it is therefore advisable not to wait too long to inform the suspected employee of the relevant facts about the ongo...
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The Labour Code provides for specific protection for employees who report potential offences of bribery, traffic of influence or illegal taking of interest. It does not matter whether the unlawful activity is by the employer, a colleag...
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There are no statutory rules for dealing with low performance. If internal rules are established, the content of those rules may be freely determined by the employer and the staff delegation, if any. In particular, employee appraisals can b...
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There are no general rules imposed by law for handling employee grievances. However, in our view the principle of good faith in the application of the employment contract, as well as the employer’s obligation to protect the physical a...
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The law does not require particular wording or details about the job. However, the employer may, in certain cases and under certain conditions, request a certificate regarding the applicant’s criminal record, which details certain decisio...
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Employment applications are not highly regulated. Therefore, the employer enjoys a high degree of flexibility in terms of the questions that job applicants may be asked during the application process. In the same way, the employer may verif...
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Probationary periods are permitted when the employment relationship is either for an indefinite duration or will last more than 180 days. The probationary period mu...
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There are no special rules relating to dismissal during a probationary period. Employees under a probationary period can be dismissed for the same reasons as other employees. If at the end of the probationary period the employer...
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Jobs applicants may bring claims against the prospective employer, though such claims are v...
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There are two categories of foreign workers: (i) EU citizens and nationals, and (ii) third-country nationals. EU Citizens, EEA nationals and Swiss nationals To enter Luxembourg territory for less than three months, an EU citiz...
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In addition to documents and records that an employer is normally obliged to keep in a normal employment rel...
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Yes. If the employer wishes to keep such records, it must provide the candidate a privacy n...
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Pursuant to Mexican federal labour law, employers can, at their sole discretion, set forth the necessary requirements to be met for e...
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The law in Mexico presumes the existence of an employment relationship between the person who performs a service and the person who receives it in return for payment or compensation. The law says that an employment relationship means the pe...
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Mexican employment law does not distinguish between different types of employees, such as blue-collar or white-collar employees. However, the law does establish special categories of jobs, as follows: employees in position of trust (e.g. m...
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If directors, managers, supervisors, officers or other persons in positions of trust are contracted to be in a subordinate position vis-à-vis the employer and they form an integral part of the org...
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It is possible for the employer and the employee to agree part time working arrangements provided the employee will be properly remunerated and his...
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As a general principle, the law says that an employment agreement will be regarded as indefinite term contract unless the nature of the service to be provided calls for an employment agreement for a specific job or term. T...
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A fixed-term employment contract may be executed only if the nature of the services to be performed requires it or if its purpose is the temporary replacement of another employee, due to his or her incapacity, vacation or temporary absence....
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Federal labour legislation includes a general prohibition on outsourcing personnel through employment agencies. Outsourcing is only allowed for (i) specialized services or (ii) complementary services (those provided between companies of the...
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Supply or secondment of personnel is not allowed by Mexican labour law, which provides that an employer may only provide specialized services to another employer (unrelated to the beneficiary employer’s corporate purpose or main economic ...
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An individual employment agreement must contain the basic employment conditions, which are: the name, nationality, sex, age, marital status, Tax ID, Population Code and domicile of the employee and the employer; whether the relation...
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Job offer letters are not regulated in Mexican employment law, but they...
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The contract should preferably be made in Spanish, but there are no rules about the language of employment contracts. In the case of a labou...
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Mexican employment law mandates a series of minimum benefits that must be provided by the employer to its employees from the time the employment relationship is established and these will be implied in the contract. They include the followi...
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It is possible for the contract of employment expressly to incorporate terms from other agr...
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In Mexico, employment relationships are bilateral, and therefore as a general rule, it is not possible for the employer to change or modify the terms and conditions of an employment relationship unilaterally, unless they are for the benefit...
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Employers will often provide a number of policies to employees, depending on the type of organisation and its business priorities. Some of these will confer benefits on employees by enhancing the minimum benefits required by employment law ...
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Mexican employment law establishes a minimum wage which is set each year by the National Minimum Wage Commission. Mexican law provides that the minimum wage must be sufficient to meet the normal basic material, social and cultural needs of ...
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For the purposes of the minimum wage, the Mexican Constitution provides that the National Minimum Wage Commission, composed of employers, employees and government, is responsible for setting the minimum wage every year. The minimum wage rat...
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Tax Mexico’s individual income tax rates are progressive; for 2022, the low end is 1.92% and up to 35% on the high end depending on employee’s total earnings. These rates have been the same since 2021. Employees pay income tax on their ...
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As of February 2022, EUR 100,000 equals approximately MXN 2,309,532.77. An employee with...
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According to Mexican employment law, there are no rules governing the payment of bonuses. An employer may determine the type and size of the bonuses that it grants to employees. The most common bonuses applicable in practice are those relat...
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The only mandatory benefits that Mexican employment law establishes are: a year-end bonus equivalent to at least 15 days’ wages; an annual holiday p...
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Employers are free to decide the benefits to make available to employees. The most common be...
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Mexican employment law sets out the maximum number of working hours in a work day or shift. The maximum is eight hours for daytime work, seven hours for night-time work and seven hours and 30 minutes for a combination of the two. This mea...
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It is not possible to exceed the limit on daily working hours through agreement. Under Mexican law any provision, whether written or verbal, that sets out a longer work shift than permitted by law or a work shift that is inhumane (i.e. exce...
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No employee is exempt from the working time rules in Mexico. If an employee works overtime, it must comp...
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Mexican employment law does not include any rules regarding the monitoring of employees’ working time. However, if there is a dispute, the employer must prove the duration of the work shift and show the timekeeping records of the employee...
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There is no legal guidance regarding agile working schemes. The em...
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There are no rules concerning t...
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Employees are legally required to work overtime if there is a situation that seriously endangers the workplace or human life, such as an act o...
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Mexican employment law establishes that, where the employee exceeds the daily limit on working time, the first nine hours of overtime per week must be paid at twice the ordinary hourly rate for normal working hours. Any additional hours e...
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Mexican employment law establishes that, in the course of a whole-day shift, a worker must be allowed a rest of at least 30 minutes. Th...
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Workers have the right not to be treated badly or dismissed for refusing to work more than the limit on daily or weekly working hours or for trying to exercise their rights in relation to working hours and rest. ...
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Employees are entitled to annual leave by law, the length of which depends on seniority, as follows: for one year of work, twelve days’ holiday; for two years of work, fourteen days’ holiday; for three years of work, sixteen days...
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By law, employees are entitled to a holiday premium of at least 25 per cent of their daily rate of pay during their annual holiday, payable to them by their employer during the holiday period. Employees who have irregular working hours have...
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Employees have the right to paid time off work on public holidays. If the employee works on a public holiday, they must be paid triple their ordinary rate. These rights are in additional to annual leave. The public holidays are as follo...
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Social Security law sets out the right to sick leave and sick pay. It is mandatory for all employers to register their employees with the Mexican Social Security Institute (‘IMSS’ for its acronym in Spanish), and once this occurs, the I...
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Maternity leave consists of 42 days before and 42 days after the birth, for a total of 12 weeks. It is possible for women to allocate up to four of the six weeks of their pre-birth leave to the post-birth leave period, which means that a wo...
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No additional types of...
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All employers must meet minimum health and safety requirements on their premises. Health and safety requirements vary depending on the work to be performed, the size of the workplace and the number of employees. Mexican labour law require...
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The labour and social security authorities are empowered to issue safety regulations and to inspect employers’ premises in order to assess compliance with minimum work safety standards, along with special industry-specific standards. They...
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If the Mexican labour authorities perform an inspection and find breaches, the employer may incur a fine. Labour-related fines range from 250 to 5,000 units of measure; the unit of measure, which is periodically updated, is approximately US...
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It is possible that an employer will be held jointly or even solely liable for the activities of third-party contractors if the employer does not ensure the contractor or anyone else who enters its facilities complies with the special regul...
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The Ministry of Labour and the Social Security authorities must be notified of any work-related accidents or fatalities within 72 hours after their occurrence. ...
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Mexican law and the Constitution of Mexico prohibit any discrimination based on: ethnic or national origin; skin colour; nationality; age; culture; gender; religious or political belief; disability; social or e...
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Mexican employment law expressly sets forth that distinctions, exclusions or preferences based on the genuine qualifications required for a specific job will not be considered discriminatory (i.e. in circumstances in which employees or cand...
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Mexican labour law does ...
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Employers with more than 50 employees must have suitable facilities for persons with disabilities. Employers are prohibited from refusing to hire employees based on religion, but th...
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The general rule is that harassment in any form or against any person is prohibited. Harassment could be sexual or general and is prohibited by both employment and criminal law. Employers must not commit or tolerate harassment in the wo...
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Employees who are or have been victims of discrimination, victimisation or retaliation may contact the Federal Workers’ Protection Agency. This authorit...
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Employees have the right to appear before the labour authorities to file a claim against the employer if the employer or members of the employer’s family, senior management, or administrative personnel commit, in the course of employment,...
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Victims of discrimination can bring a claim before the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (‘CONAPRED’ for its acronym in Spanish). In proceedings before CONAPRED, the burden of proof lies on the employer to show that ...
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Employees have the right to appear before the labour authorities to file a claim against the employer if the employer, members of the employer’s family or its senio...
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There is no specific ...
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A regulation in Mexico aimed at preventing mental health issues and psychological risk factors in the workplace entered into force in 2019. The regulation r...
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In practice, discrimination claims are not common in Mexico, as employees prefer to file cl...
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Federal anti-discrimination law includes provisions for an award of damages by the administrative labour authorities, but is not common for the authorities to award economic compensation. I...
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There is no special protection for general employee information in Mexican labour law. However, teleworking regulations enacted in 2021 established that the mechanisms, operating systems, and any technology used to monitor teleworking must...
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Breach of the data protection rules may result in any of the following sanctions: a written order to comply with requests to access, rectify or remove personal data; a fine ranging from 100 to 320,000 updated units of mea...
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If the data processing rules are complied with, consent for processing personal data is not required if the data is necessary to fulfil obligations under a legal relationship between the employer and employee. In general, an employer should...
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No specific restrictions are required, as long as employees are made aware of any monitoring via the Privacy Notice that the employee is required to provide to the employee about data processing. For accountability purposes, it is recommend...
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The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information, and Protection of Personal Data (‘INAI’) has not provided specific guidance on the use of social media, and we are not aware of any relevant case law. This means that the em...
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Mexican employment law does not grant any protection for whistleblowers and employers are not required to put systems in place to allow for anonymous reporting. Because there are no regulations in this area, there are no limits on the types...
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Employers can, at their sole discretion, stipulate their requirements for employment. One of those requirements could be the execution of a confidentiality agreement in addition to the ...
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Mexican law expressly prohibits covenants, agreements or any other mechanisms whereby a person ‘waives temporarily or permanently the exercise of any business activity’ and it grants every indivi...
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The employer can restrict use of confidential information by the employer after the employment relationship has ended by providing, in ...
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The most recent opinion of the Supreme Court of Justice is that non-compete agreements are enforceable in Mexico provided they are limited in time...
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Mexican employment law defines a trade union as an association of workers incorporated for the study, improvement and protection of their interests. Unions are classified as: Guilds formed by workers of the same profession, occu...
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Trade unions are a substantial and important sector in the political organisation of Mexico. They strongly influence the Mexican Congress and have introduced and supported most of the social legislation. Trade unions in Mexico have represen...
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Mexican employment law grants rights both to coalitions of workers and unions. Coalitions of workers are temporary associations of workers for the protection of their rights and interests. Unions are permanent associations of at least 20 wo...
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Employees have the right to have their common interests represented and this role may be fulfilled by representatives. Employment law provides for five mandatory employer-employee committees, which comprise representatives from the empl...
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The law permits strikes involving the collective temporary suspension of work by a coalition of workers for the following limited objectives: to achieve a balance between the labour rights of the employees with the employer’s ri...
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An employer may dismiss an employee without liability only if the employee is engaged in any of the following, as set out in law: the use of false documentation to secure employment; dishonest or violent behaviour on the job; dishonest or ...
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The employee may appeal his or her termination to the Federal Center of Conciliation and Labour Registry, which is in charge of carrying out pre-judicial conciliations between employees and employers. The employee may request either reinsta...
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If the employer has legal grounds for termination it must give the employee written notice clearly stating the cause and date of termination. The notice may be delivered by the employer at the moment the dismissal takes place or communicate...
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There is no special protection for employees against dismissal on particular grounds. The only ones applicable are the specific causes established in law. These are that an employer may dismiss an employee without liability only if the empl...
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Written notice setting out the cause and date of termination must be given to the employee either by the employer or through the competent Labour Court. The employer should deliver the termination notice to the employee at the moment the di...
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There is no statutory notice period and therefore the employee is not entitled to a payment in lieu. B...
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If an employee resigns, he or she will be entitled t...
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It is not possible to retire an employee compulsorily. The retirement age in Mexico is 65...
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Severance An employer in Mexico may dismiss an employee without liability only if there are justified grounds for dismissal. In such a case, there is no obligation on the employer to pay the employee severance. By contrast, if the terminati...
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The employer may settle with the employee during the pre-judicial conciliation stage before the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labour Registry. This authority issues conciliatory agreements ...
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Employment law applies in the same way regardless of how many employees are to be dismissed. If the employer believes it is clear that the business is experiencing serious, unaffordable costs, it must notify the competent Labour Court i...
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If the employer believes it is clear that the business is experiencing serious, unaffordable costs, it must notify the competent Labour Court in writing giving its reasons. The Labour Court will assess whether ...
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It is good practice for the employer to first of all explain the economic reality of the situation to the relevant trade union, but this is not an obligation. Once that has happened the employer ...
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If the employer fails to inform the labour authorities of its decision to dismiss employees, the Labour Court will not approve the dismissals. If the employer dismisses employees without ...
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As a general rule there is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Mexican law. This means that the employer is not oblig...
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No, for collective dismissals employees are entitled to the same statutory severance package as if the termination is to one individual, whi...
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If there is a share sale or transfer, technically, there is no effect upon em...
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Sale of a business There is a concept in law of ‘employer substitution’, under which the employment relationship is not affected if it is considered to be a ‘subrogation’. According to employment and social security law, for an empl...
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Where there is an automatic transfer of employees by means of a substitution of the employer, the new employer must honour the existing terms of employment as agreed between the transferor and the employees, including full acknowledgement o...
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Employees may not refuse to transfer provided that all of the terms and conditions ...
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Terms The terms and conditions set out in employment contracts must remain unchanged after transfer. The transferee may grant improved benefits, but never lesser ones. Benefits All existing terms and conditions of employment, including cont...
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All labour and employment-related liabilities transfer. However, the transferor continues to be j...
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Collective agreements must be transferred and honoured in the same way as other terms and conditions. Existing collective agreem...
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The transferee must honour the conditions of employment, plus any acquired rights enjoyed by the transf...
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An employee in Mexico may be dismissed at any time, even without just cause...
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There is no obligation to consult, which means that negotiations between the transferor and transferee can be undertaken freely. A...
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There is no o...
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There is n...
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There is no o...
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Mexican labour law does not provide for work councils....
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According to Mexican employment and social security law, social security is designed to ensure the right to health, medical care, protection of livelihood and the social services necessary for individual and collective welfare and the grant...
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According to Mexican employment and social security law, emplo...
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An employer may fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. The rules and regulations applying to t...
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In Mexico, private retirement and pension plans are not governed by Mexican employment law. They are therefore considered unregulated. However, if benefits of this kind are granted to employees, this creates a precedent and therefore a lega...
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In Mexico, tax laws grant certain tax concessions for pension arrangements that are organised pursuant to Mexican law. The main tax advantages of a formal pension scheme are the ability to deduct employer contributions and the preferential ...
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Where an employer operates a pension scheme, it must provide a written statement of the essential terms of the scheme. This must include...
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There is no specific legal guidance as to how to conduct investigations. However, considering that employers have a duty to prevent and discipline misconduct by their employees, it is common practice to initiate an investigation as soon as ...
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Employees have the legal obligation to report misconduct and improprieties that could damage or harm the interests or safety of co-workers, managers, or the employer’s facilities. The employer’s internal work regulations and policies sh...
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There is no specific legal guidance on this. However, an investigation must be conducted as soon as practicable considering that the statute of limitations to terminate an employee is 30 days starting from the date of the misconduct or from...
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There is no legal obligation or guidance on this. However, it is common practice for internal work rules to establish that employees must participate in workplace investigations upo...
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There is no legal guidance on this and it is not common practice. ...
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The employer is under no legal obligation to provide the suspected employee with all of the ...
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Mexican employment law does not grant any protection for whistle-blowers, and employers are not required to put systems in place to allow for anonymous reporting. Because there are no regulations in this area, there are no limits ...
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Federal labour law provides that trial or initial training periods may be established, which may not exceed 30 days (except for executive or managerial positions). During this period the employer can ensure that the employee has all the kno...
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There are no statutory rules about how grievances should be handled by the employer. Usually, employee grievances are received by the human resources department, and there may be internal policies regarding procedures and follow-up on these...
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There is no specific law addressing the application procedure in the Netherlands, but there is a non-binding code of conduct on how employers should act during the application process. Several collective labour agreements regulate the infor...
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There are different checks that an employer may carry out during the application procedure. The employer may ask for: References from third parties (previous employers) and from other sources. The information obtained must be directly rela...
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Generally, employment may be subject to a probationary period. However, it is prohibited to include a probationary period in fixed-term contracts with a duration of six months or less. Probationary...
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During the probationary period there is no protection against dismissal....
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer, based on one of the characteristics protected by equality legislation. The protected characteristics are sex, gender ...
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There is a standard process to be followed when employing foreign workers. The employer is obliged to recruit personnel initially in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland. Only if the employer proves that it cannot find suitab...
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The employer must ensure that its records include a copy of the proof of identity of all foreign employees and proof that they a...
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Any records that qualify as personal data under the EU General Data Protection Regulation may be ke...
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Employers cannot ask questions which could lead to discrimination, for example a quest...
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Generally speaking, there are two main types of workers in the Netherlands: employees; and independent contractors. An employee is someone who, through a contract of employment, undertakes to perform work for salary for a certain p...
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Dutch employment law does not tend to draw distinctions between types of employ...
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A director may either be employed or self-employed. If self-employed, a director must be considered as an independent contractor. A distinction is made between ordinary directors and directors appointed by the relevant company authority (us...
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There is specific legislation allowing part-time workers to challenge less favourable treatment by reason of their part-time status. Differential treatment is unlawful unless it can be objectively justified by the employer. Changes in worki...
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There is legislation allowing fixed-term employees to challenge less favourable treatment than a comparable employee by reason of their fixed-term status. Such treatment is unlawful unless it can be objective...
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A fixed-term employment contract will convert into an indefinite-term contract when an employee has been continuously employed for three years or more on a series of successive fixed-term contracts. There is a maximum limit of three fixed-t...
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An agency worker, often called a ‘temp’, is an individual who signs up with an employment agency to work for one or more of its clients. Usually, agency workers carry out their duties in the client’s workplace alongside its own employ...
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If an employer has been registered at the Chamber of Commerce as a company that places employees at the disposal of another company as part of its activities, it may temporarily assign an employee to work for another ...
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In the Netherlands a verbally concluded employment contract is valid. However, the employer is obliged by law to provide the employee with the following specific information in writing: name and domicile of both parties; location of employ...
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In the Netherlands, an employer can choose to issue an o...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts. However, in practice the employment contract must be drafted in a...
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If the parties do not enter into a written employment agreement, various provisions of Dutch employment law will be implied into the contract in the areas that are not agreed. The most significant implied term is the principal of the ‘goo...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. These terms will be binding on th...
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Whether changes to an existing employment agreement can be made depends on whether the employment agreement contains a clause allowing the employer to unilaterally change the employment conditions. If it does, employment conditions can pote...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collected together in a staff handbook). These would typically include: a health and safety policy; disciplinary and grievance policies; an equal opportunities an...
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Employers must pay workers a specified minimum rate of pay, which is updated on 1 January and 1 July each year in line with inflation. There are no exceptions for smaller employers. The minimum wage rates are gross amounts per month, prorat...
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In terms of wages generally, as opposed to the minimum wage, ...
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Tax Employees pay income tax on their salary, including any benefits in kind. The tax year in the Netherlands runs from 1 January to 31 December. The employee’s tax liability is calculated by applying the tax rates of ‘Box 1’, which i...
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For an employee with an income of EUR 100,000, in the tax year for 2020, the first EUR 34,712 of income is taxable at 9.70%. The next EUR 33,795 is taxable at 37.35%, with the remainder taxed at 49.5%. National insurance contribut...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any discretion as to whether to pay a bonus, or the amount of any bonus...
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Employers must provide employees with an 8% holiday allowance on top of the gross annual salary. For those employees earning at least three times the minimum wage, it is po...
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Employers are free to decide the benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits offered include: private...
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There is a limit on daily working hours of 12 hours per shift. There is also a limit on weekly working hours. Workers should work no more than 60 hours per week, 55 hours per week within a period of four consecutive weeks and 48 hours per w...
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There are various exceptions to the limits on working hours for certain sectors, certain types of activity and for unforeseen or exceptional events, for example, dredging work, performing arts and work in cinemas. With regard to workers in ...
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The regulations regarding informing employees about work schedules, registration of working times, and working time limits an...
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The employer must establish a policy regarding working and rest hours for its employees. The actual working and rest hour patterns of the employee, resulting from the policy, must be recorded by the employer. The employer must keep a clear ...
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Self-managing interdisciplinary teams Having self-managing interdisciplinary teams is allowed under Dutch law, but is not encouraged. As Dutch dismissal law is very strict, employers must maintain an extensive personnel file on each employe...
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There are no rules concerning the amount of overtime work, ot...
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That depends on a number of factors, including the reason for overtime work, the frequency, the terms of the employment contract, and the j...
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There is no specific rate of pay for ...
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Workers are entitled to a minimum daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period. In each consecutive period of seven days, the rest period may be shortened once to a minimum of eight hours if necessary for b...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be a claim by the worker, a civil penalty or a criminal prosecution. If the employer compels its workers to work more than the limit on daily and weekly...
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Employees have the right to a statutory minimum of four times the agr...
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An employee is entitled to continued payment of salary during holidays. The amount of the salary should be equal to the salary that would have been paid during a normal working week. This includes, for exampl...
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There is no statutory right to paid time off work on public holidays and the issue of whether an employee must work on a public holiday is usually covered in the employment contract or by collective labour agreement. It is common for an emp...
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The employer may reserve the right to withhold salary for the first two days of illness each time the employee is absent on sick leave. After those first two days of sickness, the employer must continue to pay at least 70% of the maximum da...
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Maternity leave Pregnant employees are entitled to take up to 16 weeks of maternity leave, regardless of length of service. The right to maternity leave exists from six weeks before the day after the expected date of childbirth (the ‘ED...
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Urgent leave and other short leave of absence Employees are entitled to paid leave for a short, reasonable, period if they cannot perform duties owing to exceptional personal circumstances, such as hospitalisation of a relative, death of ...
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An employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. This general duty of care applies to all different forms of employment relations with certain exceptions. In general, an employer has the responsibi...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation and...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Work (the ‘SZW Inspectorate’) can impose various measures to make sure that an employer complies with the law and repairs any breach...
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An employer can be liable for the acts of third-party contractors, even if an accident occurs at a location the employer has no connection with or control over. For example, i...
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There is a legal obligation for the employer to notify the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Work (the ‘S...
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The following characteristics are protected by discrimination law: age; disability and chronic illness; gender (i...
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An employer may indirectly treat an employee unequally if there is an objective justification. The employer must be able to demonstrate that the unequal treatment is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. The question whether ...
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It is unlawful to discriminate indirectly by applying a provision, criterion or practice to everyone equally, which puts a person with a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage. This will not amount to unlawful discrimination ...
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The employer must make reasonable adjustments to enable an employee with a disability to perform the work. This can also mean that the employer must offer the employee another position. In the case of a disabled job applicant, the employer ...
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Yes. The law specifically states that the prohibition of unequal treatment includes a prohibition of harassment in general and sexual harassment in particular. Harassment is defined as unwanted conduct, based on a discriminatory ground, wit...
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Yes. The law states that employees w...
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If a claim for discrimination is successful, an employment tribunal can: make a declaration that the employee was discriminated against; order the employer to pay compensation; enter an order allowing the employee to engage in the practice...
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In cases of prohibited discrimination by the employer, the claimant (i.e. the employee) generally bears the burden of proof. In some discrimination laws, however, an exception has been made to this general rule. Where such an exception appl...
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An employer is directly liable for the discriminatory acts of employees who exercise authority on behalf of the emp...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences at the moment. However, there is a legislative proposal for an Equal Payment (Men and Women) Act. We expect that this will come into force within the few ...
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Employers are required to safeguard both the physical and mental health of their employees. The employer should have a policy regarding the prevention of excessive psychosocial load, which should include the prevention of harassment, sexual...
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Discrimination claims are not very common in the Netherlands. More common are complaints to the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, which is authorised to make non-binding rulings. Although the rulings are non-binding, the Institute doe...
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It is not possible to state what typical amounts of compensation would be in general, as this depends on all the circumstances of each case. ...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) are applicable to any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for use of social media that brings the employer into disrepute or is damagi...
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A law protecting whistleblowers came into effect on 1 July 2016. Pursuant to this law, employers that employ at least 50 employees must implement a whistleblowers’ provision or scheme. The general principle of this law is that an employee...
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Every employee has the obligation to act as befits a ‘good employee’. This general rule imposes an obligation on the employee to, for example, provide loyal and faithful service. As a result, an employee must not disclose the employer�...
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Employees have an obligation to act as befits ‘good employees’ and this means that, during working hours, employees must devote the whole of their time and attention to their job. Taking a job outside working hours will not be a breach ...
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Employees are allowed to use the experience and skills gained during their employment in their future careers. The use of this information cannot be restricted. To ensure that trade secrets and other confidential information are not sha...
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Employers who wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition with them during employment or once employment has ended must include an express contractual clause restricting the employee’s activities. Such clauses are known as �...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers or employers whose principal purpose is to regulate relations between employers and workers in the workplace. The employers’ trade unions are organised by industry or sector and membershi...
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Around 18% of employees in the Netherlands were trade union members in 2020. This percentage dropped by approximately 6% in 2021, resulting in the lowest rate of unionisation since 1966. In particular, younger workers (age 15 to 25) are les...
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A collective bargaining agreement may require the employer to consult the union in negotiations on employment conditions or dismissals. An employer may work with a trade union where that union is recognised by employees for collective barga...
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Works councils The works council is the statutory body for facilitating employee participation in an undertaking (i.e. organisation). It represents employees and promotes their interests, whilst taking the interest of the organisation int...
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A strike that has the support of, or is organised by, a trade union is considered an organised strike. Generally, all the employees or at least the majority will join the strike. A strike will only be considered to be ‘off limits’ i...
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In general, the employer cannot give notice to terminate the employment agreement without having obtained prior approval from the relevant authority, which is the court or the the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemers Verzekeringen (the ‘UWV’...
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Employees are protected from unlawful termination by the fact that employment agreements cannot be terminated without their explicit consent or without prior approval from the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemers Verzekeringen (the ‘UWV’, an...
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In cases where the employer has legal grounds for terminating an employment contract, in order to terminate the employment agreement as soon as possible and without difficulty, the parties will often enter into negotiations about the condit...
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An employer cannot (in principle) give notice of termination during: pregnancy; maternity leave; the first two years of illness; or military service. In addition, an employer cannot (in principle) give notice of t...
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Both in the court and under the UWV procedure (the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemers Verzekeringen, or ‘UWV’ is an autonomous administrative authority commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) – the length of th...
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The employer cannot unilaterally decide to make a payment in lieu of notice. If the UWV (i.e. the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemers Verzekeringen, an autonomous administrative authority commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Emplo...
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If an employee resigns, it is important for the employer to verify that the employee in fact intended to resign. Voluntary termination by the employee of his or her employment has serious consequences (e.g. loss of dismissal protection, soc...
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Most employees are entitled to receive a state pension benefit, the ‘AOW’. The entitlement exists currently at the age of 66 years and four months but will be increased in small steps. The retirement age will be 66 and seven months in 2...
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On termination of employment the employer must make a final payment to the employee that includes for example the holiday allowance and a 13th month bonus. Untaken annual leave should also be paid for, except where agreed otherwise. Sev...
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An employer can settle claims simply by entering into a settlement agreement with the employee, specifying the details of any claims and agreeing to a full and final discharge in relation to those claims. A settlement agreement must be ...
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An employer that intends to dismiss (i) at least 20 employees, (ii) within the same geographical area and (iii) within a timeframe of three months, triggers a collective dismissal. As a consequence, it must notify the UWV (the Uitvoeringsin...
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The UWV (the Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemers Verzekeringen, an autonomous administrative authority commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) must be notified of the intended dismissals at the same time as the trade unio...
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Where the employer is required to request the works council for advice and consult with the employee trade unions, it is best practise to negotiate a possible social plan with the employee trade unions. A social plan is generally a docume...
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If the employer fails to provide the information it is required to give to the UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemers Verzekeringen, which is an autonomous administrative authority commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment...
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In the event of an individual or collective dismissal based on economic grounds, the employer cannot randomly select employees for redundancy (unless there is only one person with the role). The selection must be done by applying the ‘pri...
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Employees are entitled to the ...
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There is no specific protection for employees on share takeovers where only a transfer of stock takes place and this does not change the identity of the employer. The rules protecting employees on business transfers and outsourcing do not...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees have a right, in principle, to transfer to work for the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of an existing business that for...
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For the old employer: It must provide information to and consult with employee representative bodies in a timely way. If it dismisses any employees for a reason connected with the transfer, the dismissals will be automatically v...
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Employees are entitled to object but if they do so, they will not transfer to the new employer and their employment contract will end by operation of law at the time of the transfer. The employee will then...
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Terms The rights and obligations (both written and oral) to which employees are entitled by virtue of their employment agreement with the transferor will transfer by operation of law to the transferee. Benefits All rights and obligati...
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The transferor and transferee remain jointly liable for a period of one year in relation to any rights of employees which arose before the transfer. Therefore, an employee may make a claim to either th...
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All rights and obligations based on collective labour agreements (CLAs) transfer by operation of law. Transferred employees will therefore remain subject to the relevant CLA until it expires. However if, after the transfer, the transferee e...
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After a transfer, the transferee may have different groups of employees with different employment conditions. If so, the transferee may try to agree on an organisational package with the transferred employees, which will apply to all employ...
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The transferor cannot dismiss employees solely by reason of the transfer: such a dismissal would be void. Consequently, if the transferor carries out dismissals on these grounds prior to the transfer, ‘dismissed’ employees will still au...
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Employers must inform and consult with an employee representative body. Generally speaking, this is the works council but can also include representative unions based on an applicable collective labour agreement. Where there is no works cou...
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The consultation starts with the employer providing the following information – normally, to the works council: the proposed decision to transfer the undertaking, the proposed date when it is to take place and the reasons for it; ...
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The works council (if one exists) must be given the opportunity to advise in a timely manner on each proposal concerning, for example, significant changes in the organisation, changes in the allocation of internal powers, or transfer of con...
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If the employer does not follow the works council’s advice, it must suspend implementation of its proposal for one month after notifying the works council of the final decision. Meanwhile, the works council may appeal to the Enterprise Di...
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There is no specific rule in the Netherlands providing for a transfer of the works council to the transferee. It is nevertheless generally assumed that the employees’ co-determination rights, and therefore the works council, transfer to t...
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The state pension provides for a life-long state old-age pension under law (‘AOW’). The AOW pension age is being gradually increased to reach 67 in 2021 (in 2019 it is 66 and 4 months). As from 2022, it will be linked to life expectancy...
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The pension scheme must be administered by a separate legal entity, that is, a pension fund, insurance company, a premium pension institution (‘PPI’), a General Pension Fund (‘APF’) or an IORP (Institution for Occupational Retiremen...
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An employer may fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. However, the pension scheme must be administered by a separate legal entity, that is, a pension fund, insurance company or a premium pension instituti...
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In the case of a mandatory, industry-wide pension scheme, employers’ and employees’ representatives (social partners) in the relevant sector determine the content of the pension scheme. As a rule, they also appoint the members of the pe...
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In the Netherlands, the EET regime (‘Exempt contributions, Exempt investment income and capital gains, Taxable benefit’) applies to qualifying pension schemes. In order to qualify, strict conditions apply, both for collective and indivi...
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Within one month of starting employment, the employer must inform the employee in writing whether it will, or will not, offer the employee a pension agreement. In the majority of cases, the pension agreement is drafted as a paragraph in the...
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There are no statutory rules on conducting investigations, so an employer is never required to conduct an investigation per se. However, in cases of misconduct that the employer feels may warrant a summary dismissal of the employee ...
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There is no specific statutory obligation for employees to report suspected misconduct. However, a key element of Dutch employment law is a requirement that all employees must behave as befits a ‘good employee’. This is a broad ...
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An employer must start an investigation without delay, meaning as soon as the employer becomes aware of the misconduct. The employer may of course take a day or two to make sure that the full scope of the alleged misconduct is clear before...
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Employees are obliged to participate in an investigation insofar as they can be required to give their version of events. If the employee is suspected of misconduct, the employer must confront the employee with the alleged misconduct and al...
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Yes, an employee always has the right to be represented by a lawyer in the course of the investigation. While it does not happen frequently in practice, an employer cannot refuse to allow a lawyer to advise and represent an employee who i...
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The employer must confront the employee with the alleged misconduct and present all the evidence gathered during the investigation. The employee must be provided all the relevant facts and evidence that the employer has, so that the empl...
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The Netherlands has a law protecting whistleblowers. Under this law, employers that employ at least 50 employees must implement a whistleblowers’ provision or scheme. The general principle is that an employee who has a suspicion of wrongd...
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An employer must give underperforming employees the chance to improve their performance. The employer also has a statutory duty to allow the employee to undertake any training or other form of education that is reasonably necessary...
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There are no statutory rules on how grievances should be handled under Dutch law. The employer is however obliged to take each grievance seriously and to investigate any grievances that require further investigation. As part of the Dutc...
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There are no statutory legal requirements with regards to what wording and/or job details must be included in advertisements for vacant positions. Privacy law requires that personal informatio...
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Employers may consider carrying out the following pre-employment checks: Professional references – employers will typically make inquiries of previous employers or other professional referees, as advised by the employee. The employer mus...
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In New Zealand employers with 19 or fewer employees can use a 90-day trial period. All employers can use a probationary period. The key difference is that an employee who is dismisse...
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An employer who wishes to dismiss an employee during a probationary period must follow a fair consultation process before making its final decision and must be able to justify the decision. ...
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Job applicants can bring discrimination complaints against prospective employers. If an employee, or prospective employee, is treated differently from other employees who possess the same qualifications because of one of the prohibite...
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If an employer wishes to employ a migrant worker, it should make an offer of employment subject to the employee obtaining a work visa from Immigration New Zealand. Applicants will generally have to demonstrate that they are in good health a...
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Right to work documentation must be checked and copied before an individual begins employment. Copies should be signed and dated and should include a note that the original was seen. The employer should also retain all ...
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Employers can retain the records of unsuccessful applicants for as long as they require it for a lawful purpose connected with the function or activity of the orga...
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New Zealand law does not contain a definite list of questions which employers cannot ask candidates at interviews. However, the law does provide that it is generally unlawful for employers to discriminate against candidates on certain prohi...
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An employee is defined in employment law as a person who works under a contract of service. However, this definition has been extended and amplified by numerous court decisions. The question of whether a person...
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Employment law in New Zealand applies equall...
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As an office holder, a director owes additional legal duties to the company. The appointment, removal, conduct, pay, duties and liabilities of directors are regulated by New Zealand company law, common l...
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Part-time employees are generally entitled to the same protection as full-time employees. It is unlawful to treat part-time employees differently because of their part-time status. Employees have a right to request flexible working ar...
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In New Zealand there are specific rules in relation to fixed-term employment. An employer and an employee must agree in writing that the employment will end at the close of a specified date or pe...
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Failure to comply with the legal requirements for fixed term agreements will render the fixed term ineffectual and the individual will be deemed a permanent employee with the right to bring ...
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Temporary agency workers who are supplied to a business typically enter into an employment agreement with the agency. The agency will also contract with the client (i.e. the end user) for the provision of those staff. However, the true iden...
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An employer can temporarily assign an employee to another organisation. This is usually called a secondment. There is often some form of agreement that the secondee will return to a position with the original employer once the secondm...
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In New Zealand an employee is legally entitled to a written employment agreement. The employer must keep a signed copy of the employment agreement for all employees and provide a copy to the employee. Employers may be subject to a pen...
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It is common practice in New Zealand for the employer to issue an offer letter to the employee, in addition to the employment agreement, although practices v...
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There are no statutory requirements about the language of the employment agreement. We recommend that an employment agreement is only produced in one language so tha...
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The law in New Zealand specifically stipulates that all parties to an employment relationship must deal with each other in good faith and not do anything (directly or indirectly) to mislead or deceive each other. As part of that duty, parti...
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No. It is possible for an employment agreement to expressly incorpor...
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Employers can only change contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change. Changes that are agreed should be confirmed in writing and signed off by individual employees or reflected in a variation to the collective agr...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collected together in a staff handbook) covering areas such as privacy, health & safety, code of condu...
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Employers must pay workers a specified minimum hourly rate. There are three minimum wage rates, as set out below. The adult minimum wage applies to all employees aged 16 and over who are not ‘starting-out workers’ or trainees, and all e...
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There is no requirement for wages to be adjusted automatically in line with inflation. ...
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Tax Employees pay income tax on salary, wages, benefits or taxable pensions. The tax year in New Zealand is 1 April to 31 March. Income tax is automatically deducted under the PAYE (pay as you earn) system. PAYE deductions...
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As at February 2022, EUR 100,000 equates to approximately NZD 171,000. Using the tax rates for 2021, on gross annual income of NZD 171,000, the amount payable can be broken down as follows: Tax Bracket Attributable Income Tax Component R...
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There are no generally applicable rules to the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or discretionary. If a bonus is payable at an employer’s sole discretion, that discretion must b...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular benefits, other than in respect of KiwiSaver contribut...
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Employers are free to decide upon the benefits they wish to offer their employees. The most common benefits offered include: bonuses or commission; private medical insurance; income protection insurance; enhanced ho...
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The maximum number of hours (exclusive of overtime) must be no more than 40 hours per week unless the employer and employee agree otherwise, which is common. There is no statutory daily limit on working hours, but if the maximum numbe...
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As detailed in section 5.1, working hours in excess of 40 hours per week can be set by agreement. ...
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These rules apply to all employees. ...
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Under legislation in New Zealand employers are required to keep records in sufficient detail to demonstrate that the employer has complied with minimum entitlement provisions relating to the employees’ wages, time, holiday ...
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Employees can request a change to their hours of work, days of work or place of work by requesting a flexible working arrangement with their employer. An employee’s flexible working request must contain specific information, in...
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There are no rules about the amount of overtime that can be worked. Any overtime offered or required is governed by the terms of the employee’s employment agreement. ...
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Overtime offered or required is as per the terms of the employee’s employment agreement. An employer can require an employee to work overtime where: that has been agreed to and provided for in the employment agreement; ...
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There is no specific rate of overtime pay, other than when an employee works on a public holiday, for which they must be paid at least time and a half (and also receive a day off work in lieu). Howev...
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Under a law which took effect on 6 May 2019, employers must provide breaks of a minimum length. For a typical eight hour working day, the employer must provide two paid rest breaks of ten minutes each and one half-hour unpaid meal break. Em...
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An employee who is under excessive stress and/or who is unreasonably fatigued due to his or her employer requiring excessively long hours of work can bring a claim before the Employment Relations Authority for breach of the employer’s obl...
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Employees who work full time in New Zealand are entitled to a min...
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Payment for annual holidays is at the greater of either the ‘ordinary weekly pay’ at the time the annual leave is taken, or the employee’s average weekly earnings over the 12-month period before the annual leave is taken. ‘Ordinary ...
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Employees are entitled to the benefit of eleven public holidays per annum in addition to their annual leave entitlement if the holiday falls on a day which would otherwise be a working day for the employee. These are: Christmas Day (25 Dec...
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Employees are entitled to ten days’ sick leave if: they have six months’ current continuous employment with the same employer; or they have worked for the employer for six months for: an average of at least ten hours per week; and at ...
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Parental leave is the statutory entitlement under which employees can seek time off for primary carer leave and partner leave. There have been legal changes to better recognise different family and care arrangements, and to provide greater ...
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Bereavement Leave: After six months of continuous service (or where the employee has worked for the employer for six months for an average of at least ten hours per week, and at least one hour in every week or 40 hours in every month)...
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New Zealand’s legislation on health and safety creates classes of duty holders and is focused on ‘managing risks’. The duty holders and corresponding duties are: A ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (‘PCBU’) ...
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Health and safety duties are set out in legislation, regulations, publications and policies which are implemented by ‘WorkSafe NZ’ (the ...
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‘WorkSafe NZ’ is the government body with primary responsibility for governing and enforcing health and safety obligations. WorkSafe NZ Inspectors are appointed to ensure health and safety compliance. The Inspectors have a number ...
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More than one ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (‘PCBU’), can owe concurrent duties towards the same group of wor...
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In New Zealand it is a requirement for a ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (‘PCBU’) to notify the regulator (WorkSafe NZ) as soon as ...
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There are 13 prohibited grounds of discrimination: sex; marital status; religious belief; ethical belief; colour; race; ethnic or national origins; disability; age; political opinion; employment status; family status; and sexual orie...
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There are various exceptions to the prohibited grounds of discrimination. For example, an employer is able to afford a person different treatment based on their age where being a particular age is a ‘genuine occupational qualification’ ...
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There is a duty on employers not to indirectly discriminate against employees. Indirect discrimination occurs in New Zealand where any conduct, practice, requirement or condition established and enforced by the employer which is not a...
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Generally, employers cannot treat employees differently based on a prohibited ground of discrimination, even where some of the employee’s duties fall within a statutory exception, if with some adjustment (which does not unreasonably disru...
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Sexual and racial harassment are explicitly prohibited by law. Racial harassment will occur by the use of language or visual material or physical behaviour that directly or indirectly expresses hostility, contempt or ridicule on the grounds...
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It is unlawful to victimise a person for exercising their rights under legislation protecting them...
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Where an individual believes he or she has been discriminated against they can make a complaint to the Human Rights Commission. Complaints can often be resolved through the Commission’s mediation process. If not, the next option is to hav...
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An employee who believes that he or she has been discriminated against must be able to show on the balance of probabilities that there was discrimination on one of the prohibited grounds. This requires the employee to i...
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An employer can become liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees or of third parties, unless it can demonstrate it has taken practicable steps to prevent the discriminatory acti...
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There is currently no statutory gender pay gap reporting obligation on employers...
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In New Zealand employers are required to identify and manage health and safety risks as far as is reasonably practicable. Employers must eliminate health and safety risks or, where it is not reasonably practicable to do so, minimise those r...
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Discrimination claims are reasonably uncommon in New Zealand. Howev...
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In our experience, the average amount of compensation awarded for injury to feel...
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The law imposes obligations on any ‘agency’ that collects, stores, uses or discloses ‘personal information’. An agency includes any employer that holds or collects information about its employees. ‘Personal information’ is bro...
