Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides
information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway
which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Slovakia: Severance pay/redundancy compensation
Phase
Labour Code
Native name
Zákonník práce
Type
Severance pay/redundancy compensation
Added to database
08 May 2015
Article
76, 63
Description
According Act No. 311/2003 Coll. of the Labour Code, the employer is obliged to grant severance pay after giving notice to an employee, or if the employment relationship is ending by mutual agreement, for the following reasons:
if the company or business is dissolved or relocated and the employee does not agree with the change;
if an employee becomes redundant due to change in his or her duties, technical equipment or the reduction in the number of employees is aimed at securing work efficiency, or due to other organisational changes having an impact on employment;
if the employee has lost his or her ability to perform the work due to changes in health conditions as a result of an occupational disease or the threat of such a disease.
The minimum amount of severance pay depends on the employee's number of years in service for the employer.
When employment is terminated by notice, the minimum amount of severance pay is equal to one to four times the employee's average monthly earnings, according to the number of years in service (at least from 2 to 20 years). For instance, employees that have been working for the employer for at least 2 years but less than 5 years are entitled to one monthly earning, employees that have been working from 5 to less than 10 years are entitled to two monthly earnings, etc. Employees who have been working for the employer for less than 2 years are not entitled to severance pay.
If employment is terminated by agreement (the employee leaves the company before the statutory notice period), the severance pay is between one and five monthly average earnings (employees in service less than two years are entitled to one monthly earning and other employees specified above from two to five monthly earnings).
A severance allowance applies also when an employer terminates an employee's employment contract (by notice or by agreement) for the reason that the employee cannot longer perform his or her job as a result of an occupational accident, occupational disease or the risk of such a disease. The allowance equals to at least 10 times the employee's average monthly earnings.
Commentary
The minimum amount of severance pay set by the Labour Code can be increased through collective bargaining (Act No. 2/1991 Coll.) with trade unions in collective agreements.
According to amendments to the Labour Code effective from 1 January 2013 (Act No. 361/2012), also employees who continue working for the employer during the notice period are entitled to redundancy pay.
Additional metadata
Cost covered by
Employer
Involved actors other than national government
National government
Involvement (others)
None
Thresholds
Affected employees: No, applicable in all circumstances Company size: No, applicable in all circumstances Additional information: No, applicable in all circumstances
Sources
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities/Héra (2011), Selected companies’ legal obligations regarding restructuring
Ius Laboris (2009), Collective Redundancies Guide, Ius Laboris, Brussels
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), alongside a new classification of restructuring events involving changes in company location.
Employers increasingly use tools such as email, SMS and messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal to communicate with employees. While these technologies offer both efficiency and convenience, their use in communicating sensitive information, particularly for notifying employees of dismissal, raises legal concerns. This article explores the legal framework on dismissals across the EU, with a special focus on the use of digital means for communicating employment dismissals. Drawing on examples from various Member States, it examines the legal validity of digital dismissals.
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, these companies are among the highest paying, with Eurostat data from 2022 indicating that workers in ICT had the second-highest median gross hourly earnings (surpassed only by earnings in the financial sector).[1] These layoffs were a shock, especially as the biggest companies had hired extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic. What happened in the two years after this redundancy wave – was that the end of the cuts or did the companies start expanding again?
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure of production lines in Europe. A number of European car manufacturers and suppliers announced their intention to make large-scale redundancies and change long-standing collective agreements on job security and wages, while workers raised concerns amid demonstrations and industrial action.