Cziria, Ludovít

EU Directive 94/45/EC [1] on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees was implemented in Slovakia - within the framework of pre-accession implementation of the 'acquis communautaire' (the body of EU law) - by Act No. 311/2001 on the Labour Code, as amended. Sections 241-250 of the Labour Code [2] regulate EWCs. The new Labour Code entered into force on 1 April 2002, but the provisions on EWCs became valid on 1 May 2004, when Slovakia joined the EU. [1] http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=31994L0045&model=guichett [2] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/labour_law/docs/Implementation_slovakia_en.pdf

Strikes are relatively rare in Slovakia, with the last significant stoppage being a railway workers' strike in January 2003 (SK0306101F [1]). What industrial action there has been has often been directed at government policies and reforms (SK0312102N [2] and SK0212101N [3]), and organised by the sectoral trade unions and the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky, KOZ SR [4]). There have also been several protests in the public sector - especially in education and healthcare. However, recently the private business sector has begun to be a target of action organised by local trade union organisations. Furthermore, while in the past privatisation and restructuring were the main reasons for workforce protests at company level, recent protests have been caused by wage dissatisfaction. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/slovakias-first-strikes-hit-railways [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/unions-continue-protests-against-government-policy [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/unions-protest-against-new-governments-social-policy [4] http://www.kozsr.sk/

The Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic (Asociácia zamestnávatelských zväzov a združení Slovenskej republiky, AZZZ SR [1]) was established in 1991 and from 1995 operated as the sole top-level employers' representative body (SK0208102F [2]). It also represented the employers in tripartite bodies (SK0307102F [3]). However, at the end of March 2004 the organisation split: employers that were not satisfied with how AZZZ SR was being run established a new organisation, the National Union of Employers of the Slovak Republic (Republiková únia zamestnávateľov Slovenskej republiky, RUZ SR [4]). [1] http://www.azzz.sk/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/the-organisation-of-the-social-partners [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/tripartism-examined [4] http://www.ruzsr.sk/

The fourth congress of the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky, KOZ SR [1]) (SK0208102F [2]) in 2000 highlighted the role of trade unions in the implementation of gender equality, and the confederation has since developed activities in this area. The KOZ SR women's committee contributed significantly to the preparation of a project entitled 'equal opportunities policy for women and men in trade unions', which has been implemented over 2002-4, as outlined below. [1] http://www.kozsr.sk/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/the-organisation-of-the-social-partners

In March 2004, the EIRO national centres in 24 European countries were asked, in response to a questionnaire, to give a brief overview of their country's system for dealing with individual labour/employment disputes through the courts, along with data on: the volume of cases; the costs; the timeframe; alternatives to going to court; and any current debate on these issues. The Slovakian responses are set out below (along with the questions asked).

The government elected in September 2002 - a coalition of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (Slovenská Demokratická a Krestanská Únia, SDKÚ), the Hungarian Coalition Party (Magyar Koalíció Pártja/Strana Madarskej Koalície, MKP/SMK), the Christian-Democratic Movement (Krestansko Demokratické Hnutie, KDH) and the New Civic Alliance (Aliancia Nového Obcana, ANO) - continued in office during 2003.

In order to reduce public expenditure and motivate people actively to seek employment rather than live on social benefits, parliament has recently approved several changes to the social security system. Under the previous law on social assistance, 'needy' citizens could obtain a decent income from social benefits. Many long-term unemployed people fell into this category. There are currently about 450,000 unemployed in Slovakia, about half of whom receive social benefits, placing a major burden on the public purse. From 1 February 2004, stricter conditions have been imposed on social benefits and the level of payments has been reduced. For example, the previous system gave a large family - with three or more children - an income close to 50% of the national average: under the new system this will be cut to about 25% of average income.

The government pushed through a tax reform proposal at the end of 2003. Act 595 of 2003 on Income Tax came into force on 1 January 2004, the most radical change ever in the Slovak taxation system. Employers, the self-employed and employees will pay a flat 19% tax on profits or income. The new taxation system is particularly favourable for the self-employed, freelancers, traders, and so on, who were previously subject to progressive taxation of up to 38%. For companies the new flat rate replaces the previous corporate tax rate of 25%. According to the new legislation, not-for-profit legal entities - such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - will pay no tax unless their annual revenues exceed SKK 300,000 (approximately EUR 7,300).

New Acts on the Civil Service and on the Public Service came into force in April 2002 (SK0206102F [1]) regulating the employment conditions of public sector employees, which had previously been regulated only by the Labour Code. The two Acts were an attempt to address a lack of flexibility in employment conditions, poor public sector competitiveness in comparison with the private sector and inadequately motivating wages. However, certain reservations were expressed from the outset, and both laws were subject to major amendments in 2003, which came into force on 1 January 2004. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-employment-framework-for-public-employees

On 17 December 2003, a new sectoral collective agreement for civil service employees was concluded for 2004. Ivan Mikloš, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Vladimír Palko, the Minister of the Interior, Ľudovít Kaník, the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, Ľubomír Plai, head of the Civil Service Office (Úrad pre štátnu službu) and Milan Hanzel, the General Prosecutor, signed on behalf of the state, while Igor Lenský, vice-president of the Confederation of Trade Unions (Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky, KOZ SR) signed on behalf of the trade unions. The sectoral collective agreement came into force on 1 January 2004 concurrently with the State Budget Act for 2004.