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The Privacy Commissioner has a range of functions in respect of rights of privacy and the protection of employee information. If an employer breaches its obligations an employee may make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner who can inves...
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Any information collected by an employer must be collected for a lawful purpose connected with a function or activity of the agency and the collection of the information must be necessary for that purpose. There will therefore be some...
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In order to conduct monitoring an employer must have a lawful and reasonable basis to do so. The lawful and reasonable basis to monitor employees must also not unreasonably interfere with an employee’s privacy. Unless a legisl...
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New Zealand law requires employees to act in the best interests of the employer and not disclose any confidential information that the employee becomes aware of during the course of their employment. This common law duty of confidenti...
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There is specific legislation in New Zealand that protects employees if they make ‘protected disclosures’ about ‘serious wrongdoing’ committed in or by the organisation for which they work. If the disclosure is covered by the ...
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The most common way in which an employer can ensure that work-related information is kept confidential is by including an express confidentiality clause in the employment agreement. The terms of this clause will govern what information an e...
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During the term of the employee’s employment, an employee can be restrained from competing with the employer by a specific term in the employment agreement. Such terms generally define what is meant by competition with the employer ...
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There is an implied duty of trust and confidence, but after the employment has ended, this only protects information of a highly confiden...
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The only way in which an employer can seek to prevent an employee acting in competition with it post-employment is by incorporating a restraint of trade clause into the employment agreement. Restraints of trade are unenforceable unless ...
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Trade unions continue to play a significant role in employment law in New Zealand. Trade unions’ predominant role is representing their members, either collectively or individually, in any employment matters. Typically this occurs in re...
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Workforce unionisation differs depending upon an employee’s occ...
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The law recognises the right of trade unions to represent and promote their members’ collective employment interests and to represent their members in collective bargaining. An employer must provide representatives of registered unions wi...
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Unions represent employees in matters such as: Health and safety: employee representatives often work with employers to improve and maintain safety standards for employees. Collective bargaining: unions as employee representatives ne...
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Strikes are lawful if: the strike is related to an aspect of the collective agreement being bargained for and the parties have been bargaining for more than 40 days previously and no agreement on the collective agreement has been reached...
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Employers must be able to justify terminating an employee’s employment. The test is whether how the employer acted and the dismissal itself were what a fair and reasonable employer could have done in all the circumstances. An employer can...
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Unless an employee is on a lawful trial period at the time of the dismissal, he or she will be entitled to bring a claim for unjustified dismissal. An employee must first raise a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal with the employe...
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A termination must be both substantively justified and procedurally justified. Employers must therefore ensure they follow a fair and reasonable process. The legislation outlines the procedural principles employers must follow in order to j...
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An employer is prohibited from discriminating against an employee on grounds of sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief, colour, race, ethnic origin, disability, age, political opinion, employment status or sexual orientation....
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There is no legislative minimum notice of termination which must be given to an employee. The minimum notice will typically be outlined in the employment agreement....
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An employment agreement will state if there is a right to payment in lieu of notice. If there is no right to payment in lieu in the agreement, the employer can only do this if the employee agrees...
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If an employee resigns, he or she will give notice of resignation and may work out the notice period. An employee resignation may be regarded as a constructive dismissal if t...
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With limited exceptions, legislation prohibits an employer to retire an employee, or to require or cause the employee to retire or resign on the basis of a...
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An employee is entitled to any salary owing from the last pay period to the last day at work. Employees are also entitled to be paid for their notice period, unless they are summarily dismissed without notice. Employees are also entitled ...
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An employee may raise a personal grievance against the employer if he or she has a claim for unjustified dismissal or unjustified disadvantage. An employee can also mak...
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There is no specific legal requirement to consult with employees or their representatives in relation to a certain number of multiple dismissals. However, where an employee’s continuity of employment may be affected, for instanc...
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An employee is entitled to be provided with all relevant information concerning a proposal that may affect their continuity of employment. This includes dismissal for any reason, including redundancy. Where the proposal is to make the emplo...
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In conducting a fair consultation process, an employer is required to: provide adequate time for the employee to give feedback; allow the employee to be represented by a union, a lawyer or any other person throughout the process, inc...
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Failure to provide relevant information or to adequately consult with an employee is likely to render a dismissal for redundancy procedurally unjustified. This is the case even where the employer may h...
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Where the employer is proposing to reduce the number of persons employed in the same role, the employer must have clear criteria for selecting the employees to be made redundant. While ...
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Any additional payments are governed by the terms of the individual or collective employment agreement. ...
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Where changes are made to ownership of an employer through ...
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Sale of business Employees defined as ‘vulnerable employees’ have special protections when a business is sold or the work of the employee is transferred to a new employer. A vulnerable employee is an employee who provides: clea...
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Obligations on the old employer: to provide adequate information to all employees about the process to be followed; to genuinely consult with the employees about the restructure; to determine what entitlements non-transferring employees mi...
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Employees (whether or not they are classed as ‘vulnerable’) do not have to transfer to the new e...
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Vulnerable employees transfer on the same terms and conditions of employment. Conditions...
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For vulnerable employees, service is deemed to be continuous and all entitlements transfer to the new employer. L...
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On the transfer of a vulnerable employee covered by a collective a...
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For vulnerable employees, the new employer can...
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Vulnerable employees cannot be dismissed before transfer. Vulnerable employees can be made redundant followin...
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Employers must act in good faith when conducting a restructuring process. This will include consulting with employees and providing them with all re...
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Employers must provide all relevant information. This may include...
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The consultation involves first putting forward the transfer proposal (and the consequences for employees). The employer must then obtain the employees’ feedback to the proposal and genuinely consider this feedback before making a decisio...
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The employee will have grounds to raise a personal grievance for unjustifi...
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There are no works councils in ...
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The state pension in New Zealand is called New Zealand Superannuation. It is available for any and all New Zealand citizens or permanent residents or those who hold residence class visas and are 65 years old or over. In addition, a person m...
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There is no requirement for employers to have a pension scheme for its employees. However, an employer has the following legal requirements under the ‘KiwiSaver’ scheme (i.e. a non-compulsory work-based superannuation scheme designed to...
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An employer’s own pension scheme is rare in New Zealand but employers can provide one. The scheme can be complian...
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The ‘KiwiSaver’ scheme rules are set by the government and any change to those rules is not the responsibility of the employer. KiwiSaver is a non-compulsory work-based superannuation scheme designed to benefit employees post retirement...
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Both the pension and the government ‘KiwiSaver’ scheme (i.e. a non-compulsory work-based superannuation scheme designed to benefit employees post retirement) are subject to taxes. When an employer contributes to an employee’s KiwiSave...
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Generally, an employment agreement will not refer to New Zealand Superannuation and there is no requirement for it to do so. There is no requirement to refer to ‘KiwiSaver’ (i.e. a non-compulsory work-based superannuation scheme desig...
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Under New Zealand law employers are required to act in a procedurally fair way when dismissing an employee or taking an action that disadvantages an employee’s employment. Employers must conduct an investigation as part of dischargi...
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Employees may be required to report certain types of misconduct under workplace policies they are bound by under the terms of their employment agreements. This is often the case in relation to health and safety matters, where it is impo...
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There are no specific statutory requirements about the timing of an investigation, but if an employer wishes to investigate a matter, it should do so promptly. A fair investigation by an employer should include: Not determining ...
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Generally, an employee is obliged to participate in an investigation under the duty of good faith, even when that employee is suspected of misconduct. An exception is where a criminal investigation is underway, and the employee has a ...
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Yes, lawyers can fully participate in the investigation process to represent their clients. ...
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Yes. In conducting a fair investigation, an employer must provide the employee with all relevant information including all information the employer is relying on. ...
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There is specific legislation in New Zealand that protects employees if they make ‘protected disclosures’ about ‘serious wrongdoing’ committed in or by the organisation for which they work. If the disclo...
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Where an employee has performance issues, the employer must act in good faith. Employers should identify performance issues early to attempt to resolve them informally if possible. Where a formal process is required, employers s...
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Under New Zealand law, employees can bring a personal grievance on the following grounds: unjustifiable dismissal; unjustifiable action which disadvantages the employee; discrimination; sexual or racial harassment; be...
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There are no legal requirements about wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. However, the law prohibits wording in the advertisement that is discriminatory, that is, relating to gender, racial o...
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The employer must not request that applicants provide information concerning their sexual orientation, political views or whether they are members of employee organisations when advertising for new employees, or in any other context. The em...
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An employment contract may provide for a trial period in order to enable the employer to assess the employee’s abilities. If the employee submits to a trial period, this must be stated in the employment contract. A trial period may be agr...
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If an employee engaged by written contract for a given trial period is dismissed, the dismissal must be on the basis that the employee is unsuitable for the work, or is not capa...
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Job applicants may bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer based on one of the characteristics which are protected by equality legislation. The protected characteristics are sex, gender reassignment, pregnanc...
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Most foreign nationals require a visa in order to enter or stay in Norway. Holders of an EEA passport do not require a visa. In addition, nationals from Schengen countries (i.e. countries party to the ‘Schengen agreement’ allowing natio...
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Employers have a duty to ensure that employees have a valid work permit before starting work. A ‘tax deduction card’, which is a notification card from the tax authority specifying the percentage the employer must deduct from the employ...
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This must be considered from case to case. ...
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There are three main categories of working individuals in Norway employees, freelance workers and independent contractors. There is no definite distinction between these, but normally the following criteria are used: An employee perf...
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There are no distinctions between ...
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Generally, the law does not expressly differentiate between different levels of employment. However particular requirements do apply to a company’s chief executive officer (‘CEO’). The law allows a board of directors to enter into a b...
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Part-time employees are permanently employed. However, they only work a proportion of a full-time position. Irrespective of the proportion, the part-time employee has the same employment protection under employment law as a full-time ...
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An employee should usually be appointed for an indefinite term. Fixed-term employment may, however, be agreed if the employee is hired for a limited time or for specific work. This may be done in the following situations: where the work ...
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An employee can be regarded as temporarily employed for the following reasons: (i) the work is of temporary character; (ii) it is to replace another person; or ...
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The general rule is that all employees must be appointed permanently and indefinitely. Therefore, the employment period runs until one party terminates it. Obtaining labour from an employment agency is permitted, but only to the extent that...
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Recruitment agencies are subject to strict terms and conditions under Norwegian law. However, if a business occasionally hires out workers, th...
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The law sets minimum requirements regarding the content of the employment agreement. The law requires that employment contracts must be in writing. The contract must state all factors of major significance for the employment relationship, i...
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The use of offer letters of employment is not common practice in ...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts. However, employment contracts entered into in Norway are usually in Norwegian, or English, if Engli...
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Employees in Norway have the benefit of considerable statutory protection and this will be implied into all contracts. The relationship between employer and employee is largely regulated in statute and the law lays down minimum requirements...
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The law requires that the employment contract must state all factors of major significance for the employment relationship. However, it is possible for the contr...
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Employers cannot change contractual terms and conditions unless the employee consents to the change and agrees to enter into a new employment agreement. If the employee does not agree and the employer presses ahead and implements the change...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules, often put together in an employee manual. These would typically include: a health and safety at work pol...
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There is no statutory minimum wage in Norway. However, in many business sectors there are tariff agreements that regulate the minimum wage. The minimum wages in these agreements vary from sector t...
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There is no system for wages to be automatically adjusted for inflation. Any ...
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Employees pay income tax on their salary, including any benefits in kind. The tax year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Employees must submit a tax card, issued by the Norwegian tax administration to the employer. Each person has a tax-f...
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As of May 2019, EUR 100,000 equates approximately to NOK 975,000. In the tax year 2019 the personal allowance is NOK 56,550 and the basic personal allowance is NOK 100,800. These allowances are free from income tax. For an employee with an ...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses in Norway. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. Employers are free to decide on the type and size of bonuses offered, but must ensur...
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In addition to pension contributions, employers must insur...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits offered include: life insurance; contractual maternity pay and pa...
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The Norwegian rules regarding working hours are compulsory and must not be departed from to the detriment of the employee unless an exception applies. The law specifies the normal working hours, conditions for overtime work and the maximum ...
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Both normal working hours and overtime hours may be exceeded beyond the limits prescribed by law if there is an agreement with the employee representatives or if the Labour Inspection Authority has given permission. The employer and ...
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The law contains specific rules regarding an employer’s responsibility to record the hours worked by each employee. The record must be accessible to the Labour Inspection Authority and the employee representatives. The employer’s time t...
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There are limits on the permitted number of overtime hours. Overtime work must not exceed ten hours in seven days, 25 hours in four consecutive weeks or 200 hours over 52 weeks. The Labour Inspection Authority may, on prior written applicat...
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Employees are entitled by law to a 40% increase in salary for work that exceeds nine hours per day or 40 hours over seven days. The parties may agree in writing that the employee will take time off in lieu of payment. However, this does not...
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The employee must have a lunch break during the day. The break must be at least 30 minutes if the daily working hours total eight hours or more. If the employee is not free to leave the workplace during the break or wher...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be either a claim by the worker for comp...
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Minimum annual leave rights for employees are laid down in holiday law, which grants any employee, including part-time workers and temporary em...
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Annual leave pay for the year is calculated based on the previous year’s remuneration for work. The pay amounts to 10.2% of the prev...
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Employees are entitled to paid time off work during public holidays in addition to annual leave. The Norwegian public holidays are as follows: New Year’s Day; Palm Sunday; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Easter Sunday; Easter Monday; Labou...
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If the employment relationship has lasted more than four weeks, employees are entitled to sick leave and have the right to full payment of the salary they would have earned during the period. Sick pay covers 100% of the salary, within an in...
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Parents are entitled to a leave of absence for a total of 12 months when a child is born or adopted. Employees are entitled to payment during parental leave. The last three weeks before the due date and the first six weeks after the child i...
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An employee who has worked for at least three years, and for the same employer for the last two years, is entitled to full or partial leave for up to three years to attend organised courses of education. Educational leave may not, however, ...
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The Norwegian Working Environment Act requires employers to protect employees against injury and to create a satisfactory working environment both for physical and mental health. The law not only provides rules designed to prevent hazardous...
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The employer is responsible for complying with the requirements of the law and for ensuring that the organisation maintains a safe working environment. These responsibilities are explained and reinforced by the regulations relating to inter...
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In dealing with organisations that do not comply with the requirements of the law, the Labour Inspection Authority may respond by imposing: Orders: when laws are violated, the Authority may give the organisation an order to correct the sit...
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When persons other than the employer’s own employees, including contract workers or self-employed persons, p...
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Discrimination in the workplace is prohibited on the grounds of: gender; sexual orientation; gender identity and gender expressions; pregnancy; all parental leave (including adoption); caregiving; religion or belief; ethnic or national ori...
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There are some exceptions to the prohibition against discrimination. Differential treatment may be lawful in the following instances: differential treatment that has a just cause, does not involve disproportionate intervention in relation ...
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The law imposes a duty on the employer to avoid ‘indirect’ discrimination. It is usually easier to prove the existence of indirect than direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination occurs where the employer imposes a general requireme...
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The law includes a ban on harassment. The law defines harassment as actions, omissions or statements that are perceived as, or intended to be, offensive, upsetting, hostile, degrading or humiliating. Harassment can be sexual, or can involve...
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Retaliation against an employee who reports discrimination is p...
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Anyone who has been discriminated against, or has been subject to retaliation because they have reported a breach of the discrimination provisions, may demand both financial and non-financial compensation. A claim can be brought even where ...
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In addition to being responsible for discrimination caused by the employer itself, the employer also has liability for the discriminatory acts of others. The rule applies regardless of...
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Every employer is obliged to actively and systematically work to promote equality and prevent discrimination. Any organisation in the public sector and businesses employing more than 50 employees in the private sector are required to conduc...
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In Norway, anyone who feels they have been discriminated against (other than in sexual harassment cases) may make a claim to the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombudsman, for a decision about whether discrimination has taken place. The Om...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an emplo...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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Employers are permitted to have a policy that regulates employees’ use of social media in the workplace. The scope of the policy must not extend beyond what is justified based on the employer’s legitimate needs. If employees do not foll...
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Employees, including fixed term workers and temporary workers (provided by both temporary work agencies and other businesses), have the right to report ‘censurable conditions’ within the organisation. ‘Censurable conditions’ is defi...
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All contracts of employment include an implied ‘duty of fidelity’ on the part of the employee, no matter how senior. This imposes an obligation on the employee to provide loyal and faithful service. As a result, the employee must ...
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There is an implied duty of fidelity on employees and this means that, during working hours, employees must devote the whole of their time and attention to the work of the employer. Taking on different jobs outside working hours will not be...
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Although there are generally no explicit restrictive covenants in employment contracts, the employee’s implied ‘duty of fidelity’ applies t...
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Competition clauses Competition clauses are agreements that restrict an employee’s right to take up a position with a competitor or start, operate or participate in competitive activities after the termination of employment. An employer m...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purpose is to protect the interests of employees in the workplace. A trade union’s main role is to negotiate with the employers to improve pay and terms and conditions and...
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In 2014, 51.9% of the active workforce in Norway were trade union members. The Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (the ‘LO’) represents the majority of the national tra...
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If the employees are members of a trade union, the employer must work with the represen...
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Employee representative bodies are elected by employees, and their primary duty is to safeguard the interests of employees. In particular, representative bodies play an important role in the company’s health and safety functions, and in t...
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Strikes and other industrial action is usually lawful and trade unions can organise actions or participate in other ways. However, disputes regarding existing pay and working conditions must be resolved without t...
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Employment law stipulates the situations in which an employer may lawfully terminate employment. According to the law, employees may not be dismissed unless this is objectively justified based on circumstances relating to the organisation, ...
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An employee who wishes to claim that a dismissal with notice or summary dismissal is unlawful, may require that the employer negotiate with him or her. The employee will need to notify the employer in writing within two weeks of the date of...
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Employment law sets out several procedural requirements with which the employer should comply. If the employer fails to comply with these requirements, there is a significant risk that the courts will decide that the notice of dismissal is ...
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An employee who is wholly or partly absent from work owing to accident or illness may not be dismissed for that reason during the first 12 months after becoming unable to work. Unless other grounds are shown to be highly probable, absence f...
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In principle, the parties can agree the length of the notice period. However, employment law prescribes minimum periods of notice: The general rule is that the period of notice must be one month. Before notice has been given, an agreement ...
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The employer cannot make a payment in lieu of giving the required notice of termination unless the employee gives specific consent. However, this rule does not apply to chief executives. Chief executives may relinquish the right to protecti...
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‘Constructive dismissal’ per se is not a legal concept in Norwegian employment law. However, under case law, an employee’s resignation can in some instances be regarded as a dismissal by the emp...
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Employment may be terminated when an employee reaches the age of 72. A lower age limit may also be decided when necessary out of regard for health and safety. Such lower age limits must be objectively justified and not...
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The employer must pay ordinary salary and other fringe benefits during the notice period. No additional payments...
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Employers often settle claims from employees by negotiating exit packages. Exit...
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The employer must consult collectively when several dismissals on grounds of redundancy are proposed. The consultation must cover all affected employees, including those who may be affected by the dismissal of others. The consultation tak...
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All relevant information must be provided to the trade union or elected representatives. The following information must be given in writing: the grounds for any redundancies; the number of employees who may be made redundant; the categorie...
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The legal minimum requirement is for the consultation to cover: ways of avoiding the dismissals; reducing the number of employees to be dismissed; mitigating the consequences of the dismissals; possible social welfare measures aimed at red...
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The consequences of failure to comply with the information and consulta...
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In the event of dismissal for economic reasons, the employer cannot randomly sele...
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No additional payments are necessary. It is not uncomm...
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There is no specific protection for emp...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees have a right to transfer to work for the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all o...
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The rules protecting employees on business transfers affect the old employer in the following ways: It must provide information to and consult with employee representatives. It must provide information to the employees who are transferred....
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Employees may object to the transfer (i.e. a ‘right of reservation’). The employee must notify the transferor in writing within the time limit specified by the t...
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Terms All existing rights and obligations under the employment contract transfer from the old employer to the new. The rights and obligations transfer automatically and require no action to implement them. Benefits Employees have the right ...
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An employee may, as a starting point, make any claims arising from the conditions of employment prior to the transfer against...
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Unless the transferee declares to the trade union(s) concerned that it will not uphold the agreement(s), the collective agreements in effect at the time of the transfer automatic...
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The transfer itself is not justification for material changes in working conditions. Changes in terms and conditions of employment not directly connected to the contrac...
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The transfer of an undertaking in itself is not justification for dismissal. Note that if the employee terminates his or her employment agreement because of significant and detrimental changes to his or her conditions of employment, it will...
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The old and new employer must inform and consult the representatives of all ‘affected’ empl...
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The consultation starts with the employer providing the following information to the representatives for its own workforce: the reason for the transfer; the agreed or proposed date for the transfer; the l...
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Employers have a duty to consult the employee representatives if any measures are planned in relation to their employees, with a view to reaching an agreement. The informati...
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The employer could be fined for breaches of the rules, if it fails to inform or consult. This could result in an administrative sanction and/or criminal sanctio...
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Employee representatives of the employees affected by the transfer will retain their legal position and function as long as the undertaking retains its ‘autonomy’ (i.e. it preserves the right to independently organise the work within th...
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The state retirement pension is made up of two parts. One part is provided by the national insurance scheme and the other by the compulsory occupational pension scheme. These two pension schemes are interrelated. Further, the employee may h...
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A new pensions law came into force on 1 January 2006 meaning that all Norwegian organisations with more than two employees, who together have working hours and salary equal to 75% or more of full employment, must provide an occupational pen...
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All Norwegian organisations with more than two employees must have an occupational pension scheme. Therefore, every employer must fund and o...
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Case law has established a presumption that the employer has a right to unilaterally change pension s...
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Pensioners and others who receive social security benefits are essentially taxed the same as wage earners, which is 25% of general income (after d...
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Employment agreements must include the employees’ membership in the organisation’s collective pension scheme. The level of the pension contribution can be decided by the emplo...
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Under Norwegian workplace environment legislation, the employer must conduct an investigation when an emplo...
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Employees are not legally ...
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An employer must conduct an adequate investigation within reasonable time after a notification of ‘censurable conditions’ is made. There are no rules or regulations for how to conduct the investigation, but there are non-binding guideli...
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It is generally assumed that employees have an obligation to participate in an investigation when in...
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An employee can be represented by a lawyer in an investigation, but the...
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No, but the employee may have a right under data privacy law to access information about him or herself. Further...
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Employees, including fixed-term workers and temporary workers (provided by both temporary work agencies and other businesses), have the right under workplace environment legislation to report ‘censurable conditions’ within the organisat...
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There is no legally mandated procedure for managing low performance. As low performance will generally not be a sufficient ground for terminat...
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There are no other legally binding rules or procedures for managing grievances than the ones which a...
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Selection processes must not include wording or details that could affect the fundamental rights established in the Peruvian Constitution. An employer should therefore not, for example, engage in di...
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There are many documents that the employer may require from job applicants, for example, a declaration that they do not have criminal or police records, documents providing evidence of the job applicant’s previous work experience, letters...
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Peruvian law considers the first three months as a trial or probationary period. This has been established as a general rule, even where there is no written agreement to this effect. The probationary period may be extended to six months or ...
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During the probationary period the employer may dismiss the employee at any time without reason. However, if the employee can prove that the reason for his or her dismissal is prohibited under the Peruvian Constitution, for example, unlawfu...
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Job applicants cannot bring claims against a prospective employer, as a labour relationship does not exist at this point. However, in general terms, the selection process should b...
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Employers in Peru may hire foreign nationals provided they do not make up more than 20% of all personnel and the remuneration does not exceed 30% of the total payroll. The conditions for hiring foreign workers vary. Different conditio...
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Although employers are no longer obliged to present to the Labour Ministry each foreign employee’s professional degree and a legalized or apostilled labour certificate proving experience in the job, employers must keep...
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Yes, employers can keep records about candidates they did not hire, taking the following into consideration: The potential employer must obtain a consent document from candidates for the processing ...
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In an interview, employers cannot ask discriminatory questions that could result in discriminatory practices based on (among others) age, physical features, religion, political opinion, or l...
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An employment contract is an agreement between two parties in which the employee promises to provide services to the employer in exchange for payment. There are three essential elements in the labour relationship: personal service, pay and ...
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There is a difference in the type of work done by blue collar and whit...
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In Peru there are special regulations relating to managers (known as ‘direction personnel’) and employees in positions of trust (i.e. those who work with the manager or have access to confidential infor...
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Part time contracts are governed by the law relating to employees who work less than four hours a day or 24 hours per week. These contracts must be formalised in writing and must be registered before the administrativ...
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As a general rule, employment agreements are for an indefinite term and have no formalities. Exceptionally, employers can hire employees under a fixed term agreement but should do so only in specific cases and subject to the following speci...
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A fixed-term employment contract converts into an agreement for an indefinite term in the following cases: if the job continues after the fixed term has ended or after any agreed extensions; if the employee exceeds the maximum allowed limi...
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Engaging temporary workers through an employment agency is known in Peru as ‘labour intermediation’. Organisations dedicated to labour intermediation are responsible for paying the wages and social benefits of their employees. However, ...
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If an organisation (the ‘client’) makes an arrangement with another organisation whereby employees are required to work at the client’s premises f...
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Under Peruvian law, a written contract is only mandatory for fixed-term and part-time agreements. In relation to fixed-term agreements, the contracts should include the duration, the reason why a fixed term is required and other conditions ...
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It is not common to issue an offer let...
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The employment contract may be in any language, provided that the employee understands it. If proceedings are initiated by the Labour Authority, the contract must be officially translated....
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Every written agreement must contain the duration of the contract, the labour conditions, salary, additional benefits, working time schedule and the rights of the employee and employer. However, by law certain minimum rights and benefits ar...
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It is possible for the employer to include terms from other agreements, such as company policies or internal work rules. These additional agreements will beco...
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If the employer wishes to amend the terms and conditions of the labour agreement, the consent of the employee is required. If consent is not obtained, th...
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Usually, when the labour relationship begins, the employer provides its employees with a number of docum...
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The minimum wage in Peru is PEN 930 per month. The minimum wage is established by government decree and is usually revised every five years on average. The minimum wage ...
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There is no requirement or system for...
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Tax rates The employer must withhold income tax on the employee’s gross salary. The tax scale is calculated based on the officially established tax unit (‘Unidad Impositiva Tributaria’ or ‘UIT’) &nb...
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An annual salary of EUR 100,000 is equal to PEN 445,746.77, based on an exchange rate of PEN 4.46 per EUR. The income tax for an employee with an annual salary of PEN 445,746.77 is b...
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Employees have the right to receive two bonuses per year, one for Independence Day (i.e. 28 July) and one for Christmas. They must be paid on 15 July and in December. For the right to receive these bonuses, employees must be employed by the...
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According to Peruvian law, employers must provide a number of benefits for employees, regardless of the employee’s status (i.e. general manager, secretary or assistant). Compensation for time served – ‘CTS’ Compensation for time ser...
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For additional benefits, it is common for organisations to agree on...
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The working day is usually eight hours a day and the working week 48 hours, as a maximum, for both men and women. However, employers may establish irregular working days, on ...
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It is possible to exceed the worki...
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Yes. Exempt personnel include senior management personnel, empl...
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By law, the employer must provide a pemanent registration system and workers must personally record their working time in this system. This allows the employer to verify whether&nb...
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Peruvian law does not actively encourage agile working, but it allows the employer to establish an...
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Overtime work is voluntary. The employer...
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Yes, as overtime is voluntary the employer must get consent from employees for overtime work. The imposition of overtime work without the employe...
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If time is worked that exceeds the limits on working hours, this must be considered as overtime and be paid with a surcharge of not less than 25% for the first two hours and 35% for time in exc...
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Employees are entitled to at least one rest day a week. In general, Sunday will be treated as a rest day, but there is no legal impediment...
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If the employer breaches the limits on working hours or the rules on breaks or rest periods, the employee could make a claim to the Labour M...
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According to Peruvian labour law, for each full year of service, employees are entitled to 30 days’ annual leave. The law establishes different criteria that the employees must meet to earn the leave based on the number of days the employ...
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Payment for annual leave is equivalent to the remuneration the employee would have received if he or she had worked. For those who work on commission, the average commission will be used to calculate the amount owed. In the event that the e...
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According to Peruvian labour law, employees are entitled to a paid day off during public holidays. The public holidays approved by law are: New Year (1 January); Easter Thursday and Good Friday; Labour Day (1 May); Saint Pe...
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By law, a short-term incapacity payment is made through the social security health institution (‘EsSalud’) even for employees who are members of a private health insurance company (‘Empresa Prestadora de Salud’) for medical ca...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay regulated by Peruvian labour law are summarised below. Maternity Leave According to law, female employees are entitled to 49 days’ leave before a child is born (i.e. prenatal leave) and 49...
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By Peruvian law, the most common paid leave is maternity, paternity, adoption and sickness leave. However, there are several grounds upon which the employment contract may be suspended, including: leave for civic positions and mandatory mi...
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Employers are obliged to guarantee the safety and health of everyone at their facilities, and of their employees regardless of the place where they perform their work. For this purpose, employers must implement an occupational health and ...
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Health and safety at work obligations are set out in specific law and regulations. The labour inspection authority (‘SUNAFIL’ by its Spanish acronym) can conduct a labour inspection to investigate potential breaches and impose sanctions...
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Health and Safety Inspectors are empowered to inspect the employer’s facilities to assess whether health and safety breaches have occurred. Any corrective measures should be recorded by the employer and must be taken within the specified ...
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If the employer fails to implement an adequate system of safety and health at work, it may be liable for work accident...
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There is a legal obligation to notify the Labour Administrative Authority within 24 hours of a fatal accident (death of an employee) or a dangerous incident. Employers also must inform the Labour Administrative Authority of any...
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The Peruvian Constitution establishes protection against discrimination based on: origin; race; sex; language; religion; political or other opinion; social or economic status; or other status. This...
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According to law, for an act to qualify as an illegally discriminatory act, three elements must be present: unequal or differential treatment; a prohibited motive or reason; and a goal or outcome. Not all unequal or differential treatment...
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Employers must avoid indirect discrimination, in other words, employers must not apply a provision, criterion or practice to everyone...
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Under Peruvian law, persons with disabilities have the right to work in equal conditions with others, with equal opportunities and with fair, safe and healthy working conditions. Disabled employees have the right to reasonable adjustm...
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According to Peruvian labour law, discrimination in the workplace is a form of harassment. Thus, if a person does something unwanted which is related to a protected characteristic and which violates the person’s dignity or creates a hosti...
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An employee may request the employer to cease victimisation or retaliatory actions. If the employer does not do so, the employee may file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour on the grounds that he or she has been a victim of retaliation...
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Before terminating the employment relationship, the employee must send a letter to the employer reporting the offensive act, and giving the employer a reasonable time and not less than six calendar days, to rectify the situation or change t...
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Peruvian legislation provides that, except in certain specific cases where the law expressly indicates a different apportioning of the burden of proof, the initial burden generally lies with the person asserting a claim to prove the facts t...
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An employer may be liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees if it has not complied...
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In December 2017 a law prohibiting pay discrimination between men and women came into force, together with a regulation requiring employers to determine and keep records of categories, functions, and remun...
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Peruvian legislation regulates health and safety at the workplace and mental health of employees in general, but there is no specific regulation in Peruvian law regarding mental health at work. If the mental health condition qualifies as a ...
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Discrimination claims are common in Peru, in particular claims for employment discrimination initiated by labour unions or by employees alleging unjustified pay differences. ...
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In cases of unlawful discrimination, different types of compensation can be awarded, including but not limited to: Compensation for arbitrary dismissal. If the employment is for an indefinite term, the legal severance is equivalent to ...
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There are no specific rules regarding employee information, but anyone controlling personal data must process the information in accordance with Peruvian data protection law and its principles. According to law, personal data is defined as ...
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The National Authority for Personal Data Protection (part of the Ministry of Justice) can initiate, on its own or by complaint, an inspection to verify compliance with personal data regulations. If it determines that the employer has failed...
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An employer may use information that is in the public domain. However, when an employer decides to hire someone, it may only use publicly available information related to an individual’s work experience or that is relevant to the job bein...
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The Peruvian Constitution includes a right to the inviolability of communications; they can only be opened, seized, or intercepted when there is a judicial order that authorises it. The Supreme Court has therefore ruled that employers canno...
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There are no express legal provisions regarding employees’ use of social media either at work or when off duty. Therefore, any restrictions will depend on the employer’s internal regulations. It is typical for employers to prohibit ...
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There is no regulation regarding employees who ‘blow the whistle’ on what may be unlawful or unethical activities. However, according to Peruvian labour law, employees are protected from arbitrary dismissal and acts of hostili...
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According to law, the use or disclosure of confidential information belonging to the employer to third parties is a serious offence and is considered fair cause for dismissal. In addition, most employment contracts include ...
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During working hours, employees must devote the whole of their time and attention to the job. Nevertheless, taking a job outside working hours will not be a breach of the duty if the employee is not under an exclusive contract or if th...
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Employers who wish to protect confidential information once employment has ended usually include post-termination restrictions on an employe...
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Employers can enter into non-competition agreements with employees at the beginning, during, or at the end of the employment relationship. However, it is important to note that labour judges are usually very strict when evaluating the valid...
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The Peruvian Constitution recognises the right to association, collective bargaining and to strike in order to guarantee the peaceful resolution of labour disputes. The right to form trade unions is freely exercisable by employees, as there...
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The law states that employees have the right to form trade unions an...
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Labour law states that employees are entitled to choose freely and voluntarily whether to join a trade union and t...
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If there are fewer than 20 employees in a company who wish to establish a trade union (or fewer than 50 in other types of organisations), the employees can elect two employee representatives instead. They must inform the ...
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The law says trade unions cannot do the following: engage in party politics, other than as permitted by law; dire...
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According to Peruvian law, an employer may lawfully terminate an employment relationship, in the following scenarios: Where both the employer and the employee agree to terminate the labour relationship. By law, the agreement must be in wri...
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If an employee is dismissed without any legal basis, he or she has the right to choose between reinstatement in the same job or claiming payment of an indemnity for unfair dismissal...
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If the employer decides to terminate the employment relationship based on legal grounds related to lack of capability, it must send a notice to the employee granting the employee 30 days to amend the deficiency or demonstrate capability. Th...
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According to Peruvian law, dismissals based on the following grounds are considered void: trade union membership or participation in union activities; being a candidate representing or having represented employees; c...
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If an employer is interested in dismissing an employee based on his or her behaviour, conduct or ability, it must send a pre-notice letter of dismissal, and give th...
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By law, the employer cannot make a payment in lieu of notice of termination. The employe...
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Peruvian law does not include the concept of constructive dismissal as such. However, if an employee believes ...
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Retirement is mandatory for employees only if one of the following applies: The employee is entitled to a retirement pension provided by the Government Pension Fund Office (‘ONP’), which me...
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An employee is entitled to statutory termination pay in Peru, if he or she has passed the probation period (usually three months) and the termination was on the initiative of the employer. The calculation is made as follows: Fixed term con...
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If an employee initiates a claim against the employer, the employer...
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According to Peruvian labour law, employers may propose collective dismissal for the following reasons: force majeure; economic, technological or structural reasons; dissolution or...
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The organisation must provide trade union or employee representatives with all relevant information, including the basis...
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After providing information regarding the dismissal to employees and the trade union, the employer must follow a particular procedure before the Labour Authority. The organisation must file an affidavit with the Labour Authority and this mu...
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If the employer does not fulfil its duty to inform the employees about the collect...
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There is no statuto...
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The are no additional payments to make to employees in cases of collective redundancy. However, employees affected ...
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There is no specific law protec...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold to a new employer, the employees should be informed if they will be transferring and their consent obtained. The employees could refuse to transfer to the new business. If some employees do not acc...
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The only rule protecting employees on business transfers is that the employees may choose whether to transfer. ...
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The consent of the employees is needed before a transfer takes place. The employee has the right to refuse to be transferred, but in this scenario the seller can dismiss the employee upon payment of a statutory indemnity. If the employee re...
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Terms There is no law regarding the terms of employment contracts upon transfer. However, case law has established that transferred employees keep their former employment conditions. If the transferor, transferee and employees have not made...
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In principle, all the transferor’s labour obligations, including as pay and other labour benefits transfer to the tr...
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In the event of a merger, transfer, sale, change of line of business or other similar situation, the collective bargaining agreement remains in force until it...
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The terms of the employment contracts can be changed by individual negotiation with employees, with their written consent. The law says that the way in which changes are negotiated must be reasonable an...
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Employees are entitled to employment ‘stability’ and cannot be dismissed unless there is a fair reason, as strictly provided by law and a special procedure is followed. Dismissals are deemed fair in the following cases: commission of a...
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There is no requirement to consult employees about the decision to make a business transfer; this decision belongs only to the employer. Nevertheless, it is common practice to inform employees about the assets being sold, the propo...
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Peruvian law does not specify what kind of information should be provided to the employees. However it is common practice to inform employees about the assets being sold, the proposed date of t...
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There are no rules about consulting employees before a transfer. However, in order to maintain a good working environme...
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There are no sanctions if the employer fails to properly inform or consult. If the transferor does not take enough time to explain the tran...
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When a business is transferred, the following rules apply to unions and collective bargaining agreements: All of the labor benefits granted by the law or the collective agreement in place with the old e...
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Employees have the right to choose the system to which they contribute: the national pension system (‘Sistema Nacional de Pensiones’ or ‘SNP’) under the Government Pension Fund Office (‘Oficina de Normalización Previsional’ or...
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Employees are required to pay into the pensions s...
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An employer can fund and operate a pension scheme for the benefit of its employees, provided that the scheme is additional to the pension scheme chos...
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The employer cannot make changes to ...
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Pensions are not co...
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There is no requirement or obligation to...
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Under Peruvian legislation, the employer must start the investigation as soon as ...
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Employees are obliged to participate in an employer’s inv...
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Yes, an employee can be represented b...
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The employer is not required to provide all of the evidence to the a...
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There is no specific legal regulation regarding employees who ‘blow the whistle’ on what may be unlawful or unethical activities. However, according to Peruvian labour law, employees are protected from arbitrary dismissal and acts of ho...
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In Peru, low performance must be shown by a comparison to the average work performance of employees with similar job requirements and conditions. It is recommended that the employer notify the low-performing emplo...
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The only requirement in Peruvian law regarding employee complaints and grievances is that the employ...
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Polish law does not require any specific wording for job advertisements. However, advertisements should not contain references to age, sex, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or race, for example. References to these characteristics ...
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The employer is entitled to ask for the job applicant’s name, date of birth, and contact details as well as information on education, qualifications and course of previous employment, but only if that information is relevant to the perfor...
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Employment may be subject to a probationary period. The duration of the probationary period must be specified in the employment agreeme...
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There are no special rules about dismissal during the probationary period and a probationary employment agreement can be terminated in accordance with the ordinary rules. In principle, a probationary agreement is terminated: automatically ...
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Job applicants can bring claims against a prospective employer in cases of discrimination. An individual may claim that he or she was not employed because of, for example, his or her sex, race, age, religion, disability or sexual orientatio...
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The process of hiring foreign workers depends on their nationality. Different rules apply to nationals of: EU Member States, the EEA or the Swiss Confederation; Armenia, Belarus, Russia, the Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova; and third countrie...
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Employers are obliged to check if a foreign worker has a document confirming the legality of their stay in Poland (e.g. a visa) and keep a copy of this document during the employment. The employer is also obli...
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Employers may keep their records about candidates they did not hire. However, the retention period for such documents should be as short as...
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During the recruitment process, the employer shou...
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There are three main categories of working individuals in Poland: employees, contractors (service providers) and self-employed entrepreneurs. The key indicators of an employment relationship are: subordination (i.e. an individual receives ...
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There is no general legal distinction made between different types of employees. ...
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The company directors may be employed on the basis either of employment or civil contracts. If the director is a member of the management board he or she must refrain from competitive activities even if there is no non-competition agreement...
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Unlawful discrimination against part-time employees is forbidden. Part-time employees cannot have worse terms of employment than full-time employees. Nevertheless, remun...
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Discrimination on grounds of fixed-term employment is forbidden. An employee who has entered into an employment contract for a fixed term has the same rights and obligations as employees performing work under employment contracts for an ind...
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The maximum period of fixed–term employment has been limited to 33 months and such a contract may only be renewed twice during th...
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Under Polish law, temporary work through an employment agency is permitted for the performance of tasks which: (1) are seasonal, periodical or of an ‘ad hoc character’; (2) cannot be performed in a timely way by the employer; (3) are no...
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Depending on the circumstances, if employers put their employees at the disposal of another organisation, this may be regarded as providing temporary workers and this may only be done by a registered temporary work agency. An employer condu...
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The law requires that the employment contract must be concluded in writing. The employment contract should include, in particular: the parties to the contract; the type of contract; the date of execution and conditions of employment (inclu...
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Issuing an offer letter is not common practice in Poland, but it is possible. However, an offer l...
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In principle, the employment contract should be in Polish. It may be accompanied by a foreign language version, but if so,...
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All employees are covered by the mandatory provisions of Polish law. This means that the employment contract does not need to contain all the details concerning conditions of work. The contract must not contain provisions that are less favo...
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There are certain terms and conditions that must be contained in an employment contract. However, the background of extensive generally applicable codified legislatio...
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Any change to the terms and conditions of employment that disadvantages the employee may be made with the employee’s consent (i.e. mutual agreement) or unilaterally by serving a ‘notice of alteration of terms of employment’. The notic...
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All internal documents referring to employees’ rights or duties, and even those following only from custom and practice, are binding. The employer must provide the employee with the collective bargaining agreement or remuneration rules, w...
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The minimum monthly wage is based on a regulation of the Council of Ministers, issued annually, no later than 15 September. Since 1 January 2021, the minimum monthly wage for full-time employees has been PLN 2,800. For part-time workers the...
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Wages are not automatically adjusted in line ...
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Tax The employer withholds monthly tax advances for the employee’s personal income tax. In 2021 employment income is taxable at progressive rates, as follows: for income up to PLN 85,528 the tax due is cal...
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If an employee’s annual income is EUR 100,000 (i.e. approximately PLN 462 ,000) and he or she has a spouse with no income and has two children, and the most common social security rate applies, the annual amount of income tax and s...
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There are no general, statutory rules governing the payment of bonuses. The bonus conditions are determined by the employer in collective bargaining agreements, remuneration regulations, bonus schemes or employment agreements. However, some...
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In addition to basic pay, employers may be required to provide employees with the following statutory benefits: ‘stop-work remuneration’ (i.e., remu...
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In practice, the most common voluntary benefits normally made a...
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Working time must not exceed eight hours per day and an average of 40 hours per average working week of five days in a reference period of up to four months. A longer reference period of up to 12 months may be adopted if it is justified on ...
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Under certain conditions, labour law allows a working time system to be adopted under which the employee’s daily working time in a 24-hour period, in a reference period not longer than one month, may be extended by: up to 12 hours if jus...
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Employees managing a work establishment (either individually or as part of a collective body), their deputies, and chief financial officers are exempt from the rules regarding overtime compensation. Managers of organizational units are part...
