Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Slovakia (Ratification: 1993)

Other comments on C095

Direct Request

Replies received to the issues raised in a direct request which do not give rise to further comments

2019

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Article 4. Partial payment of wages in kind. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it noted that wage payments in kind based on an individual labour agreement are not consistent with either the letter or the spirit of the Convention and accordingly requested the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the national legislation is brought into line with this Article of the Convention. It notes that the most recent amendments to the Labour Code have left intact section 127(1), which allows the parties to an employment relationship to agree on the particular conditions of in-kind payments. In its latest report, the Government indicates that there does not appear to be an application problem, since neither the employee representatives, nor the employer representatives, have requested any amendments in this regard, nor has the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family received any allegations of abuse. The Committee recalls, in this regard, that the Convention permits the partial payment of wages in kind only under the conditions and within the limits prescribed by laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards but not individual agreements. In this connection, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to paragraphs 104–160 of its 2003 General Survey on the protection of wages, which offer guidance concerning possible ways in which legislative conformity with this Article of the Convention may be ensured. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 127(1) the Labour Code in order to bring it into line with this Article of the Convention.

Article 8. Limits on wage deductions. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it drew the Government’s attention to the fact that the Convention recognizes only national laws or regulations, collective agreements and arbitration awards as legal bases for lawful deductions, it being understood that deductions made on any other basis, such as deductions by virtue of individual agreement or merely with the consent of the worker, are not in conformity with the requirements of the Convention. In its latest report, the Government states that section 131(3) of the Labour Code does not permit illegal or abusive deductions from the income of an employee and explains that section 20 of the Labour Code allows for agreements between employers and employees to be one of the forms of ensuring the rights and obligations arising from labour-law relations to satisfy an employer’s entitlement towards an employee. The Government also indicates that effecting deductions without valid legal grounds would in any event represent unwarranted enrichment on the part of the employer which is prohibited under section 222 of the Labour Code. By way of example, the Government indicates that an employee may agree with an employer on deductions for compensation for damages caused by negligence under section 186 of the Labour Code, compensation for damages caused by deliberate breach of obligations under section 179, or compensation for loss or damage to products, goods or other valuables under section 182 of the Labour Code. While noting the Government’s explanations, the Committee considers that the level of protection required by the Convention would only be obtained if all the types of deductions which may be made on the basis of a written agreement between the contracting parties were exhaustively enumerated and detailed in relevant laws or regulations. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to consider appropriate steps in order to ensure that the national legislation is brought into full conformity with the Convention on this point.

Article 10. Attachment of wages. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to Act No. 601/2003 Coll. and Government Regulation No. 268/2006 Coll. which establish the unattachable part of a worker’s wages so as not to deprive workers of the minimum level of income they need to provide for themselves and their families. However, the Committee understands that no similar limit seems to apply to deductions from wages other than those made in execution of a court decision. It notes, in this connection, that the European Committee of Social Rights has recently commented on this point concluding that the situation in the Slovak Republic is not in conformity with Article 4(5) of the revised Charter on the ground that unlimited deductions from wages may deprive workers of the means of subsistence required to provide for themselves and their families. Recalling that under Paragraph 1 of the Protection of Wages Recommendation, 1949 (No. 85), deductions from wages should not exceed the extent deemed necessary to safeguard the maintenance of the worker and his family, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional explanations in this regard. It also requests the Government to transmit a copy of the two legal documents mentioned above.