[author: Zoltán Csernus]*

Supreme Court Protects Employees After Childbirth

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

Author: Zoltán Csernus, Partner – VJT & Partners Law Firm

The Supreme Court recently clarified the dismissal protections for employees receiving treatment related to childbirth. The Hungarian Labour Code provides that employees are protected from dismissal when receiving such treatment, but only for six months. If the treatment, however, is finished within six months, then the protection ends and a new protection period begins only when the next treatment commences.

Equal Pay for Equal Work Only Applies to Employees with Protected Characteristics

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

Author: Zoltán Csernus, Partner – VJT & Partners Law Firm

Recently, the Hungarian Supreme Court ruled that the principle of equal pay for equal work is breached only if the employer discriminates against the employee based on a protected characteristic. Accordingly, such characteristic must be a material part of the employee’s personality and cannot be specific only to the employee in question. Rather, it must link the employee to a vulnerable group in society. Without a protected characteristic, as defined by the Hungarian Equal Protection Act, the principle of equal pay for equal work cannot be breached.

*Partner – VJT & Partners Law Firm