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An employer must keep individual working time records for each employee. Polish law does not contain specific requirements regarding the rules for keeping those records. It only states that the r...
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Polish law does not treat an ‘agile working’ model differently from the rules applicable to ‘classic’ working models. Consequently, agile working is permissible as long as it does not conflict...
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Any work performed over the working time limits is considered as overtime work. There are two types of overtime work: daily overtime work, work performed over daily working time limits on a given day; and weekly overtime work, average week...
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As a rule, the employee’s consent is not required for overtime. An employee who is not under special protection has no right to refuse an employer’s direction to work overtime, as this obligation results directly from the characteristic...
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In addition to regular remuneration, for each hour worked as overtime an employee is entitled to an allowance for daily work in the amount of: an extra 50% over the usual rate of pay, as a general rule; or an extra 100% over the usual rate...
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An employee is entitled to a minimum uninterrupted rest period of 11 hours in every 24-hour period. This rule does not apply to: those managing the organisation on the employer’s behalf; or situations when a r...
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An employer, or any person acting on its behalf, that does not comply with the regulations on working time may be liable to a fine of up to PLN 30,000. This includes,...
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A full-time employee is entitled to: 20 days of annual leave, if his or her length of service is less than ten years; or 26 days of annual leave, if his or her length of service is at least ten years. Part-time employees are entitled to t...
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During annual leave, employees are entitled to remuneration in the amount that would have been due if they had...
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The public holidays in Poland are: New Year’s Eve, 1 January; Epiphany, 6 January; Easter Sunday; Easter Monday; Labour Day, 1 May; Constitution Day, 3 May; Pentecost Sunday; Corpus Christi; Assumption of the Blessed Vi...
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The employer pays 80% of the employee’s remuneration for the first 33 days of sickness taken in every calendar year, or the first 14 days if the employee is 50 or over. The full amount of the remuneration is paid if the sickness occurs du...
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Maternity, paternity, and adoption leave An employee is entitled to the following maternity leave: 20 weeks for one child; 31 weeks for two children; 33 weeks for three children; 35 weeks for four children; and 37 weeks for fiv...
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The employer, upon the employee’s written request, may grant unpaid leave. If the unpaid leave is for longer than three months, the parties may agree that the employee may be recalled from leave by the employer for important reasons. ...
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The basic obligation of the employer is to protect the health and life of employees by ensuring safe working conditions. In particular, an employer must: organise work in a manner that ensures safe working conditions; ensure compliance...
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The employer’s obligations with respect to health and safety are controlled and enforced by: the State Labour Inspection; Social Labour Inspectors chosen by employees and managed by trade unions; and the occupational health and safety se...
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Any person who, while responsible for health and safety at work or while managing employees or other individuals, does not comply with occupational health and safety law is liable to be fined betwee...
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The employer can be liable for the activities of third-party contractors. If work is performed by employees of different employers (e.g. the employer and its contractor) in the same location at the same time, the parties must designate a co...
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In Poland it is a legal obligation to notify a district inspector of labour and a prosecutor immediately after a fatalit...
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The protected characteristics expressly set out in Polish labour law are as follows: sex; age; disability; race; religion; nationality; political bel...
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There are circumstances where different treatment of an employee will not be considered discriminatory and these occur where an employer takes proportionate action aimed at achieving a legitimate aim. They include: employing a person based...
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Employers are required by law to avoid indirectly discriminating agains...
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If an employee loses the ability to work in his or her normal position as a result of an accident at work or an occupational disease, the employer is obliged to provide an appropriate workplace with basic facilities within three months afte...
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In general, harassment is forbidden. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature or related to an employee’s sex, with the purpose or effect...
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Employers must not treat employees who exercise their rights in relation to discrimination, or those who support other employees in exercising their rights under equal treatment law, unfavourably. In particular, employers must not terminate...
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The employee may claim compensation not lower than the minimum statutory salary (i.e. PLN 3,600 (approximately EUR 809) in July 2023). The amount awarded should compensate for the harm resulting from the discrimination, harassment or victim...
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The employee raising a discrimination claim bears the initial burden to present factual evidence substantiating his or her allegations, and to ...
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In principle, the employer is liable for its own discriminatory conduct and for the conduct of those acting on its behalf...
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There is no specific reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences. In 2021, preliminary steps were taken by the Polish Parliament to introduce such an obligation, but at the time of writing they have not been finalized.&...
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There are no specific regulations regarding work-related stress, workload or burnout in Poland. However, there are legal provisions prohibiting harassment and bullying, which includes the prohibition of intimidating, hostile, degra...
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Claims based on discrimination are becoming increasingly common in Poland. T...
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There are no typical amounts of awards in discrimination ca...
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In Poland, in terms of the employee-specific rules, there are provisions of law indicating a specific catalogue of job candidates’ and employees’ data that the employer can process. When it comes to job candidates, the employer can coll...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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The employer is entitled to prohibit the use of all social media in the workplace, even during breaks. Employees may then only access them fr...
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Currently, there are no express regulations that comprehensively regulate the protection of those who ‘blow the whistle’. Certain protections in this regard are provided for specific situations, for example in the banking and financial ...
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Employees are subject to a statutory confidentiality obligation with respect to the employer’s business secrets even in the absence of a specific clause related to confidentiality in the ...
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Conducting a competitive activity may be prohibited based on a separate agreement signed by the employee. No additional compensation is required if the prohibition covers only the period of employment. The prohibition may only cover activit...
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The employer can restrict the use of confidential information by the employee if the confidential information is a business secret. From 4 September 2018 (when amendments to legislation about the suppression of unfair competition came into ...
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Employers can prevent employees from acting in competition after the employment has ended by means of a non-competition agreement covering the period following the termination of employment. In theory, the agreement may be entered into only...
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Starting from 1 January 2019 trade unions represent not only workers employed on the basis of employment contracts but also civil contractors (assuming that those contractors do not employ their own employees to perform the tasks described ...
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The level of unionisation in Poland is low. According to data from the Public Opinion Research Center, in the year 2021 the level of unionisation of Polish employees and civil contractors was only 10.5 %. The data shows that nearly three-qu...
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The employer must cooperate with a legally established trade union unless the number of union members who are employed by the employer drops below ten (or one in the case of an inter-organisational union). Information on the number of union...
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There are two main types of representative bodies in addition to trade unions: works councils and employee representatives elected for specific purposes. Works councils may be created in organisations employing at least 50 workers. Once t...
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Collective disputes, including strikes, may only be organised by trade unions. If there are no trade unions in the organisation, the employee may ask a trade union at another organisation to represent it in collective interests. Collect...
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Employment may be terminated with or without notice. There is no exhaustive list of the grounds on which the employer may terminate employment with notice. However, the grounds may be divided into two groups: reasons related to the empl...
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An employee may appeal to the labour court against his or her notice of termination or an immediate termination. The court will examine the contents of the notice or immediate termination to check if all the elements required by law exist a...
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If an employee’s dismissal is not part of a collective redundancy process and there is no trade union at the company, there is no mandatory process that must be followed. If there is a trade union at the employer, the employer must ap...
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Special protection against dismissal may consist of absolute prohibition against termination or a requirement to obtain consent (in most cases the consent of the trade union). Special protection covers selected classes of employees, inc...
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The applicable period of notice of termination depends on the type of employment contract. In the case of indefinite or definite term employment contracts, the notice periods depend on the employee’s length of service with the employer. T...
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There is no concept of ‘payment in lieu of notice’ under Polish law. The employee remains obliged to perform work until the end of the notice period. However, the employer may release the employee from work during the notice period with...
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Employees may terminate employment by giving notice in writing to the employer. Termination notice periods must be observed unless the parties agree to shorten the notice period, e...
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It is not possible to retire an employee compulsorily. Polish law does not provide for such a possibility. Termination on the basis that the employee has reached retirement age is discriminatory and unlawful. ...
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In each case of termination of employment, if the employee has not used up all his or her annual leave, the employer must pay an amount in lieu. The employee cannot waive this entitlement. Severance If termination is for old age retir...
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The recommended way to terminate employment is by mutual agreement and to settle all claims in such agreement. If the employee has received a notice and appealed to the court, the parties may enter into a settlement agreement before or outs...
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The collective dismissal procedure applies if, for reasons not related to the employees, an employer with at least 20 employees intends, within a 30-day period, to dismiss: ten employees if the workforce is under 100; 10% of the employ...
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The employer must notify the unions (or the employee representatives) about: the reasons for the intended collective dismissals; the number of employees and professional groups into which they are grouped; the professional gro...
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The process that must be followed on collective dismissals involves: information and consultation with the works council; an agreement with the regional employment office (the ‘REO’) if 50 or more employees are to be dismiss...
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There are no criminal sanctions for failure to comply with the laws on collective dismissals. However, there are criminal sanctions for breaching the trade unions’ rights and these involve a fine or limitation of freedom of up to two year...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Polish law. However, for workforce reductions involving a decrease in the number of employees in the same professional group, the selection must made on an objective and non-discrim...
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Employees who are terminated as part of a collective redundancy are entitled to severance pay. Statutory severance pay is calculated based on the employee’s length of service, as follows: one month’s salary where the employee has ...
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Employees do not enjoy any special protection in a share takeover. A share takeover does not result in a c...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees are protected by transfer of undertaking regulations. The employees of the transferor transfer automatically to the transferee under their existing terms and conditions of employ...
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For the old employer: It must follow information and consultation obligations. If only part of the undertaking is transferred, the old employer shares liability with the new employer for employment-related claims arising prior t...
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Within two months of the transfer, a transferred employee may terminate his/her employment without notice, upon giving seven days’ ‘advance warning’. This is deemed to be a refusal to transfer. For the employee, termination of emplo...
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Terms As a result of the transfer, the transferee becomes a party to the employment contracts made by the transferor with the affected employees. The transferred employees will continue employment with the new employer on the same terms a...
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The liabilities of the transferor and transferee differ according to the type of transfer. If it is a transfer of the entire undertaking, the transferee becomes liable to employees for all employment-related obligations, whether they arose ...
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A collective bargaining agreement will not transfer itself. However, following the transfer the transferee must observe the provisions of the relevant collective agreements with respect to the transferred employees. There are certain limita...
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A transfer cannot be used to justify amendments to the terms of employees’ contracts. The employer must be able to show a specific, different reason for changing terms. Nor can the terms be harmonised following a transfer. If a collecti...
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Under employee transfer law, a transfer itself may not constitute the reason for the dismissal of an employee, and this applies to both the transferor and the transferee. The rule applies not only to unilateral terminations by the employer,...
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At least 30 days before the expected date of transfer, the transferor should inform trade unions or, in absence of unions, each employee individually in writing about the expected transfer (i.e. a hard-copy letter, email not being sufficien...
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Upon the transfer, the trade unions or the employees should be informed of: the intended date of the transfer; the reasons for it; the legal, economic and social consequences of the transfer; any proposed measures concerning conditio...
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A consultation procedure should be performed with any trade union(s) operating within an undertaking, but only if the transferor or the transferee intends to take ‘measures related to employment’ in the context of the transfer. If so, t...
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There are no specific sanctions for breach of information requirements to employees. An employee may only sue the employer for damages on a general basis and will be obliged to prove harm suffered as a consequence of the employer’s failur...
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Currently, there are no statutes or regulations governing whether the transfer of an undertaking (or part of it) results in the liquidation of the works council, the termination of its members’ term of office, or its automatic transfer to...
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The rules governing state pensions differ depending on the person’s age. The retirement age for women is 60 years and for men is 65 years. Besides age, women must have at least 20 years and men 25 years of insurance records (i.e. years of...
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Starting in 2019, new private pension schemes called Employment Capital Programs (‘PPK’) were introduced into Polish law, and employers are obliged to establish PPKs (there are exceptions to this obligation). The PPK covers not only emp...
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To establish a PPK the employer should: pick the financial institution; consult on the selection of the financial institution with trade unions or employees’ representatives; conclude an agreement on management of the PPK with the ...
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Changes to the private pension scheme (PPE) which cause changes in the agreement concluded with unions or employees’ representatives must be agreed with the trade unions or employee representatives. The employer must first provide a draft...
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Pensions are taxed as income at progressive rates. The current rates are as follows: 17% for annual income up to PLN 120,000; and 32% for annual income over PLN 120,000 (applicable to the excess over PLN 120,000). From the beginn...
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Employment contracts do not need to contain any provisions concerning pensions. ...
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There are currently no statutory rules on conducting internal investigations. This will change after the implementation of the EU Directive on whistleblower protection. The Polish government has not implemented the law on whistleblowers p...
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There is no specific legal provision that obliges employees to report suspected misconduct. However, under the Labour Code, one of the main obligations of the employee is to act in the best interest of the workplace; any employee w...
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There are no legal provisions in Poland regarding the initiation and conducting of an investigation. Based on good practice, the employer should start the investigation without undue delay (i.e. as soon as possible after receivin...
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Employees are obliged to participate in the investigation, based on their duty to cooperate with the employer’s orders. Generally, the same obligation applies to employees suspected of misconduct. The employer, of course, cannot us...
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There are no statutory rules regarding the possible participation of a lawyer to represent the employee in an investigation, and this this will therefore depend on the decision of the body conducting the investigation. In practic...
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There is no legal obligation to provide the employee with evidence gathered during the investigation. The evidence is available only to the body that conducted the investigation and the instructing party (i.e. ...
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Currently, there are no express regulations in Polish law regarding whistleblower reporting or protection of employees who ‘blow the whistle’. However, the process of implementation of the EU Directive on whistleblower protection i...
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There are no statutory rules on standards and processes for dealing with low performance. In practice, the employer should focus on motivating low-performing employees and improving their skills, in particular by providing trainin...
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There are no statutory rules on handling grievances. The employer is free to introduce an internal procedure for how grievances will be dealt with. The employer’s representatives and the direct superiors of a complaining e...
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As a general principle, advertisements for job offers must not, either directly or indirectly, contain any restriction, specification or preference based on gender. The...
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The Portuguese Constitution sets out a general right to privacy regarding personal and family life. This right is reinforced in Portuguese labour law. Labour law provides that the employer must not require an applicant or an employee to pro...
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Probationary periods are permitted and the maximum duration for these is provided by law. With respect to indefinite-term employment contracts, probationary periods have the following maximum duration: 90 days for the majority of employees...
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During the probationary period, unless agreed otherwise in writing, either party m...
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Generally, job applicants may bring claims against the prospective employer for any reason, although discrimination issues are the most likely grounds for claims. Discrim...
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An employment contract entered into with a foreign national must be in writing. Documents proving compliance with immigration law must be attached to the contract. The employer must inform the Labour Conditions Authority (‘ACT’ or ‘Au...
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An employer must retain all documents proving compliance with immigration law. These documents must be attached to...
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Portuguese labour law requires employers to keep records concerning job applicants for five years after the conclusion of the application process. However, data collected by employers within the scope of a recru...
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The Portuguese Constitution sets out a general right to privacy regarding personal and family life, and this rig...
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An employee is a physical person who provides his or her professional services to another person (i.e. physical or legal), under that person’s powers of organisation and authority, in return for remuneration. An independent contractor is ...
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The main distinctions between employees are differences in levels of responsibilities and remuneration. Normally, white-collar employees perform management activities or administra...
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Portuguese law sets out the rules that may apply to the employment of company directors unless otherwise agreed in the employment contract. Company directors are considered employees unless they are members of the Board and registered as su...
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Portuguese law has special rules applicable to part-time employment. Part-time employment involves a shorter working period than that for employees working full-time. Part-time work may be performed in parts of the day or on a certain numbe...
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Fixed-term employment contracts can only be used in specific and very narrowly defined circumstances, as follows: temporary replacement of other employees; temporary or exceptional increases in ...
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Fixed-term employment may be considered to be for indefinite d...
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The legal risks inherent in engaging temporary workers are related to the justification for and terms of hiring. As in the case of fixed-term contracts, temporary workers may only be engaged if the user has temporary requirements which do n...
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The assignment of employees to another organisation is permitted only when all the following requirements are met: the employee to be assigned is a permanent employee of the assignor; the assignment is made between organisations belonging ...
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The general rule applicable to employment contracts does not require the contract to be in writing. However, there are certain obligations on the employer to provide information to the employee in writing within a certain period after the e...
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In Portugal it is not common practice for the employer to issue an offer letter to the employee in addition to the contract. However,...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts. However, we suggest a Portuguese version of the employment contract from...
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Certain terms are implied by law in all employment contracts. Employers’ duties that are always implied into employment contracts include: to respect and treat the employee with dignity; to pay fair and adequate remuneration on time; to ...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to expressly incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. Such terms will be binding on the part...
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Generally, employers may only change contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change and the employer follows ...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules, often collected together in the internal regulations of the organisation. The internal regulations must have taken into consideration the employees’ representatives op...
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Employers must pay workers a specified minimum monthly wage, which from January 2016 is EUR 530.00 in mainland Portugal, EUR 556.50 in the Autonomous Region of Azores and EUR 540.60 in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. There are no exclusio...
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There is no requirement or system for wages to be adjusted au...
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In Portugal, salary is subject to personal income tax. Personal income tax is charged on an individual’s total annual income after all relevant deductions and allowances have been applied. Income from employment is defined as any payments...
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Subject to additional information about personal circumstances, an employee earning EUR 100,000 and married with two children (with the spouse not earning), will be subject to personal income tax of approximately EUR 26,440...
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There are no generally applicable rules governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes may be contractual or non-contractual. Employers must ensure that they exercise their discretion as to w...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular ben...
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The most common benefits include: use of a company car or payment of a car allowance; private medical insurance; life insurance; ...
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The normal working period cannot exceed eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. However, individual employment contracts, as well as collective b...
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The limits can be increased for defined periods to accommodate peaks of work, provided the periods of increased work are compensated by periods where the employee works fewer hours. In such cases, employers and employees can set the normal ...
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An employer should keep records of its employees’ working time in an obvious and accessible place. The records should inc...
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Overtime work is subject to mandatory maximum limits determined by law, as follows: Employees in organisations with up to 50 employees can only perform 175 hours of overtime work per year. This limit can be increased to up to 200 hours per...
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Overtime is paid for as follows: 25% over the normal hourly rate for the first hour or part of an hour and 37.5% f...
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Workers are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. This rule does not apply to: directors or members of boards of directors; employees with the power to bind the employer, who are exempt ...
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An employer that does not comply with the limits on daily or weekly working periods or with ...
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Employees are generally entitled to a minimum of 22 working days of paid annual leave per year. If the employee’s rest days are on normal working days, Saturdays and Sundays which are not public holidays will be counted as part of t...
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During annual leave, employees are entitled to receive payment of the same amount as would be due if working. In addition, employees are entitled to a holiday allowance equivalent to their remuneration. This means the employee receives twic...
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When working on a public holiday, employees are entitled to either half a day off work or to be paid at the normal rate plus 50%, at the employer’s discretion. The mandatory holidays are: 1 January, New Years’ Day; Goo...
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Employees who are absent from work on account of sickness will be considered temporarily incapacitated. They must be certified by the competent health services under a ‘Temporary Incapacity Certificate’. Employees can take up to 1,095 d...
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Both parents have the right to parental leave for the birth of a child. They can choose to be on leave for either 120 days or 150 days at a reduced rate of pay. This ‘initial parental leave’ includes mandatory maternity and paternity le...
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Employees may request unpaid leave for more than 60 days for study. The employer may, however, refuse the request (i) if the employee has had appropriate professional training in the preceding 24 months or if the employee has already been g...
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An employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. As a minimum the employer must provide the following: a safe place of work; a safe system of work; safe plant and equipment; protection f...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, wh...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, inspectors can apply fines and requests for breaches to be remedied within a specific period of time. Publicity about the breach may also be used as an additional penalty on the employer. In ...
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Generally, an employer will not be liable for the acts of third-party contractors, as long as it has exercised due diligence in selecting the contractor for the task and has not breached its monitoring duties. An employer can be liable for ...
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If there is a serious work accident, the employer must communicate it to the insurer holding the (mandatory) occupational injury insurance policy, as well as to the Labour Inspection (the ‘ACT’), within a maximum of 24 hours after the e...
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There are several characteristics protected by discrimination law: ancestry; sex; race and colour; language; nationality and ethnical origin; religion and belief; political or ideological conviction; union membership; social origin or cond...
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The law forbids all forms of direct and indirect discrimination by employers. Nonetheless, a difference in treatment based on a protected characteristic will not constitute discrimination if the occupational activity concerned or the contex...
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Indirect discrimination consists of the application of a provision, criterion or practice, which appears neutral, but puts a person with a particular protected characteristic at a disadvantage. It occurs where a condition or requirement is ...
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The Portuguese Constitution and the Labour Code prohibit employers from discriminating against an employee or job applicant on the basis of religion. There are no legal provisions that specifically require the employer to provide an empl...
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Harassment is a discrete form of unlawful discrimination. It occurs when a person (the harasser) does something unwanted, related to a protected characteristic, and which violates the victim’s dignity or creates a hostile or offensive env...
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Retaliation is about making people afraid to complain or to assert their rights. It can include any negative job action, such as demotion, discipline, firing, salary reduction or job or shift reassignment. But retaliation can also be more s...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or retaliation is successful, the employee or job applicant has the right to be compensated with financial or non-financial damages, in accordance with the general provisions of civil law. In additi...
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In disputes regarding claims of discrimination, there is a split burden of proof. If the employee claims that they have been treated less favourably than another employee, the claimant must prove such differential treatment. The employer th...
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An employer is liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees whether or not it knew or approved of them, unless it took all reasonable steps to prevent the discrimin...
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All companies with employees must send an annual report (The Social Report) in April each year to the Labour Inspection Authority, giving information on pay grades divided by gender, amongst other information. As of 21 February 2019...
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Although this is an increasingly important issue, there is no specific legal provision addressing mental health conditions as a protected characteristic. There are likewise no specific legal obligations for employers to protect the ment...
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Discrimination claims are not common in Portugal, but they...
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We are not aware of any published statistics on the amounts awarded for this type of claim. ...
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Following the European Union’s adoption of General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) effective as of 25 May 2018, Portugal passed a law implementing the GDPR as of 9 August 2019. The provisions of the GDPR and the Portuguese imp...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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Social media are very popular in Portugal, specially Facebook and LinkedIn. A recent study has shown that 4.7 million people in Portugal have a profile on Facebook. A survey conducted in 2016 also showed that more than two million people in...
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The Portuguese Data Protection Authority (‘CNPD’) has analysed the issue of ‘ethics lines’ (i.e. whistle-blowing hotlines) and has adopted a formal position on it, as follows: Only complaints related to infringements (or alleged in...
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By law, employees have a duty of confidentiality that is part of their general loyalty duty. This includes a prohibition against employees negotiating on their own behalf or on behalf of a third party in competition with the employer, along...
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Because employees have a duty of loyalty to the employer and a duty to do diligent work, they are generally forbidden from working in competition with the employer during the employment relationship. Under a recent amendment to the Labo...
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Employees have a general duty of loyalty to their employer. This ends upon termination of employment, but an employer may contractually agree that certain information should be kept confidential even after termination. Restricting the emplo...
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The employer and employee may agree on a non-compete clause, either in the employment contract or in the employment termination agreement. Such a clause will be valid for a maximum of two years, but may be extended to three years in cases w...
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By law, employees have freedom of union association and representation at all levels. The aim of this is to enable their social and professional interests to be defended and promoted. As a result, employees are entitled to form unions and w...
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Generally speaking, in Portugal employees tend not to be unionised. H...
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Employers are prevented from interfering in any way in the organisation and internal management of the unions. For that reason, employers are not ...
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Employers are required to inform and consult with employee representative bodies in certain circumstances. The works council is entitled to be informed of: general plans for the organisation’s activities and budget; production organisati...
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The employees’ right to strike cannot be waived, and employees are entitled to define the scope of interests to be defended by strike action. The unions or, in certain cases, the employ...
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Employers may only dismiss employees with ‘fair cause’ or for objective reasons (e.g. collective dismissal or redundancy). ‘Fair cause’ is defined as wilful conduct by the employee which, because of its seriousness and consequences,...
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An employee may claim unfair dismissal if he or she believes termination was unlawful. If successful, the employee will be entitled to: reinstatement in the same business unit, with acknowledgment of his or her professional category and le...
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Dismissal with fair cause, particularly in cases of misconduct can only be done using the disciplinary procedure set out in law. In general terms, the employer must deliver an ‘accusation note’ to the employee informing him or her of th...
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Certain reasons for dismissal are automatically unfair. The main examples of these are: dismissal in relation to pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or initial parent...
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As a general principle, employers may not terminate employment contracts with notice. However, probationary and fixed term contracts can be terminated early upon notice. For fixed term contracts the notice is 15 days. For contracts of uncer...
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In some of the limited circumstances where notice is permitted (i.e. for early termination of probationary contracts), payment in lieu of notice is ...
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Employees can resign for cause within 30 days after any of the following actions of the employer: wilful breach of salary payment; wilful breach of the legal or contractual rights of the employee, including harassment by the employer or it...
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It is not possible to retire an employee compulsorily. Retirement is a voluntary decision made by the employee. Nevertheless, i...
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Upon termination of employment an employee will always be entitled to receive all remuneration due for the performance of work (e.g. unused annual leave, pro-rated annual leave and Christmas allowances). Statutory termination pay in Portuga...
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An employer can always settle claims by entering into a written a...
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In the case of a collective dismissal, a prior consultation obligation period exists only if the organisation has a formal works council in place. Otherwise, the consulta...
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An employer that intends to carry out a collective dismissal must deliver an intention letter to the works council, the inter-union committee, the union committees representing the employees or each employee involved, containing the followi...
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The consultation phase should be completed during the negotiation phase, which is initiated five days after delivery of the intention letter. The consultation phase aims to obtain agreement on...
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If the employer fails to comply with the information requirements, it commits a minor offenc...
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In the event of collective dismissal for economic reasons affecting a minimum of two employees if the organisation employs up to 50 employees, or five employees if it employs more than 50 employees, the employer cannot randomly select emp...
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Aside from the severance that is payable in an...
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A change to the employer’s identity does not consti...
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Sale of a business A transfer includes any change of ownership of an undertaking (or part of one) that constitutes an economic unit. The assignment or even reassignment of the undertaking’s activities back to the transferor is also consid...
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Upon transfer, the transferee becomes the employer and all rights and obligations under the employment contract transfer to the new employer. Liability for payment of fines for breach of employment laws also transfers to the new employer, a...
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Employees can object to the transfer of their employment contract if it would cause them serious damage. The primary grounds for this are that (i) the transfe...
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Terms Upon transfer, the transferee becomes the employer and all rights and obligations under the employment contract transfer to the new employer, including salary, length of service, professional category, role and duties, and acquired so...
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Responsibility for the payment of fines for breaches of labour law is transferred to the transferee, as we...
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Rights and obligations under any applicable collective agreement will transfer. The transferor’s collective...
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The transferee has the same right to reorganise its workforce as any employer does, in other words, the normal rules apply to changes to the employment contracts. This means that agreements with employees to make certain arrangements are co...
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The transfer itself is not a valid reason for dismissal. Often, employers will try to reach agreement about the termination of employment, but if the employees do not agree, collective dismissals and redundan...
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Written information about the contents of the agreement between transferor and transferee, the reasons for the transfer, the timing and the legal, economic and social consequences for employees and any measures planned must be ...
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Both the transferor and the transferee must inform employee representatives (or the employees themselves when there are no representatives) of: the date of the tran...
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Both the transferor and the transferee must consult employee representatives prior to the transfer to obtain agreement on the measures to be taken in relation to the employees affected by the transfer. There are no rules as to how this must...
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Failure to comply with the information and/or consultation procedure may attract fines by the Labour Inspection Authority (Autoridade para as Condiçõe...
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If the transferring entity maintains autonomy after the transfer, then the duties of the representatives of affected employees rema...
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Employees are entitled to receive the minimum state pension for old age or disability, provided that they have paid contributions for a minimum period of 15 or five years, respectively. Pensions are paid 14 times per year. The state pension...
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There is no general requirement for an employer to provide its employees with access ...
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Although it is not very common in Portugal for employers to fund their own pension schemes, it is possible to do so. Note that employers in the financial sector and some state-owned companies do have their own schemes for the benefit of the...
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If there is a contractual obligation to provide an occupational pension scheme (either arising from the individual employment contract or from a c...
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Traditionally, pension income was taxed in a more favourable way than employment income. However, over recent years, given the very difficult financial situation that Portugal has been experiencing, the trend has been to level both types of...
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The state pension and the social security contributions required to support it are ...
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An investigation and potential disciplinary procedures may be required when facts with disciplinary relevance come to light (i.e. relating to an employee�...
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As a rule, employees are not obliged to report any misconduct. Some positions of trust within the organisation may entail such an obligation due to the role’s importance and responsibility, but not from a legal perspective. In some sect...
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Within 60 days of gaining knowledge of facts regarding misconduct, the employer must initiate disciplinary action, meaning that a formal accusation (containing a detailed description of the facts if they are already known) must be delivered...
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The employee that reported the misconduct is not bound to participate in the investigation procedure, and the same applies to situations where the employee is suspected of misconduct. ...
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The employee has the right to know the full extent of the accusation, and this means that the employer must provide all the evidence and facts collected against the accused employee...
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In general, poor performance in itself is not a valid cause for termination in Portugal. However, disciplinary termination for poor performance is available to an employer when an employee (i) intentionally decreases their performance, or (...
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The possibility of grievances is foreseen in the Labour Code, but the corresponding procedure is not set out in the law. Employee complaints are usually handled by employers, normally through hotlines or directly by the HR department. ...
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There are no legal provisions requiring particular wording or specific content for job advertisements. However, any wording that could suggest potential discrimination should be avoided. When an employer wishes to hire an applicant, it must...
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As a rule, the employment contract should be concluded after verifying the applicant’s personal and professional skills. In order to verify the job applicant’s expertise, the employer is entitled to ask for specific information, but thi...
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When the employment contract is concluded, the parties may also include a probationary period. The maximum permitted duration of a probationary period is 90 days for non-management positions and 120 days for management positions. For disabl...
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Generally, a simplified procedure for termination is available if the employment is subject to a probationary period. During or at the end of the probationary period, either party may unilaterally terminate the employment contract by means ...
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Job applicants may bring claims against a prospective employer for discrimination. Therefore, if an employee considers that the employer was discriminatory in the advertisement for a job he or she applie...
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Foreign workers must obtain notices of employment or secondment (work permit or secondment permit), long-term entry visas (issued on a case-by-case basis) and temporary residence permits (or unique permits or EU blue cards) to enter Romania...
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As a general rule, Romanian employers must keep records about all foreign nationals, whether, EU, EEA, Swiss Confederation citizens or other foreign workers. For example, failure to notify the relevant authorities about secondments will res...
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Prospective employers should delete the personal data of applicants as soon as it becomes clear that an employment offer will not be made, or that the applicant will not accept it. However, there is an exception for cases in which the emplo...
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During the preliminary verification of the applicant’s professional skills, the employer may require certain information from the interviewee. However, the questions the employer asks during interviews must comply with the general limitat...
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Generally, under Romanian law, the employment relationship is the performance by a natural person of a regular activity for the benefit and under the authority of a legal or natural person in exchange for remuneration. However, an individua...
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Generally, under Romanian labour law, employees are classified as follows: part-time and full-time workers; employees hired for an indefinite term and employees hired for a fixed-term; employees working at home, teleworkers, employe...
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A company director is usually appointed by the company and has, alone or with other directors (i.e. a board of directors) the responsibility for determining and implementing the organisation’s policies. Generally, the appointmen...
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Employers are generally free to conclude part-time employment contracts as long as the employment contract expressly sets out the number of working hours and working schedule, the conditions under which the contract may be altered as well a...
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Under Romanian labour law, employment contracts should be concluded for an indefinite (i.e. open-ended) period of time. However, an employment contract can be concluded for a fixed-term in the following limited circumstances: replacement o...
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Fixed-term employment may convert into an indefinite-term (i.e. open-ended) employment contract by an ame...
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Temporary work is strictly regulated under Romanian law. An organisation may contract the services of a temporary employment agency and ask it to supply temporary workers only for carrying out a specific and temporary assignment. An organis...
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Temporary employment agencies may put employees at the disposal of another organisation under specific terms and conditions expressly provided by law. Employers that are not authorised as temporary employment agencies may put their employee...
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An employment contract must be concluded in writing. The responsibility for concluding an employment contract rests with the employer. Failure to conclude a written employment contract the day before the commencement of the employee’s act...
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Issuing an offer letter before concluding the employment contract is commo...
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In order to be valid, the employment contract must be in Romanian. However, a dual-language employment contract (i.e. in Roman...
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Certain terms are always implied into an employment contract by law as well as through the applicable collective labour agreement, such as: entitlement to the national minimum wage; certain limits on working hours and min...
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Under Romanian labour law, the employment contract need have only the minimum mandatory content. It is not mandatory for all the terms and cond...
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Under Romanian labour law, changes to employees’ terms and conditions are subject to specific legal rules depending on their source (i.e. whether an employment contract or internal rules of the organisation) and the reason for the change....
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In addition to the employment contract, the employee will normally receive (and sign to confirm receipt) a copy of the organisation’s internal regulations or, at the mi...
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Under Romanian law, employers must grant their employees a basic salary amounting to at least the minimum wage at the national level. The wage is set by a decision of the Government following negotiations with the trade unions and employers...
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The law does not specify any periodical adjustment of wages in line with inflation. However, this may be regulated expressly by individual labo...
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Tax Romanian law says that salary income is considered to be all income in cash or in kind earned by an individual for carrying out an activity based on an employment agreement. Mandatory social contributions and income tax due by the emplo...
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As of 1 January 2022, assuming an annual gross income of EUR 100,000 and thus, a monthly gross salary of approximately EUR 8,333 obtained by an individual, the following monthly salary-related charges would be payable: social contributions...
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Romanian law has no particular rules governing the payment of bonuses, but they may be expressly regulated within individual employment agreements, applicable collective bargaining agreements or in the internal policies of the employer. Bon...
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The employer must observe all mandatory legal requirements, such as provisions regarding compensation for overtime and work performed during weekends,...
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The common benefits offered by employers in practice are: use of company cars, mobi...
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Romanian law says that the normal working time for a full-time employee is eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. For young people under the age of 18, the working time is six hours per day and 30 hours per week. Romanian law contains s...
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For certain specific activities, a lower or higher duration of the normal daily working time of eight hours can be provided within individual employment agreements or can be regu...
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Romanian employment law does not provide total exemptions from the rules on working time, but only special rules and exceptions that apply to particular cases. For example, as an e...
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According to Romanian law, the employer must keep records of working time for each employee at the work place, stating the start and end date of the working schedule, and submit them to the Romanian labour authorities if requested to do so....
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The current Romanian labour law framework allows for an increasing variety of flexible and agile working arrangements, even though there are few specific regulations and requirements in this field, apart from the general rules that must be ...
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A full-time employee may be required to perform overtime only within a ...
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No overtime work must be performed without the employee’s consent. However, an employer can order overtime work without the employee’s consent in fo...
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Romanian law says that overtime must be compensated with paid time off within 90 calendar days after the overtime has been performed. However, if this is not possible within the time limit, overtime must be paid for in the form of a s...
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If the employee’s daily working time exceeds six hours he or she is entitled to a daily lunch break and other breaks in accordance with the conditions set out in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or the company’s internal r...
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It is an administrative offence to fail to observe the limits on daily or weekly working hours and the rules on break and rest periods, and the sanction is an administrative fine. The size of the fine depends on the specific facts of the br...
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Employees are entitled to at least 20 working days of paid annual leave. However, the individual employment agreement, the applicable collective bargaining agreement or the internal policies of the employer may provide a greater amount of a...
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During their annual leave, employees must be paid an indemnity not lower than their basic salary rights, any inde...
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Romanian law expressly provides that no work must be performed during the following statutory holidays: 1 and 2 January; 6 and 7 January; 24 January, Union Day; Good Friday (the last Friday before Easter); first and second day ...
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Note that a person may only be employed on the basis of a medical certificate attesting that he or she is able to perform the work. According to law, if the employee is absent for medical reasons other than work accidents or a professional ...
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Maternity leave An employee is entitled to a minimum of 126 days of maternity leave. For employees with disabilities, this leave will start in the sixth month of pregnancy. The employee is free to decide whether to take the 126 days of le...
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Quarantine leave Employees who cannot perform their activities because they are in a quarantine caused by a contagious disease at the workplace are entitled to leave for the duration provided by a medical certificate. During leave, e...
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Employers are required to take all reasonably necessary steps to provide for the safety of its employees. Employers must take necessary measures to: prevent occupational risks; inform and train workers; provide the organisational framework...
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The Minister of Labour and Social Justice is the main authority responsible for health and safety at the work...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, the Work Inspectorate can issue a ‘measure’ requiring that the breach be remedied within a specific period. Failure to comply with a measure is considered an administrative offence and is...
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Generally, if an employer uses third party contractors, it is not absolved of its responsibilities regarding health and safety at work. To the extent that the employer has contracted health and safety services, i...
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In Romania employers are legally required to notify the territorial labour inspectorate immediatel...
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Certain characteristics are expressly protected from discrimination by Romanian law, as follows: sex; sexual orientation; genetic characteristics; age; national affiliation; language; race; col...
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A provision, practice or criterion which may disadvantage certain persons over others will not be deemed as discriminatory if it is objectively justified by a legitimate purpose and the means of fulfilling this purpos...
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Any seemingly neutral practice, provision, action or criterion which has the effect of disadvantaging a person as opposed to another person on the basis of one of the protected characteristics (see section 8.1 above) represents unlawful ind...
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Romanian labour legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and provides a series of special benefits, terms and rights for the protection of disabled employees. Employers also have an obligation to ensure the health and...
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Under discrimination law, harassment includes actions based on race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social status, belief, gender, sexual orientation, affiliation with a disadvantaged category, age, disability, refugee status o...
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Under the conditions set by law, victimisation is any adverse treatment, in response to a complaint or legal action brought for a breach of the principles of equal treatment and...
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Discrimination, harassment, and victimisation are administrative offences under anti-discrimination law, and are sanctioned with administrative fines by the National Anti-Discrimination Council ranging from RON 1,000 to 30,000 if in relatio...
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In proceedings before the National Anti-Discrimination Council or the courts of law, the person raising a claim of discrimination has the burden of presenting facts on the basis of which direct or indirect discrimination can be presumed. Th...
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An employer could be held liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees, to the extent that the conditions regard...
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There are no formal, regular gender pay gap reporting obligations in Romania, and under the principle of confidentiality that applies in employment relationships information on salary is generally protected from disclosure. However, the pri...
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Employers have a general obligation to ensure the health and safety of employees in all work-related aspects. This includes ensuring the best conditions for carrying out the work and protecting the life, physical and mental integrity, and h...
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In 2021, the most recent year for which public information is available on its official website, the National Anti-discrimination Council registered 988 complaints, as follows: Type of claim Number of claims issued Chronic d...
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Depending on the case and context, the amount of damages awarded in cases of unlawful discrimination can vary widely, from thousand...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would includ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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The domestic law implementing General Data Protection Regulation-related measures does not include rules expressly related to the use of social media in the workplace or when employees are off duty, but employers are entitled to implement t...
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The Romanian legislation transposing the EU Directive on the protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law entered into force on 22 December 2022, except for some provisions that entered into force at a later date. This law introduc...
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It is arguable that every employee has a general duty of confidentiality based on the legal obligation to keep work-related secrets and the duty of loyalty owed to the employer. The law also says that a confidentiality clause may be include...
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During the employment agreement, the employee is bound by a legal duty of loyalty towards the employer. Based on this duty the employee should not engage in any ...
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A confidentiality clause in an employment contract may also apply after termination of employment. It could last for a specific period...
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Employers who wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition with it once the employment has ended must include an express non-compete clause in the employment agreement. However, Romanian law provides non-competition clauses may op...
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Under Romanian law, a trade union can be set up by at least 15 employees belonging to the same organisation. In order to become functional, a trade union must have legal personality and in order to achieve this it must register with...
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Employees are entitled to set up, belong to and participate in trade unions and to exercise union membership rights. However, setting up a trade uni...
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Employers are required to work with established trade unions. This is because the unions have a general right to negotiate with employers on various matters relating to employment and have rights to be informed ...
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According to Romanian law, employees are represented either by trade unions or by employee representatives. If an employer has more than 20 employees and there is no trade union at the employer that fulfils the representation criteria (i.e....
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The employees’ right to engage in industrial action is expressly provided by law. This may occur if an employer refuses to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement (in cases where there is no existing agreement); if the parties do ...
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An employer may unilaterally dismiss an employee only in the circumstances expressly regulated by law, as follows: for disciplinary reasons: where the employee has committed gross or repeated misconduct, breaching the disciplinary...
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Employees who believe that they have been unlawfully dismissed can file a claim in court and challenge the dismissal decision. If the court considers that the dismissal decision is incorrect, it may annul it and oblige the employer to d...
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There is a strict procedure to be followed under Romanian law for implementing a dismissal. For example, a dismissal decision for disciplinary reasons cannot be issued without a prior disciplinary investigation conducted by a committee ap...
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Romanian law contains a number of cases where dismissal is permanently prohibited, as follows: where the dismissal is based on criteria such as gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, political option, social...
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By Romanian law, an employer is only required to terminate an employee’s employment contract with notice for redundancy, poor performance or physical or mental unfitness. In these cases, the employer must grant the employee a minimum noti...
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Payment in lieu of notice is not regulated by law and therefore, the employer must grant the notice period, but if both parties agree, the employee may be allowed to serve out the notice with pay and benefits without being required to come ...
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Romanian law does not expressly define the term ‘constructive dismissal’ or the consequences of it. However, in practice, this concept could apply to the resignation of an employee because of the employer’s conduct, which indirectly l...
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Romanian law provides that employment is terminated automatically by operation of law on the date: When the employee meets the conditions (in terms of age and minimum contribution record) for receipt of a retirement pension. Whe...
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Severance The employer must pay the employee severance compensation in cases of dismissal for physical or mental unfitness, based on the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement and/or individual employment agreement. Howev...
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The law provides that the employment contract may include a clause stipulating that the parties will attempt to settle any individual labour conflict amicably, through a conciliation procedure involving an external consultant specialised in...
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There are mandatory information and consultation requirements in relation to collective dismissals. A collective dismissal is the dismissal by the employer of a specified number of employees for reasons unrelated to the employees (i.e. re...
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The employer must initiate a consultation with the trade union or employee representatives by means of written notification. The consultation must cover the following: possible ways to avoid collective dismissals or reduce the numbe...
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The law provides that the trade union or employee representatives may propose measures for avoiding a col...
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In terms of the information and consultation requirements for collective dismissals, failure to comply with these may trigger the annulment of the employer’s decision to dismiss if a dismissed employee successfully challenges the dismissa...
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In relation to collective dismissals, employers are required under the Labour Code to apply certain criteria to enable them to choose between employees who hold similar jobs. Professional performance is the first and the most important crit...
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No. When the employment agreement is terminated, regardless of the reason, employees are entitled to receive an...
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Romanian law does not provide protection for employees when the identity of the employer changes as a result of a share takeover. It can be argued that the transfer of ownership of the shares or a change in the shareholders does not represe...
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Sale of a business The sale of a business is treated as the transfer of an undertaking under Romanian law and the employment agreements of transferred employees automatically transfer to the new employer on the existing terms and conditions...
