Hungary: Employee rights

Original author: PRK Partners Prague
Updating author: Kinga Zempléni

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Summary

• Statutory normal working time for full-time employees is generally eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, and various rules govern matters such as overtime, overtime pay, working time flexibility and night work. (See Hours of work)
• Employees are entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes (if their daily working time exceeds six hours), a daily rest period of at least 11 hours and a weekly rest of two days or at least 48 hours. (See Rest breaks and rest periods)
• Employees may work on Sundays as part of their normal scheduled working time only in certain types of operations, activities and work. (See Sunday work)
• Employees have a basic entitlement to 20 working days of paid annual leave, and are also entitled to additional age-related annual leave, and extra leave if they have children under the age of 16. (See Holiday and holiday pay)
• Pregnant employees are entitled to take 24 weeks of maternity leave (during which they receive a social security benefit equivalent to 70% of their average pay) and have various other rights, as do employees who are breastfeeding or have recently given birth. (See Maternity and pregnancy rights)
• An employee who has a relative or a person living in the same household who needs care for serious health reasons may be exempt from the obligation to work for a maximum of five working days per year. (See Carer's temporary exemption from the obligation to work)
• Employees who are parents are entitled to take unpaid parental leave to care for their child in the period from the end of the mother's maternity leave up until the child's third birthday, during which they generally receive a social security benefit. (See Unpaid leave for the care of a child)
• Employees who are parents are entitled to 44 working days parental leave up until the child's third birthday. The employee must have worked for the same employer for a period of 12 months. (See Paid parental leave)
• A father is entitled to 10 working days' paternity leave that may be granted in up to a maximum of two instalments. (See Paternity leave)
• Employees are entitled to take unpaid leave to provide personal care to a close relative for an extended period, up to a maximum of two years. (See Carer's leave)
• At the request of an employee who is a parent (biological or adoptive), the employer must permit the employee to reduce their working hours by half during the period up until the child's fourth birthday or, in the case of parents with three or more children, during the period up until the child's sixth birthday. (See Parent's rights)
• Employees are entitled to take paid or unpaid leave or time off for various reasons, including on the death of a close relative and for urgent personal or family reasons. (See Other leave)
• Part-time employees generally have the same protections and entitlements under employment legislation as full-time employees. (See Part-time workers)
• Employees on fixed-term contracts generally have the same rights and protections under employment legislation as employees on open-ended contracts, with the main differences relating to termination of employment. (See Fixed-term workers)
• Temporary agency work is permitted and is subject to various statutory rules - for example, during an assignment, temporary agency workers must generally be provided with at least the same basic working and employment conditions as employees of the user company. (See Temporary agency workers)
• Teleworking is subject to various specific statutory rules, for example relating to working time, the use of equipment provided by the employer, and inspections by the employer at the place of work. (See Teleworkers)
• Foreign employees posted by their employer to work temporarily in Hungary are, for the duration of their posting, covered by various provisions of Hungarian employment law. (See Posted workers)
• In the event of the transfer of an undertaking, business or part thereof, the rights and obligations under employment contracts and relationships that existed at the time of the transfer are transferred in full to the new employer. (See Transfers of undertakings)
• In the event of the employer's insolvency, employees' pay-related claims have priority in the distribution of the employer's assets, and are guaranteed by a public fund, up to a maximum limit. (See Insolvency of employer)
• There is no statutory grievance or disciplinary procedure, but various statutory rules govern the disciplinary measures that employers may apply to employees. (See Disciplinary and grievance procedures)
• Employers must observe statutory requirements when processing employees' data and using employee monitoring and surveillance measures at work. (See Data protection and privacy)
• Eligible employers are required to establish and operate an internal whistleblowing system. (See Whistleblowing)