Posting of employees to the Slovak Republic from another EU member country

According to the Slovak Labour Code, posting an employee to perform work within the provision of services means their cross-border:

a) posting under the authority and responsibility of a posting employer under a contract concluded between the posting employer as the cross-border provider of the service and a recipient of such service, provided there is an employment relationship between the posting employer and the employee throughout the period of posting,

b) posting between a controlling person and a controlled person or between controlled persons, provided there is an employment relationship between the posting employer and the employee throughout the period of posting, or

c) temporary secondment to a user employer, provided there is an employment relationship between the posting employer and the employee throughout the period of posting.

The Slovak law requires the so-called visiting employers (i.e. employers seated in another EU member country that are posting their employees for the performance of work within the provision of services from the territory of another EU member country to the territory of the Slovak Republic) to fulfil several obligations in this regard.

 Let us provide you with a brief summary of their main obligations:

(i)                 Obligations with respect to “hard core” provisions of the Slovak law: The visiting employers must guarantee all employees posted to the territory of the Slovak Republic the terms and conditions of employment covering mainly the following matters: maximum length of working time and minimum rest periods, minimum paid annual holidays, minimum rates of pay, including overtime rates, health, safety and hygiene at work, etc.

 (ii)               Notification obligation: The visiting employers must, not later than on the day of posting of the employee, notify the Slovak National Labour Inspectorate on specific data required by law, in particular on estimated number of the posted employees, personal data of the posted employees, day of commencement and termination of the posting, place of work and type of work performed by the posted employees during the posting, contact person (the visiting employer is obliged to determine their contact person who must be located in the territory of Slovakia during the posting of the employees), etc.

 (iii)             Obligation to keep documents: During the posting and at the place where the work is being performed, the visiting employer is required to keep an employment contract or other document confirming the employment relationship with the posted employee, maintain and keep records of the posted employee’s working time to the extent specified in the Slovak Labour Code and keep records of the wage paid to the posted employee for the work performed during the posting.

 (iv)              Other obligations towards the Slovak Labour Inspectorate: At the request of the Slovak Labour Inspectorate, the visiting employer shall submit the documents under point (ii) to the Slovak Labour Inspectorate, deliver the above documents to the Slovak Labour Inspectorate even after the termination of the posting and submit a translation of the above documents or parts thereof into the Slovak language.

 In this regard it should also be emphasized that besides the above notification obligation towards the Slovak National Labour Inspectorate that must be fulfilled by the visiting employers, the Slovak authorities require Slovak employers (i.e. the employers to whom the employees are being posted from another EU member countries by the visiting employers) to notify another Slovak authority – the Local Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family – on specific data prescribed by law. The concerned notification obligation is fulfilled by sending the so-called “information card” to the Local Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, whereby the above authority must be notified by the Slovak employers also on termination of the posting of employees.