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For the old employer (transferor): It must inform and consult the employee representatives (i.e. the trade union representatives or elected employee representatives) or, if none, the employees. It must not use the transfer as a reas...
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Romanian law does not provide for an express set of rights or a procedure for employees to object to transferring. If they refuse to work for the transfere...
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Terms As a result of the transfer, all rights and obligations under the employment contracts and applicable collective bargaining agreement transfer to the transferee. Benefits The transferee is required to maintain contractual benefits. ...
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The transferee will be responsible for any liabilities referable to employment before the transfer. Any act or omission of the transferor will be treated as an a...
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If there is a collective bargaining agreement that applies at the level of the transferor, the transferee must comply with ...
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There are no legal provisions prohibiting the employer from making changes to an employment contract follo...
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The law expressly prohibits the transferor or transferee from dismissing employees on the grounds of the transfer itself. Consequently, any termina...
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If there is a transfer, both the transferor and tran...
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Both the transferor and transferee must provide information about the following: the date or proposed date...
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If the transferor or transferee are proposing to take measures in relation to their existing employees as a result of the transfer, they mu...
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Failure to observe the information and consultation requirements is an administrative offence that...
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If, following the transfer, the transferred undertaking (or part thereof) retains its autonomy, the representatives of the employees affected by the transfer maintain their status and function, provided that the conditi...
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Currently, there are four systems for pensions and retirement funds in Romania, which are known as ‘the four pillars’: the state pension system (the ‘first pillar’); the privately administrated pension system (the ‘second pillar�...
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Under Romanian law, the employer must withhold and pay pension contributions to ‘first pillar’ pensions (i.e. state pensions). Part of the contributions made to the first pillar will be redirected to the ‘second pillar’ (i.e. privat...
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The employer cannot fund and operate its own pension scheme under any of the first three pension ‘pillars’ for the benefit of its employees (i.e. the state pension, privately administered pensions and voluntary pensions). However, under...
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If the employer decides to contribute to a voluntary or occupational pension scheme that is expressly regulated under a collective bargaining agreement concluded at company level and there are proposals to change the pension arrangements, t...
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According to Romanian law, income from pensions is defined as the amount received as pensions from funds to which mandatory contributions were paid under the social insurance schemes, including those from optional pension schemes and those ...
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It is generally not mandatory to put any specific provisions in the contract of employment about pensions. However, under the most recent legal amendments, if the employer elects to bear additional contributions to the employee’s ...
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As a general rule, employers in the private sector have an obligation to conduct investigations in the following main situations: Employee disciplinary misconduct, except when the employer only applies a written warning as a sanction. In t...
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Generally, employees have an obligation to report certain misconducts, breaches and other prohibited situations at the workplace. This obligation is inferred from the general obligations of employees under labour law, such as compliance wit...
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Although the law does not provide exact deadlines or time limitations for internal investigations, employers must perform investigations as soon as possible in order to respond to the issues, gather the necessary evidence, avoid outdated fa...
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Generally, employees are not obliged to participate in an investigation, even if the investigation concerns their own misconduct. However, this does not eliminate the employer’s obligations regarding transparency and due process. For exam...
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Yes, generally employees have the right to be represented or assisted by a lawyer during the investigation. In addition, during the...
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The law does not expressly require the employer to provide the employee all the proof or evidence gathered during an investigation. However, the law expressly recognises the employee’s right to present all of the defenses, evidence and ju...
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Whistleblowing (at least in the private sector) is not yet expressly regulated by national law, although at the European level, concrete rules have been established and those rules must be internally transposed. The Romanian authorities a...
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Performance is assessed with regard to the obligations that the employer is reasonably entitled to expect of the employee, based on his or her employment contract and job description, the employer’s internal regulations and policies, ...
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Under the law, the employer must have an internal regulation that sets out the procedure for amicably solving individual employment disputes, requests or employee grievances. During any such procedure, the parties have the right to be repre...
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There is no prescribed form of wording required for job advertisements or details that need to be included. However, care should be taken to ensure that the advertisement does not discriminate between applicants on grounds of race, ori...
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Employers are not prohibited from carrying out background checks and these can be done at any stage in the hiring process. Nevertheless, it is recommended that checks should only be carried out where they are proportionate and necessar...
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Saudi labour law allows employers to apply a probation period where this is expressly stated in the employment contract. Probation can be for an initial period of 90 days and can be extended for a further 90 days wi...
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The employer or the employee can terminate the employment contract at any time during the probation period, unless the employment contract reserves this right exclusively to the employer. There is no requi...
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The Saudi Labour Law does not expressly extend any protection to job applicants, except where the applicant is disabled. However, it is unclear what type of claim the disabled individual can ...
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The employment of foreign nationals in Saudi Arabia requires the approval of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (‘MLSD’). If the individual is outside of Saudi Arabia the recruiting employe...
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Employers should retain copies of the employee’s passport, work permit application and approval, and medical check-up report. It is also recommended that employers record details of the employee’s spouse and dependents who are or ...
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Employers can keep their records about unsuccessful job candidates provided that the individual has given consent in writing for his or her data to be processed and retained. ...
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Whilst there is nothing in the law that prohibits employers from asking any particular questions during interviews, they should nevertheless refrain from asking questions regarding the individual’s political or religio...
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KSA laws do not address independent contractors. Therefore, what determines whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor is generally the relevant contract itself. The KSA Labour Law ...
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There are no key distinctions between types of employees (such as blue collar and white collar) under KSA laws. However, the Labour Law does not apply to domestic workers, seamen, agricultural workers, and...
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The Labour Law does not assign specific rules for company directors, managerial positions or executive-level employees. ...
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KSA laws do not address flexible working arrangements. However, a provision in the Labour Law entrusts the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development to issue rules and controls for organising part-time work. Acc...
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Fixed-term employment contracts have a maximum duration of four years (including any renewals). Additionally, expatriate workers must be issued fixed–term contracts. If a fixed-term contract&n...
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A fixed-term employment contract may convert into an indefinite-term contract if the employer and employee continue executing it after the expiry of the contract term without an express agreement on its renewal, or ...
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Employment agencies are required to hold a licence issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. The issuance of the licence is subject to a number of conditions that include having Saudi shareholders and a minimum capit...
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The Labour Law does not address such instances of secondments, although in practice they are not uncommon. There are no restrictions in this regard for Saudi nationals. However, expatriate workers are restricted from wor...
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The employer is required to provide a written contract. If it fails to do so it can be fined SAR 5,000 per violation (i.e. for each employee who does not receive a written contract). Addit...
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It is not common practice to issue an offer letter in addition to the employment contract. However, where the employer is recruiting an expatriate worker from overseas an offer letter is usually provided b...
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The employment contract must be written in Arabic. It is usual practice for contr...
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As a minimum, the rights and obligations set out in the Saudi Labour Law are implied into an employment contract even if they are not explicitly stated. These are the core terms that are required by the MHRSD standard form co...
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Generally, in order to change contractual terms, an employer requires consent from the employee in writing. If the employee does not agree and the employer proceeds to amend a term, this will be deemed to be unenforceable.&...
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Generally, in order to change contractual terms, an employer requires consent from the employee in writing. If the employee does not agree and the employer proceeds to amend a term, this will be deemed to be unenforceable.&...
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Employees are usually provided with a staff handbook or specific policies which sit alongside or complement the employment contract and the employer’s internal work regulation. These typically include: disciplinary&n...
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There is no minimum wage as such in Saudi Arabia; however, in order for Saudi national employees to be counted towards an employer’s ‘Saudisation’ quota, they must be paid a minimum salary of SAR 4,000 per month. Saudi natio...
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Wages are not automatically adjusted in line with in...
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Tax There are no employment related taxes or income tax in Saudi Arabia. Social Security Employers are required to withhold and pay the following social insurance contributions for employe...
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No income tax is payable in Saudi Arabia. The social insurance contributions are calculated on the employee’s wage reported to the General Organisation for Social Insurance; the rates paid by employees are 12% of the month...
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There are no generally applicable rules governing the payment of bonuses. The terms of any bonus scheme are therefore a matter for negotiation between the employer and employee. Bonuses are commonly offered to senior employ...
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Employers are required to provide medical health insurance cover for all employees and their dependents who are classified as the employee’s spouse, unmarried daughters and sons age...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide specific benefits to employees other than health insurance. Therefore, employers are free to decide whether any benefits will be made available. It is common for employe...
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Saudi labour law provides for maximum ordinary working hours of 48 hours per week, or eight hours per day. The working hours and rest periods should be scheduled in a way that no worker is present at the workplace for more ...
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Depending on the business/industry that the employee works in, the maximum working hours specified above may be increased to nine hours per day. Where an employee works in shifts, the employer may obtain the approval&n...
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Muslim workers Muslim employees benefit from reduced working hours during the month of Ramadan. During this time, they must not work for more than six hours a day or 36 hours a week,  ...
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There are no time-recording obligations imposed on employers under Saudi laws. ...
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Saudi labour legislation does not address such working arrangements. However, regulations have recently been passed to allow for part-time flexible working arrangements subject to certain restrictions and requirements. T...
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Saudi labour law provides for maximum ordinary working hours of 48 hours per week, or eight hours per day. The working hours and rest periods should be scheduled in a way that no worker is present at the workplace for more th...
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The employee’s consent is not required, except where overtime exceeds 720 hours per year....
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Where an employee is required to work overtime hours, he or she is entitled 150% of his or her normal hourly rate. ...
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Employees are entitled to a daily break of at least 30 minutes for the purposes of prayers, eating and resting. Employees may not work for more than five consecutive hours without such a break. The break should not be calc...
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An employer who does not comply with the working hours limits prescribed by law and/or the rules on breaks and rest periods may be subject to a fine of not less than SAR 2,000 and not exceeding SAR 5,000.&...
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Trade unions are not recognised in Saudi Arabia. ...
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Trade unions are not recognised in Saudi Arabia, and therefore no workforces are unionised. ...
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Trade unions are not recognised in Saudi Arabia, and therefore employers do not have to work with any union. ...
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Works councils are permitted where there are 100 or more Saudi national employees. Works councils have a limited function: they may propose working conditions to employers, but there is no obligation on employers to consult with them ...
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Trade unions are not recognised in Saudi Arabia, and therefore they may not organise strikes or other industrial action. ...
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Employers can terminate employment in the following ways: dismissing the employee with appropriate notice for a ‘valid’ reason (which is not defined in the law); by mutual consent of the parties with the written consent of the employee...
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Employees have the right to bring a claim of unlawful termination in the Labour Court and to obtain compensation. The comp...
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Where dismissal is for a disciplinary reason, a minimum disciplinary process must be followed. The process requires the following steps: The employee must be notified in writing of the disciplinary allegation within 30 days of the employer...
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The employer must not terminate employment in the following cases: on grounds of illness before the ...
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Where the employee is on an indefinite-term contract, the minimum notice period for termination is 60 d...
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Strictly speaking, there is no provision in the Labour Law that allows for an employer to terminate with immediate effect by making a payment in lieu ...
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An employee can resign and bring a claim for an unlawful termination against the employer where the resignation is a consequence of one of the following reasons: if the employer fails to meet its essential contractual or statutory obligati...
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Employees can be retired when they reach the default retirement age of 60 years ...
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The employee is entitled to receive the following upon termination of employment: salary and benefits to up to the termination date; payment in lieu of notice ...
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Settlement is possible by way of a written agreement with the em...
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There is no requirement for employers to consult with employees or their representatives. However, there is a duty to notif...
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Notification must be given to the labour office in writing at least 60 days before notice of termination is issued to the employees. The notice must include the following information: a financial study regarding the organisation, indicat...
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The consultation with the labour office takes place over a period of 60 days. The labour office will within 45 days examine the notice and express its opinion on the proposal to dismiss, taking into consideration the following information:�...
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The consequences for the employer of failing to give notice to ...
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No...
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No...
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Where there is a change in the identity of the employer as a result of a share takeover, this will not result in a termination of the employment contracts of employees and the successor employer is held jointly liable under Saudi labour�...
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There is no specific protection for employees or automatic transfer principle in the...
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There is no protection upon transfer beyond what is contractually agreed between the parties. In the absence of an agreement, the transfer will usually take place by way of a process of termination and hire, with the employee receiving h...
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Employees cannot object to a transfer by way of a merger or share acquisition. Where a transfer takes place by way of an asset sale, the employee can reject any agreement to transfer and the transferor employer will have to pay out all o...
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There is no principle of automatic transfer of employment and no provision within Saudi labour law that deals specifically with employee benefits in a transfer context. The parties are free to determine for themselves as to how such bene...
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Where there is a share acquisition or merger of the business, the predecessor and successor employers will be held jointly liable for the employees’ employment rights. Where there is a sale of the business or an outsourcing, there...
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Trade unions are not recognised in Saudi Arabia and collective agreements do not apply. ...
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Changes can only be made with the express agreement of employees. ...
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There is no specific protection in the law for dismissal in the context of a transfer. Where an employer wishes to terminate employment during or after a transfer, it must have a lawful reason to do so under the same rules that app...
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There is no obligation to inform or consult with employees or their representatives where there is a business transfer. ...
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There is no requirement to provide any information. ...
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No consultation is required. ...
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There is no requirement to inform or consult. ...
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Works councils are uncommon in Saudi Arabia and serve a very limited function. In a transfer or sale of the business (as opposed to a share acquisition or merger), the works council will be disbanded once the employees have transferred�...
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Saudi nationals must be registered with the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI), and both the employer and employee are required to make contributions to the pension fund. Gulf Cooperation Cou...
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There is no requirement to provide employees with access...
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An employer can fund and operate its own pension scheme and, for Saudi nat...
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There is no requirement to ...
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Pensions administered by GOSI are not subj...
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The employment contract must state, as a minimum, that the employee ...
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No, advertisements for jobs do not require any particular word...
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Serbian law does not regulate what checks an employer is allowed to carry out during the hiring process, but rather imposes certain limitations with respect to what type of information may be requested from candidates. Generally, candidates...
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A probationary period can be provided only when an...
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Special rules apply to dismissal of an employee for cause during the probationary period. If an employee fails to show suitable performance during the pro...
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Applicants may file claims against a potential employer for damages suffered as a result of discriminatory actions by that ...
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As a rule, foreigners may work in Serbia only if they obtain a temporary residence and work permit. Workers from certain countries may also need to obtain a visa prior to entering Serbia for the purpose of working. There are...
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In addition to the records that would also be ke...
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Employers can keep records on candidates they did n...
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Serbian labour law explicitly prohibits...
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Under Serbian labour law, workers may be engaged on the basis of an employment contract, a non-employment contract or as entrepreneurs. Generally, the type of contract itself determines whether an individual is an employee or an independent...
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Serbian labour law does not recognize any distinctions between types of...
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Serbian labour law provides that directors can be employed by the company or, alternatively, engaged through a non-employment management agreement...
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Part-time employees are those with less than full-time working hours (40 hours per week). There are no minimum part-time working hours. Part-time employees are entitled to employment-related rights in proportion to the time spent a...
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Fixed-term employment may be established only where the duration of employment is predetermined by objective reasons. The fixed term must be justified by a deadline, the performance of specific work or the occurrence of a particular event, ...
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If a fixed-term employment contract is concluded contrary to the rules set out ...
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Engaging temporary workers through an employment agency enables more flexibility in termination of employment of assigned workers and transfers a number of administrative tasks from the employer user of services to the agency. Agencies can ...
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An employee may be temporarily assigned to work for another employer at an appropriate job position if: there is no need for the employee’s work at the primary employer; the business premises are leased; or a business c...
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Under Serbian labour law all employment contracts must be concluded in writing before the commencement of work. The contract must have certain minimum terms, and it represents the basis of the employment relationship between the employer an...
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No, issuing an offer letter in addition t...
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Employment contracts must be execut...
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The provisions of Serbian labour law and other applicable laws (such as the laws gove...
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Aside from the mandatory elements set out in se...
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The procedure for changing the terms of an employment contract is strictly formal and entails the conclusion of an amendment to the contract in written form. The law specifies the situations in which an employer may unilaterally offer an am...
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In addition to contractual documents, employers should make available to the employees the internal general enactment regulating the employees’ rights and obligations (the so-called Employee Rulebook) if one exists. Emp...
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Employees in Serbia are entitled to an hourly minimum wage for standard performance and time spent at work. The minimum wage refers to the basic salary only; other payments to employees are not included and should be pai...
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Serbian law does not prescribe automatic wage adjustment in line with inflation. Certain employers provide for a yearly review and adjustments of salaries in accordance with inflation, but this is purely on&nbs...
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Tax Wages are subject to personal income tax. The income tax base is gross salary decreased by approximately EUR 150, and the tax rate is 10%. Employers are required to calculate employees’ income taxes...
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The Serbian personal income tax flat rate of 10% applies to all employees without exception. The salary of an employee working for a Serbian employer with an income of EUR 100,000 would be subject to basic ...
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Serbian labour law only states that employees may receive bonuses, and that bonuses are treated the same as salary. Employers are not obliged to provide any bonuses or bonus schemes for thei...
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The social security system in Serbia is based on the mandatory public pension, health and unemployment insurance. Additional private insurances are possible and represent additional benefits for employees, but they are n...
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Employers may grant their employees various benefits in accordance with their general enactments or individual employment contracts. Some of the most common are: bonuses and awards for the con...
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A standard full-time working week is 40 hours, with a maximum working week of 48 hours (the additional eight hours are regarded as overtime). The maximum daily working time is 12 hours (including overtime). Exceptionally, ...
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It is not possible to exceed the above–mentioned limits. ...
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The working hours of employees in a high-risk workplace are reduced in proportion to the harmful effects of such working conditions on the employee’s health and working ability, with ...
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Employers are obliged to keep daily records of their employees’ overtime work. Such records should be available for review in the event of labour inspection visits. Employers must also keep&n...
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The law recognises certain types of flexible working arrangements, although not always in a way that completely matches the current business needs of employers. Where the nature of work and its...
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The maximum duration of overtime work is eight hours per week, and the total daily working time cannot exceed 12 hours, including overtime work. ...
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In general, consent of the employees for overtime work is not required, but employees can be instructed to work overtime only when certain conditions prescribed by the law are met, such as a sudden in...
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Employees are entitled to an increased rate of pay for overtime work. The minimum amount of the increase is 26% of the base salary, calculated per hour of overtime work. A higher percen...
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The minimum duration of the daily break depends on the employee’s daily working hours, as follows: employees working more than four but less than six hours per day&nb...
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The potential misdemeanour fine for a legal entity that breaches the rules regarding overtime work is between approximately EUR 5,100 and EUR 12,800, and the responsible officer may be subject to a&nb...
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Employees are entitled to annual leave of at least 20 working days per calendar year. This minimum annual leave entitlement is further increased based on the employee’s work contribution, working conditions, years of experienc...
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During annual leave, employees are entitled to salary compensation equivalent to their average salary in the previous 12 months. ...
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Yes, employees are entitled to paid time off during non-working public and religious holidays. There are a total of ten days per year which are designated as non-working national holidays in...
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Employees are entitled to sick leave any time there are appropriate medical grounds as determined by an authorised doctor, and sick leave duration cannot be time limited or accrued. Days of ...
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Family-related leave in general Employees are entitled to family-related paid leave for marriage, a spouse’s childbirth, serious illness of an immediate family member, and in other cases determined in the employer’s general enactment (i...
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On top of the leaves discussed in section 6.5 above, employees are also entitled to: two consecutive days of paid leave for blood donation; paid leave during an interruption of work or a...
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Employers have numerous health and safety obligations, which vary based on the employer’s specific business activity (i.e. whether it includes hazardous jobs) and the total number of employees. In general, an employer must implement healt...
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The main piece of legislation is the Law on Safety and Health at Work. However, there are also numerous regulations applicable in this field, depending on the specific health risk in the workplace. Th...
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If an employer breaches the legal rules on health and safety at work, misdemeanour proceedings may be initiated and fines may be imposed against the employer and the employer’s responsible person. These fines can be up to approximately EU...
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Theoretically, such liability is possible, since each employer is obliged to provide a healthy and safe working environment not just to its own employees but to any other person that performs any type of work on any basis at the e...
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An employer is obliged to notify the Labour Inspection and the police of any fatal, collective or severe injury at work, or any injury resulting in an employee’s inability to work for more than three consecutive working days, as well as a...
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Yes, Serbian law contains rules on the protection of employee information, to the extent this information represents personal...
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An employer that breaches the data protection rules, and the responsibl...
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There are no special rules specifically governing the collection and processing of confidential employee information, but the Law on Personal Data Protection (the ‘LPDP’) applies to such collection and processing in general if that info...
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Serbian laws do not regulate workplace monitoring specifically, but the general data protection rules of the Law on Personal Data Protection (‘LPDP’) apply to these activities and set the boundaries within which it can be lawfully perfo...
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There are no specific rules or guidelines governing the use of social media by employees and monitoring of such use by the employer, but the general data protection rules of LPDP apply to such monitoring (see sections 9.3 and 9.4 above). Th...
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Yes, Serbia has a statute protecting whistleblowers. Whistleblowing is defined in that statute as disclosing information concerning (among others) a violation of laws or regulations, a violation of human rights, acts by a public authority c...
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Employers can include a confidentiality clause in the employment contract or in a separate non-disclosure contract. Under Serbian legislation on protection of business secrets, a business secret means any information: which is secret in th...
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A prohibition of competing activity may be imposed on an employee via the employment contract, but only for employees who work in a position that genuinely enables them to acquire significant new t...
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The employer can contractually restrict the use of confidential infor...
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Once the employment has ended, the non-compete obligation can continue if the parties have so agreed, but only for up to two years following the term...
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Trade unions are autonomous, democratic and independent organizations of employees who join freely in order to represent, improve and protect their interests. The Constitution of Serbia and Serbian labour law guarantee the freedom of indivi...
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In general, trade unions are not very infl...
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In general, trade unions have a right to be informed by an employer about economic, working and social issues...
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If an employer has more than 50 employees, the employees may set up a works council, which is a body that provides ...
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Industrial action is regulated by the Law on Strike, which sets out a procedure that must be followed before a strike can begin. A decision to go on strike may be made by any trade union (whether representative or non-representative), or by...
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The employer or the employee may terminate an employment relationship only in the manner and for the reasons prescribed by the Serbian labour law. In particular, employment can be terminated in the following cases: Upon expiry of the agree...
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The employee may initiate wrongful termination proceedings before a competent court. The time limit for initiating the court proceedings is 60 days after the delivery of the notice of termination. If...
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In order to effect a valid termination of employment, the employer must follow a number of procedural steps. The steps vary depending on the circumstances of the particular case, and may include: issuing a prior written warning; observing ...
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The employer cannot terminate employment on any ground during preg...
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With respect to unilateral termination by the employer, the notice period depends on the particular ground for termination of employment. If the termination is based on the employee’s failure to achi...
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Serbian labour law does not technically allow for termination ‘with immediate effect’ at all, since the mandatory proce...
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Constructive dismissal is not recognised by Serbian law; an employe...
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In general, employment terminates by operation of law when an employee meets the retir...
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Upon termination of employment, the employer is obligated to pay to the em...
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An employee and an employer may conclude a settlement agreement for any claim prior to or during any court p...
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Consultation requirements are triggered if the number of proposed redundancies exceeds certain thresholds. In particular, the requirements apply if within a 30-day period an employer plans to ter...
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Under Serbian labour law, collective dismissal is allowed if due to technological, economic or organisational changes, performance of a particular job becomes unnecessary or the work load is reduced. If those conditions are met, the employe...
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Serbian labour law sets out certain deadlines for communication between the employer, trade unions and the NES. The employer mus...
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If the employer fails to comply with either the information or the consultation requirements, the...
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If only some of the employees working in the same position are to be made redundant, the employer must establish criteria for determining which employees will...
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In all cases of redundancy termination (whether collective or individual), the employer is obliged to make a severance payment. The amount o...
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Serbian labour law explicitly regulates protection of employees only in cases of corporate status changes (e.g. mergers, split-offs and spin-offs) or...
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Serbian labour law does not include express provisions on protection of employees when the business or part of the business is sold to a new employer. Further, the case law is not yet developed in this respect and there are no cases in wh...
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The basic principle of protection in cases of status changes and other changes of employer in accordance with the law is principle of continuity. In addition, both the new and old employer have obligations to notify employees and trade unio...
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An employee can object to transferring. If an employee refuse...
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Terms Where the legal protections covering changes of employer apply, the new employer is obliged to take over all of the old employer’s employment contracts that are valid as of the date of the change of employer; the terms of employmen...
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Transfer of liabilities and joint liability depends on the specific type of status change that is implemented. If the old employer ceases to exist, all liabilities are transferred to the new employer(s). If two or more new employers are est...
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Where the legal protections covering changes of employer apply, the new employer is...
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Although not explicitly addressed by the law, the new employer is arguably prohibited from amending the terms o...
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There is no special protection agai...
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There is no consultation requirement in the case of a business transfer. However, in status changes and other changes of employer in accordance with the law, both the old and new emplo...
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In status changes and other changes of employer in accordance with the law, both the old and the ...
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Employers must provide the representative trade union (or the employees directly where no representative union exists) with ...
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Failure to inform the employees does not suspend or invalidate the transfer, nor does it entitl...
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This depends on whether the old employer continues to exist after the status change. If the old employer ceases...
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Employees are entitled to receive state pension benefits when certain legal conditions are met (in terms of age, years of service, disability status or other requirements depending on the type of pension). Employers are obligated to pay man...
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There is no legal requirement for an employer to provide its employees with access to a pension scheme. In Serbia, aside from the mandatory state pension which is strictly regulated, all other pension schemes are completely voluntary and tr...
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An employer can establish private pension schemes for its employees by entering into a written contract with the pension fund managing company. Under that contract, the employer undertakes to pay an agreed pension contribution for its emplo...
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The employer has no formal consultation obligations with regard to changes to voluntary private pension arrangements. However, trade unions are generally entitled to be notified by the employer regarding economic, labour and social matters ...
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Proceeds from mandatory state pensions after retirement are not subject to personal income tax. Proceeds from private pension insurance are generally taxable as other income at the rate of 15% of the net gain (i.e. the amounts exceeding t...
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In the absence of a voluntary pension scheme, there is no need to specifically mention pension entitlements in the employment contract or in a general enactment of the employer (i.e. the employment rules or collective agreement). If the emp...
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Under Serbian legislation on protection of whistleblowers, when a whistleblower discloses to the employer information about violations of law or human rights, misuse of public authority, danger to life or public health, safety, the environm...
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Under employment law, employees are generally obliged to inform the employer of: (i) any potential danger to life and health and the occurrence of material damage, and (ii) any significant circumstances that could affect the performance of ...
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The whistleblowing procedure is triggered when the whistleblower provides protected information to the employer, which is required by law to initiate an internal investigation within 15 days after receiving the information. As to the proced...
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There are no specific legal obligations for employees to participate in an internal investigation performed by the employer, including when ...
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The employee can b...
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There is no such requirement to provide all evidence during the investigation. However, if the investigation results in a decision to terminate the employment agreement, the employee must be warned in writing of the cause and grounds for di...
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Serbia has legislation protecting whistleblowers. Under this legislation, whistleblowing is defined as disclosing information about violations of the law or human rights, misuse of public authority, danger to life or public health, safety,...
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There are two statutory processes for dealing with low performance of an employee. The first process is reducing the performance-based component of the employee’s salary in accordance with criteria agreed in th...
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The law does not set out any specific rules on how grievances should be handled, but provides for various mechanisms for protection of employees’ rights. Employees may initiate court proceed...
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the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (‘MOM’), the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers’ Federation have issued guidelines on fair employment practices. While the TAFEP guidelines currently have no force of...
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The TAFEP guidelines are silent on whether an employer can carry out checks on the background and health of job applicants. However, the guidelines do mention that questions which are not relevant to assessing suitability, such as of age, d...
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Yes. While Singapore employment legislation is silent on probation periods, the duration of the probationary period will typ...
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There are no special rules relating to dismissal ...
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Job applicants (i.e. non-employees) may lodge a complaint against the employer with the Ministry of Manpower (‘MOM’) for non-adherence to the TAFEP guide...
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An employer needs to apply for a work pass for every foreign worker it seeks to employ to work in Singapore. The kind of work pass that is required depends on the level of the foreign employee. In the case of foreign workers working in the ...
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All employers are required by the Employment Act to maintain detailed employment and salary records of employees (both current and ex-emp...
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As set out in the Advisory Guidelines on the Personal Data Protection Act on Selected Topics issued by the Personal Data Protection Commission, organisations should only keep information about job candidates whom they did not hire for as lo...
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on the basis of merit (such as skills, experience or ability to perform the job), and disregard age, race, religion, gender, marital status, family responsibility and disability. It therefore follows that questions eliciting such informatio...
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Singaporean law draws a distinction between employees and independent contractors. Whether an employment relationship exists is a question of fact that is determined based on the circumstances of each case. The Singapore courts have ruled t...
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Yes. Under Singapore law, there are generally three groups of employees who fall within the application of the Employment Act: (i) workmen; (ii) all employees who are not workmen; and (iii) employees who work in managerial or executive posi...
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No. There is no requirement for a director to be an employee of the company. However, it is possible for a director to also be employed by the company and if so, the usual employment laws will apply t...
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A part-time employee is defined in the law as an employee who works less than 35 hours per week. Under the regulations governing part-time work, the following items must be specified in a part-time employee’s employment contract: t...
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A fixed-term employee is an employee on a fixed-term contract that will terminate upon the expiry of a specific term unless it is renewed. Fixed-term employees are en...
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Conversion of fixed-term employment into open-ended employment is generally a matter of mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. How...
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There are two types of scenarios under which a temporary worker may be engaged through an agency. In the first scenario, the temporary worker is a temporary independent contractor whose service...
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Yes, it is possible for an employer to send its employees to work for another company for a short period of time, which is commonly referred to in Singapore as a ‘secondment’. This is based on contractual agreements amongst the primary ...
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It is not necessary to provide a written employment contract. Under Singaporean labour law the employment agreement can be in writing, oral, expressed or implied. However, all employers must is...
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There is no legal requirement to issue a separate offer letter in addition to the employment contract, but companies may choose to do so. ...
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There is no statutory requirement for the employment contract to be in any specific language. However, since the employment contract involves the agreement of both the employer and employee, employers are encouraged to provid...
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Any term of an employment contract which provides a condition of service that is less favourable to the employee than any of the minimum conditions of service prescribed by the Employment Act&nbs...
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A written contract need not contain all the terms and conditions of employment. It is possible to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents such as collective agreements, employee guidelines, and employee handbooks...
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Under Singapore law, employers cannot make changes to the terms and conditions of employment without the employee’s consent. If the employer amends the terms and conditions of employment unilaterally, this would be a b...
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As mentioned in section 3.5 above, documents such as employee guidelines, employee handbooks and company policies are normally made available to the employee. Non-contractua...
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There is currently no general minimum wage in Singapore, and the law does not regulate the minimum salary an employee is entitled to. However, Progressive Wage Models have been developed for Singapore citizen...
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No. Wages in Singapore, and any increases thereto, are agreed between the employer and employee. There is no automatic adjustment for inflation. ...
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Tax Income tax treatment depends on an individual’s tax residency status. An individual will be treated as a tax resident for a particular Year of Assessment (‘YA’) if he or she is either: a Singapore citizen or Singapore...
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Assuming that the employee is a 30-year-old Singapore citizen or Singapore permanent resident, and further assuming that EUR 100,000 equates to approximately S...
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There are no statutory provisions relating to the payment of bonuses. However, it is common for employers to reward employees through contractual or discretionary bonuses. In Singapore, it is common for employers to provide an annual bonus ...
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Under Singaporean legislation, employees are entitled to the following core employee benefits (among others): Annual leave (see section 6.1). Paid public holidays (see section 6.3). Paid sick leave (see section 6.4). Timely payment of sala...
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It is common for employers to provide benefits in excess of the statutory benefits above, for example a hig...
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Singapore law does not set out restrictions on working hours, except where Part IV of the Employment Act applies to an employee (so-called ‘Part IV Employees’). A Part IV Employee is: a workman (i.e.&n...
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It is not possible to exceed the limit of 12 hours of work a day, or 72 hours of overtime work a month, except under the following circumstances prescribed by law: an accident or threat of accident;&n...
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The restrictions stated above will not apply to employees engaged in the fire services or in work which by its nature involves long hours of inactive or stand-by employment. ...
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Employers are required to maintain records for all employees including, amongst other items, the employee’s working hours (including the duration of meals and breaks), overtime hours worked, and overtime pay ...
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While there is no statutory right for employees to request to work flexibly, this can be mutually negotiated and agreed between employer and employee. An official advisory (the Tripartite Advisory on Flexible Work Arrangement...
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As stated in Section 5.1 above, a Part IV Employee can only work up to 72 overtime hours in a month. However, employers can apply to the Ministry of Manpower for an exemption, and upon considering the operational needs of the employer and t...
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Generally, no. ...
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A Part IV Employee must be paid no less than 1.5 times his or her hourly basic rate of pay for overtime work. ...
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A Part IV Employee generally cannot be required to work more than six consecutive hours without rest and is entitled to one full rest day per week. However, if the Part IV Employee is a shift worker, the employer may substitute any 30-hour ...
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A violation of the rules on working hours or breaks is considered a breach or offence under the Employment Act, which is punishable by a fine not exceeding SGD 5,000. A subsequent offence is punishable by a fine not exceeding SGD 10,000 or ...
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An employee who has worked for an employer for at least three months is entitled to seven days of paid annual leave for his or her first year of service, and an additional day of paid annual leave for every subsequent 12 months of service, ...
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An employer must pay an employee the employee’s gross rate of pay for every day of paid annual leave. ‘Gross rate of pay’ is statutorily defined as the total amount of money (including allowances) to which an employee is entit...
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Under Singapore employment law, every employee is entitled to a paid holiday at his or her gross rate of pay on those days which are designated as public holidays in the Government Gazette. There are 11 official public holidays every calend...
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An employee who has been employed for at least six months is statutorily entitled to paid sick leave of up to 14 days per year if hospitalization is not necessary. If hospitalization is necessary, the annual statutory entitlement is the les...
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There are several types of arrangements for family-related leave and pay in Singapore, to cater to the various needs of employees in taking care of their family members. Unpaid Infant Care Leave Working parents who fulfil the following ...
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Leave of Absence for Military or Other Public Service Duties The employer of any person who is required to report for national service, mobilised police force service, or voluntary service in the People’s Defence Force must grant th...
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The common law and the Workplace Safety and Health Act (the ‘WSHA’) impose on the employer duties of care towards employees in relation to the provision of a safe and healthy working environment. This duty of the employer also extends t...
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Under the WSHA, the Commissioner for Workplace Safety and Health (the ‘Commissioner’) has the power to issue remedial orders or stop-work orders if he or she concludes that: any workplace or article used in the workplace is in such...
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The WSHA creates criminal liabilities on persons who breach the duties set out in the legislation. Any person who fails to comply with a remedial order is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding SGD 50,0...
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The employer has a duty of care under common law to ensure a safe system of work for its employees, and this duty is non-delegable. This would mean that even if a third-party contractor engaged by the employ...
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Under workplace safety and health regulations, employers owe statutory duties to report work-related accidents, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases to the Ministry of Manpower (‘MOM’). A work-related accident means any uni...
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Singapore does not have a framework of dedicated anti-discrimination legislation. Nevertheless, all employers in Singapore are expected to adhere to the Ministry of Manpower’s Fair Consideration Framework (the ‘FCF’) and the Tripartit...
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While discriminatory employment practices would largely centre around the Tripartite Guidelines list of characteristics (see section 8.1 above), there are some instances where individuals can be treated differently due to the practical and ...
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All employers generally have a duty under the Fair Consideration Framework and the Tripartite Guidelines to avoid applying discriminatory rules against all of their employees. However, it is possible that certain rules that are intended to ...
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In line with the Fair Consideration Framework, employers are strongly encouraged to make reasonable adjustments to cater to employees with differing needs, as far as reasonably practicable. This is subject to any practical or safety reasons...
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Harassment Singapore has a statute that prohibits harassment and imposes criminal penalties for doing so. However, it should be noted that this anti-harassment statute does not specifically address workplace harassment and does not set ...
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There is no legislation that specifically addresses victimisation or retaliation with regard to employees who may be treated badly because they complained about discrimination or helped someone to do so. However, the Workplace Harassment Ad...
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Discrimination If an employer is found to have engaged in discriminatory practices in breach of the Tripartite Guidelines, the Ministry of Manpower may bar the employer from obtaining work passes for 12 months. For more egregious cases, t...
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Generally, the burden of proof in any claim against the employer on the basis of discrimination or harassment rests on the employee, who is required to provide adequate evidence that he or she was the victim of discriminatory or harassing c...
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At common law, if an employee commits an unlawful act in the course of his or her employment (including harassment, discrimination and other forms of misconduct), the employer may be vicariously liable even though it may not be personally a...
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There is currently no statutory obligation to report gender pay gaps in Singapore. There are also currently no plans or legislative proposals of that nature in the pipeline in Singapore. ...
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Under occupational safety and health legislation, employers have a general duty to take reasonably practical measures to ensure the health (including mental health) and safety of employees at work. Further, the Tripartite Partners have ...
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There is no publicly available data on the number of discrimination claims by employees in Singapore. ...
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There is no publicly available data on the typical amounts of awards in cases of unlawful discrimination. ...
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Data protection law is codified in Singapore under the Personal Data Protection Act (‘PDPA’), a piece of legislation introduced to govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal data and information by organisations. ‘P...
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Any person guilty of an offence under the PDPA for which no penalty is expressly provided is subject on conviction to a fine not exceeding SGD 10,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both. In the case of a continuing o...
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While the PDPA provides protection for employee information in general, it does not include a separate category for sensitive or confidential employee information. As such, since there is no express differentiation between confidential and ...
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There is generally no case law or legislation in Singapore which addresses or restricts the monitoring of employees through methods such as surveillance cameras or email tracking. Neither the PDPA nor any other statute expressly deals with ...
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Generally, there is no legislation that specifically governs the use of social media in the workplace or when the employees are off duty. In practice, employers usually include a term in the employment contract which ensures that employees ...
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There is currently no overarching whistleblowing legislation in Singapore. However, there are several laws and administrative guidelines affording limited protections to certain groups of whistleblowers, such as: the Prevention of Corr...
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An employer can ensure that its employee keeps work-related information confidential by inserting an express confidentiality clause into the employment contract. If no such clause exists in the employment contract of a current employee,...
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An employer can ensure an employee does not act in competition with it through a non-competition clause in the employment contract. Such clauses (together with non-solicitation clauses) are under the larger umbrella known as restraint of tr...
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As with a current employee (see section 10.1 above), this comes down to the terms of the employment contract or the non-disclosure agreement between employer and employee. Employers can phrase confidentiality clauses or NDAs in such a way t...
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As with current employees (see section 10.2 above), employers can ensure that employees do not act in competition with it upon termination of employment via a non-competition clause. However, restrictive covenants such as non-competitio...
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The main aim of trade unions in Singapore is to facilitate relations between employers and employees for any of the following purposes: to improve working conditions and promote the economic and social interests of employees; to pro...
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In Singapore, whether or not workforces tend to b...
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There is no provision under Singapore law mandating that every employer must work with a trade union or be a party to a collective bargaining agreement with a trade union. However, an employer must recognise and bargain with a trade union t...
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There is no concept of works councils in Singapore. There is no legal requirement to constitute an e...
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Singapore law contains restrictions on strikes and other industrial action in a number of types of businesses, trades and professions that are specified in the law as ‘essential services’. Strikes are completely prohibited in the foll...
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Under Singapore law, an employer can lawfully terminate an employee’s employment either with notice (or payment in ...
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Under Singapore’s Employment Act, if an employee considers that he or she has been dismissed without j...
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If the employer wishes to terminate an employee’s employment with notice, it should ensure that the notice of termination is properly served on the employee (preferably in writing) and that the minimum notice period (as stipulated in the ...
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Singaporean law protects employees from dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy, trade union participation, age and for being called up for national service. ...
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The employment contract will often provide for a certain notice period for t...
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Yes, it is permissible for an employer to terminate an employment relationship with immediate effec...
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If an employee is forced to resign, this can be regarded as constructive dismissal under Singapore law. T...
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Under Singapore law, the minimum retirement age is 63. An employer cannot ask/force an employee to retire before the minimum retirement age if (i) the employee is a Singapore citizen or Singapore permanent resident, and (ii) he or she joine...
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The typical payments that would be made to an employee on termination of employment include: if the employee is being terminated by payment of salary in lieu of notice, payment of salary and any fixed allowances that would have been rece...
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An employer may settle any claims by the employee by entering into a m...
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There is no statutory requirement under Singapore law to hold consultations or hearings with employees, employee representatives or trade unions in connection with a situation of redundancy, where multiple dismissals are proposed. An ...
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Employers with at least ten employees who have dismissed any employee for redundancy must notify the Commissioner for Labour. Every notification must be given to the Commissioner for Labour not later than five working days after the employe...
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There is no requirement under Singapore law to hold consultations or hearings unless the employer is contractually bound to do so by the employment contracts or an applicable collective agreement. However, guidelines for redundancy have b...
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Failure to comply with the mandatory notifications is a civil offence, for which administrative penalties can be imposed. In limited circumstances where the employer is con...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Singaporean law. TAFEP has issued an advisory note which describes what should be considered when making employees redundant, including the amount of compensation, communications ...
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There is no legally mandated minimum amount of redundancy benefits in Singapore. If an employee’s terms of employment specify that such benefits are payable, payment must be made in accordance with those terms. Employees with less tha...
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Where an employee is employed by a company, a change in the shareholder(s) of the company does not give ris...
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In the event of a transfer of an undertaking (or part thereof), Singapore employment law contains rules protecting employees. Those rules provide that the transfer cannot operate to terminate an employment contract. In addition, upon s...
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If the transfer of undertaking rules apply, the following legal principles govern: The employment contract automatically transfers to the transferee on completion of the sale of the business. The employment contract applies to the transfer...
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Singapore law does not contain any mechanism that allows an empl...
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Terms The terms of the employment contracts remain unchanged upon transfer. However, nothing in the law prevents the transferee and the employee (or the trade un...
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All of the transferor’s rights, powers, duties and liabilities cease and transfer to the transferee on completion of the business transfer. There is no statutory provision for joint liability. ...
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See section 14.3 above. Any collective agreement entered into...
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See section 14.3 above. The employment contract applies t...
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Whilst the transfer rules operate to transfer an employee’s employment contract to the transferee by operation ...
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Singapore’s transfer of undertaking rules provide that the transferor ...
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In notifying the employees (and the trade union, if any) to enable consultations to take place, employers must provi...
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There is no stipulated duration for ...
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The Commissioner for Labour is empowered to direct the transferor or the transferee t...
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There is no conc...
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State pension benefits have a very limited scope in Singapore and only apply to certain officers in the public service of Singapore. Even as to these public officers, the legal operation of such pensions is limited; the law provides that no...
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Yes. The Central Provident Fund (‘CPF’) is a compulsory savings plan instituted by the Singapore Government. Any employee who is a Singapore citizen or a Singapore Permanent Resident is required to contribute a certain percentage of his...
