n

Go to list page
Slovakia
Phase: Management
Tipo:
  • Working time flexibility
Ultima modifica: 04 September, 2020
Nome originale:

Dohody o prácach vykonávaných mimo pracovného pomeru

Nome in inglese:

Contract agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship

Coverage/Eligibility

Employers and employees can use three types of contract agreements in order to make employment and the organisation of working time more flexible. Work performance agreements may be concluded if the amount of work does not exceed 350 hours per calendar year; agreement on work activity for up to 10 hours a week for a definite period; and agreements on temporary work can be concluded when employing students up to 26 years old.

Main characteristics

There are three types of agreements: work performance agreements; agreements on work activities; agreements on temporary jobs for students.

Work performance agreements may be concluded if the amount of work does not exceed 350 hours per calendar year. Similar to standard employment contracts, work performance agreements must be concluded in writing, outlining specified work tasks, remuneration, work period and the extent of work. Work tasks must be fulfilled within the agreed period of time, and the employee will receive remuneration only after completion and submission of the work. Thus, agreement contracts are perceived as contracts between the employer and employee, rather than supply contracts. 

An agreement on work activity can be concluded for work and occasional activities of up to 10 hours a week for a definite period. 

In terms of agreements on temporary work for students, these may be concluded with a person who holds student status (high school students and full-time university students, with an upper age limit of 26 years) and shall not exceed half the weekly working time on average, which is 20 hours a week. The agreement can be concluded for either a fixed-term period or as an open-ended contract, on the condition that the employee still holds student status. In other words, while work performance agreements are concluded to deliver specific tasks in a certain period of time (for example, translating 10 pages in one week), agreements on work activity assume repetitive tasks for a longer period of time (such as working in a shop for two hours a week, cleaning once a week and so forth). Both agreements can be concluded for 12 months as a maximum. 

All three forms of agreement contracts are further differentiated according to the type of income. Agreements with regular income are contracts with a defined regular monthly wage. Under the agreements with irregular income, the employee can receive a wage which does not necessarily have a monthly frequency (once every two months, once every four months, once a year and so forth).

Since May 2017, unemployed people registered at the labour office may also work on agreement on work activity and work performance agreement for one employer. However, they may work only 40 days per year and their monthly wage must not be higher than the subsistence minimum amount for a single adult person. 

Funding

  • Employer

Involved actors

National government
Legal framework.

Effectiveness

Familiarity with the concept – in contrast to job sharing, work performance agreements, agreements on work activity and agreements on temporary work for students are popular and well-known forms of employment.

Among the three different types of agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship, agreements on work activity with regular income are the most common type, for instance, accounting for 207,089 contracts in November 2019. This is followed by work performance agreements with regular income. Among all types, contracts with regular income prevail.

Strengths

Contract agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship allow employers as well as employees to use more flexible forms of employment and organisation of working time also in cases of internal restructuring. Via higher flexibility of employment, employees can conclude more agreements with employers and earn additional income.

Advantages for affected workers: agreement contracts offer flexibility for employees who want to work extra hours in addition to their full-time/part-time position. These employees may be motivated by financial gain, professional aspirations or the additional job may be their hobby. Employees who want to work fewer hours can also benefit from greater flexibility, since they do not need to coordinate their working time with another person, as is the case in the job sharing arrangement.

Advantages for participating companies: employers do not need to increase the permanent staff and can hire workers who already have one full-time contract but who are willing to work more hours. This can be helpful in sectors where there is a significant lack of qualified professionals, such as the healthcare sector.

After expiration of agreement contracts, employers do not face issues with the termination of the employment relationships. For instance, they are not obliged to pay redundancy pay to leaving employees. 

Weaknesses

The responsible institutions should ensure better control of agreement contracts to prevent their misuse (as a substitution for employment contracts or as a way to get employees to work longer working hours than the standard weekly working time and overtime stipulated by the labour code).

Although it remains true that agreement contracts may be less flexible than job sharing arrangements, due to their nature and wide applicability (as opposed to job sharing, which is for example excluded from civil service employment contracts), they widely replace other flexible forms of employment in Slovakia.

Esempi

Hospital Piešťany: At Hospital Piešťany, some employees have signed ‘agreement’ contracts enabling them to work extra hours alongside their standard employment contract, either at the same hospital or at another hospital. This provides employees with greater flexibility, opportunities for career advancement and extra income.
Sorgenti
Useful? Interesting? Tell us what you think. Hide comments

Eurofound welcomes feedback and updates on this regulation

Aggiungi un commento