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Employers in the private sector are allowed to fund their own pension schemes for their employees, although this is le...
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Unless otherwise expressly required to under a contr...
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Compulsory CPF contributions relating to employment in Singapore are not subject to income tax. However, voluntary CPF contributions...
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In relation to CPF contributions, there is technically no need to insert any express provision in th...
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The law does not make any requirements about the wording of advertisements or particular details about jobs. Information such as the identity of the ...
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Employers are not entitled to ask questions about a job applicant’s health before making a job offer. It is only permissible to ask such questions if a certain state of health is required by law. If this is relevant to the job, it is perm...
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Employment can be subject to a probationary period. Employers usually use this time to eva...
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The employer may terminate the employment during a probationary period for any reason and at any time, and the employer is not obliged to provide a reason for dismissal during the probationary period. The employee may termina...
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Job applicants can bring claims for a breach of equal treatment and unlawful discrimination against a prospectiv...
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The process for employment of foreign workers depends on whether the workers are EU citizens or third country nationals. The employment of EU citizens is a simple process as these employees do not need visas, work or residence permits. EU c...
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The employer must request third country (i.e. non-EU) workers pr...
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The employer is entitled to keep personal data about an unsuccessful candidate only to the extent necessary to document the selection process and its outcome. If the employer has obtained the unsuccessful ...
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The employer is entitled to ask any questions directly related to the prospective job and the candidate’s previous job experience. Howev...
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There are two main categories of workers in Slovakia, excluding state workers: employees; and independent contractors. An employee (i.e. a natu...
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Employment law in Slovakia does not differentiate between typ...
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There are no special rules that apply to the employment of company directors. Persons working as statutory bodies (i.e. exe...
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The law forbids any favourable or unfavourable treatment of employees by reason of their part-time status in comparison with other employees. Employees working part-time are entitled to the same level of protection by employment law a...
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There are no restrictions on categories of employees. This means the employer may conclude a fixed-term employment contract with any employee. However, there is a restriction on ‘chaining employment relationships’ for a fixed term. ...
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A fixed-term employment must be agreed in writing. If the employer has agreed to a fixed-term employment relationship with the employee in breach of the rules on fixed-term contracts, if th...
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An agency worker is a person who is employed by an employment agency as a temporary worker for one or more of the agency’s clients (the ‘client employer’). Usually, agency workers carry out their duties in the client’s workplace alo...
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The employer can temporarily assign an employee to work for another ‘host’ company (i.e. the ‘host employer’), but the employee remains employed by the original employer. The law requires a written agreement setting out the scope of...
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It is necessary to provide a written employment contract and the law expressly states that an original must be given to the employee. The employment contract must be in written form and must include: substantive conditions (i.e. the type o...
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It is not common practice in Slovakia for the employer to issue an offer letter to the employee before signing the employment contract, although prac...
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The law requires that employment contracts must be in the Slovak language. Howeve...
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Certain rights and obligations are applied to all employment relationships directly by employment law regardless of whether they appear in writing. The law states that from the beginning of the employ...
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The employment contract must contain certain conditions, otherwise it is invalid. However, it is possible for the contract of employment to expressly incorporate other ...
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The employer cannot change contractually agreed terms and conditions unilaterally. Rights set out in the employment contract or collective agreement can only be modified with the mutual consent of t...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules, often collected together in a staff handbook or working order. These would typically include: a health and saf...
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Employers must pay workers a specified monthly minimum wage, which is updated each year by a regulation issued by the Slovak Government. The annual adjustment of the minimum wage for the following calendar year is negotiated by the social p...
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There is no statutory requirement or system for wages to be ...
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Tax Employees pay income tax and social and health security payments based on their wages, including any benefits in kind. The appropriate amount of income tax and social security is deducted each month from the employee’s wages. The tax ...
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The income tax rate for employees is 19% up to a threshold of EUR 38,553.01, at which point the tax rate becomes 25%. Therefore, in the tax year of 2022, the tax rate for an employee with a yearly income of EUR 100,000 is at 19% for the fir...
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There are no generally applicable rules governing bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any discretion as to whether to pay a bonus and the amount of&nb...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular benefits. However, since 2019, employers with more than 49 employees have an obligation to provide all employees who...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits include: use of company cell phones or payments for the use of cell phones; use of compan...
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In general, the limit on daily work hours is eight hours (i.e. 40 hours per week). Unless the law states otherwise, an employee’s average weekly working time, including overtime work, must not exceed 48 hours. For young...
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The daily and/or weekly working limit may be exceeded by agreement in three ways: uneven distribution of working time; ‘working time account’ (a type of uneven distribution of working time); and overtime work. The uneven...
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Home workers and teleworkers are not subject to the rules on the schedule of specified weekly working time, continuous weekly rest period and continuous daily rest. The provisions on working time ...
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The employer is obliged to keep records of the employees’ working time, overtime work, night work and on-call duty. This includes records of the start and end of the time period in which the employee performed work or was on call. During ...
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The Labour Code governs flexible working time and remote working. Other forms of agile working are not directly addressed in Slovak law. Flexible working time can be agreed in a collective agreement or another agreement with the employee re...
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Overtime work can either be performed based on an order by the employer or by agreement between the employee and employer. An employee may be ordered to do overtime work up to a maximum of 150 hours in a calendar year. Overtime work exceedi...
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Overtime work exceeding a threshold of 150 hours in a calendar year requires the consent of the employee. An employee may work for a maximum of 400 overtime hours in a calendar year (i.e. 150 ord...
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The law provides that the employee is entitled to the agreed wage plus an overtime bonus equal to at least 25% (35% in the case of hazardous work) of his or her average wage. A different rate of pay f...
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Employees are entitled to a break of no less than 30 minutes if they work for more than six hours. Employees are entitled to a minimum daily rest period of no less than 12 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period. This minimum daily r...
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Exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods may result in a claim by the employee, an administrative fine and/or criminal prosecution. Employees have the right to fair working conditions and the right not to be penal...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of four weeks’ paid annual leave. Employees who are aged 33 or over at the end of the applicable calendar year and employees who have permanent childcare responsibilities for children under the age of 1...
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Employees are entitled to receive salary for leave taken in the amount of their...
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There are 15 public holidays each year in Slovakia, as follows: Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic, 1 January; Epiphany (The Three Magi and Christmas Day for Orthodox Christians), 6 January; Good Friday, March or April; Easter...
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An employee is entitled to salary compensation for temporary sickness. This is payable from the first day of sickness until either the end of the sickness or to the tenth day of sickness, whichever is the sooner. In order to receive this, t...
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Maternity leave and parental leave Female employees are entitled to 34 weeks’ maternity leave; increased to 37 weeks if they are single, divorced or widowed and living alone; and increased to 43 weeks for multiple births. After t...
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The employer must allow an employee time off work in the following situations, if these activities cannot be performed outside working hours (note that the list is not exhaustive): unpaid leave for quarantine (i.e. medical isolation owing ...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, set out in law. These include organisational measures, technical measures, health measures and social measures and they aim to protect the health...
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Health and safety at work is regulated in various ways. The employer has an on-going duty to ensure its employees’ health and safety at work. However, control of health and safety may also be mana...
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State supervision in the field of health and safety is performed via Labour Inspectorates. The Labour Inspectorate is entitled to file a petition to cancel a trade licence or suspend an operation if the employer is in serious breach of heal...
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The employer must secure the health and safety of those whom it knows to be present...
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In the event of a serious work accident (a work accident that results in death or severe bodily harm to an employee), the employer must notify the Labour Inspectorate without delay. If the work accident requires medical treatment or results...
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There are fifteen characteristics protected by discrimination law: sex; religion or belief; race; nationality or ethnic origin; di...
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Different treatment does not constitute discrimination if it can be objectively justified by the nature of occupational activity or the c...
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Under anti-discrimination law, indirect discrimination can occur when an apparently neutral provision, decision, instruction or practice disadvantages or could potentially disadvantage one person compare...
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Under anti-discrimination law, in order to comply with the principle of equal treatment, employers must take measures to enable persons with disabilities to have access to a particular job, to perform the job duties, and to participate in v...
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Harassment is prohibited under anti-discrimination law. Harassment is behaviour that creates or may create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment and the purpose or effect of it is, or may be, interferenc...
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Anti-discrimination law prohibits ‘unjustified intervention’. Unjustified intervention is any behaviour or omission that the person a...
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Individuals who believe they have not received equal treatment in breach of the law may pursue their claims by judicial process. They may seek an injunction to stop their employer from continuing the breach and an order for them to rectify ...
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In the Slovak legal system the employee as plaintiff must present the court with facts from which it can be reasonably concluded that the principle of equal treatment has ...
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The employer may be responsible for the discriminatory acts of its employees, particularly managers and those entitled to act on behalf of the employer. In specific cases, however, the individual employee may be held responsible for discrim...
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There is no specific ...
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In Slovakia, the protection of mental health is a part of the occupational safety and health system. The general obligation of an employer is to ensure the employees’ health and safety, including their mental health. If stress, workload, ...
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Claims for discrimination in employment are rare in Slovakia. It is more common for employees to claim against employers for ...
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If an employee believes that his or her legally protected rights, interests or freedoms have been impacted by the employer’s failure to comply with the principle of equal treatment, he or she may request that the court order the employer ...
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There are no general rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media, either at work or when off duty. Employment law states that the fundamental obligations of the em...
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The first comprehensive legislation on legal protection of whistle-blowers was adopted in 2015. That law has since been replaced by a new law that went into effect on 1 March 2019. The law protects whistle-blowers (those who report cr...
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The extent to which work-related information can be kept confidential depends on whether it amounts to: trade secrets; confidential information (e.g. where an employee is expressly told is something is confidential, or information is obvio...
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The law says that an employee may engage in other economic activities that compete with the employer’s business only with the prior written approval of the employer. If the employer does not respond within 15 d...
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Employees have a statutory obligation to maintain confidentiality. After the employment contract has ended this obligation applies only to trade secrets. In the event of a breach of the duty to keep trade ...
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Employers who wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition with it once the employment has ended must include an express contractual term in the employment contract which restricts the employee’s activities after the termination...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purpose is to regulate relations between employers and workers in the workplace. The main role of the trade union is to negotiate with employers on behalf of its members to ...
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The exact number of employees who are trade union members is not known an...
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An employer must allow the operation of trade unions at the workplace and cooperate with them once established. The establishment of trade unions is voluntary and ...
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Employers are required to inform and consult with employee representative bodies in certain circumstances, including: where there is a transfer of an undertaking; before termination of employment; for collective dismissals; and in relation...
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The law imposes civil liability on trade unions for organising strikes in two situations: where the strike is unlawful and contrary to collective bargaining law; ...
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Slovak law gives three options to enable employers to unilaterally and lawfully terminate an employee: notice; immediate termination; or termination during a probation period. An employer may only terminate an employee b...
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An employee may claim in court, that termination by notice or immediate termination by employer is invalid. This must be done within two months of the day on which the employment relationship ended. If the court finds that the employer is...
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Even if there are valid and legal grounds for terminating the employment, the employer must follow the steps set out in law. Termination by notice Termination notice given by the employer is an important unilateral legal act and must be...
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An employer must not give notice to an employee who is within a so–called protective period, meaning: when the employee is temporarily incapable of working owing to illness or accident, or is prescribed medical treatment in ...
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The minimum notice periods set out in law are: generally, at least one month; at least two months if the employment has lasted at least one year; and at least three months if the employment has lasted at least five years and t...
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Slovak labour law does not allow agreements to be made on payment in lieu of the notice specified in the employment contract. There are two exceptions: if the employment relationship is terminated by mutual written agreement betwe...
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If an employee resigns, the employment is terminated after the expiry of the notice period (which depends on the length of continuous service). As a rule, employees who resign are not entitled to a severance payment. The employee may al...
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Retirement is not in itself a valid ground for termination, according to the Slovak law. However, there are exceptions for some types of state employees. Retiring an employee because he or she has reached a particular age is likely to be co...
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Provided the employer gives the correct notice, no payments need be made to the employee unless agreed otherwise in the contract, with the exception of payment for unused holiday. Any bonuses will be paid according to the system agreed in...
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The employer and employee may settle their disputed claims by means of an ‘agreement on disputed claims’, which must be executed in writing to be valid. ...
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There is a requirement to consult with employees or their representatives in cases of multiple (i.e. collective) dismissals. Labour law on collective dismissals applies when the organisation or a part of it terminates employment within a pe...
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The following information must be provided: the reasons for the proposed collective dismissals; the number of employees to be dismissed and their position in the organisational structure of the company; the total number of employees in the...
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Consultation must take place ‘with a view to reaching agreement’. This means that the parties do not have to agree, but the consultation process must be gen...
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If an employer breaches the law on collective dismissals, an employee who is subject to dismissal is entitled to compensation in the amoun...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismiss...
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There are no additional payments to make to employee...
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There is no specific protection for employees on share takeovers other than the emplo...
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Sale of a business If a business is sold, the employees have a right to transfer to the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of a business is sold to a new employer, as long as it r...
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The employers (i.e. both the transferor and transferee) have two general obligations. They must inform and consult with employee representatives. They must also provide the representatives, or the employees directly if there are no represen...
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Generally speaking, employees may object to transferring but this will not affect or delay the transfer itself. How...
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Terms The employment terms transfer to the transferee. The transferee ‘steps into the shoes’ of the transferor and becomes the employer on the transferor’s terms. All rights and obligations under the employment contract transfer to th...
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The transferee is responsible for any liabilities that concern employment before the transfer. Any act or omission of the transferor wi...
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Collective agreements with a recognised trade union transfer and remain in force until they expire. The original collective agreemen...
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Employers cannot make unilateral changes to the employment contracts in any circumstances (either during or after transfer). Chan...
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There is no period, before, during or after a transfer in which a dismissal for reasons to do with a transfer would be safe. If the working conditions of the transfe...
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The employers (i.e. both the transferor and transferee) have two genera...
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Employers must provide information about: the proposed date of the tran...
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Consultation is defined as an ‘exchange of views’. As part of the consultation, there is ...
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If the employer fails to properly inform or consult about a pla...
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The legal status, position and legal protection of members of the works council and other e...
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The reform of the Slovak pension system in 2005 introduced a so-called ‘three pillar’ pension system. The first pillar is the state pension. The second and third pillars are private pension schemes. The reform allows employees to choo...
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In general, there is no requirement for an employer to provide its employees with access to any type of pension scheme. However, employers are obliged to contribute to supplementary pension schemes in the third pension pillar for special ...
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Employers in Slovakia cannot fund or operate their own pension schemes. However, the law allows employers to contribute to employees’ supplementary pension schemes. Generally, contribution is not mandatory and is provided only as an emplo...
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If the employer has agreed in the collective agreement to contribute to a supplementary pension scheme, any change to the arrangements requires consultation and agreement with employee representatives. If employers decide to unilaterally ...
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The tax treatment of pensions depends on the type of pension scheme from which the pension is paid. The pension contributions to ‘first pillar’ schemes (i.e. the state pension) and pensions from the first pillar are tax free. In other...
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There is no statutory obligation on employers to provide information on pension entitlement in the employment contract. ...
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An employer is required to conduct an investigation whenever an employee submits a grievance. The employee’s right to submit a grievance or complaint is broad, covering issues including violations of the Labour Code or the principle of go...
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Labour law generally leaves the decision whether to report suspected misconduct up to the good will of employees. It is rather their right than a duty. However, labour law does not prohibit employers from including such an obligation in the...
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The employer is obliged to respond to an employee´s complaint without undue delay, make any necessary corrections, refrain from further illegal action, and remedy any damage caused by its actions. This procedure is governed by the Labour C...
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Slovak law does not require employees to participate in an investigation, even if the emp...
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It is not standard practice in Slovakia for an employee to be represented by a lawyer duri...
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The employer is not obliged to provide the employee with the evidence it has gathered during an investigation. The suspected employee...
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Slovakia has adopted comprehensive legislation on legal protection of whistleblowers. The law does not distinguish between ‘unlawful’ and ‘immoral’ activities; the regime is the same and the same rules apply to both. However, th...
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Slovak labour law distinguishes between two types of low performance: (i) unsatisfactory performance of work tasks and (ii) breach of work discipline. Unsatisfactory performance of work tasks is when the employee fulfils all work tasks but ...
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Statutory rules on the handling of grievances are quite vague as the Labour Code regulates only the general steps to be taken by the employer: to respond without undue delay, to take corrective measures, to refrain from further unlawful ac...
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When recruiting new employees, employers in Slovenia are legally required to publicly advertise job vacancies. In practice, the advertisement is commonly published with the Employment Service of Slovenia, but a...
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The employer can only require candidates to provide information and/or submit documents demonstrating that the candidate fulfils the job requirements. The employer must therefore refra...
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The employer and employee can agree on a probation period, which cannot be longer than six months (this may be extended in the case of temporary absence from work). In Slovenia, the probation period is not automatically applied, b...
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During the probation period the employee may terminate the employment agreement at any time. The employer may terminate the employment agreement if, during the probation period or upon its expiry, the...
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A candidate who was not selected and believes that the employer violated the statutory prohibition of discrimination in the selection process may bring a claim before the competent labour court w...
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Slovenian statutory provisions distinguish between work permits, residence permits and visas. While the latter two allow individuals to enter and reside in Slovenia, work permits allow foreign citizens to work in Slovenia.&nb...
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Employers are required to keep a record of their foreign employees which must include, in addition to the information applicable to all employees, the following: country of birth; type o...
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The employer can collect and process the candidate’s personal information during the recruitment process, but only to the extent and for the time that this is necessary for the recruitment process. ...
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The law generally provides that in the process of recruitment employers may only require job candidates to provide information or documents demonstrating that the candidate fulfils ...
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Natural persons can work in Slovenia in the following legal capacities: employment; self-employment as an independent contractor or sole trader; or in certain situations under ...
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Slovenian labour law generally does not differentiate between different types of employees and equally applies to all, whether blue–collar or white-collar. In practice, a distinction between employees ca...
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Company directors can perform their work on the basis of either an employment agreement or a civillaw management agreement. If the latter applies, the director’s rights and obligatio...
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Slovenian labour law generally does not give employees a right to demand part-time employment or flexible working arrangements, with some exceptions described in more detail below. Employers and employees are however free to agree on a...
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Under Slovenian labour law, an employer and employee can enter into an employment agreement for a fixed term only in cases explicitly set out in law, namely in cases of: work which by its nature is ...
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If a fixed-term employment agreement does not meet the requirements of the law or a collective agreement (see section 2.5 above), or if the employee continues to work after the expiry o...
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Slovenian labour law allows the operation of employment agencies, but they must obtain a special licence (granted by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities). Employers are&n...
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Slovenian labour law does not expressly address the possibility of posting employees with another domestic employer. The only way this can be done is through engaging temporary workers as described in section 2...
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Under Slovenian employment legislation, employment contracts must be in writing. If an employee is not provided with a written employment contract, he or she may request it from the employer, and the employee can also claim judicial protect...
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No, issuing an offer letter in addition t...
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The employment contact should be concluded in the Slovenian language. Also, the internal operations of private legal e...
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Yes, the provisions of Slovenian employment legislation and the provisions of any applicable collective agreements apply even if they are not explicitly mentioned in the employment contract (e.g. prohibition of competition, protectio...
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Under Slovenian law, employment contracts can refer to and ...
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Unless explicitly provided otherwise in Slovenian law, every change of the employment contract’s terms and conditions requires the employee´s consent. The employer cannot reduce the scope of the employee´s rights or impose new obligatio...
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Normally, in addition to contractual documents the employer’s general acts and any applicable collective agreement are made available to the employee, and the employer must ensure that its employees are at least informed of those do...
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Slovenia has a statutory minimum wage. The amount is determined annually by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and is published on 31 January of the current year&n...
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The minimum wage is adjusted at least once a year based on the consumer price index. Otherwise, wages are not automatically adjusted in line with inflation unless this has been contractually agreed to betw...
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Tax Residents of Slovenia are liable to pay personal income tax on all income acquired during a tax year, whether that income is sourced in Slovenia or elsewhere. The pe...
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Personal income tax is calculated and paid from the net annual tax base. In the present case, the net tax base would be annual income minus a deduction for the social security contributions paid by th...
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Slovenian employment legislation regulates payments based on job performance and business performance, which are paid to employees in addition to the basic wage. Payment for job perform...
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As set out in section 4.3 above, employers are required to make social security contributions on behalf of employees for pension and disability insurance, health insurance, unemployment...
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In addition to the benefits described above, collective agreements or the employer’s general acts may specify other types of payments and benefits that are made available to the employees. These may...
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Under Slovenian labour law regular full–time working hours must not exceed 40 hours per week. Working hours can be set by the employment contract, the employer’s internal regulations or colle...
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The above limits may only be exceeded if an employee working full time concludes a part-time employment contract with another employer under exceptional circumstances. Three conditions need to be fulfilled ...
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No categories of employees are exempt from the above rules on the maximum daily and weekly working hours. ...
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Under Slovenian labour law the employer is required to keep a daily record of the employee’s working time. This means that the employer must register the following daily information: ...
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Slovenian law does not actively encourage agile working, but it does allow for some of its main characteristics. The employee’s working time must be set out in the employment contract or a collect...
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Slovenian labour law provides that an employer can require an employee to perform work exceeding the full working time in the following situations: in cases where the amount work has ...
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Generally, there is no need to obtain consent from employees for overtime work. However, the employer must provide written notice of overtime to the worker prior to the commencement of the work. If th...
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Slovenian labour law provides that employees are entitled to receive additional payment for overtime work. However, the law does not determine the rate of such payment; the rate is instead set ou...
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An employee working full time is entitled to a 30-minute break during the working day. An employee working less than full time, but at least four hours in a day, has the right to a break in propo...
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If an employer violates the above described rules on working time, it is subject to a fine ranging from EUR 1,500 to EUR 4,000, or from EUR 300 to EUR 2,000 if the employer is a legal person, an ...
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The minimum entitlement to annual leave is four weeks, regardless of whether the employee is employed full-time or part-time. A collective agreement or employment contract can provide for additional annual leave, and it is common fo...
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The employee is entitled to 100% salary compensation during annual leave. In addition, each employee in Slovenia who has obtained the right to annual leave is entitled to a holiday allowance which is paid by ...
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Yes, if a public holiday falls during the working week, employees are entitled to the day off with full salary compensation. ...
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Under Slovenian labour legislation an employee is entitled to compensation for the days that he or she is absent from work due to sickness. The first 90 days of absence due to sickness are paid in the amount of...
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Maternity, paternity and parental Leave Slovenian law provides for maternity, paternity and parental leave, all three of which are paid by the state. Maternity leave lasts 105 days and must be...
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Slovenian labour legislation provides for several other types of paid leave: leave to perform the functions of an elected office, a function or duty to which the employee has bee...
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Under the relevant Slovenian legislation, employers have a duty to ensure the safety and health of employees at work. To this end, the employer must implement all measures necessary to ensure the safety and health o...
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The employer has a number of specific legal obligations relating to health and safety at work, including among others: to provide medical examinations for employees that correspond to the...
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If an employer breaches the workplace health and safety obligations it may be fined in an amount ranging from EUR 2,000 to 40,000, and the responsible person at the employer ...
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It is possible for an employer to be liable for the activities of third-party contractors, but this is assessed on a case by case basis under the general rules of civil law. For example, the employer would be liable if t...
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Yes. The employer must immediately report ‘serious work accidents’ to the Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia. These include a fatal work accident, a work accident that causes an&...
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The following characteristics are protected by the Slovenian discrimination law: nationality, race, skin colour or ethnic origin; national or social background; gender; state of health;&...
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Yes. Different treatment based on any of the personal characteristics listed in section 8.1 above does not constitute discrimination if, owing to the particular nature of the work or circumstances in ...
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Yes, indirect discrimination based on any personal characteristic listed in section 8.1 above is prohibited. There is indirect discrimination where an employer’s apparently neutral a...
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Disabled employees Slovenian non-discrimination legislation aims to prevent putting certain categories of people (e.g. older employees, employees under the age of 18 and disabled ...
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Harassment Yes, Slovenian law prohibits harassment based on a protected characteristic. Sexual Harassment Yes, sexual harassment is prohibited. According to Slovenian law, sexual harassment means any...
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Yes. Under Slovenian law a person who has been discriminated against and persons assisting victims of discrimination must not be exposed to adverse consequences as a result of actions aimed at enforcing the pro...
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If an employee’s claim for discrimination, harassment or retaliation is successful, the employer and its responsible person may be subject to a fine ranging from EUR 3,000 to EUR 20,000 for t...
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The employee or job candidate claiming discrimination bears the initial burden to present sufficient evidence to justify the presumption of discrimination. The employer must then prove that there was no di...
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Yes, an employer can be held liable for the discriminatory actions of its employees and third parties. ...
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There is no specific repo...
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Employers have a duty to prevent discrimination and workplace harassment in order to protect employees´ mental health. If the employer fails to do so, the latter may be liable to the employee for&nbs...
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Discrimination claims by employees are not very common in Slovenia. Much more common are mobbing claims. ...
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In Slovenian case law, compensation for unlawful discrimination is generally awarded in amounts ranging from a few hundred EUR to EUR 10,000. ...
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Yes. Under Slovenian employment legislation, employees’ personal data may be collected, processed, used and submitted to third persons only where provided by law, and only if this is necessary in order to exercise the rights and oblig...
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The consequences depend on the type of the employer´s breach. The employer may face a fine of up to EUR 20,000 for breaches (the amount of the fine depends on the type of breach) including but not limited to processing of an employee’s...
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Employees´ personal data may be collected, processed, used and submitted to third persons only where provided by employment legislation or other laws an...
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When establishing any monitoring or control of employees (e.g. surveillance cameras, monitoring of email or similar actions), employers must take into account the following: In each case it is necessary to weigh the employer’s interests ...
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The legal position in Slovenia regarding use of social media at work depends on whether social media is used for performance of the work or whether it is used only for the employees´ private purposes. Regardless, given the widespread use o...
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Employees have a general obligation to inform the employer of any danger of material damage that they no...
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Slovenian employment law includes a legal obligation on employees to protect business secrets of the employer. Employees may not exploit for their personal use or disclose to a third party information meeting the legal definition of a busin...
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The law provides for two avenues for prohibition of competition by the employee: a legal prohibition of competitive activity applying to all employees (the so called non-compete obligation); and a contractual prohibition of competitive act...
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Yes. The employee’s legal obligation to protect the employer’s business secrets co...
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Yes. The general legal prohibition on competition by an employee (see section 10.2 above) ends upon termination of employment. However, a contractual prohibition of competitive activity (a so called non-compete clause) can continue in effec...
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Trade unions in Slovenia are organised associations of employees that are established independently of employers. Trade unions are treated as separate legal entities under Slovenian law. Employees are free to establish trade unions; however...
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In the past, trade unions had a strong position in the Slovenian employment market, with approximately 41.4 % of employees being a member of a trade union before the last financial crisis in 2008. In recent years the total number of establi...
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Under Slovenian law, an employer is required to cooperate with an established trade union if any of its employees are members of that union. The employer must provide conditions that permit the trade union to efficiently perform its union a...
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Employees individually or collectively exercise their rights to participate in the organisation’s management through: the works council or employee representative; the assembly of (all) employees; and employee representatives on the mana...
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In Slovenia, the right to strike is protected by the constitution and can be limited only by explicit statutory provisions and only when the public interest requires it. Thus, employees have the right to organise and participate in strikes ...
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In Slovenia, the employer may lawfully terminate employment through ‘ordinary’ termination (with notice) or ‘extraordinary’ termination (without notice). The legally recognized reasons for ordinary termination of the employment cont...
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If an employer terminates the employment contract without lawful grounds, the employee may bring an action before the court and require reinstatement (i.e. a return to work and recognition of all employment rights and benefits retroactively...
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Termination of an employment contract must be in writing, and the notice of termination must state an adequate legal ...
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In Slovenia, the following categories of employees have special legal protection against termination of the employment contract: employee representatives; emplo...
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The minimum duration of the period of notice for termination of employment is: For termination during the probationary period: seven days. For ordinary termination by the employer for a busine...
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The employer may terminate the employment contract by making a payment ...
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The employee may ordinarily terminate the employment contract without giving any reasons whatsoever. In this case, the employee must comply with the statutory or cont...
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No...
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If an employment contract is terminated for business reasons or employee incompetence, the employee is entitled to receive a severance payment. The ...
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The employee and the employer can settle any employment-related claims in court or by agreement, including by a mutual separation agreement settling all claims between the employer and the terminated employee. ...
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Yes. Under Slovenian labour law the employer must notify and consult with the trade unions at the employer when multiple dismissals are proposed. The employer must also notify the Emp...
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If the threshold for multiple dismissals is met (see section 13.1 above), the employer must draw up a dismissal programme for redundant workers. The dismissal programme must include: the reasons for the redundancies; the measures taken by ...
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According to the law, the employer must consult with the employer’s trade unions in order to reach an agreement on the proposed criteria for determining which workers will be made redundant, and on a redundancy program that sets out p...
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An employer is subject to a fine in an amount between EUR 3,000 and EUR 20,000 if it fails to comply with the informatio...
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There is no mandatory statutory selection order for dismissals under Slovenian law. However, the law sets out suggested criteria that should be considered by the employer. The criteria are the following: the employee’s professional educa...
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No, there is no legal obligation to make additional payments to dismissed employees in case...
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Yes, Slovenian legislation provides that where the identity of the employ...
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Yes, Slovenian legislation provides protection for employees when the business in which...
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Under Slovenian law, when an undertaking or part of an undertaking is legally transferred as a result of...
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The employees do not have any right to object to the transf...
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The contractual and other rights and obligations of employees arising from their existing employment relationships with the transferor employer as of the day of the legal transfer continue to apply with the transferee employer. In addition,...
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Under Slovenian law, the following liabilities transfer: the contractual and other obligations to the transferor’s employees that existed on the day of transfer; the obligations under any collective agreement that was binding on the tran...
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The rights and obligations under any collective agreement that was binding on the tra...
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If a new employment contract is executed or the existing employment contract is amended, it must contain the same ...
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Slovenian employment law provides that the employment contract cann...
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Yes, there is an obligation to inform and consult with the trade unions when there is a change of the employer. The transferor employer and the transferee employer must, at least 30 days prior to a transfer, inform the trade unions at each ...
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See sec...
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See section 14.10 above. The trade union must be informed about the above-mentioned matters at least 30 days ...
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An employer that is a legal entity, a sole trader or an individual who independently carries out an activity is subject to fines ran...
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Under Slovenian law, in the event of a change of employer due to a legal transfer of an undertaking or part of an undertaking, members of the works council ...
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All employees in the Republic of Slovenia are subject to compulsory pension and disability insurance. This public scheme guarantees the employee the right to either an old-age pension, early retirement pension, disability pension, widow’s...
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The employer is legally required to register the employee for compulsory pension and disability insurance, and to calculate, deduct and pay the employee’s social security contributions that cover the compulsory state pension scheme. The b...
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A voluntary supplementary pension scheme may be organised by an employer. Under a collective supplementary pension insurance scheme, the employer undertakes to pay a premium for the benefit of those employees who join the scheme, based on t...
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No. The collective supplementary pension insurance scheme is established on the basis of a retirement plan prepared by the employer and approved by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. The same applies to ...
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Pensions, related allowances and other income from pension insurance (whether the insurance is compulsory, compulsory occupational or voluntary supplementary) are considered personal income and are therefore subjected to the personal income...
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The law does not prescribe an...
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There is no law that specifically imposes an obligation on the employer to conduct an investigation, but usually investigations are performed when an employee violates his or her work obligations or in cases of harassment, mistreatment,...
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Employees are not obliged to report suspected misconduct, so long as the misconduct does not represent a threat to life, health o...
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Decisions on how to act and whether to begin an investigation when the employer learns about a potential infringement or breach committed by an employee is generally left up to the employer’s internal regulations. However, if the a...
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There is no legal obligation ...
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Under Slovenian employment legislation, an employee can be represented by a lawyer, a union representative, or any other proxy. ...
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The law does not prescribe any obligation on employers to provide the subject of an investigation with all the evidence it has gathered. However, if the final findings of the investigation result in employment–related consequences for...
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If the employee believes that the employer is not fulfilling its obligations, it can bring a grievance and the employer may be required to eliminate the alleged violation. If the employer does not remedy the alleged violation within eight w...
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In general there is no particular wording or details legally required to be in job advertisements. However, fair hiring legislation imposes procedural requirements on hiring for employe...
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Conducting any kind of background check on an applicant will involve collecting and using personal information about the applicant, which is regulated primarily by South Korea’s data protection statute.&...
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Yes, employment subject to a probationary period is allowed and is common in South Korea. There is no specific limit on the length of a probationary period, but a probationary period can be found to be invalid ...
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Employers with five or more employees must have ‘just cause’ to dismiss an employee, and this requirement applies to dismissals during a probationary period. The ‘just cause’ standard is interpreted som...
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Job applicants can bring claims against a prospective employer. If an employer used a false or deceptive job advertisement, a job applicant can bring a criminal claim for&nb...
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Any non-Korean citizen requires a visa authorising work to be employed in Korea. There are a variety of visas available based on the status or qualifications of the employee, and the particular requirements and...
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For all employees, employers must keep certain types of information (e.g. records on wages, hiring, dismissal and working hours), generally for three years. For this, no consent is required under ...
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Under the fair hiring statute, employers have an obligation to return an applicant’s documents upon request. Before a hiring decision is made, employers are required to notify applicants of how long they have to request the return of thei...
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The fair hiring statute prohibits employers from collecting any of the following information about an applicant if it is unrelated to the legitimate requirements of the job: information about physical traits (e.g.&nbs...
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The key distinction between an employee and an independent contractor is the worker’s degree of autonomy. Employees work under the control and supervision of their employers in a subordinate-superio...
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As a legal matter, there are few distinctions between blue and white-collar workers except with respect to the application of certain health and safety requirements. But there are several important distinctions between types ...
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The term ‘director’ is used in two senses in Korea: it can refer to (i) a kind of rank/title, or (ii) a statutory position in the governance structure of a corporate entity. The latter type of director is often referred to as ...
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Employees generally do not have a right to demand a change to their agreed regular working hours. However, there are certain statutory rights to work reduced hours (for a limited time and subject to other conditions) for specific ...
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Fixed-term employment is generally limited to a maximum of two years, whether under a single contract or multiple extended contracts, after which an employee automatically becomes permanent. However, there are some signi...
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After two continuous years of employment, a fixed-term employee automatically converts to an indefinite term (‘permanent’) employee unless an exception applies. There are various exceptions to this rule based on...
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Where an agency supplies a worker for the user company to use under its supervision and control like its own employees, this is referred to as a ‘worker-dispatch’ arrangement. Only licensed worker-dispatch agencies c...
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Ordinary secondment-type arrangements among companies are generally permissible. However, if one employer supplies workers to another like a manpower-supply business, it can be considered an illegal worker-dispatch arran...
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Korean law does not require a written contract to form an employment relationship. An oral agreement can suffice to form an employment relationship. However, all employers are required to provide...
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It is not uncommon but far from a universal practice. It is more common with multi-national companies than domestic companies to provide offer letters with general information about the position ...
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There is no legal requirement that an employment contract be in Korean. However, it is advisable to use a Korean-language or dual-language employment contract if the employee is not fl...
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Although terms are not implied into an employment contract, there are several sources of terms and conditions that will override any inferior provision in an employment contract: the Labour Standards Act and any other&...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other documents. However, employers should be careful about directly incorporating terms and conditions provided in the Rules of Employment or other company policies, a CBA, or labour ...
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Generally, any adverse change to the terms and conditions of employment will require some form of agreement or consent: Changes to individual contractual terms and conditions require individual agreement...
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Non-contractual employment policies are different from contractual documents in that, although they may be legally binding, changing Rules of Employment and equivalent policies generally requires collective (ma...
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There is a minimum wage in Korea. It applies to all types of businesses and workplaces, with some exceptions including a business comprised solely of family members who live together. The minimum wage includes various types of wages as well...
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Wages are not automatically adjusted in line with inflation. Most employers adjust wage...
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Tax An employee pays the ‘earned income tax’ on salary received as an employee. The employer initially withholds a certain amount from the employee’s wages, and in February of each year the employee carries out the tax settlement proc...
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For an employee with an annual salary of KRW 100 million, married with two children, the earned income tax per annum will be KRW 17,718,840 (EUR 13,080). The premiums for the four national insurances will be as follows (amounts in KRW): ...
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There are no laws governing payment of bonuses (incentives). However, many employers provide bonuses or incentives to their employees. Incentive pay is largely divided into (i) business perfor...
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There is no legal requirement on employers with regard to employee benefits except for the severance pay system. Under this system, a retiring or resigning employee is paid a certain amount of money in proportion to his or her length of ser...
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As mentioned in section 4.6 above, there are no employee benefits other than severance pay that an employer is required to provide to an employee. However, in practice, many employers provide some types of allowances as extra benefits or co...
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Employers with five or more employees must provide their employees with statutory paid annual leave. Employees are entitled to receive 15 days of paid annual leave immediately after each of their first year and second year of service (if th...
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Employees are entitled to one day’s worth of their ordinary wage or average wage per each day of annual leave. Employees are entitled to payment for any unused annual leave, provided that they were not urged by their employer to take thei...
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Previously Labour Day (1 May) was the only mandatory paid national holiday for private-sector employees. Public holidays generally were not mandatory in the private sector. However, under current legislation, public holidays must be paid. T...
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There is no general obligation for employers to provide medical or sick leave for non-work-related injuries or illnesses, although employers frequently provide for such leave in their work rules. At employers with five or more...
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Pregnancy and Maternity/Paternity Leave All female employees must be granted at least 90 days of pre- and post-natal maternity leave, of which at least 45 days must be post-natal. Women who are pregnant with two or more children...
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Other major types of leave include the following: Menstrual Leave All female employees are entitled upon request to one unpaid day of menstrual leave per month for purposes of alleviating mental and physical difficulties caused ...
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There are few restrictions on the formation of labour unions in South Korea. Unions have the right to enter into collective bargaining with employers regarding wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. They also ha...
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Unionisation in South Korea varies significantly by industry. Generally, South ...
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An employer is obligated to bargain in good faith with a union that represents some of its employees, once that uni...
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Employers with 30 or more employees are required to establish both a labour-management council (a kind of works council) and a grievance-handling committee, comprising members of the labour-management council. The primary rules for appointi...
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A strike or other industrial action can only be pursued in furtherance of a valid, mandatory purpose of collective bargaining (e.g. wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment). To be a lawful industrial action, the p...
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An employer who ordinarily employs five or more employees can only lawfully dismiss an employee with ‘just cause’, which is an extremely high standard. An employer who employs four or fewer employees is exempt from this requirement. It ...
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An employee who is dismissed can bring an action before the Labour Relations Commission (‘LRC’) or in civil court. Technically the employee can do both, even simultaneously, but most commonl...
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The employer should carefully follow the procedural requirements outlined in the law and company policy (if company policy requires more than the statutory minimum). The termination will be invalidated if the employer fails to follow the pr...
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Employees are protected from dismissal for various prohibited grounds such as various kinds of illegal discrimination or retaliation. For example, dismissal due to gender or age is unlawful, though retirement pursuant to a company’s retir...
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The minimum notice period is 30 days, subject to limited exceptions. The most notable exception is for employees still in their first three months of service. If the employer is conducting dismissals for business reasons, the employer must ...
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In general, the employer can terminate with immediate effect by making a payment in lieu of giving the required notice. It is possible to terminate with imm...
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The employment relationship comes to an end if an employee resigns. There is ...
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If an employee has reached the employer’s established mandatory retirement age, it ...
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Most employees who are terminated have a right to 30 days’ notice of termination or thirty 30 days’ ordinary wages in lieu of such notice. In addition, employees who have served the employer for one year or longer are entitled to receiv...
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Employers in South Korea frequently enter into a voluntary separation agreement in which the employer obtains a release of any and a...
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South Korean law requires a workforce consultation whenever an employer intends to dismiss an employee for business reasons. Dismissal for ‘business reasons’ refers,...
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An employer must provide notice of the company’s intent to dismiss employees for business reasons at least 50 days in advance of the dismissals. The notice must be provided to the employee representativ...
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The law governing layoffs for business reasons requires that the employer (i) have an urgent business necessity for the layoffs; (ii) make every effort to avoid dismissals; (iii) apply fair and reasonable selection criteria; and (iv) p...
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If the employer fails to comply with the information or consultation requirements, there is a risk of the dismissals being deemed invalid. However, unlike t...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under South Korean law. However, the criteria used to select employees for business layo...
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No, unless mandated by company policy or a collective bargaining agreement. In collective redundancies, the same termination-related payments a...
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Yes. All employees who are at least 18 but less than 60 years old, with very narrow exceptions, must be enrolled in South Korea’s national pension (social security) system and pay premiums from any...
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Yes. Any employee who has served one year or longer is entitled to severance benefits (also referred to as ‘retirement’ benefits). The employer must pay such severance benefits through (i) the default statutory severance pay scheme, o...
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Yes. See section 15.2 above ...
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Establishing a new type of severance-benefits scheme or changing from one type of severance-benefits scheme to another requires consent from a majority union or, if there is no such union, from a majority of th...
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Pension plans are given preferential tax treatment as follows: National Pension Plan Contributions paid by employee and employer are all deductible for income tax purposes. When benefits are paid as a lump sum, the payment is taxed as retir...
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Korean labour law lists matters that should be specified when entering into an employment contract. Those matters are classified into two categories: (i) those that must be in writing, and (ii) those that can be specified orally. National P...
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There are no legal requirements about the wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. But ...
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Employers must respect the right of privacy of candidates and must not ask questions about a job applicant’s health before making a job offer. However, medical checks may be made before recruitment where employers are recruiting for jobs ...
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Employment can be subject to a probationary period within the limits established in the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Employers use this to assess the emp...
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The employer can terminate the contract during a probationary period without reason, without notice and without compens...
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Job applicants can bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer, based on one of the characteristics protected by equality leg...
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Immigration processes in Spain must be analysed on a case by case basis. European citizens and non-European citizens are treated differently. European citizens (which includes EU, EEA and Swiss nationals), are allowed to work in Spain under...
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Employers who want to hire a foreign worker should keep a record of the approval o...
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Yes, they can. However, we recommend...
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Although there is no express indication in Spanish law as to what employers are allowed to ask candida...
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Spanish law does not provide a specific definition of ‘employee’. Employment law provides for many situations where a worker will not be classed as an employee. However, there is no exact definition. Although there is no definitio...
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Employment law in Spain does not tend to draw distinctions between types of employees and applies equally to blue-collar and white-collar employees. However, the law distinguishes...
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Spanish law establishes a different legal framework for general managers. Certain employment law does not apply to the employment relationship between an employer and a gene...
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Generally, there are no restrictions on part-time working in terms of the minimum or maximum number of hours to be worked. However, collective bargaining agreements may establish limits in this regard. Spanish law expressly states that part...
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The general rule relating to fixed-term employees is that they have the same rights as permanent employees. Therefore fixed-term employment contracts in their various forms are subject to certain rules. The formal obligations that apply inc...
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A fixed-term employment contract will convert into an indefinite-term contract in the following situations: by mutual agreement between the employer and the employee; if an employer does not properly register an employee working un...
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Engaging temporary workers through employment agencies is a widespread practice in Spain. The main responsibilities of the employer for these employees are that: The employer is responsible for all health and safety obligations. In the eve...
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Only employment agencies may hire workers to put at the disposal of ...
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The parties may decide on the form of the contract and it can be either oral or written. This is called the ‘freedom of form principle’. However, either party may request a written form of the contract during the employment relationship...
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Sometimes, in Spain, employers issue offer letters to employees before the employment contract is made. This practice is more common when dealing...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts between the parties themselves. However, the employment contract must be registered with the Public Administration and drafted in an official lan...
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Certain terms are implied by law or collective bargaining agreements or are rights acquired through business practice. The terms of employment may not be less favourable to the employee than required by law or applicable collective bargaini...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to expressly incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. These terms will be binding on the parties in the same way as other terms of the contrac...
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Employers may usually change contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change. If the employer wishes to make a substantial change to the terms and conditions of the employment contract or permanent transfer of employee...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collated in a staff handbook). These typically include: a health and safety at work policy; disciplinary and grievance policies; an equal opportunities or d...
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According to employment law, employers in Spain must pay employees a minimum wage. The minimum wage applies to every business activity and category of employee, and it cannot be contracted out of, either by a colle...
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Tax For tax obligations, there is a distinction between the duties owed by the employer and the employee: The employee must pay income tax (‘Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas’ or ‘IRPF’) according to the following pr...
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Tax For tax obligations, there is a distinction between the duties owed by the employer and the employee: The employee must pay income tax (‘Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas’ or ‘IRPF’) according to the followin...
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An employee based in Spain with an income of EUR 100,000, married with two children will pay the following taxes: Income tax (‘Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas’ or �...
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According to Spanish law, a bonus is personal compensation that an organisation pays to an employee as a result of fulfilling previously fixed objectives or for improved performance. Generally, bonus payments differ from year to year. If th...
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Employers are only required to provide extra benefits to employees if they have agreed to do so with the employees or if this is provided a collective bargaining agreement (‘CBA’). It is common practice in...
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Employers are free to choose whether to provide benefits, unless they have already been agre...
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There is a cap on daily working hours of nine hours per day except where there is a collective agreement or agreement between the organisation’s and workers’ representatives which may establish a diff...
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There are various exceptions to the limits on working hours for certain sectors, for certain types of activity and for unforeseen or exceptional events. Irregular distribution of working time throughout the year may be established through c...
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The rules on working time affect all emplo...
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The employer may adopt any measures necessary to verify employees’ compliance with their rights and obligations. Further, the employer may introduce methods of performance measurement, monitoring and evaluation.&nb...
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Spain’s labour law contains only general rules in relation to remote working. However, a recent amendment of the labour law gives employees the right to request adjustments to the length and distribution of the working day, the organisati...
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Spanish law specifies a limit of 80 hours a year on overtime. Overtime hours that are compensated...
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Employers must get consent from employe...
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There is no specific rate of pay for overtime. Th...
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Between the end of one working day and the beginning of the next, there must be at least 12 hours. Further, workers are entitled to a break of not less than 15 minutes if they have w...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be either a private claim or a complaint filed by the employee before the Labour Inspectorate or an investigation initiated by that authority. Further, ...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of 30 calendar days’ paid annual leave, whi...
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Employees must be paid the amount that would have been paid during a normal working day, includi...
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In Spain there is a maximum of 14 days off work for public holidays. These days are paid and the employee is entitled to the day off work. Two of the days are local holidays. The national holidays that must be respected are: 25 December, C...
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The first three days of sick leave are unpaid, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The employee is paid sick leave from the fourth day up to 365 days (extendable by an additional 180 days). If an occupational accident is involved, ...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay are summarised below. For family-related leave the contract is essentially suspended, with the right to receive benefits, without mutual obligations between the organisation and employee to ...
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The employee has the right to paid leave, with prior notice and confirmation, for the following reasons and periods: 15 days for marriage; two days for the death or serious illness of a relative to the second degree of kinship and if the w...
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Employees in Spain are entitled by the Spanish Constitution to effective protection regarding health and safety in the workplace. Therefore, employers must guarantee employees’ health and safety in every aspect of the working relationship...
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Health and safety obligations may be enforced directly by the Labour Inspecti...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, administrative and/or criminal responsibilities may arise. Besides this, civil actions for damages may be brought. Once a breach of duty is recorded, the Labour Inspection, depending on the s...
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Spanish law imposes mandatory cooperation between employers in the following scenarios: When employees from two or more employers providing services are in the same workplace, both organisations must cooperate regarding health and safety o...
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Employers are required to provide notification of accidents at work. This notification must be done electronically, through the Electronic Declaration of Accidents at Work system (‘Delt@’). The documents to be submitted and deadlines ar...
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Under the Spanish Constitution, Spanish people are equal before the law and may not be discriminated against on account of: birth; race; sex; religion; opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance. ...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic if that characteristic is an occupational requirement because of the nature or context of the work. However, employers must ensure the principle of...
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Under the Spanish Constitution, direct discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably than other people in an analogous situation, due to one of the protected characteristics. Indirect discrimination is often less obvious. S...
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With regard to disabled workers, disability legislation requires all organisations that employ 50 or more employees to ensure that persons with disabilities make up at least 2% of employees. This calculation is made on the basis of the empl...
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In Spain a distinction is made between bullying at work, harassment of LGBTIQ people, sexual harassment and gender harassment. Sexual harassment is any verbal or physical behaviour of a sexual nature which has the purpose of violating the...
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In Spain, victimisation can arise if an individual is treated less favourably as a result of making allegations or complaints of direct discrimination. Howeve...
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Discrimination can give rise to cumulative liabilities in various jurisdictions both for the employer and its executives. Criminal liability arises under Spanish law for certain offences against worker’s rights and breaches of employment ...
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In general, the employee must initially provide evidence showing that the em...
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Under Spanish law, an employer is liable for the discriminatory acts of its employees in the performance of its duties whether or not it knew or approved of them,...
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Under Spanish law, all companies must create a record of salaries with the average values of salaries, salary supplements and non-salary amounts paid to their workforce. This information must be disaggregated by gender and separated by prof...
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Mental health, as a psychosocial risk, is part of the employer’s general duty of risk prevention. Under this general duty, employers must: avoid risks; evaluate, manage and mitigate risks that cannot be avoided; adapt the work to the per...
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In Spain, no significant discrimination cases have been reported that would be relevant for employers and there are no statistics available about the number of clai...
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The law does not expressly establish the amounts of compensation for damages in cases of discrimination. In prac...
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The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would include an employer processing personal data belonging to an employee). The GDPR t...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for the most ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There is no specific law regarding the issue of social media. However, there is case law stating that for an organisation to be able to ban its use at the workplace, it must issue a specific policy. In addition, the employer must be able to...
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Whistle-blowers are protected and any action against these employees based on the fact they have ‘blown the whistle’ may render the ac...
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The extent to which work-related information can be kept confidential depends on whether it is, for example: trade secrets; inherently confidential information; information that amounts to skill and knowledge of the employee; or public inf...
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The implied duty of good fidelity owed by the employee involves not competing with the employer and is a limitation on the freedom to ‘moonlight’. In effect, the employee cannot work for another employer that competes directly in the ma...
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Employees have an implied duty of fidelity towards the employer, but after the employment contract has ended, this survives only to protect ‘trade secrets’ (i.e. the most sensitive and valuable types of information) from use or disclosu...
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Labour law allows for a non-compete agreement to prevent a former employee from working in a different organisation once the contract has expired with the original employer. However, this can only be done by agreement. A dismissal will not ...
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The Spanish Constitution recognises the freedom to associate as a fundamental right. This includes the freedom to set up a union and the individual’s choice to join a union. Under Spanish law, employees have representatives that deal with...
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Union density in Spain is relatively low, at around 16.8% according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. However, the results of elections to work...
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Workers have the right to elect workers’ representatives and there is no legal requiremen...
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Employee representatives do not hold decision-making powers, but they must be consulted by employers in certain circumstances, including the following: workforce restructuring and total, partial, permanent or temporary closure; reductions ...
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The Spanish Constitution regulates the exercise of the right to strike and ensures the maintenance of essential services i...
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If an employer wishes to terminate employment, it must consider the different type of contract involved and the law on unfair and void dismissals. An employer can unilaterally terminate the relationship for the following reasons: &n...
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If there are no lawful grounds for termination, the dismissal could either be considered unfair or void. If the dismissal is declared unfair, the employer must choose between reinstating the employee, with the right to ‘procedural sal...
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If an employer dismisses an employee on disciplinary grounds, the employee must be notified of the dismissal in writing. The notice must state the facts on which the dismissal is based and the date on which it will take effect. If the e...
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According to Spanish Law, any dismissal that breaches fundamental rights will be void and the employee will be entitled to immediate reinstatement. There are certain other cases in which a dismissal can only be declared either fair an...
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The minimum notice periods are set out in law, as follows: dismissal on objective grounds (i.e. for economic, technical or organisational reasons): 15 days; expiry of the agreed term or completion of the agreed work (temporary cont...
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The employer can choose to pay 15 days’ salary instead of providing 15 days’ notice. In cases of dismissal on disciplinary grounds, it is usual to present the dismissal letter to the employee without prior notice, to take immediate ...
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No, but Spanish labour law includes a mechanism by which the worker can bring a claim in court for the termination of the employment relationship with compensation for unfair dismissal in cases of serious violation of his or her rights by t...
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As a general rule retirement is voluntary for the employee, since access to it is a right and not an obligation. Retirement cannot be imposed unilaterally by the employer and so a decision to dismiss an employee upon reaching the retirement...
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Upon termination, the employer must make the payments required by the contract. This is the case whatever the reason for the termination, including termination by agreement and resignation by the employee. The payments will include basi...
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Claims for salary can be resolved by means of a written settlement with the employee. However, as indemnity payments for dismissal are tax free for both parties (up to the limit of the indemnity for unfair dismissal), there are some special...
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The general rules are that the employer is required to consult with employee representatives where the proposed dismissals are based on economic, technical, organisational or production reasons and are to be carried out within a period of 9...
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The employer must inform the employee representatives of the start of the consultation period in writing, with a copy to the labour authorities. It must include the following information: the reasons for the collective dismissal; the numbe...
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The legal minimum requirement for consultations is that they should cover: how the dismissals might be avoided; how the number of employees to be dismissed might be reduced; how the consequences of the dismissals could be mitigated. Consu...
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The consequences if the employer fails to comply with the information and consultation requirements are the same ...
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Detail...
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Detail...
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A share takeover does not fall within the sco...
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Sale of a business When a business is sold to a new employer the rules on transfers of undertakings will apply and the employees will...
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For the old employer: It must inform the employee representatives (or the employees individually if there are no legal representatives) about the transfer in good time. It must inform the employees about which terms and conditions will tra...
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If employees object to the transfer, the transferor has two options. The transferor can either continue to emp...
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Terms The transferee takes on all the existing rights and obligations of the workers at the moment of the transfer. This includes all rights acquired by the employees before the transfer, but not future legal obligations that arise after th...
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The transferee and transferor are jointly liable for any claims or debts incurred by the transferor before the transfer. This includes any kind of debt related to employment, such as wages, dismissal compensation or additional voluntary con...
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If there was a collective agreement at the transferor’s organisation before transfer, it will contin...
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The aim of the employee transfer law is to guarantee all the rights of employees affected by the transfer and to ensure that the same working conditions continue to apply as with the transferor. However, by article 44 of the Workers´ Statu...
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Spain follows European case law in relation to the protection of employees against dismissal during the transfer of an undertaking. An employee cannot be dismissed by reason of the transfer itself. The employee transfer law mak...
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The employers must consult with employee legal representatives regarding any planned measures. It is essential to inform employee representa...
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The transferor and the transferee must inform the employee representatives of the following: the date or proposed date of the transfer the reason for it the economic, social, ...
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Consultation involves consulting with employee representatives about the measures to be implemented. The consultation requirement will only be fulfilled if the information provided is relevant and su...
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If the transferor does not fulfil its information and consultation obligations with regard to the employee representatives or the transferee...
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Detail...
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The state pension scheme is part of the social security system in Spain. There are two categories of pension: contributory and non-contributory. The benefits included in the contributory category are, generally, pensions for life (i.e. reti...
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In Spain, there is no requirement for an employer to provide its employees with access to a pension scheme. However, pensions are funded by the social contributions of organisations and workers. The amount of these contributions is linked t...
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An employer may fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. Private pensions in Spain generally take one of two possible forms: an individual pension; a collective pension, divided into associative and com...
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Most private pension schemes are negotiated with legal representatives and managed through collective bargaining agreements. Employers’ private pension arrangements may be considered as included in a restructuring of the organisation. If ...
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Pensions which significantly exceed the annual amount stipulated by law are subject to a tax under the rules governing the individual income tax. Some pensions are exempt from tax, such as pensions for people who become unable to work as ...
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There is no obligation to include anything in the contract of employment relating to pensions but the organisation must register the employee with the Social Security System on the first working day. ...
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There are no legal requirements about the wording ...
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An employer is limited by data protection laws in terms of carrying out background checks. An employer’s legitimate interests to carry out pre-employment checks is subject to the limits stated below. These legitimate interests cannot over...
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A contract providing for a probationary period of a limited duration i...
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Unless otherwise agreed, the employment may be terminated before the end of the probationary period. Termination by an employer may not be overruled in law unless the employee can prove discrimination or th...
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A job applicant may bring a claim for unlawful discrimination for actions during any stage of the recruitment p...
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Work permits, residence permits and visas are three different types of permit under Swedish law. A work permit allows a foreign national to work in Sweden, whereas a visa or residence permit allows a foreign national to enter the country or...
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There is no general legal obligation to keep any records regarding the employment of foreign workers. However, the Swedish Migration Board recommends that the employer keep records of the right to work in Sweden for 12 months. The better pr...
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Under data protection law, the employer may process the candidate’s information during the recruitment process only for the time ...
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There are no questions that expressly cannot be asked during an interview, but any questions that relate to protected characteristics such as sex, gender id...
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There is no legal definition of an employee laid down in a statute or any other provision within Swedish employment law. To assess whether someone is an employee, the following circumstances should be considered: Whether the task will be c...
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Swedish employment legislation applies equally to blue-collar and white-collar employees. However, there is a distinc...
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The general Swedish employment law regime that applies to most employees does not apply to the highest executives, which means that their employment can be terminated without cause. In small companies (up to approximately 100 employees) the...
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An employer may not apply less favourable terms and conditions of employment to part‑time and fixed-term employees than those of employees with an indefinite term contracts. Such treatment may be deemed discriminatory and the terms and co...
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The law differentiates between the following types of fixed‑term contracts: a general fixed-term contract, which m...
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Generally, if an employee has, within a five year period, been employed either: (1) on a general fixed-term employment contract for a total of more than ...
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Swedish law includes legislation that applies to workers employed by an employment agency who are assigned to clients to work temporarily under their supervision and direction. In terms of engaging temporary workers through an employment ag...
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Whether the employer can put its employees at the disposal of another organisation is not regulated by law. However, it is regulated b...
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Employment law requires employers to provide employees as soon as possible with a written statement of the main terms and conditions of their employment. The written statement, which is normally included in an employment contract, must incl...
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It is not common practic...
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Most employment contracts are in Swedish. However, it is quite common for internat...
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The most significant implied term is the mutual duty of trust and confidence between employer and employee. It would be a serious breach of contract for either party to act in a manner intended or likely to destroy or seriously damage the r...
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It is possible for the contract of employment to expressly incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. Such terms will be binding in the same way as other terms o...
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As a general rule, the employer must reach an agreement with the employee in order for changes to the employmen...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collated in a staff handbook). These typically include: a health and safety at work policy; an equal opportunities or diversity policy; a dignity at work or...
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Sweden has established a unique way of determining wages and other working conditions in the labour market. Under the Swedish model it is the employers’ organisations and the trade unions that jointly negotiate wages (including minmum wag...
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Wages are not au...
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Tax Under Swedish law, employees are liable for income tax based on taxable income, including all compensation from the employer during the employment relationship, such as, salary, pension and benefits. Individual income is taxed mainly by...
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For an employee with an income of EUR 100,000, the employee’s tax would be roughly...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any discretion as to whether to pay a bonus, or the amount of any...
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The statutory employer contributions include: retirement pension: 10.21%; survivor’s pension: 0.60%; h...
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The vast majority of employers in Sweden are bound by collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and these contain provisions on benefits. If an employ...
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Employees’ regular working hours may not exceed 40 hours per week and should be determined in advance. An average may be calculated if this is necessary ...
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It is possible to exceed the limit on working hours if the org...
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Managers are exempt from the rules about working time, but only if their position involves significant managerial duties (e.g. a chief executive). In practice, many whi...
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No, there is no legal requirement to set up such a system to track the duration of worked time. However, an employer must keep records of on-call, overtime and additional hours and all employees are entitled to...
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Under Swedish law, there are no rules concerning agile working measures. ...
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There are no rules concerning the amount of overtime an employee is required to perform but there are limits on the amount of overtime an empl...
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The general answer is no. The employer may request that employees work overtime when required for unforeseen events. The number of annua...
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According to Swedish law, there are no overtime pay requirements. Rather, the manner in which the employee is to be compensated for overtime is a matter of negotiation be...
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Employees are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period (‘daily rest’). Deviations may be made temporarily, provided that they are justified by special circumstances that could not be fore...
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If a collective bargaining agreement that covers working hours has been reached, and the employer fails to observe the terms of the agreement, the employer may be liable to pay damages to the employee concerned and the trade union. In addit...
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According to Swedish law, all employees, including part-time workers, have a r...
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During annual leave, the intention is that employees receive holiday pay that corresponds to regular pay. There are generally two different ways to calculate holiday pay, either in accordance with law or with the provisions of collective ba...
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Employees with a monthly salary are generally entitled to paid time off for public holidays in addition to annual leave. The public holidays are: New Year’s day; Epiphany; G...
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There is no specific limit on how much time an employee may take as sick leave from the employer. The length of the leave depends on the circumstances and an assessment carried out by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency with regards to the ...
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Parental leave Parents have the right to leave during the first 18 months or, for adopted children, 18 months from the date the child enters the parent’s care. Parental leave (i.e. ‘parental benefit’) is paid through the Swedish soc...
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Trade union representatives and safety officers are, under certain circumstances, entitled to paid or unpaid leave in order to perform duties. Employees are entitled to unpaid time off for: studies; courses in Swedish (i.e. for forei...
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Employers in Sweden must take all precautions necessary to prevent employees from being exposed to illness or accidents. The employer’s obligations include, but are not limited to: Systematically planning, directing and inspecting activi...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislation, which the Authority is responsible for enforcing. Inspectors from the Authority have the...
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Some work environment provisions are punishable by so-called ‘sanction charges’ that vary between EUR 85 and EUR 850,300. The level of sanction charges is based on the number of employees in the organisation. Both regular and temporary ...
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If a permanent workplace is used for several different activities, the e...
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In Sweden it is a legal obligation to notify the Authority without delay after a serious accident has occurred in connection with the performance of work. An employer must mak...
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The characteristics protected by discrimination law are as follows: sex; transgender...
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Anti-discrimination law provides that the prohibition against discrimination does not prevent: Differential treatment based on a protected characteristic if the decision is based on the nature of the work or the context in which the work i...
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It is unlawful to discriminate indirectly by applying a provision, criterion or procedure that appears neutral but that may put people of a certain sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, se...
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It is unlawful to discriminate against a disabled employee through ‘inadequate accessibility’, i.e. an employer’s failure to take reasonable accessibility measures that would put that person in a comparable situation with employees wh...
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There are two different types of prohibited harassment according to law: Harassment: Conduct that violates a person’s dignity and that is associate...
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Swedish work environment regulations require employers to clearly state, for example in an official policy, that any form of victimisation is prohibited. The employer also must have procedures in place to investigate any claims of victimisa...
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An aggrieved person may be awarded compensation for discrimination (i.e. damages for emotional distress and for a deterrent effect). The aggrieved person may also be awarded financial damages. If a person is discriminated against by a provi...
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A person who claims that he or she has been discriminated against or subjected to reprisals based on a protected characteristic only needs to demonstrate circumstances that give sufficient reason to presume that the employer’s actions wer...
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If an employer has delegated its decision-making authority to an employee, the employee’s conduct is equivalent to the employer’s conduct. As a general rule, an employer is liable for the discriminatory acts of those employees, whe...
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There is no external reporting obligation in relation to gender pay differences, but there is an obligation to investigate and ...
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The Swedish Work Environment Authority has issued specific provisions on the organisational and social work environment, which includes obligations relating to employees’ mental health. The employer is required to establish a zero-tole...
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Discrimination claims have become more common in Sweden but there are no official statistics on how man...
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An employer that violates the legal prohibitions against discrimination or reprisals, or fails to fulfil its statutory obligations to investigate and take...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’) are applicable for any person processing personal data belonging to someone else (which would includ...
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Breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) can result in serious financial penalties: fines up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s total global turnover in the previous fiscal year (whichever is higher) for ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may have a legitimate interest to protect by implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which extends to the person’s workpl...
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There is no law in Sweden governing employees’ use of social media. If employers wish to take action against employees for use of social media, this must be assessed based on employment law, for example, in terms of disciplinary measures ...
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Provisions on whistleblowing matters and reporting lines in Sweden are laid down in the Swedish Whistleblower Act, which is based on the EU Whistleblower Directive. The act entered into force on 17 December 2021. The Whistleblower Act appli...
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The extent to which work-related information can be kept confidential depends on whether it amounts to: trade secrets; confidential information (e.g. where an employee is expressly told certain information is confidential, or information t...
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There is an implied duty of loyalty on employees, which means that, during working hours, employees must devote the whole of their time and attention to the job. Taking a job outside working hours will not be a br...
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Employees have an implied duty of loyalty, but once the employment contract has ended, as a general rule, they are free to use personally acquired knowledge (e.g. personal experience and skills) but not to use the former employer’s trade ...
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Employers that wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition once employment has ended must include an express contractual term which restricts the employee’s activities after termination of the employment relationship. Such...
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Traditionally, trade unions have had a very strong position in the Swedish labour market, predominantly due to the high level of unionisation but also the far-reaching right to initiate industrial action, including to do so in support of ot...
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The Swedish workforce is known for its high level of unionisation. The levels peaked in the 1980s when approximately 85% of the Swedish workforce were members of a trade union. Since then, Swedish trade unions have seen a significant drop i...
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In Sweden, the system of employee representation is not based on whether employers recognise trade unions. In general, Swedish employers are bound by a collective bargaining agreement (‘CBA’) either through membership of an employer org...
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There is an over-arching legal obligation on employers to conduct consultations with trade unions. The intention is that the consultations should be conducted on a local level, that is, with employees who have been appointed from among trad...
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Trade unions in Sweden have a right to initiate industrial action under certain conditions. The action may include work stoppage or strikes, blockades or bans on working overtime. Similar actions may also be taken by trade unions that are n...
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The law distinguishes between two main categories of reasons for termination with notice: termination on grounds of redundancy and termination for reasons relating to the employee. Reasons related to the employee concern only that individua...
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The court will rule that a termination is invalid if an employee who has been dismissed due to personal reasons makes a claim and the employer is unable to prove just cause. The employee may instead choose to claim financial and punitive da...
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The law contains a number of procedural rules on termination. An employer contemplating termination for reasons pertaining to the individual must inform the employee in writing at least two weeks in advance and if the employee is a trade un...
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In a redundancy situation, the following employees have certain statutory special protection against termination: An employee who has reduced working capacity and who has therefore been given special duties by the employer must ...
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The minimum notice periods set out in law are: Length of service Notice period Less than two years one month two to four years ...
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The employer cannot pay in lieu of notice even if the contract states otherwise. However, once notice has been given, the employer and the employee can then come to an agreement about payment for the period of the notice. By law, immedi...
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A resignation from the employee may potentially be regarded as a constructive dismissal if the employee has been provoked or mistreated into making that decision. The employee bears the burden of proof that the resignation was a result of t...
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Generally, the employee is entitled to remain in employment until the age of 68 (69 from 1 January 2023), while retaining full protection against termination without just cause. When an employee has turned 68, the employer does not need jus...
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Provided the employer gives the correct notice no payments need be made to the employee unless agreed otherwise in the individual contract. There are no legal requirements for the employer to provide the employee with a settle...
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An employer can settle any claims simply by agreement with the employee. There are no specific legal requirements for making a settlement binding and enfor...
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Before an employer takes a decision about significant changes in activities (e.g. redundancy procedures) it must initiate consultations with any trade union to which the employer is bound under a collective agreement. Therefore, consultatio...
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Swedish law sets out provisions on the information that the employer must provide to the trade unions. According to law, the following information must be provided: the reason for the proposed dismissals; the number of employees...
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The main purpose of the obligation to consult is so the employer can fulfil its duty to make an honest effort to share important information with the trade unions and take their views into consideration. The trade unions must be given a fai...
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Failure to comply with the information and consultation requirements will result in liability to pay damages to the affected trade unions. However, failure to comply with those requirements will not make the redundancies void or in any othe...
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In respect of collective or individual dismissal for economic reasons, the employer should first investigate whether the affected employees can be transferred to any vacant position. This obligation applies only when the discussion regard...
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The term ‘collective redundancy’ does not exist in Sweden. The same process applies in all cases of redundancy regardless of how many employees are affected, and thus there are no additional payments to be made other than the statutory ...
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There is no specific protection for employees o...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees have a right to transfer to work for the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of a business is sold to a new employer, as lon...
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The old employer The old employer must provide information to and consult with trade unions before any decision is taken to carry out a business transfer. If the old employer is bound by a collective bargaining agreement (‘CBA’), consul...
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Employees have a right to object to being transferred. Hence, it is not possible for the transferor and transferee to agree upon ...
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Terms The transferee ‘steps into the shoes’ of the transferor for most purposes, as if it had always been the employer of the individual concerned. All rights and obligations under the employment contract transfer to the transferee exce...
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The transferor and the transferee will be jointly as well as...
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If the transferor is bound by a collective agreement but the transferee is not, the collective agreement of the transferor will transfer. The transferee will be bound by the collective agreement and must apply it to all employees falling wi...
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In situations were neither the transferor nor the transferee is bound by collective bargaining agreements, changes to employment contracts can only be made with the consent of the employees. If no consent can be reached the employer may, un...
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Neither the transferor nor the transferee may terminate employment as a result of the transfer itself. However, an employer is not prevented from giving notice of termination of employment for economic, technical or organisational rea...
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Both employers must provide information to and consult with trade unions before any decision is taken to carry out a business transfer. If either of the employers is bound by a collective bargain...
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There is no legislation stating explicitly what information employe...
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The employer must make an honest effort to consider the arguments made by employee representatives. The employee representatives cannot declare a decision made by t...
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Failure to inform and consult may render the employer liable to damages or fines. For example, according to case law of the Swedish Labour Cour...
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Employee representation in Sweden is normally through local trade union clubs where the representatives are employees elected among the trade union members in the work...
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In 1999, Sweden implemented a new pension system called the National Retirement Pension (‘allmän pension’). This system is gradually replacing the former system, the old-age pension (‘folkpension’) and the ATP (‘Allmän tilläggs...
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There is no legal requirement for employers to provide employees with access to either collectively or individually agreed occupational pension schemes. However, the vast majority of employers in Sweden are bound by collective bargaining ag...
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Organisations that are not bound by a collective bargaining agreement may offer employees an individual occupational pension scheme as a benefit. Such occupational pension schemes are, however, rare when it comes to wage earners because the...
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If the employer is bound by a collective bargaining agreement, this is normally on a national level. In order to change the pension arrangements, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and other employer federations would need to propose a...
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Occupational pension contributions are subject to a special wage tax that is lower than the employer contributions. The special wage tax rate is 24.26%. Employees also pay income tax on pension savings. The income tax rate depends on how mu...
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Within one month of starting employment, an employer must provide the employee with a written statement of the essential terms of employment. This must include any terms and conditions relating to salary and other employment benefits, inclu...
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It is common for employers in Sweden to conduct an investigation whenever an allegation is raised at the workplace. The employer always bears the burden to prove that an allegation has merit. There are also specific occasions ...
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There is no general obligation to report suspected misconduct that covers all employees. However, as part of the duty of loyalty under Swedish employment law, employees have a duty to inform...
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The required timeframe depends on what the investigation is about. For example, in cases involving termination for personal reasons or summary dismissal, the employer must act within two months of becoming aware of an incident o...
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See section 16.2 above. There are no general rules requiring employees to participate in any investigations conducted by the employer. It may affect the outcome for the suspected employee if he or she refuses to participate in the inv...
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Yes. There are no formal rules, but the employee in question can choose to be represented by either a law...
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No, the employer does not have to provide the employee with all the evidence that has been gathered in the investigation. However, if the employer proceeds with further action against the employee (e.g. a termination due to person...
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A law for the protection of whistle-blowers entered into force in Sweden in 2017 and was updated and replaced in 2021 by new legislation implementing the EU Whistleblower Directive. The purpose of this law is to protect employees and ...
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It is generally difficult to terminate employment for personal reasons under Swedish law. Such a termination requires serious under-performance or gross misconduct. An assessment of whether personal reasons constitute objective ...
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There is no general grievance procedure set out by law in Sweden. Instead, the procedure to be followed depends on the type of grievance or investigation in question. In the case of sexual harassment, the law requires that employees�...
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Swiss law does not require any particular wording or det...
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Under Swiss law, employers may collect and process only such personal data of a job applicant that concerns the applicant’s suitability for the job. Based on this general rule, employers have the right to collect and process personal data...
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Pursuant to Swiss employment law, the first month of an employment relationship is considered to be...
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During the probationary period, the employer and the employee may terminate the contract at any time by giving seven days’ notice. A longer or shorter notice period may be agreed upon in the individual employment co...
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If a job advertisement contains wording that may be considered discriminatory under equality law (i.e. discrimination based on gender, race, religion or age) the applicant may bring a claim on the grounds of an unla...
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Switzerland has a dual system for granting foreign nationals access to the Swiss labour market. Those from the 27 EU countries or EFTA member states benefit from the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (‘FMPA’). Regardless of thei...
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The employer should retain the standard documents that are retained for all other employees (i.e...
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In the event that an employer decides not to hir...
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As a general rule, the employer must not ask any questions which may offend the personality of the applicant, for example questions concerning private matters, personal opinions not related to the job or workplace,...
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The main criterion that distinguishes an ‘employee’ from an ‘independent contractor’ (i.e. a self-employed person) is subordination. Unlike an independent contractor, an employee is under the control of the employer from three ...
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Swiss law does generally not distinguish between different types of employees, for example, based on blue-collar or white-collar status. Specific rules exist, however, for the following ty...
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As a general rule, Swiss employment law does not distinguish between different groups or categories of employees. Therefore, a company director is also an employee of the company, and the ordinary rules of Swiss employment law apply to the ...
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There are generally no specific rules or restrictions regarding part-time employment. Part-time employees benefit from the same mandatory legal protection as full-time employees. However, employee...
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Under Swiss law, a fixed-term employment contract automatically ends at the expiry of the agreed duration, without any termination notice being necessary. The protection granted by Swiss law in cases of unfair termination or ...
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A fixed-term employment contract automatically converts into an open-ended employment contract if the employment is tacitly continued after the expiry of the fixed-term period. Employees are also protected against successive fixed-term empl...
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The engagement of temporary workers through an employment agency is subject to a number of important restrictions. Most importantly: a special permit is required for any person or company that suppli...
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An employer can only put an employee at the disposal of another company in agreement with the employee. Further, if employees are regularly leased out on a professional basis and for profit, certain rules apply. This is deemed to be the cas...
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Under Swiss employment law, a written employment contract is only required for apprenticeships and mariner’s contract. Apart from in these situations, there is no requirement to provide a written employment contract. This means that an in...
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It is not common practice in Switzerland for the employer to issue an offe...
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Swiss law does not prescribe the language of the employment contract. Usually, employment contracts are drafted either in the officia...
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The Swiss Code of Obligations sets out terms for employment contracts. Some of these are mandatory on both the employer and employee (e.g. the rules about dismissal with immediate effect for cause), some only for the employer (e.g. minimum ...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents into the employment contract by reference. Very often, employme...
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Employers can only change contractual terms and conditions with the employee’s consent. If the employee does not agree to the change, or if the employer anticipates that the employee will not readily agree to the change (i.e. if the cha...
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Employers generally provide employees with policies and rules, often collected together in a staff handbook. These may include: health and safety at work policy; drug and alcohol policy; equal opportunities or diversity policy; digni...
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There is no general minimum wage set by Swiss Federal law. However, certain cantons have introduced a general minimum hourly wage in the following amounts: Neuchâtel CHF 20.08 Jura CHF 20.00 Tessin CHF 19.75, to be gradually ...
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There is no statutory requirement for wages in general to be adjusted for inflation, but the parties are free to agree an adjustment in the individual contract of employment. However, not...
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Tax Employees pay income tax on their remuneration, which includes any benefits received from the employer (e.g. salary, bonus, compensation for overtime, compensation for night work or Sunday work and any benefits in k...
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EUR 100,000 equates to approximately CHF 110,000. Given that tax rates vary in Switzerland from one canton to another, we will assume for the purpose of this example that the employee is subject to ordinary taxation in the city of Zurich. S...
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Under Swiss law, there are no rules which specifically define bonuses or govern their payment. Depending on the circumstances, a bonus will usually be characterised either as a variable part of the employee’s salary or as a discretionary ...
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In general terms, there are no statutory requirements on employers to provide employees with any particular benefit...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits include: holiday entitlement exceeding the minimum statutory entitlement (being in principle four weeks of paid...
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Daily working hours are generally limited to 12.5 or 13 (the law is unclear on this point) and weekly working hours to 45 for employees in industry and white-collar workers (office and technical staff and other salaried employees, as well a...
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There is a distinction between exceeding the weekly maximum working hours on a one-off basis and increasing the weekly maximum working hours for general purposes. The weekly maximum working hours may be exceeded under the following co...
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In principle, the working time rules set out in the labour law apply to all undertakings and employees in Switzerland, but there are a number of exceptions. The following undertakings are exempt: public administration;&nb...
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The general rule is that employers must record the working time of staff who are subject to the working time rules. Working time must be recorded in detail (i.e. start of work, pauses of at least 30 minutes, and end of work). Time recording...
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Swiss labour law is very liberal, so that agile working is possible in all forms. It is in operation in many Swiss organisations. The few relevant restrictions relate to the regulations on breaks and rest periods (see section 5.9 below). �...
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Under Swiss law, there is an important distinction between time worked in excess of the contracted working time, but within the limits of the maximum weekly working hours (i.e. extra hours or ‘Überstunden’) and time worked in excess of...
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In principle, extra hours and overtime can be ordered by the employer unilaterally. Employees may refuse to perform extra hours or overtime that cannot reasonably be expected from them due to individual circumstances. Employees with fa...
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Extra hours (‘Überstunden’) are compensated by a payment of a 25% supplement or, with the employee’s consent, equivalent time off work. However, the employer and employee may agree in writing that compensation for overtime is inc...
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Employees are generally entitled to the following breaks: employees with a daily working time of more than five and a half, but less than seven hours are entitled to one break of 15 minutes; employees with a dail...
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Employers are responsible for ensuring that the regulations on working hours, breaks and rest periods are observed. In the event of a violation, the labour inspectorate may notify the offending employer of the violation and request com...
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The minimum entitlement for annual leave is four weeks for employees aged 20 years or older and five weeks for employees under the age of 20. This amounts to 20 days, or 25 days respectively, for employees who are working five days a week. ...
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When on annual leave, employees are entitled to the salary they would have received if they had not been on holiday. For employees whose monthly pay varies, the relevant salary is calculated based on the average pay received dur...
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Every state (‘Kanton’) has different public holidays. However, each state may only set a maximum of eight public holidays that are to be considered as additional state public holidays. In the state of Zurich, for example, the state publ...
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The law covers the following issues in connection with an employee’s sickness: the employee’s right to take time off work if he or she is unable to work because of sickness; the employee’s protection against dismissal...
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The law grants two weeks of paid paternity leave to working fathers. This leave must be taken within six months following the birth. A two-week paid adoption leave for workers was introduced as of 1 January 2023. To qualify for this lea...
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All employees are entitled to reasonable additional time off work under certain circumstances and for the occurrence of certain events. The relevant events are: marriage of the employee; marriage of close relatives or closely related p...
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Under Swiss law there is a duty on employers to ensure the health and safety of employees. This protection encompasses both the mental and physical integrity of employees. In order to ensure the personal safety, health and integrity of empl...
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The Cantonal authorities are responsible for enforcing health and safety duties under the supervision of the Swiss Confederation. Inspectors have the power to enter premises without notice and to interview employees in order to investigate...
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From an administrative law perspective, if inspectors find a breach of health and safety rules, the competent authority will take the following measures, depending on the seriousness of the breach: Set a time limit for the empl...
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An employer might not be liable for the acts of third-party contractors if it has exercised due diligence in selecting, instructing and monitoring the contractor for the task, as well as in the provision of appropriate equipment and materia...
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There is no requirement to notify the authorities of any work accident. The authority responsible for implementing measures to prevent accidents at work or the penal authorities may carry out an investigation when an accident occurs at work...
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In Switzerland, no anti-discrimination act exists. However, the Swiss Federal Constitution sets out that every person is equal before the law. Hence, no person may be discriminated against, in particular on grounds of origin, race, gender, ...
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Discrimination against an employee is only prohibited if (i) the discrimination results in the violation of the employee’s personality rights and (ii) it is not justified by any objectively valid reason. ...
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There is no specific principle in Swiss law imposing a duty on employers to avoid indirect discrimination. ...
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The law does not provide for specific obligations of the employer to make such reasonable adjustments. However, the Swiss Labour Act provides that the employer must issue all orders and take all measures necessary to maintain and improve th...
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Harassment The Swiss Gender Equality Act provides that employees must not be discriminated against on the basis of their sex, whether directly or indirectly, including on the basis of their marital status, their family situation...
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Yes. Pursuant to the Code of Obligations, the employer is obliged to acknowledge and safeguard the employee’s personality rights within the employment relationship, have due regard for his or her health and ensure that proper moral standa...
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An employee can commence a legal action against his or her employer alleging discrimination or harassment based upon both statutory law and the respective employment agreement. When filing a claim against his or her employer, the employee m...
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Under the Swiss Civil Code, the burden of proving the existence of an alleged fact rests on the person who derives rights from that fact. Hence, the claimant must collect all the necessary evidence to successfully assert his or her claims i...
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If an employer failed to take the necessary measures to protect its employee from sexual harassment (whether by other employees or by third parties), the employer can be held liable for breach of the duty of care. ...
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The Gender Equality Act requires employers with at least 100 employees to conduct an internal ‘wage equality analysis’. This analysis is to be repeated every four years until an analysis demonstrates that the principle of equal pay has ...
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As set out in section 8.6 above, within the employment relationship, the employer must acknowledge and safeguard the employee’s personality rights and thereby have due regard for the employee’s health. The term ‘health’ encompasses ...
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According to a study commissioned in 2021 by the Swiss Federal Office for Gender Equality, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court issues an average of five decisions per year on the basis of the Swiss Gender Equality Act. By comparison, 170 employ...
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The awards granted in cases of unlawful discrimination differ based on the respective claim and the individual circumstances of the case at hand. As regards claims which have been filed with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in 2021 req...
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Employee privacy and personal data are protected by the Swiss Code of Obligations and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (DPA) and its implementing ordinance. The employer is generally obliged to respect and protect the employee’s p...
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Violations of the obligation to inform employees on the data processing by intentionally omitting to provide or by providing false or incomplete information is punishable by a fine of up to CHF 250,000. Further, the DPA allows for the inj...
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As set out in section 9.1 above, under Swiss law the employer may only collect and process data concerning the employee to the extent that such data relate to the employee’s suitability for the employment relationship or are necessary...
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As a rule, Swiss law forbids the use of surveillance or control systems designed to monitor the behaviour of employees at their workplace. Where surveillance or monitoring systems are necessary for other reasons, such as security purposes, ...
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The employer may forbid or restrict the use of social media during working hours and may generally prohibit the use of any professional tools provided to the employee (e.g. computers, phones) for private purposes. Employees are generally fr...
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There are no specific provisions in Swiss law related to whistle blowing. According to Swiss law, employees are obliged to faithfully safeguard the legitimate interests of the employer. This general duty of loyalty requires the employee t...
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Under Swiss law, for the duration of the employment relationship the employee must not exploit or reveal confidential information obtained while in the employer’s service, such as manufacturing or trade secrets. The employee remains bound...
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Under the general duty of loyalty, the employee is prohibited from competing against the employer for the duration of the employment relationship. The employee breaches this duty if he or she works for or advises a competitor...
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The statutory duty of confidentiality obliges the employee not to disclose confidential information (e.g. manufacturing or trade secrets) even after the end of his or her employment for an unlimited time, as long as the legitimate interests...
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The employee’s duty of loyalty generally ends upon termination of the employment relationship. Once the employment has ended, the employee is thus generally free to act in competition with the employer. However, it is possible under the f...
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The Swiss Constitution recognises the freedom of association. Accordingly, workers and employers have the right to form trade unions and employer associations to defend their respective interests, and to join (or not to join) such associati...
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The rate of unionisation tends to slightly decline each year. According to union membership statistics compiled by the Swiss Trade Union (the largest employee trade union umbrella organisation in Switzerland) and overall employment statisti...
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In Switzerland employers are not legally required to work with trade unions. Nevertheless, if a trade union has enough members within the organisation to be sufficiently ‘representative’, the employer may be requi...
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Setting up an employee representative body Under Swiss law, in private undertakings with at least 50 employees, the employees have a right to elect representatives from among themselves, forming one or more representative bodies. In Switz...
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Under the Swiss Constitution, strikes and lockouts are permitted if they relate to employment relations and if they do not interfere with peaceful employment relations or conciliation proceedings; disputes must wherever possible be resolved...
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Swiss employment law normally applies the principle of freedom to terminate an employment contract; as a general rule, the employer does not need a specific reason to terminate an indefinite-term employment contract. There is therefore no s...
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There are limitations to the freedom to terminate an employment contract that relate to the rules on unfair dismissal and to the rules on dismissal during prohibited periods. Unfair (unlawful) dismissal Employees are protected against u...
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There are no legal requirements regarding the procedure to be followed for individual dismissals, and no permission is required (unless stipulated otherwise in an applicable collective bargaining agreement). The employer must observe th...
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In addition to the general limitations regarding unfair dismissal and termination during prohibited periods (see section 12.2), there are several special protections. Employee representatives Dismissal of elected representatives on a ...
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During the probationary period (one month from the beginning of employment, extendable up to three months by written agreement), either party may terminate the contract by giving the other seven days’ notice. After the probationary period...
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Termination with immediate effect with payment in lieu of notice Under Swiss employment law, termination with immediate effect by making a payment in lieu of notice is allowed only with the employee’s consent. As an alternative, the emplo...
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The employee may resign and terminate the employment contract subject to the applicable notice period. If the employee resigns, the employee’s legal protections against dismissal (unfair dismissal and prohibited periods for termination) d...
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Under the law, reaching the retirement age does not automatically end the employment relationship. However, it is possible to provide in the employment contract that the contract automatically terminates when the statutory retirement age is...
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Severance Swiss private employment law does not provide for statutory severance pay, except for employees of at least 50 years of age with at least twenty years’ service. Such employees are entitled to severance of between two and eight...
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An employer can settle claims by entering into a settlement agreement (termination agreement) with the employee. The agreement should be in writing. Swiss employment law provides for certain protection of employees with regard to settli...
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Consultation and Notification When an employer envisages collective dismissals, it must consult with the employee representative body or, if none, with the employees themselves, and must notify the cantonal labour office. Collective dismiss...
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The employer must provide the employee representative body (or, if none, the employees) with all appropriate information regarding the envisaged collective dismissals, and in any event must inform in writing of: the reasons for ...
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Consultation and Notification The consultation is started by providing the required information (see 13.2) to the employee representative body or, if none, the employees. The aim of the consultation is to give the employees or their represe...
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Consultation and Notification If the employer fails to comply with the consultation requirements (including the information requirements which are part of it), employees who are made redundant may claim compensation for unfair dismissal. Th...
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There is no statutory selection order for collective dismissals under Swiss law. However, selection must not be based on criteria that are considered discriminatory (gender, age, race,...
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Swiss law does not provide for any right to severance pay upon termination of employment, except for employees aged 50+ with at least 20 years of service. Such employees are entitled to severance of between two and eight months’ salary; h...
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Under Swiss law, a share deal does not change the identity of t...
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Statutory Swiss law provides for a set of rules protecting the affected employees in business transfers (see summary of the applicable principles in paragraph 14.3 below). These protective rules apply when a business or a part thereof is tr...
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The following principles apply: Employment automatically transfers from the transferor to the transferee (subject to objection to the transfer by the employee). This includes all rights and obligations as at the date of transfer, includin...
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Every employee is entitled to object to the transfer of their employment. If an employee objects, his or h...
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Terms The employment relationship is automatically transferred to the transferee, including all rights and obligations (including seniority and years of service accrued) as of the date of transfer. Accordingly, the terms of the employment c...
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The former employer and the transferee are jointly and severally liable for any claims of an employee arising from the emplo...
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If a collective employment agreement applies to the transferred employees, the ...
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Any changes to the employment contract require the employee’s consent. In agreement with the employee, the employment contract can be changed prior to the transfer by the transferor, or post-transfer by the transferee. This allows, for ex...
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Based on the Swiss legal principle of freedom of termination, either party to the employment contract is free to give notice of termination in compliance with the applic...
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Under statutory Swiss law there is a consultation requirement if, as a result of ...
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The employee representatives or, if none, the employee...
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The employee representatives or, if none, the employees must be consulted in due time before a decision is made regarding measures affecting employees such as dismissals, salary cuts, or major modifications ...
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There are no sanctions for breaches of the obligations to inform or consult. Failure to inform or consult would not lead to the tra...
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There are no specific rules in this respect. Generally, employees in enterprises with at least 50 emplo...
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The Swiss social security system regarding old-age insurance is composed of three pillars (three-pillar system), which have different functions, are financed differently and are managed by different institutions. These three pillars are the...
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In addition to the mandatory state pension system, there is statutory requirement for an employer to provide employees with access to a pension scheme (i.e. the second pillar occupational pension scheme) where the conditions of subordinatio...
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Under the law, any employer with employees who are subject to compulsory insurance must be affiliated to a pension fund that is registered with the appropriate supervisory authority. Registered pension funds must take the form of a foundati...
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Under the law, if the employer is not yet affiliated to a pension fund, it must choose one after consultation and agreement with the employees or, if it exists, with the employee representation. Similarly, the employer must consult and reac...
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Pensions are subject to taxation as income. Taxation also applies in the event the insured person chooses to receive a cash payment as capital. The employees’ contributions paid into a pension fund (that are deducted from their salary...
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Nothing needs to be included in the contract of employment about pensions entitlement, since any employee who meets the eligibility conditions will be entitled to participate in the pension scheme irrespective of any provisions in the emplo...
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From an employment law perspective, there is no statutory provision explicitly requiring employers to conduct investigations. However, if the employer intends to take disciplinary measures (and in particular to dismiss an employee wi...
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Depending on the circumstances (e.g. the severity of the misconduct and the employee’s function), employees have an obligation to report suspected misconduct based on their duty of loyalty. ...
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There is no general rule as to how quickly an employer must start an investigation, and this will depend on the circumstances, including the severity of the suspected misconduct, the impact on other employees, and an intention to dismiss wi...
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Provided the investigation has a connection to the workplace, employees have an obligation to participate in an investigation and to provide truthful information, based on their duty of loyalty. This also applies to an employee suspect...
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Legal commentators generally take the view that the suspected employee has a right to be accompanied during an interview by a person of trust, such as a lawyer or an employee representative, at least when the subject of the investigat...
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An employer must provide an employee suspected of misconduct with sufficient incriminating evidence in the context of their right to be heard and to defend themselves (see section 16.1 above). It is however generally accepted that s...
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No, there is currently no separate regime for ‘whistleblowing’ on unlawful or immoral activities with respect to investigations. Parliamentary efforts to issue new statutory prov...
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There are no legal requirements for how employers must deal with low performance. In particular, termination based on low performance is permissible under Swiss law without any prior warning or any specifi...
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There are no statutory rules on how employee grievances should be handled. While some companies have a specific policy in this respect, this is very uncommon in Switzerland. ...
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There are no requirements to advertise or post notices of job openings in particular place...
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Employers may request certain information about an applicant’s background. Checking applicants’ professional training and educational background helps employers effectively screen and select the best candidates for the job. Theref...
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Employment may legally be subject to a probationary period. Th...
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During the probationary period, either the employee or employer may terminate the employment c...
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Job applicants may bring moral compensation claims against a prospective employer if they have b...
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Under Turkish law, all foreign nationals (including those of EU Member States) must obtain a work permit, special visa or exemption before commencing employment in Turkey. Turkish law allows exceptions where foreign nationals may not need a...
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The employer must retain a copy of both sides of the approved work permit card and monitor the expiry date. Turkish Law does not differentiate between local and foreign workers with regard to recordkeeping. The employer is...
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Employers may keep records about candidates they did not hire, but these r...
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In general, any questions other than the ones detailed in section 1.2 above (i.e. questions about the applicant’s professional training or educational and criminal background) may violate the applica...
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An employee is someone who works under an employment contract subject to the authority of an employer. In an employment relationship, an employee is dependent on the employer with regards to the salary and directions of th...
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There are no legal distinctions between types of employees. All employees h...
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If a company director is an ‘employer representative’ (i.e. has the ...
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An employee is deemed to be employed on a part-time basis if his or her regular weekly working time is at least one third less than that of a comparable full-time employee. Part-time employees are not permitted...
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Fixed-term employment contracts may be concluded between the employer and employee in writing provided that there are objective reasons for this type of contract, such as completion of a certain project or because of a specific event. If th...
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Fixed-term employment contracts must not be executed without a ...
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Temporary employment can be set up via private employment agencies. The law specifies the situations in which this can be done and how long it may last, as below. Circumstances Duration Note that the total duration of tempo...
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An employer may temporarily transfer employees within the same group of companies or at an affiliated workplace. The employer must obtain the employee’s written consent at the time of the transfer. A temporary work relationship must not e...
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A written contract must be provided for any assignment of one year or more. Even if no written agreement is made, a court may deem that an employment relationship exists between the parties. In cases where no written contract is concluded,...
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It is not common pra...
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If the employer is a Turkish legal entity and the work will be done in Turkey, the employment contract must be in the Turkish language. How...
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All mandatory legal provisions are implied into employment contracts, including employee benefits such as annual paid leave, rest breaks and certain obligations on both t...
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It is not necessary for the written contract to contain all the terms and conditions of the employ...
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Employees must be notified in writing of any essential changes in working conditions that are unfavourable to the...
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Usually, a workplace regulation or handbook will be provided to employees setting out the workpla...
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The minimum wage is set annually (or in some years biannually) by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through a Committee for the Minimum Wage, in order to regulate the economic and social conditions of all employees employed through...
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Wages are not automatically...
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Income Tax The employer must, on behalf of the employees, deduct income tax from gross salary and submit a withholding tax return to the Tax Office on a quarterly basis if the employer has up to ten employees or on a monthly basis if the ...
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The income tax is subject to progressive rates ranging between 15% and 40%. Based on the current foreign exchange rate, we estimate that a EU...
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In Turkey, bonuses are not mandatory but employers have the discretion to grant bonuses to employees at certain times of the year, often based on their performance. In practice, the...
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Employers are required to ...
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In practice, some companies at their discretion also provi...
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By law, work must not exceed 45 hours a week. Nor must it exceed a total of 11 hours in a day, including...
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The maximum working tim...
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High level managers who determine their own working hours will typically be deemed exempt from the working time rules. Employers may adopt a balanced work scheduling scheme with the employees’ consent. Under a balancing scheme, the employ...
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Employers are required to keep tr...
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Agile working is not r...
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Overtime is defined in law as hours of work in excess of 45 hours per week. The total period of overtime must not exceed 270 hours per annum. However, there is case law from the Cou...
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The consent of the employee must be obtained for overtime. An ...
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The wage payable for each hour of overtime is 50% more than the wage payable for one standard hour of work. The wage payable for each ‘extra hour’ is 25% more than the wage payable for one standard hour of work. Any payment in relation ...
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By law, midway through the daily working hours (as modified according to local custom and working requirements), employees must be granted the following breaks: for work lasting four hours or less: a 15-minute break; for work lasting more ...
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If employers breach the rules on working hours or breaks and rest periods, they may become subject to administrative fines (for 2022 the amount is TRY 4,173 per breach). However, owing to a lack of labour inspectors, inspections are infrequ...
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Employees who have worked at least one year have a right to a minimum of 14 days’ pa...
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The amount of annual paid leave is calculated based on the employee’s salary. This will normally be basic salary without ta...
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Employees are entitled to paid time off for holidays as follows: National Holidays: 28 October (half day) and 29 October, Republic Day – employees must not work even with consent. Religious Holidays: the ‘Ramadan Feast’ which start...
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Employers are not required to pay employees sick leave. Employees are entitled to temporary incapacity payments as a proportion of the salary. These are paid by the Social Security Institution (‘SSI’) from the third day of sick leave pr...
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An employee shall be granted three days’ paid leave in the event of the adoption of a child or death of a mother, father, spouse, sibling or child. An employee shall be granted five days’ paid paternity leave in the event of his wife gi...
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The types of leave available are as follows: paid leave for marriage of up to ...
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An employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. At a minimum the employer must: generally maintain the health and safety of employees; endeavour to avoid occupational hazards; take all necessary ...
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Occupational health and safety is regulated and enforced by inspectors ...
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Under the Occupational Health and Safety Law, if an employer breaches health and safety rules, an administrative fine will be imposed, ranging from TRY 7,755 to TRY 1,866,732 (for 2023). Most of the penalties are stipulated for each employe...
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Generally, an employer will not be liable for acts of third-party contractors, as lon...
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Employers must keep track of all workplace accidents and diseases, conduct any necessary investigations and prepare relevant reports. This obligation applies to any workplace accident that causes death or injury, as well as those that cause...
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There are nine characteristics protected by the Labour Law, the last of these being a ‘catch-all’ provision: language; race; colour; political opinion; religion a...
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It is possible to treat an individual differently on the basis of a protected characteristic if that characteristic is an occupational requirement because of the nature or context of the work or for biological reasons, and if there are reas...
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The law set out by the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey defines indirect discrimination as ‘putting a real person or legal entity in a disadvantaged position, which cannot be legitim...
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Employers are required by law to take action to remove any difficulties and obstacles in the workpla...
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Any sexual harassment or defamation of the honour or integrity of the employee, employer, or members of their family in the workplace constitutes a justified cause for termination of the employment contract by either the employer or the emp...
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There is no specific regulation of retaliation or reprisals. However, it is the employer’s legal responsibility to protect the employee�...
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If the discrimination, harassment, victimisation or retaliation constitutes a crime in accordance with Turkish criminal law, the victim may have the right to initiate criminal proceedings, for example, for defamation or sexual hara...
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If an employee brings a discrimination claim against the employer, the employee bears the burden to prove his or her claims, and must present sufficient evid...
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An employer is liable for the discriminatory conduct of its employees wh...
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There are no specific statutory reporting obligations or indirect obligatio...
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Under Turkish law, employers are required to protect the personality of and show respect to their employees. In particular, employers are required to take steps to prevent psychological harassment of employees, and if an employee has been s...
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Discrimination claims are not very common since discrimination is consi...
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Successful discrimination claims are uncommon in Turkey (see section 8.12 above), and it is therefore not possible to state a ‘typical’ award amount for such claims. The law stipulates penalties ranging from TRY 2,973 up to TRY 89,571 f...
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The protection of personal data is a right primarily covered by the Constitution and data protection law, and the criminal code sets out certain sanctions for breaches of this right. These include sanctions for the unlawful obtaining and re...
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A breach of the rules may be treated as a criminal offence if it relates to data protection as enshrined in the Constitution. In addition, if the reasons for processing personal data cease, the person responsible for the data must delete, d...
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Turkey currently does not have any specific regulation about how employers should collect and process employee information so processing this informat...
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An employer’s monitoring of employees’ use of computers, telephones, emails, Internet activity, or other technological devices or the employer’s...
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There is no law on the use of social media in Turkey. However, the use of social media in the workplace or when off duty can be used as evidence for termination. Employees can be disciplined for social media activity. If the use of social m...
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There is no special protection for employees who blow the whistle. However, generally, multinational companies operating in Turkey implement a whistle–blowing protection policy. ...
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Employment agreements include an implied confidentiality obligation on employees not to disclose the employer’s trade secrets or confidential information. This duty applies during the employment, and, if thi...
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By law, the employment agreement includes an implied non-competition duty on employees. Pursuant to this duty, during the employment relationship, the em...
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There is a statutory confidentiality obligation on employees following termination, but this only applies to situations where co...
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Employers can prevent employees from acting in competition with them by executing a post contractual non-competition agreement (or inserting a clause into the employment agreement), provided that: the employee, in the context of his or h...
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The trade unions are organised associations of employees which regulate relations between employers and employees in the workplace. Trade unions that have the right to make collective bargaining agreements may appoint union representatives ...
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In Turkey, of the workforce that is registered by their employers with the Social Security Institution, approximately 14.26% is unionised as of July 2022. However, note that approximately half of the workforce is not registered with the Soc...
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If a trade union is authorised by the Labour and Social Security Ministry to be set up at the workplace, the employer must work with that trade union. However, if there is no authorised trade union at the workplace, the employer is not requ...
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An authorised trade union will appoint one or more employee representatives from amongst the employees at the employer. Employers are required to inform and/or consult the employee representative(s) in certain circumstances. For example: ...
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Trade unions must comply with a number of procedural requirements set out in law, otherwise a strike or other industrial action will be considered unlawful. If industrial action is unlawful, this may result in the following consequences...
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Prior to termination, the employer should determine whether the employees are protected under ‘job security’. An employee will be within the scope of the job security provisions if the employer has more than 30 employees globally and th...
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If the employee is entitled to ‘job security’ (i.e. essentially, where the employee is a permanent employee, employed for at least six months, and therefore the employer needs to provide a ‘just’ or ‘valid’ reason for dismissal)...
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If the employee is not a permanent employee who has been employed for at least six months and is therefore not entitled to ‘job security’, he or she can be terminated without a valid or just reason. If the employee is entitled to ‘j...
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There is special protection for employees who are entitled to ‘job security’. This applies to permanent employees, employed for at least six months, and in these cases the employer must provide a ‘just’ or ‘valid’ reason for dis...
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Minimum notice periods are stipulated in law. They are as follows: Duration Of Service Notice Period Less than six months two weeks From six months to less than 1.5 years four weeks From 1.5 to three years ...
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It is possible for the employer to make a payment in lieu of notice and if this is done, the employer must pay the employee his or her salary plus all benefits to which the employee is entitled under the employment agreement. The employ...
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If an employee resigns, the employee is not entitled to a severance payment. Additionally, the employee must give a notice period to the employer (as set forth in section 12.5) or make a payment in lieu of notice. If the employer has fo...
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The law does not specify whether employees can be retired upon reaching the retirement age, but in our view, this should be possible if done reasonably and objectively in the case of each employee. In particular, the retirement age should b...
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Severance Provided the employee has completed one year of service, he or she is entitled to 30 days’ salary (plus benefits) for each completed year of employment at the employer. For the last year, the payment is pro-rated, based on tim...
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Employers can settle claims by means of an agreement with the employee. However, the employee may still bring an action against the employer claiming the employer forced the employer to sign the agreement. Therefore, the safest way to settl...
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The terminations can be considered as collective dismissal if: in a workplace employing between 20 and 100 employees, a minimum of ten employees are to be dismissed at that workplace within a month; in a workplace employing be...
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The following information must be provided to trade union representatives at the workplace (if any) and the Turkish Employment Agency at least 30 days before terminations: the reasons for the dismissal of the employees; the numb...
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If there is no trade union representative at the workplace, there will be no consultation. If there is a trade union, one meeting with the union representative will be sufficient and the union representative’s feedback is not binding. The...
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If employer does not comply with any or all of the requirements for collective dismissals, it may become subject to an administrative fine of TRY 1,559 (for 2022) for each employee dismissed collectively. Note that the amount of the fine is...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Turkish law. Employers are not required to justify whose employment will be te...
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The normal legal entitlements of dismissed employees (severance payment, notice payment, payment for accrued but unused annual leave days, and other benefits provided during the employment) must be paid in cases...
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There is no specific ...
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Sale of a business If a business is sold, this will be considered as a workplace transfer (provided that the transferred business retains its identit...
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For the old employer: it cannot terminate employees solely because of the transfer (as they will need to be transferred to the new employer) and if it does this, the terminations will be considered unfair; it is jointly liable with ...
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Employers do not require consent from employees to transfer (except for the consolidation or demerger of companies, which the employee is entitled to contest). G...
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Terms The terms of the employment contracts will be unaffected by the transfer and will be binding on both the employee and the transferee on completion of the transfer. Benefits All benefits to which employees are legally entitled must be ...
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The transferor and transferee are jointly liable for all liabilities to transferred employees which are due as of the date of the transfer. The transferor will remain liable to...
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Even if the transferee has a collective agreement in place within the same business field, the rights and liabilities arising from the collective agreement applied at the tr...
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Any changes to employment conditions must be favourable to the employee and the employer must obtain written consent from the employee for any material changes, such as to working conditi...
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Once the fact of a transfer is known, if an employee is dismissed before the transfer, whether the dismissal is ‘justified’ or ‘valid’ will be closely scrutinised. Dismissal by reason of the t...
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There is no requirement to consult with e...
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There is no requ...
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There is n...
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There is n...
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If a collective agreement is in place with the old employer at the time of a workplace transfer, and the new employer is within the same business line or has another collective agreement in place, the rights and liabilities arising from the...
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When the employee fulfils the requirements for retirement, he or she will receive a state pension with health benefits...
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The legislation about pension schemes entered into force on 1 January 2017. Under the law, employers must provide a pension scheme with an individual pension agreement based on a group scheme for both private and public sector employees who...
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Employers may offer private...
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The law requires that changes in the working conditions of employees that are unfavourable require notification t...
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The state pension in Turkey is free of income...
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Since pension entitlements are stipulated by law, there is no requirement for them to be referred to in the employmen...
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There is no legal regulation regarding mandatory employer investigations in Turkish law. For an investigation to be conducted, it is sufficient that the employer acts within the scope of good faith in accordance with g...
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Under Turkish labour legislation, one of the duties arising from the employment relationship is the employee’s duty of loyalty. In accordance with this duty, the employee must not behave contrary to the employer’s i...
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There is no regulation in Turkish law regarding the timeframe for beginning an investigation. However, if the facts established by the employer during the investigation constitute just cause for the termination of an employee’s e...
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Under employees’ general duty of loyalty, employees are obliged to participate in investigations conducted b...
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Yes, the employee can be represented by a lawyer. ...
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There is no specific requirement under Turkish law for an employer to provide the employee with all of the evidence gathered in an investigation. However, in some situations the evidence may have to be shared with the employee pu...
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There is no separate regime for whistleblowing in Turkish legislation. However, multinational companies operating in Turkey typically implement a whistle-blowing protection policy. If an employer has such a policy in place...
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In the event of low performance by an employee, it is appropriate for the employer to take the following steps in accordance with settled Supreme Court decisions: request a written explanation or defense from the employee in r...
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Turkish legislation does not stipulate any specific procedures for dealing with grievances. However, the employer has an obligation to protect its employees’ physical and psychological health; therefore, the employer must take ...
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An employer is not required to use any particular wording or provide specific details about jobs in advertisements for jobs in Ukraine. However, advertisements for jobs by employment agencies must contain a notice to say that there is a pro...
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Employers are prohibited from carrying out checks about the background of an employee at any stage, except in cases strictly provided by law. Further, processing information regarding race, ethnic origin, political, religious or ideological...
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A probationary period is permissible if both parties to the employment agreement consent. The probationary period should be stipulated in the employee’s appointment resolution, which is an internal document of an organisation issued for t...
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An employee may be dismissed during a probationary period if he or she is incompetent. The employer must serve the employee with three days’ prio...
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Refusal to employ without good reason is expressly prohibited, as is discrimination in employment. It is illegal to limit employment opportunities or award employment benefits based on origin, social or financial standing, race, nationality...
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Foreign workers may take up work in Ukraine provided that the future employer has obtained a work permit for the foreign worker for a permanent position in the organisation. The following proce...
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As a rule, an employer should keep the following documents: the employment agreement; job description; all staff resolutions issued by the employer (i.e. a type of internal document issued for the purposes of staff administration reflectin...
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Employers are prohibited from requiring employees to provide any documents prior to the...
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When conducting interviews, an employer cannot ask for any information relating to ...
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In Ukraine, work and services may be provided either under an employment agreement or a civil agreement (i.e. an independent-contractor agreement). An employment agreement normally protects an individual to a greater degree t...
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Ukrainian labour law has not drawn distinctions between types of employees since 1991, when the concepts of ‘white-collar worker’ and ‘blue-collar worker’ we...
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Appointment and dismissal of directors fall within the exclusive scope of the duties of company shareholders’ meetings. Employment of company directors is regulated both by labour and corporate law. Therefore, the procedure of appointment...
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Part-time work can be agreed for an employee at the time of hiring or later by mutual consent of the parties. If an employee requests part-time employment, an employer cannot refuse for the following categ...
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As a general rule, the use of fixed-term employment agreements is restricted in Ukraine and, in the case of a labour dispute, the justification for a fixed-term employment relationship must be demonstrated by employer before the court on a ...
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Ukrainian labour law provides for two options for converting a fixed-term employment agreement into open-ended employment: If upon expiry of a fixed-term agreement neither party requires employment relations to end and...
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Temporary employment is the exception to the rule in Ukraine. Therefore, corresponding regulation remains limited. However, Ukrainian labour law recognises several types of temporary work, including seasonal work, outsourcing and the tempor...
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It is not common practice for Ukrainian companies to exchange employees on a temporary basis. Ukrainian law does not provide for the temporary assignment of an employee to work for another organisation, where the employee remains employed b...
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There is no mandatory requirement for employment agreements to be in writing. Parties may agree verbally to all conditions of employment. However, an employment agreement is required in writing in the following circumstances: when entering...
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Offer letters have become more popular in recent years, under the influence of foreign and international com...
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Employment agreements must be in Ukrainian, but they may also be translated in other languages (i.e. side-by-side translation). If the contract is in more than one language, generally, the Ukrainian version will prevail. Parties usually i...
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Generally, if an employee is permitted to work, an employment agreement is implied, whether or not this is formalised. All implied terms are derived from labour law, which pr...
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There is no statutory requirement for an employment agreement to contain all the terms and conditions of employment. An employment agreement may contain reference to other binding documents, provided the terms and conditions of these docume...
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It is prohibited for an employer to make any unilateral changes to working conditions if these worsen an employee’s conditions, e.g. an employer cannot suddenly decrease an employee’s salary without consultation with the employee. On th...
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Although Ukrainian labour law does not distinguish between contractual and non-contractual documents, the law requires that certain non-contractual documents must be given to an employee. An employer must make available to a newly employed ...
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Ukrainian law provides for a minimum monthly and hourly wage. Starting from 1 January 2021 the minimum monthly wage rate is UAH 6,000 per month, and UAH 39.12 per hour. The Verkhovna Rada&nbs...
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Employers must adjust the wages of their employees in line with inflation, but only up to the amount ...
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In Ukraine the following taxes and duties are payable as a result of an individual’s employment: an employee’s personal income tax; social security contributions; and a military fee of 1....
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As at March 2021, EUR 100,000 equates to approximately UAH 3,300,000. The income tax, the military fee and the social security contributions (‘SSC’) payable by the employer on behalf of the&nbs...
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Any payments over the basic salary may be divided into two groups: additional payments required by law for extra work or special conditions of work; bonuses provided by employer. ...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular benefits except as follows. Employers pay social security contributions (‘SSC’) of 22% of the employee’s salary. The withheld money is transferred...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits include: priv...
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Ukrainian law provides for different limits on daily and weekly working hours depending on the working time pattern of an employee. There are several working time patterns, which may either be chosen by an employer or are set out in law for...
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It is not possible to lawfully increase working hour limits by agreement. According to Ukrainian labour law, employment agreement and collective bargaining agreement must not contai...
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There are no exemptions to the working time rules set out in section 5.1 above. ...
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Employers should keep records of all working hours for all employees in special standard working timesheets. These timesheets constitute the basis for calculating salary and preparing all statistical information and tax reports. The employe...
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Ukrainian labour law recognises an irregular working day as a special working time regime that applies to certain specific categories of employees whose working hours cannot be regulated. These employees are entitled to up to seven addition...
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As a general rule, overtime work is prohibited in Ukraine. Employers may engage employees to work overtime in following situations only: To perform the necessary work for state defence and for the prevention or prompt elimination of ...
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Women with children between the ages of three and 14, or with a disabled child, may only be given overtime work with their consent. Disabled employees may only be engaged in overtime work with their consent, and provided that...
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All overtime hours should be paid at double rate for each hour of overtime. Compensation for overtime work by time off in lieu is not permitted. ...
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Employees are entitled to a break for rest and meal-taking of up to two hours per day. As a rule, the break should be provided four hours after commencing work. During the break an employee may leave his or her workplace. In add...
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Breaches of the limits on working hours and breaks are treated as administrative offences and may lead to the director at the employer being fined between UAH 510 and 1,700 (approximately EUR 15 and 51) per breach. In addition, the em...
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Employees have the right to a minimum of 24 calendar days of paid annual leave. The entitlement for part-time employees is not reduced and amounts to 24 calendar days as well. Employees are entitled to paid annual leave pro rata for time ac...
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An employee is entitled to be paid at the usual working rate while on leave. The method of calculation applies to all employees irrespective of the employee’s working pattern. The amount is calculated based on the average salary for the...
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There is a statutory right to unpaid time off work on public holidays. Employees are entitled to a total number of 11 days off work on Ukrainian state and religious holidays. These are: 1 January (New Year); 25 December (Christmas ...
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An employee is entitled to 50-100% of his or her average salary during sick leave depending on length of service. The longer an employee has been employed, the higher the sick pay. The first five days of sick leave compensation are paid by ...
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Family-related leave in Ukraine may be either paid or unpaid, as described below. In practice, employers usually provide the minimum only and do not make more generous arrangements irrespective whether it is private or public sector. Paid f...
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During the current period of martial law, the employer may, at the request of the employee, grant unpaid leave for an unlimited period. In addition, if requested by an employee who has left the territory of Ukraine or acquired the status of...
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An employer is responsible for providing safe working conditions. An employer must: establish a health and safety service and appoint individuals responsible for this; develop and implement health and safety arrangements for the purpos...
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An employer has the authority to monitor and prevent health and safety policy violations, suspend employees and apply disciplinary sanctions. The health and safety executive (the ‘Executive’) appointed by an employer supervises complian...
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The supervising authorities may impose sanctions on an employing organisation as well as on an individual responsible for health and safety compliance (i.e. a CEO or health and safety executive appointed by the employer). The State Labour...
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An employer may be held liable for the activities of third-party contractors. The Ukrainian Constitution guarantees the right to safe work. This right corresponds to the employer’s duty to ensure occupational safety. All employers must co...
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If there is a serious work accident or occupational disease the employer must notify the local authorities of the State Labour Service (the ‘SLS’) and the Social Security Fund (the ‘Fund’). The employer must also notify the State Em...
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Ukrainian discrimination law covers the following: race; skin colour; political views; religion or belief; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; suspicion or sickness of HIV/AIDS; age; disability; ethnic or social...
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Activities that do not provide unjustified advantages to individuals and/or groups and do not limit others’ rights are not considered discriminatory, specifically: special protection of certain categories of persons in need of this prote...
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Indirect discrimination is prohibited by law, but may be justified if it is aimed at providing an equal opportunity for every individual and/or group to exercise their rights and freedoms. The practice of re...
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Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. There are no specific obligation...
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Harassment is prohibited as a form of discrimination as it targets a person’s dignity on the basis of a characteristic and may facilitate a hostile ...
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Discrimination whistle blowing is not protected by Ukrainian law. Nevertheless, as a matt...
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If a claim for discrimination or harassment is successful, the court may rule in favour of the victim and award compensation for moral harm or the performance of certain actions by the employer. An individual employee may be held criminal...
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The burden of proof in discrimination cases is reversed. The plaintiff need only present factual eviden...
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Under Ukrainian law, employers ...
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There is no specific ...
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Ukrainian law includes a general provision granting employees the right to healthy and safe working conditions. The law also defines ‘employment contract’ so as to require the employer to provide the employee with the working conditions...
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Discrimination claims are extremely rare in Ukraine as compared to other employment-related cases. Research shows that only 9.3% of age discrimination victims took action (i.e. addressed the authorities, the public prosecutor’s office or ...
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Claims of unlawful discrimination are unusual in Ukraine...
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Ukrainian law on data protection provides for the protection of employee information. ‘Personal data’ includes ‘any information related to an individual who is identified or identifiable’. Therefore, any information about an employe...
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The minimum penalty for data protection violations varies from EUR 42 to EUR 84. Such violations can include a failure to notify the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights of high risk data processing, failure to comply wit...
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Any collection and processing of confidential information that constitutes personal data must comply with data protection law. As a matter of law, an employer must not collect more employee personal data than required for the purposes of th...
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There is no specific regulation about monitoring employees. Employers should notify any affected employee about the operation of surveillance cameras, the monitoring of email or Internet activity or location tracking. The employer should al...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It is uncommon for a Ukrainian employer to have a social media policy. As a matter of law, an employee must dedicate all of his ...
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Employees who ‘blow the whistle’ and members of their families are protected from dismissal, discipline and detrimental treatment (e.g. changes to working conditions, including salary reduction) if they have made a disclosure ba...
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Ukrainian law draws a distinction between confidential information and trade secrets. Generally, any work-related information may be protected as ‘confidential information’. An employee must keep work-related information confidential on...
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Ukrainian law does not regulate non-compete covenants. However, Ukrainian law provides that employees may be simultaneously employed by more than one employer if this is agreed by both the employee and the employers. This is usually specifi...
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An employer may restrict the use by the employee of confidential information after termination of employment by having the employee sign a separate civil agreement covering confidentiality issues. Such an agreement may be put in place at an...
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The employer may prevent the employee from acting in competition with it if a civil agreement is signed between the parties restricting employment or participation in competing organisations. However, note that a non-compete covenant in a...
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In Ukraine, trade unions are established for the purpose of representing and protecting the labour, social and economic rights of members. Trade unions have a visible place in the labour market. They exist on a voluntary basis and are usual...
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Workforces both in the public and private sectors tend to be unionised. The main trade union organisation in Ukraine is the ...
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An employer must work with an established trade union on a variety of issues and must not obstruct trade union activities. Under Ukrainian law, trade unions may monitor the payment of salaries and social contributions. Trade unions also mon...
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An employer does not have the duty to establish an employee representative body because employees are free to appoint representatives by law. An employer must recognise a representative body as legitimate and cooperate with it. However, emp...
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The right to strike is recognised in the Constitution of Ukraine, provided that it is used to ‘defend economic and social interests’. A strike can only be organised following a decision of the company trade union or other representative...
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Ukrainian employment law is quite strict with respect to termination of employment, especially termination by an employer. Early termination of the employment relationship is possible only in certain circumstances, as defined by law. An e...
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Employees may bring a claim before the local courts of general jurisdiction for unfair dismissal. The remedies available are: compensation for moral harm; reinstatement at work; and compensation for t...
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The procedure that the employer should follow when terminating employment varies widely depending on the reason for the dismissal. However, it is important to follow the procedure prescribed by law. This is because in cases of termination f...
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The law stipulates absolute prohibition of termination of employment agreements, with the exception of cases of liquidation of the employer, in the cases of the following protected categories of employees: pregnant women; women who...
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Employers must not terminate employment simply by giving notice of termination or compensation in lieu of notice. The concept of ‘termination by notice’ does not exist in Ukraine. Instead, special termination procedures, based on partic...
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The concept of paying salary in lieu of giving notice does not exist in Ukraine and it is unlawful for employers to do this. ...
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Resignation is a separate ground for termination. Resignation normally requires two weeks’ notice to the employer. However, in cases of urgency (e.g. the employee’s move to another city or the need to take care of a disabled relative)...
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Retirement is not in itself a valid ground for termination. An employee who has reached the retirement age or receives a pensio...
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All payments due must be made to an employee on the date of dismissal. This includes salary for the days or hours worked during the month prior to dismissal, accrued days of annual leave and additional leave. Severance Statutory sever...
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An employer can settle any claims arising from termination of employment by mutual consent of the parties to the termination. The law does not specify any rules about termination of employment by mutual consent. The conditions of terminatio...
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The requirement to consult with the trade union during the redundancy process applies to both individual and collective redundancy exercises under Ukrainian law. Employers must follow the procedures on information and negotiation set out in...
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An employer must provide information to a trade union in advance and no later than three months before the date of the dismissals. The information must cover: the reasons for the expected reduction; the number of affected employees; ...
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The aim of consultation with a trade union is to minimise unemployment. It is good practice to discuss the following issues during consultations: employment and transfer options for affected employees; potential to re-train or undertake fu...
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There are no specific sanctions for failing to comply with the requirement to consult a trade union. However, failure to comply is considered a violation of Ukrainian labour law. The employer may be prosecuted and fined in an amount between...
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In respect of individual or collective dismissal for economic reasons the employer cannot randomly select employees (although a different approach is taken if the position in question is unique). The employer must apply a qualifications and...
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No, there are no additional payments associated with colle...
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As a matter of law, if there is a change of identity of an employer as a result of a share takeover, the employment agreements with affected employees continue in full force. This is the main statutory protection for affected employees in t...
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Sale of a business When a business is sold, employees have the same guarantees and rights as in the case of a share takeover (see section 14.1 above). Outsourcing There is no statutory protection for employees if the business in which...
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If the employee transfer rules apply: The mere fact of the transfer does not serve as grounds for termination of employment or changes to the employment terms. The law guarantees that the employment contracts remain effective after the t...
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Generally, the employees do not participate in the process of transfer...
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Terms The terms of the employment contracts and all rights and obligations under them transfer to the transferee. Therefore, a transfer has no effect on the employment contracts. However, the terms and conditions may be changed if this is j...
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In principle, all liabilities transfer to the transferee. However, note that this includes criminal liability relating to ...
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Generally, collective agreements transfer, but only remain in force for up to one year after the transfer....
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There are no rules about changing the terms of employment upon a transfer and therefore the general rules for amending employment contracts apply. This means that the transferee may change the employment contracts unilaterally if the change...
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In most cases, the fact a transfer has taken place has no impact on the conditions for dismissal. Employers may safely dismiss employees either before or after the transfer...
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There is no statutory requirement to consult with employees where there is a business transfer. However, consultations with trade union...
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As there is no statutory obliga...
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As there is no obligation to...
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If there is an obligation to consult in the collective bargaining agreement, a breach may lead to a collective dispute and even a strike. If an individual...
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This issue is not currently covered by the law. The general und...
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All employees are entitled to receive state pension benefits. The state pension is a flat rate benefit, which takes contributions on a pay-as-you-earn basis. There are four types of state pension: old age pension; disability pension, loss o...
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There are no requirements for employ...
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Employers may provide a pension scheme for employees. There are three types of non-state pension schemes: corporate, professional and open. An employer may create its own corporate pension scheme and other employers may join the scheme by a...
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There is no requirement for employers to consult with employees where changes are proposed to be made to their state pension arrangements. By contrast, if an employer sets up a (non-state) c...
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State pensions are not subject to tax, but pension payments from non-state pension schemes are subject to personal income tax at 18% and military tax at 1.5%. Pension contributions are an obli...
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There is no requirement for any information to be put in the contract of employment about...
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Employers must conduct investigations in cases of workplace accidents or work-related illnesses. The procedure for such investigations is set by law (see section 16.3 below). An employer may conduct investigations on other t...
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There is no liability (civil or criminal) for an employee’s failure to report suspected misconduct. It is left up to their good will. ...
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In the case of a work accident or work-related illness, the employer must start an investigation no later than the next business day after the event occurred. To investigate a work accident, the employer must create an investigation ...
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Employees are not obliged to participate in an investigation and can refuse to do so without further consequences. However, the investigation will still be carried out, and if the employee is found to be guilty of misconduct, he or she...
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Although the right to be represented during an investigation is not specifically prescribed by law, it is generally accepted that the employee can have a lawyer participate in the course of an investigation. ...
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Employees and/or their representatives must be provided with access to information and documents containing the results of the investigation, recording and analysis of accidents and occupational diseases, along with any ...
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Employees who ‘blow the whistle’ and members of their families are protected from dismissal, discipline and other detrimental treatment (e.g. changes to working conditions, including salary reduction) if they have made a dis...
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The employer may dismiss employees who systematically (i.e. two or more times) fail to fulfill their work obligations without reasonable cause. The first such failure can be puni...
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There are no statutory rules on handling grievances in general. However, in cases of discrimination, sexual harassment or assault, the affected employee is entitled to request remote work. The emp...
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UAE There are no provisions explicitly concerning advertisements for jobs and therefore no requirement to include particular wording or details. At present, there is no general scheme of data protection law in the UAE. There are, however, s...
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UAE There are no specific provisions concerning carrying out background or health checks on applicants. Background and health checks can be carried out at any stage, including prior to making an offer of employment, subject to obtaining the...
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UAE Employment can be subject to a probationary period of up to a maximum of six months. Probationary periods for a lesser period can be extended but the entire probationary period should not exce...
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UAE Employers may terminate employment during a probation period without notice and without providing a reason. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) DIFC and ADGM are federal financia...
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A job applicant cannot bring a claim against a prospective employer under the applicable employment law, in the UAE, DIFC or A...
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UAE Foreign nationals may only be employed following approval from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the employment of foreign nationals is conditional upon there being no qualified UAE nationals to undertake the role. I...
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UAE There is no requirement to keep records specifically relating to the employment of foreign workers. Moreover, employers are not required to retain documents for any employee for specific periods. The applicable law does provide that emp...
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UAE There are no data protection rules in the UAE that would prevent an employer from retaining records about candidates who are not hired. If the candidate’s data is being stored for possible future job openings, it is recommended that e...
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UAE There is no legislation in the UAE which prohibits employers from asking particular questions during interviews. However, it is recommended that employers not ask...
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Any individual working in the UAE with a valid residence visa and work permit is deemed to be an employee. Agency staff are treated as employees of the agency to which they belong. The law does not provide for ...
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UAE Labour law in the UAE does not distinguish between categories of employee and applies equally to all employees with the exception of payment for overtime and part-time work. Very senior employees (e.g. managing directors) are not entitl...
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Company directors based in the UAE who hold a valid residence visa and work permit are classed as employees. There are no specific provisions...
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UAE As of 1 March 2018, white collar employees are able to work part-time with two or more employers with whom they have entered into a standard format part-time employment agreement. By entering into this agreement, the first employer give...
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UAE There are two types of employment contract in the UAE: fixed-term; and indefinite-term. UAE law provides that fixed-term contracts outside of the free zones must not exceed two years in duration. A fixed-term contract for two y...
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UAE A fixed-term contract converts into an indefinite-term contract where: the contract is not concluded in writing; or the contract is made for a limited period but the parties continue to follow the same terms a...
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There is no law specific to agency workers. Accordingly, agency workers are deemed to be employees of the agency to which they belong. This means that agency workers are entitled to t...
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UAE Due to visa restrictions, employees should only undertake work for the relevant sponsor, that is, the local employer as set out on the individual’s residence visa and identification card. However, subject to the Ministry of Human Reso...
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UAE A written contract of employment must be provided to employees. In addition, in order to obtain a residence visa and work permit, a standard form contract must be executed. Companies that have not entered into a labour contract with an ...
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Under the remit of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (the ‘Ministry’), employers must issue a standard format offer letter in addition to an employment contract. For other entities (i.e. entit...
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UAE Technically all contracts and records should be in Arabic. However, it is common for supplementary contracts to be in English. The standard Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and free-zone contracts are drafted in Arabic and ...
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UAE UAE labour law contains minimum provisions which are implied in every employment contract, irrespective of whether they are explicitly contained in the contract. For example, the law includes an implied term to provide a safe place of w...
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The written contract of employment need not contain all the terms and conditions relating to employment. However where other terms will be relied upon, it is prudent to conclude the terms in writing and the documents containing the terms sh...
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Generally, in order to change contractual terms, an employer requires consent from the employee in writing. If the employee does not agree and the employer proceeds to amend a term...
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Generally employees are provided with a staff handbook which would include various policies and procedures. These would typically include: disciplinary policies; an IT and communications policy; a code of co...
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There is no statutory minimum wage. However, practically speaking, employees who wish to sponsor family members for visa purposes must earn a minimum salary of AED 4,000 per month, or AED 3,00...
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There is no requirement for wages to be automatically adjusted in line with inflation and it is unusual for wages to be automatically adjusted. However, it...
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There are no employment-related taxes or social security obligations and accordingly, there are no mandatory arrangements which must be...
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There are no employment-related taxes or social security obligations in the UAE, the DIFC or...
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UAE There are no generally applicable rules governing the payment of bonuses. The terms of any bonus scheme are therefore a matter for negotiation between the employer and employee. In the UAE, bonuses are commonly offered to senior employe...
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UAE Employers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi must obtain and maintain health insurance for all employees. In Dubai, this requirement does not extend to covering the families of employees. However, in Abu Dhabi, employers are required to obtain insu...
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UAE There are no requirements for employers to provide specific benefits to employees. Therefore, employers are free to decide whether any benefits will be made available. It is common for employers in the UAE to offer the following: housi...
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UAE The maximum number of hours which an employee may work is eight hours per day or 48 hours per week (with the exception of certain sectors, including hospitality and security). Therefore, employees working a five-day working week may wor...
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UAE Employees may work overtime. However, this should not exceed two additional hours per day unless necessary to prevent loss to the employer. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (...
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In the UAE (not including the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market financial free trade zones), the maximum working hour provisions (i.e. maximum of eight hours per day) apply to all employees regardless of t...
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There are no rules concerning the monitoring of employees’ working time. Note that this applies to the UAE, the Duba...
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The law does not specifically provide for agile working or flexible working. Remote working by foreign workers in the UAE is hampered by the fact that work permits and visas (wh...
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UAE Employees may work ‘overtime’, but this should not exceed two additional hours per day unless necessary to prevent loss to the employer. In reality, overtime is often not limited to two additional hours per day. Dubai International ...
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UAE In the UAE, written consent is not required from employees to work overtime. However, employees cannot be legally obliged to work overtime. Dubai International Fin...
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UAE Standard overtime pay amounts to 125% of an employee’s basic pay plus allowances for the period of overtime worked. However, if the employee is required to work overtime between the hours of 21:00 and 04:00, this must be paid at a rat...
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UAE Employees cannot work for more than five consecutive hours without receiving breaks of at least one hour in total for rest, food and prayer. Young workers must not work for more than four consecutive hours without a break. The break doe...
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UAE The law does not provide any consequences for an employer in the event that it exceeds the limits on working hours or does not provide the required break times. However, if an employer breaches the applicable rules in either regard, the...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Under the UAE Labour Law, after one year of service, employees are entitled to a minimum of 30 calendar days of paid annual leave per year. This equates to approximately 22 working days per year. In the firs...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employees are entitled as a minimum to receive basic pay and housing allowance during annual leave. However, it is common for employees to receive a regular monthly salary which ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employees have a right to paid time off work for public holidays announced by the UAE Government. There are up to a maximum of 15 days of public holidays for the private sector per year, as follows: Hijri ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) The entitlement to paid sick leave only starts three months after the expiry of the probation period, but many employers do not enforce this. Employees are entitled to a maximum of 90 calendar days’ sick ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) All female employees are entitled to 45 calendar days’ maternity leave (including the time before and after the birth). Where an employee has one year of service or more, she will be entitled to full p...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employees are entitled to take a special one-time pilgrimage leave (unpaid) of up to 30 calendar days to perform the ‘Haj’ pilgrimage Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) DIFC is a federal f...
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Under the UAE Labour Law employers must protect employees from hazards including: injuries that may occur at work; occupational diseases; fire hazards; and any potential hazards arising out of the use of tools and machinery. In add...
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The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (‘MOHRE’) is responsible for inspecting workplaces. Where non-compliance is noted, labour inspectors may require employers to make alterations and set deadlines for these to be completed...
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Violations of health and safety requirements may attract a penalty of up to a maximum of USD 2,700. Fines are multiplied by the number of workers against whom the offence was committed, with a cap of USD 1.4 million. Where further offences ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Generally, in the UAE an employer will not be liable for the acts of third party contractors. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC�...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) In the event of a serious injury or death at the workplace, employers are legally obliged inform the MOHRE within 24 hours after the incident. Employers must provide the following details of the worker or e...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) The UAE’s constitution provides that there should be no distinction between ‘Citizens of the Union’ with regard to race, nationality, religious belief and social status. Citizens of the Union refers ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) The UAE Constitution protects UAE nationals from discrimination based on race, nationality, religious belief and social status, while a federal law protects residents on the basis of belief and ethnic origin...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) UAE legislation is silent in terms of ‘indirect discrimination’. The Constitution and a federal law that protects residents on the basis of belief and ethnic origin offer limited protection in terms of d...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employers in the UAE are encouraged to provide equal opportunities in recruitment and during employment, including making reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. However, the relevant legislation does...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There are no laws dealing specifically with discrimination against employees in the UAE (other than limited protection in the Constitution, the federal law that protects residents on the basis of belief and ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Victimisation is not a recognised concept in the UAE and therefore there is no legal protection from victimisation. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) DIFC is a federal financial free zone adm...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no law on discrimination in the UAE applicable to employees (other than limited protection in the Constitution, the federal law that protects residents on the basis of belief and ethnic origin and a...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’), Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is little legal basis for employers to be liable for the discriminatory acts of employees or third parties; however, federal law provides that a representative, manager or agent of a company will be pu...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’), Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) There are no gender pay gap reporting obligations. However, a recent federal Decree includes a pr...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) In the UAE employers are under no specific legal obligation to protect the mental health of employees. A 2018 ministerial resolution does provide for mental health conditions as a protected characteristic, b...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no law on discrimination in the UAE applicable to employees (other than limited protection in the Constitution, the federal law that protects residents on the basis of belief and ethnic origin an...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no statutory provision for awarding compensation or penalties for a standalone discrimination claim in the UAE. Where an employee files a claim for discrimination as part of a larger claim for termi...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) At present, there is no specific data protection legislation in the UAE. Generally however, it is a criminal offence to infringe an individual’s privacy, as well as to publish or disclose personal or sensi...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Criminal proceedings may be brought where an individual’s right to privacy is infringed. Sanctions could include fines of up to AED 5,000 (approximately USD 1,500) and a custodial sentence of at least thre...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) If the employer wants to collect and process confidential employee information, it should obtain consent from the employees before doing so. Generally, the UAE Labour Law regulates the maintenance of employe...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Surveillance or monitoring of employees in the workplace setting through CCTV (excluding surveillance in open space areas of the office building for purely security-related purposes) is not in keeping with U...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There are no specific rules relating to social media in the UAE. However, it may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for a use of social media that brings the employer into disrepute or is damaging ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no explicit protection for whistle-blowers in the UAE. The UAE Penal Code imposes positive obligations on all persons to report crime. However, this reporting requirement is difficult to enforce, an...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) An employee who reveals company secrets breaches the law and can face imprisonment for a minimum period of one year and/or a fine of AED 20,000 (approximately USD 5,500). Further, the company is entitled to ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Regulations dealing with residence visas and work permits mean that employees can work for only one employer at a time (although, with the consent of his or her sponsor and the Ministry of Human Resources an...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employees are under a statutory duty of confidentiality both during employment and following termination. Breaches of the duty of confidentiality may lead to a criminal complaint against the employee. S...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employers who wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition with it once their employment has ended invariably include an express contractual term, which restricts the employee’s activities after ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Trade unions, collective associations, workers’ councils and the like are illegal in the UAE. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) Note that th...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Trade unions are illegal in the UAE and industrial action would be viewed as a public disorder offence. Dubai Internationa...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Trade unions are illegal in the UAE and it follows that there is no obligation to work with a trade union. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) N...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employee representative bodies are uncommon in the UAE. There is no obligation to inform and/or consult with employees. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (�...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Trade unions are illegal in the UAE and any industrial action is also unlawful. Dubai International Financial...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) An employer in the UAE can lawfully terminate a fixed-term contract in the following circumstances: with appropriate notice of at least 30 calendar days (or longer if contractually agreed, up to 90 ca...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) With effect from 2 February 2022, there is limited statutory protection for unfair dismissal, and arbitrary dismissal compensation (which was previously available to employees terminated for reasons unrela...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Where an employer wishes to dismiss an employee for performance reasons (with notice and payment of end of service gratuity), it is recommended that a documented performance process is followed in order to...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employees are protected from dismissal whilst on: maternity leave; annual leave; or sick leave (for up to 90 calendar days). Employees are also protected against discrimination on the ba...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Employment may be terminated at any time by the provision of written notice of a minimum of 30 calendar days (or longer if so agreed by both the employer and employee in the employment contract, up to a ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Yes, an employee can be paid in lieu of notice, at the company’s discretion. Separately, the UAE Labour Law provides ten exhaustive grounds for summary dismissal without notice (or payment in lieu of not...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no statutory recognition of constructive dismissal in the UAE. In practice, however, there are provisions for an employee to resign without notice due to the acts of an employer, in the followin...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no statutory retirement age in the UAE. If an employee is dismissed simply by virtue of reaching a certain age, he or she must still be provided with the necessary notice and be paid out all sta...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Generally In the event that an employee is dismissed, the following amounts are usually payable: normal salary and benefits up to the date of termination; pay in lieu of accrued but untaken annual...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Although there is no specific legal basis for doing so, it is common for claims to be settled by way of a settlement agreement signed by both parties. The document usually includes a waiver of claims by th...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no legal obligation in the UAE to consult with employees directly or via any employee representative body where multiple dismissals are ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no legal obligation in the UAE to provide any information regarding the dismissal. However, the employee should be notified in writing of the dismissal it...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no legal requirement to follow a consultation process in the UAE. Notwithstanding this, a consultation process is recommended from an employee management and best practice perspective. The concept ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no requirement to consult employees in relation to dismissals. Accordingly, the consequences of dismissing an employee without co...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no statutory selection order that must be applied when a number of dismissals take place. Dubai Internatio...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There are no additional payments to make to employees in cases of collective redundancy. Dubai International Fin...
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nited Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no specific protection for employees on share takeovers. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) Dubai International Financial Centre (‘...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Sale of a business There is no specific protection for employees when the business in which they are employed is sold to a new employer. Where a business is sold to a new employer by share sale, ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no specific protection for employees when the business in which they are employed is sold to a new employer and no automatic transfer principles. Moreover, there are no information or consulta...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Since a ‘transfer’ involves a termination and re-engagement, employees can object to it simply by refusing to accept the offer of employment with the transferee. Dubai International Financial Centr...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Terms Employment terms do not automatically transfer. All rights and obligations under the employment contract terminate as of the agreed termination date. The transferee must offer new contracts of em...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) The transferor will be responsible for any liabilities referable to employment before the transfer. No act or omission of the transferor will be treated as an act or omission of the transferee (other ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Collective agreements are not used in the UAE. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu D...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Transferees can and often do make changes to the terms and conditions offered to employees upon ‘transfer’. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM�...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no way to safely dismiss employees at any time (unless there is a lawful reason which relates to the employee’s performance or conduct and the correct procedure is followed by the employer pri...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There are no obligations to inform or consult with employees (or their representatives) where there is a business transfer. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Mark...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Given that employees will be required to sign new employment contracts in order to ‘transfer’, it is good practice to provide information about the fact of the transfer, when it will occur and the re...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no requirement to consult as part of a ‘transfer’. However, as a matter of good practice, any information should be provided in sufficient time to issue statutory or contractual notice (whic...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There are no adverse legal implications for failure to consult, as it is not mandatory to consult. However, failing to notify or consult with employees as soon as possible prior to the ‘transfer’ may...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) Trade unions, works councils, employee representatives and the like are illegal in the UAE. Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) Dubai Internatio...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) The state pension system in the UAE covers eligible UAE national employees as well as employees from the other Gulf Co-operation Council (‘GCC’) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) ...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) As discussed in section 15.1 above, UAE employers must register all eligible UAE and GCC national employees for the state pension and make the required pension contributions...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) An employer can fund and operate its own pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. It is rare for this to occur in the UAE, given that eligible UAE/GCC national employees must be registered for the s...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no requirement to consult with employees where there are proposed changes to an employer’s pension arrangements, except where an employer has provided a contractual pension scheme for e...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no applicable income tax in the UAE. However, there are a large number of expatriate employees in the UAE and tax treatment for tho...
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United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) There is no requirement to include any provision about pension entitlement in the contract of employment. Despite this, it is common for employers to mention whether an employee is entitled to pension contr...
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There are no legal requirements about wording of advertisements or particular details about the job that must be provided. Under da...
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Employers must not ask questions about a job applicant’s health before a job offer (either conditional or unconditional) has been made to that person. If a disabled applicant makes a claim for disability discrimination based on an e...
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Employment can be subject to a probationary period. Employers use this to assess the employee’s suitability and performance in the job. Probationary periods usually allow the employer ...
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There are no special rules about dismissal during the probationary period. The employer would need to comply with the employ...
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Job applicants can bring claims for unlawful discrimination against a prospective employer, based on one of the characteristics which are protected by equality legislation. These are: sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy or materni...
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There is a points-based immigration system for foreign workers entering the UK, to which only limited exemptions apply. The main categories used by employers are known as the ‘skilled worker’ and ‘intra-company’ routes. The intra-co...
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Strict legislation on prevention of illegal working requires employers to keep documentation of each employee’s right to work in the UK – for example, a copy of the person’s passport ID pages and the page containing the visa authorisi...
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Employers can keep records about candidates they did not hire, but this must be done in compliance with data protection legislation. Employers should have a r...
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Employers must not ask questions about a job applicant’s health before a job offer has been made to that person...
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There are three main categories of working individuals in the UK: employees, workers and independent contractors. An employee is someone who works under a contract of employment. The key indicators of ‘employee’ status are: perso...
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Employment law in the UK does not tend to draw distinctions between types of employees and applies equally to blue-collar and white-collar employees. Nor are there any special rules applicable to&...
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A director may be either employed or self-employed. The employment status will depend on the assessment of all th...
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There is specific legislation allowing part-time workers to challenge less favourable treatment by reason of their part-time status. This is unlawful unless it can be objectively justified by the employer. The law does not go as far a...
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There is specific legislation allowing fixed-term employees to challenge less favou...
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A fixed term employment contract will convert into an indefinite term contract when an employee has been co...
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An agency worker – often called a ‘temp’ – is an individual who signs up with an employment business to work for one or more of their clients. Usually, agency workers carry out their duties in the client’s workplace alongsid...
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An employer can temporarily assign an employee to work for another ‘host’ company. This is usually called a secondment, the normal arrangement being that the employee remains employed by the original employer. There are no specifi...
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Strictly speaking, employees do not have the right to receive a written contract of employment. However, the employer must provide a written statement giving details of certain aspects of the employment within two months of an employe...
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It is common practice in the UK for the employer to issue an offer letter to the employee, in addition to the contract, although practices vary. Some employers send a brief offer letter contai...
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There are no rules about the language of employment contracts. Where the words of a contract are clear, the courts will enforce what the contract says. However, if a contract is unclear or ambiguous, the...
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Certain terms are implied by law into all employment contracts by the ‘common law’ (i.e. the law derived from judicial precedent rather than statute). If either the employer or the employee is in breach of an implied term, the oth...
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It is possible for the contract of employment expressly to incorporate terms from other agreements or documents. Such terms will be binding on the parties in the same way as oth...
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Employers can normally change contractual terms and conditions if the employee agrees to the change. If the employee does not agree, the employer could simply press ahead and implement the change. However, in this situation, the emplo...
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Employers generally provide employees with various policies and rules (often collected together in a staff handbook). These would typically include: a health and safety at work policy; disciplinary and grievance policies; an equal op...
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The minimum wage is set yearly by the UK government advised by the Low Pay Commission, an independent body. Different minimum wage rates apply to five different categories of workers, depending on their age. For the period from 1 April 2022...
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There is no requirement or...
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Tax Employees pay income tax on their salary, including any benefits in kind. The tax year in the UK runs from 6 April in one year to 5 April in the next. Each person has an income tax personal allowance and income up to this amount in each...
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As at April 2022, EUR 100,000 equates to approximately GBP 83,000. Subject to additional information about personal circumstances, an employee w...
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There are no generally applicable rules specifically governing the payment of bonuses. Bonus schemes can be contractual or non-contractual. An employer must ensure that any discretion as to whether ...
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There are no requirements for employers to provide employees with any particular benefits (other than pension contributions, ...
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Employers are free to decide which benefits to make available to employees. The most common benefits offered include: life assurance/death in service; private medical insurance; permanent health insurance (also known as ‘income pro...
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There is no cap on daily working hours, as such. However, workers are entitled to a minimum daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period, which effectively restricts how many hours a worker can work i...
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There are various exceptions to these limits on working hours for certain sectors and for certain types of activity and for unforeseen or exceptional events. In addition, individual workers may agree in writing to exceed the maximum weekly ...
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The EU Working Time Directive includes an exemption for those for whom the duration of working time is not measured and/or predetermined or can be determined by the workers themselves, as may be the case for ‘managing executives or other ...
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An employer must keep records of all workers who have agreed to work more than the weekly maximum working hours. I...
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The law does not specifically encourage agile working. However, this is allowed and there are no legal restrictions on any of these types of agile w...
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There are no rules concerning the amount of overtime working, o...
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An employee’s obligation to work overtime is normally addressed in the contract of employment. If the contract provides that overtime ...
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There is no specific rate of pay for overtime, but the rate is...
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Workers are entitled to a daily rest period of not less than 11 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period. Workers are also entitled to a break, away from their work station, of not less than 20 minutes, if they work for more than six hours. Wo...
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The consequences of exceeding the limits on working hours, breaks or rest periods could be either a claim by the worker or a criminal prosecution. Workers have the right not to be treated badly or dismissed for refusing (or proposing to ref...
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Employees have a right to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave. That amounts to 28 days for those who work five days a week. Entitlement for part-time employees is reduced by the appropriate proportion. However, a recent Supreme Co...
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An employee is entitled to be paid at a rate of a week’s pay for each week of leave. The method of calculation depends on the employee’s working patterns: Employees with normal working hours, whose pay does not vary with the amount...
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There is no statutory right to time off work, either paid or otherwise, on a public holiday and the issue of whether an employee must work on a public holiday is usually covered in the contract of employment. There are normally eight pu...
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There is no statutory right to take time off work on account of sickness or for medical or dental appointments. The contract of employment usually deals with any entitlement to time off work in these circumstances. Employees may be entitl...
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The main statutory rights to family leave and pay are summarised below. Employers often provide enhanced leave and pay for each of the family leave rights referred to. However, the degree of enhancement varies significantly between empl...
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Certain employees are entitled to a reasonable period of paid time off work during working hours to perform their duties as: trade union officials and members; health and safety representatives; elected employee representatives (e.g. in re...
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An employer must take all reasonably necessary steps to ensure the safety of its employees. As a minimum the employer must provide the following: a safe place of work; a safe ...
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Health and safety duties are regulated by extensive legislatio...
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If an employer breaches health and safety rules, inspectors can issue an ‘improvement notice’, requiring a breach to be remedied within a specific period of time. They may also issue a ‘prohibition notice’, directing that acti...
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Generally, an employer will not be liable for the acts of third-party contractors, as long as the employer has exercised due diligence in selecting the contracto...
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Employers are legally required to report: Work-related accidents resulting in death or serious ‘reportable’ injuries as set out in the health and safety regulations (e.g. amputation of a limb or reduction of sight). Work-related accide...
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There are nine characteristics protected by discrimination law: age; disability; gender ...
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It is possible to require a worker to have a particular protected characteristic where, because of the nature or context of the work, this is an occupational requirement. The employer would have to show that applying the requirement is a pr...
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It is unlawful to discriminate indirectly by applying a provision, criterion or practice to everyone equally, which puts a person with a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage. This will not amount to unlawful discrimination ...
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Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments for legally disabled potential and current employees. The duty arises only if the employer knows or ought reasonably to know that the individual is disabled and likely to be significantl...
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Harassment is a discrete form of unlawful discrimination. It occurs when a person (the harasser) does something unwanted which is related to a protected characteristic and which violates the victim’s dignity or creates a hostile or offens...
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Victimisation is a specifically defined form of discrimination that occurs when someone is treated badly because the...
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If a claim for discrimination, harassment or victimisation is successful, an employment tribunal could: make a declaration that the claimant had been discriminated against; order the employer to pay the claimant compensation. ...
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The claimant must show sufficient facts suggesting that discrimination has taken place before the burden of proof shifts to the employer. The employer must then provide evidence showing that it did not discriminate. The tribunal will hear a...
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An employer is liable for the discriminatory conduct of its employees whether or not it knew or approved of it, unless it has taken all reasonable steps to prevent the employee acting in this way. It is liable in a similar manner for the di...
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Large private and voluntary sector employers (over 250 staff) are required to publish the organisation’s gender pay gap statistics annually as at a snapshot date of 5 April. These employers are required to publish the following figures: ...
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Employers owe general duties, as far as is reasonably practicable, to protect employees’ health and safety. This includes mental health and welfare as well as physical health. Employers can face criminal sanctions for breaches of health a...
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Discrimination ...
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There is no legal limit or cap on awards made in cases of discrimination. The aim of the award is to put the claimant into the position that he or she would have been in had the discrimination not taken place. Claimants can recover financ...
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There are no rules that are specific to employee information, but the UK General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘UK GDPR’) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 regulate the processing of ‘personal data’ in the UK and provide that an...
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If an employer fails to comply with the UK GDPR, the Information Commissioner can take enforcement action. The Commissioner can order compliance and impose fines for especially severe violations of up to GBP 17.5 million, or in the case of ...
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An employer may collect and process confidential employee information, but if it is ‘personal data’ (that is, information relating to an identifiable living individual, who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to the da...
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Employers may be able to rely on the legitimate interest basis for processing when implementing technology that monitors the activities of its employees, but these interests must be balanced with an employee’s right to privacy, which exte...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media either at work or when off duty. It may be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee for a use of social media that brings the employer into disrepute or i...
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Employees are protected from unfair dismissal or detrimental treatment by an employer if they have made a ‘protected disclosure’. There is no limit on the compensation that can be recovered in these circumstances and no qualifying...
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The extent to which work-related information can be kept confidential depends on whether it amounts to: trade secrets (e.g. secret processes); confidential information (e.g. where an employee is expressly told that something is confide...
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The implied duty of fidelity means that, during working hours, employees must devote the whole of their time and attention to the job. Taking a job outside working hours will not be a breach of the implied duty provided those activities d...
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Employees have an implied duty of fidelity, but after the employment contract has ended, this survives only to protect ‘trade secrets’ (i.e. the most sensitive and valuable types of information) from use or disclosure by the employee. ...
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Employers who wish to prevent an employee from acting in competition with it once employment has ended must include an express contractual term which restricts the employee’s activities after the termination of the employment relationship...
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Trade unions are organised associations of workers whose principal purpose is to regulate relations between employers and workers in the workplace. Where a union is recognised by an employer for the purposes of collective bargaining, its ma...
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Around 6.4 million employees in the UK are trade union members according to the latest statistics. This has fallen from a high of 13.2 million in 1979. The public sector traditionally has higher trade union membership than the private and v...
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An employer must work with a trade union where that union is recognised by the employer for collective bargaining purposes (e.g. to negotiate on pay, hours and holidays). Trade union recognition can either be voluntary or statutory: Volu...
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Employee representative bodies may exist at international, European, national or regional levels. Employers are required to inform and consult with employee representative bodies in certain circumstances, including those described below. In...
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The law imposes civil liability on trade unions for organising a strike or other industrial action in certain situations. If a union has authorised or endorsed industrial action that would involve breaches of employment contracts, it may co...
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An employer wishing to terminate an employee’s employment must consider both the contract of employment and the law on unfair dismissal. The contract of employment will set out what notice should be given to terminate employment or, i...
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If the employee has sufficient service, he or she may bring an unfair dismissal claim in an employment tribunal. If successful, the tribunal has power to order that the employee is reinstated to the same job or re-engaged by the employer in...
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Even when the employer can show it has a ‘fair’ reason for the termination, it must act reasonably and follow a fair procedure. Acting reasonably means that the reason for dismissal must be sufficient. For example, being late to work on...
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Certain reasons for dismissal are automatically unfair. If one of these reasons applies, the legal rules about fair procedure are irrelevant. Also, the employee does not need to have been employed for any particular length of time: there is...
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Minimum notice periods are prescribed by legislation. These are: For employees with more than one month’s service but less than two years – one week’s notice. For employees with more than two years’ service but less than twelve...
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Sometimes the contract explicitly sets out a right for the employer to pay in lieu of notice. If so, the employer can make the payment instead of giving notice without breaching the contract. If the contract does not give the right to m...
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If the employee resigns in response to a serious breach of contract by the employer, then this could be regarded as constructive dismissal. ...
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It is possible to retire an employee compulsorily, but this practice is now rare. If an employer takes this approach it runs the risk of both an unfair dismissal and an age discrimination claim. Retirement is not in itself a valid gro...
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Provided the employer gives the correct notice or a payment in lieu of notice (and the termination is not on grounds of redundancy) the only payments that need be made to the employee are those required by the contract. For example, the emp...
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An employer can settle purely contractual claims simply by agreement with the employee. However, any statutory claims, such as unfair dismissal or discrimination, can only be validly settled in one of the following ways: by entering into...
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The employer must consult collectively in certain circumstances where multiple dismissals on grounds of redundancy are proposed. The consultation must cover all affected employees, including those who may be affected by the dismissal of oth...
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The following information must be provided to the union or elected representatives: the reasons for the proposed dismissals; the numbers and descriptions of employees whom it is proposed to dismiss as redundant; the total number of employe...
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The legal minimum requirement is for the consultation to cover: avoiding the dismissals; reducing the number of employees to be dismissed; mitigating the consequences of the dismissals. Consultation must take place ‘with a view to reach...
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The consequences if the employer fails to comply with the information and consultation re...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under UK law. However, an employer who wishes to mitigate the risk of successful unfair dismissal claims in a redundancy situation where more than one employee performs the role to be eli...
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No. Under UK law, all employees with more than two years’ service are entitled to a redundancy payment if they are made redundant. These payments must be made irrespective of the number of redundancies. There are no additional payments to...
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There is no specific protection for employees on share takeovers. The company employing the employees would not normally change in the event of a share takeover, so there is no change of legal employer and no special protection. However...
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Sale of a business If the business is sold, employees have a right to transfer to work for the new employer on their existing contractual terms and conditions. This applies where all or part of a business is sold to a new employer, as l...
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For the old employer: It must provide information to and consult with employee representatives. If it dismisses any employees because of the transfer, the dismissals will be automatically unfair unless they are for an ‘economic, tech...
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Employees can refuse to transfer by formally objecting. In most cases, this will bring their employment to an end without a dismissal or any other rights to bring a claim. However, if employee...
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Terms Employment terms transfer. The transferee ‘steps into the shoes’ of the transferor and becomes the employer on the transferor’s terms. All rights and obligations under the employment contract transfer to the transferee excep...
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The transferee will be responsible for any liabilities referable to employment before the transfer. Any act or omission of the transferor will be treated as an act or omission of the transferee. In contrast to some EU jurisdictions wh...
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Collective agreements with a recognised trade union transfer. In the UK virtually no collective agreements are legally binding. So the parties can disregard the terms at any time – though they tend not to do so for industrial relations re...
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Variation of contractual terms is void if the sole or principal reason for the variation is the transfer. Variations are permitted if: the reason for the change is unconnected with the transfer; or there is an economic, technical, or...
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The employee transfer law envisages three categories of dismissal: If the reason for the dismissal is not the transfer – these dismissals are fair or unfair according to normal unfair dismissal rules. If the sole or principal reason ...
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Employers must inform and consult the representatives of all ‘affected’ employees. This covers the employees who are transferring and employees of both the old and new employ...
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They must provide information about: the fact of the transfer, when it will occur and the reasons for it; any legal, economic and social implications for affected employees; use of agency workers; and any ‘measures’ envisaged i...
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The duty to consult arises only if the transferor or transferee envisages taking measures in relation to affected employees. If no measures are envisaged, the obligation is merely to provide information. Where measures are envisaged, the ...
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A complaint regarding information or consultation may be made to an employment tribunal. If the complaint is upheld, the tribunal may order the employer to pay ‘appropriate’ compensation of up to 13 weeks’ pay. The worst ...
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UK legislation does not say what happens to works councils or employee representative bodies upon a transfer. There are rules about the transfer of trade union recognition (see above) but these do not extend to other types of employee repre...
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A new single tier State Pension was introduced in the UK from 6 April 2016. This is generally paid at the rate of GBP 179.60 per week for the tax year 2021/2022, although the actual amount that an individual receives will depend on their Na...
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Employers are required to enrol their ‘eligible jobholders’ into a qualifying pension scheme and to pay contributions. This process is known as ‘automatic enrolment’. An eligible jobholder is a worker between the ages of 22 and Stat...
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A wide range of options exist for employers in the UK who wish to operate a pension scheme for the benefit of their employees. Defined benefit (‘DB’) arrangements (once commonplace in the UK) typically reward emplo...
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An employer with at least 50 employees has a statutory duty to consult ‘affected members’ in connection with any changes to an occupational pension scheme that are ‘listed’ under regulations. The duty is supplementary to any consult...
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For a UK pension arrangement to benefit from favourable tax status, it must be ‘registered’ with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (‘HMRC’). HMRC’s pensions tax manual sets out detailed guidance on the tax position...
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Within two months of starting employment, an employer must provide a written statement of the essential terms of the employment. This must include any terms and conditions relating to pensions and pension sch...
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There are no specific statutory obligations on an employer to investigate anything. However, an employer should investigate grievances, otherwise it risks claims of constructive unfair dismissal. It should also (generally) investigate suspe...
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This remains a contested area, especially in relation to employees who are planning to set up in competi...
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The Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures sets the baseline standards for handling disciplinary situations in the workplace. Acas (the Advisory, Conciliatory and Arbitration Service) is a government-funded independe...
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Employees are not obliged to participate in an investigation. As a practical matter, an employee who is...
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The employee is not permitted to be represented by a lawyer in the course of the investigation ...
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In practice, the employer will need to di...
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Employees are protected from unfair dismissal or detrimental treatment by an employer if they have made a ‘protected disclosure’. There is no limit on the compensation that can be recovered for dismissal or detrimental treatment relati...
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The Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (see section 16.3 above) applies to cases of poor performance as well as misconduct. This means that the employer must act without undue delay, establish the facts of the ca...
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Employers are required by statute to tell employees the name of the person to whom they can apply for the purpose of seeking redress of any grievance relating to their employment, and the manner in which any such application should be made....
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There are no specific requirements regarding advertisements for jobs. However, employers must avoid advertis...
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Employers are entitled to use any information about an applicant that is in the public domain (including information available on social media) for checking purposes. Employers can also perform background checks r...
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Probationary periods are used by employers to test the suitability of an employee for a job and b...
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Probationary periods can last up to a month and during that...
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Job applicants can file claims for discrimination based on race, gender, criminal reco...
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The percentage of foreign employees by a Venezuelan organisation must not exceed 10% of its total labour force. In addition, foreign workers’ salaries must not exceed 20% of the total amount paid by the Venezuelan organisation in salary. ...
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The employer must keep the same kinds of records as apply to Venezuelan national employees. These are: the employment contract; a certificate of registration for social security...
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Employers may keep records on candidates not hired, provided the candidates...
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Generally, employers must refrain from asking questions that may be regarded as discriminatory on ...
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By Venezuelan law, there is a presumption that a labour relationship exists when an individual renders services personally. In addition, Venezuelan case law provides a multi-prong test to determine whether an individual is an employee or an...
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There are no distinctions between different types of workers, with the exc...
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Directors are not considered to be employees. By contrast, directors with managerial r...
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There are no rules or restrictions about part time employment besides the fact that all statuto...
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Fixed-term employment contracts can only be made when: the nature of the service requires it (e.g. seasonal workers); an employee temporarily sub...
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If an employee continues to work after the end of...
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Temporary work agencies are now unlawful in Venezuela. An employer may not hire its employee...
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Secondment arrangements are unlawful in Venezuela. Outsourcing is permitted provided the following conditions are met: the outsourced services are not part of the end-user organisation’s core businesses; the outsourced workers are not gi...
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It is not necessary for employers to provide a written employment contract but this is advisable, since the law presumes that the provisions of a verbal agreement are those alleged by the employee. When putting the agreement in writing, the...
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It is usual for senior executives to be g...
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By law, the employment contract must be ...
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All public policy regulations including the minimum wage, working time limits, statutory leave and immunity from dismissal are implied into employment contracts and cannot be waived by the parties. Some of the obligations of the employer th...
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It is possible to incorporate terms from other agreements or documen...
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Labour conditions and benefits in Venezuela cannot be modified by employers to the detriment of their employees. Venezuelan labour law is designed to protect employees, and the cour...
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Company policies and handbooks must be give...
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The minimum wage is set by presidential decree. By law, the minimum wage must be adjusted yearly; however, in practice the Government has been consistently increasing the minimum wage more frequently&...
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Wages are not au...
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Tax In Venezuela individuals are required to pay income tax at progressive rates, with 34% being the highest. Both employees and employers must also make social security contributions to the Social Security&...
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As of April 2021, EUR 100,000 equates to approximately VES 280,000,000,000 using the current official exchange rate. Employees with a net income greater than&...
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There are no special rules governing the payment of bonuses. In general, bonuses can be deemed to be part of the employee’s salary if paid regularly (i.e. where the employee has certainty that he or she will receive the bonus if the...
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There are certain statutory benefits that all employees must receive, such as: Severance payment: In order to guarantee severance payments at termination, the employer must make quarterly deposits in a bank trust ...
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The most common discretionary benefits include: life insurance and death in service benefits; private medical insurance; permanent healt...
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The limits on daily and weekly hours differ depending on whether the shift is a regular daytime shift, a regular night time shift or a mixed shift. On a regular daytime shift, work is performed between 5:00 and 17:00. This shift canno...
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Employers with continuous operations that involve multiple shifts may exceed the daily and weekly limits. However, the hours worked in a reference period of eight weeks may not exceed an average of 42 hours per week. A six-day working week ...
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The following employees are exempt from the general rules about working time: employees holding managerial positions; employees with monitoring, surveillance and ins...
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The employer must keep a register of overtime hours, including work carried out during overtime, the number of employees working overtime and any special compensation ...
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Venezuelan law tends to establish strict working time limits, which can only be relaxed thro...
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No employee may work more th...
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The law does not expressly require the employees’ consent for overtime. However, overtime work is allowed only in ex...
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The rate applicable to overtime is one and half times the emplo...
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Employees are entitled to two continuous rest days if the working week consists of five days. If the work week of an employee consists of six days, the employer mu...
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Employers exceeding the limits on daily or weekly working hours...
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Employees have the right to a minimum of 15 working days of paid leave if they have served the employer for more than one year, plus one extra working day for each additional year of employment up to a maximum of 30 working days per year, a...
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Employees are entitled to be paid at their normal daily rate for days of paid leave. In addition, employees are entitled to receive a vacation bonus of 15 da...
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In Venezuela all employees have the right to paid time off for public holidays. There are fourteen public holidays each year in Venezuela, these are: New Year’s Day – 1 January; Monday and Tuesday of Mardi gras; Holy Thursday and Holy ...
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Employees may be absent for illness or labour-related sickness for up to 52 weeks, if approved by the Venezuelan Social Security Institute. If, after this time, there is no improvement in the employee’s health, the employer may terminate ...
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All employees are entitled to maternity leave for six weeks before the birth and 20 weeks after the birth. The employer must pay 33% of the employee’s salary and the remaining 66% is paid by the Venezuelan Social Security Institute, for t...
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Under Venezuelan law, health and safety representatives are entitled to a re...
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Employers have an obligation to take all necessary measures to ensure employees’ safety. The minimum standards are set out in occupational health and safety law, which says that employers must: Inform employees of the risks associa...
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Health and safety in the workplace is extensively regulated by law and technical regulations. The workplace health and safety committees and the National Institute for Pr...
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Failure to comply with the obligations set out in occupational and safety legislation may result in the imposition of fines. Breaches of the rules are categorized as mild, serious or very serious and this is determined by the number of empl...
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Occupational health and safety law provides that health and safety measures must be applied in the same way to third-party contractors and their employees. It has generally been the case that contracting ...
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Employers must notify the National Institute for Prevention, Health and Safety at Work (Instituto Nacional de Prevención, Salud y Seguridad Laborales, ‘INPSASEL’) of any work accidents within the hour. Employers can choose to rep...
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Anti-discrimination law protects the following characteristics: gender; age; sexual orientation; ...
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Different treatment is not considered discriminatory if it is based on an objective and reasonable purpose. The Supreme Court has identified four conditions under which differential treatment is not consi...
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There is no special duty to avoid indirect discrimination. Anti-discrimination law does not distinguish between direct and ...
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There is an obligation to make reasonable adjustments in the employer’s premises for employees with physical disabilities, ...
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Anti-discrimination law offers general protection against all forms of harassment based on protected characteristics. At the workplace, harassment is a legitimate cause for termination of the employment relationship. An employee...
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Employers have the obligation to adopt measures to accommodate the working conditions of female workers who have been victims of gender-based violence, such as reducing or reorganizing their working time, changing their work location, o...
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If there is a claim for discrimination, the employer may incur in criminal and/or civil liability, as well as be subject to fines. If there is a claim for harassment, the employer must pay the employee an indemnification a...
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If there is a claim for discrimination, it is up to the employee to prove that discriminatory treatment has taken place. Employers usually will seek to challenge this by proving that any disparate treatment was based on objective and justif...
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In matters of gender violence, employers who know of sexual harassment in the workplace and do not adopt appropriate measures to rectify the situation and prevent harassment are subject to fines ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 times the value o...
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There are no statutory gender pay gap reporting obligations, nor are there any legislative proposals to...
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Employers have a general obligation to ensure a safe work environment and adequate work conditions, which includes protecting their employees’ mental health. This broad obligation involves, for example, integrating employees and avo...
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Discrimination claims...
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It is difficult to establish a range of amounts awarded for unlawful discrimination. Courts take a case-by-case approach and examine a number of criteria to determine the ...
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Employers have a strict duty to keep employee health information and records confidential. Employers also have a general duty to uphold employees’ right to privacy and must adhere to the data protection principles described below. Employe...
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Non-compliance with the obligation to ensure confidentiality of employees’ health records is considered a serious breach of the employer’s health and safety obligations at the workplace. For such a breach, an employer can be fined...
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If an employer wants to collect and process confidential employee information, it should: request consent from the employee; inform the employee of the purpose of the processing; let the employee know who will have access to the data...
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All monitoring of employees must comply...
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There are no express legal restrictions on an employee’s use of social media at work or when off duty. However, employers can put policies in place that limit the use of social media at the...
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There is no special protection for employees who ‘blow the whistle’ on unlawful or immoral activities. Neve...
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Employees have a general duty of loyalty towards the employer during the employment relationship, even if this is not expressly agreed in the employment contract. This imposes an obligation on...
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The employee’s general duty of loyalty towards the employer includes a specific obligation to refrain from performing activities ...
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Employers can protect their confidential information by including post-termination restrictions on an employee’s activities in the employment contract or by means of a separate agreement. The restrictions are enforceable only for si...
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Employers can prevent employees from engaging in competing activities by including a non-compete clause in the employment contract or by making a separate agreement. The restrictions are only enforceable for six months after terminati...
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Employees in Venezuela are entitled to set up unions for labour purposes. Trade unions may be formed with employees of a particular business, profession, or industrial branch or sector. The unions may cover employees at a l...
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The statistics on unionisation are limited, but studies reveal that unionisation activity has been reduced over the years. ...
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Employers must recognise the most representative union at the workplace for the purpose of either implementing or stopping the implementation of collective bargaining agreements, and the negotiation and se...
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Employers must recognize any legally established trade unions. There is no legal obligation to consult with unions about particular issues, but the employer must notify them in ...
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The law distinguishes lawful strikes from unlawful strikes. The unions must follow a legal procedure and the following requirements in order for a strike to be lawful: it must submit a document to the Labour Inspectora...
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An employer can lawfully terminate an employee on the following grounds: dishonest or immoral behaviour; aggressive behaviour; offence or disrespect to the employer, the employer’s representatives or family; intentional or negligent ...
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Employees who are terminated without lawful grounds can either file a c...
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If there are one or more legal grounds for terminating the employment, in theory the employer can dismiss the employee by notifying the dismissal to the Labour Courts, indicating the grounds on which the termination is based, within five da...
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There is currently a labour freeze in Venezuela which prevents employers from terminating employees on indefinite term contracts without cause and without obtaining prior authorisation from the Labour Ministry. The labour freeze applies to ...
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There is no statu...
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There is no minimum notice of termination a...
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Once an employee resigns, he or she is entitled to receive payment of all statutory benefits (including severance) within five days from the resignation. Employees who resign are not entitled to receive monthly unemployment insurance paymen...
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It is not possi...
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Employees are entitled to severance payments upon employment termination. To ensure this, employers must make quarterly deposits throughout the employment relationship equivalent to 15 days of pay, into a bank trust or by means of its accou...
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Employers can settle claims through binding settlement agreements with the prior...
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There is no specific requirement to consult with employees or their representatives where multiple dismissals are proposed. However, employers may not unilaterally reduce the workforce, as employees are covered by a labour freeze that pro...
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In cases of collective dismissals based on economic or technologic reasons, employers must provide the Labour Ministry with the following information when forming the Board of Conciliation: a copy of the company’s bylaws and the i...
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In cases of collective dismissals based on economic or technologic reasons, employers must file a petition to reduce its workforce. Once the petition is filed, the union representatives must be notified within 24-48 hours and the petition...
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If an employer chooses to unilaterally reduce its workforce based on economic or technologic reasons without initiating the administrative procedure to that...
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There is no statutory selection order for dismissals under Venezuelan law. However, dismissals without cause are restricted in the context of the existing labour freeze and require the Labour Ministry’s prior approval. The labour freeze c...
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If the collective redundancy is executed after the completion of an administrative procedure with the Labour Ministry, then no additional payments other than the statutory ones generally applicable to all dismissa...
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When a business is acquired as a result of a share or stock purchase ther...
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Sale of a business Where an asset purchase amounts to the transfer of a business (or part of a business) there is a change of employer under Venezuelan Labour Law and the following rules apply: (i) All rights and duties of the transferor st...
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The old employer must give written notice of the transfer to the employees, the union and the Labour Ministry. The ...
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An employee can object to transferring and resign within three months of t...
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Terms The employment contracts of employees who have accepted the transfer continue without any interruption and on the same terms. Previous employment with the transferor is considered as ‘continuous employment’ with the transferee, an...
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The transferor and transferee are jointly and severally liable with respect to all the employeeR...
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Collective agreements transfer in principle until they expire. If the terms of the collective agreement of ...
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All employees are entitled to the same labour conditions and benefits as applied before the transfer. The transferee is required to maintain and fulfill the contractual obligations agreed by the transferor. In principle, thi...
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There is currently a labour freeze in Venezuela which prevents employers from terminating their employees without just cause and the prior authorisatio...
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There is no requirement to consult with employees o...
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Generally, employers must provide the following information: the means by which the t...
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There are no consultation requirements. However, notice of the...
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Failure to give notice to employees may affect the validity of the transfer, and in the event of labour claim...
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Works councils and other employee r...
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Employees are entitled to receive a lifelong state pension if they meet the following qualifying conditions: (i) they have reached the retirement age (60 years old for men and 55 for women) and (ii) they hav...
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Employers are not required to provide a pension scheme, they are only required to enrol employees int...
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An employer can fund and operate its own pension scheme. There are no regulations about the implementati...
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There is no general requirement for employers to consult with employe...
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All pension payments and ...
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There is no legal requirement to include any terms about pension ent...
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Employers do not have a direct obligation to conduct investigations. However, in matters of harassment employers must adopt measures that prevent or contain inappropriate behaviors in the workplace, and this re...
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Employees have an obligation to report to the National Institute of Prevention, Health and Safety at Work (INPSASEL) any health and safety violations in the workplace, or cases where the employer does not adopt timely and necessary correcti...
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There is no obligation imposing a specific timeframe. However, different timeframes could be set through corporate compliance protocols or policies that have been shared with employe...
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There is no express obligation for employees to participate in an investigation initiated by the employer, not even in cases where the employee is suspect...
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Nothing prevents the employee from being represented by a lawyer in cases where an investigation is bei...
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There is no special protection in Venezuela for employees who ‘blow the whistle’ on unlawful or immoral activities. Nevertheless, employee health and safety representatives are responsible for informing the employer ...
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There are no statutory rules, but this does not prevent employers from setting out the rules to handle internal grievances or complaints via corporate protocols or pol...
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