Payroll and Benefits Guide Slovakia

Employer

Employer Payroll Contributions

Employee

Employee Payroll Contributions

Employee Income Tax

* The non-taxable amount increases to EUR 381.61 per month (EUR 4,579.26 per year). In order to claim the non-taxable amount on a monthly basis, it is necessary for the employee to sign a Declaration for the application of the non-taxable amount.

General

The national minimum wage is 700.00 EUR per month.

Payroll Cycle

The payroll frequency is typically month. The employer must make salary payments at least once a month.

13th Salary

There is no legal requirement for 13-month payments. Employers may issue bonuses at their discretion.

General

A standard work week is 40 hours, at 8 hours per day.

Overtime

All work over the standard working hours a week is to be paid as overtime and is regulated by employment contract/collective agreements. When an employee is requested to work overtime or work on holidays, there are maximums in relation to the number of hours allowed.

• Hours in excess of 40 hours a week are paid at an overtime compensation rate of 125% of the employee’s average salary rate.
• Hours performed at night, the overtime is paid at 140% of the employee’s standard salary rate.
• Hours completed on a Saturday are compensated at 150% of the employee’s standard salary rate.
• Overtime worked on a Sunday is paid at 200% of the employee’s standard salary rate.

Executive and C-level workers are exempt from overtime regulations.

Working Week

Monday–Friday

Paid Time Off

The annual leave entitlement differs depending on the employees’ time in service and the job sector.

• 4 weeks of annual leave (20 working days) for workers below 33 years of age.
• 5 weeks of annual leave (25 working days) for workers above 33 years of age.
• 5 weeks of annual leave (25 working days) for workers with children.
• 8 weeks of annual leave for specific professions e.g. teachers.
• Employees with less than 1 year service but have worked 60 consecutive days are entitled to annual leave accrued at the rate of 1/12 for every 21 days worked.

Unused leave can carryover into the following year but must be used within the year or they will be lost.

Public Holidays

Public holidays that fall on the weekend are usually lost.

Sick Days

The Employer pays for the first 3 days of sickness at 25% of the employees’ standard pay rate and from the 4th to 10th day of sickness at 55% of the employee’s standard salary. From the 11th day onwards sick leave is compensated by the Social Insurance Agency at 55% of the employee’s standard salary.

Sickness absence must be authorized by a doctor.

Maternity Leave

A female employee is entitled to 34 weeks of paid maternity leave. An employee expecting multiple births is entitled to 43 weeks of maternity leave, and a single mother is entitled to 37 weeks of paid maternity leave. Commonly, an employee would begin their maternity leave between six and eight weeks before the expected delivery date, and the leave cannot be less than 14 weeks by law.

The Social Security agency pays maternity leave at 75.00% of the employee’s daily salary.

Paternity Leave

If a mother is not receiving maternity or parental benefits, the child’s father may take leave beginning when the child is six weeks old for 28 weeks.
Single fathers are entitled to 31 weeks of paternity leave paid by the Social Security agency.

Parental Leave

A parent or guardian can request parental leave until the child reaches three years of age. In the unfortunate case that the child has a long-term health condition, an employee can request parental leave until the child is six years of age.
The parental allowance is paid by the Central Office of Labor Social Affairs and family.

Other Leave

In Slovakia, in civic duty leave, an employer must provide unpaid leave to enable an employee to fulfil their civic duties.
An employee is also granted paid military service leave compensated by the military authority directly.

Termination Process

The termination process varies according to the Employment Agreement or Collective Agreement in place and is based on the type of contract and reason for termination. The employer may dismiss an employee with notice for statutory reasons, including the winding-up or relocation of the employer, redundancy, inability to perform work due to health reasons, unsatisfactory performance, or disciplinary breaches.

Notice Period

The notice period is dependent on the employees’ time of service as follows:

• Workers must be given a minimum of 1 months’ notice
• Workers with 1 to 5 years of service must be given 2 months’ notice
• Workers with 5+ years of service must be given 3 months’ notice
• During the Probation period, written notification of termination should be given within a minimum of 3 days prior to the exit date.

Severance Pay

Employees are entitled to severance pay if they have been terminated due to:

• Company being dissolved or moved, and the employee not wanting to move
• Employee is made redundant
• Employee is no longer able to perform the job for health reasons

An employee’s length of service and the reason and type of termination determines the severance pay rate. If an employee is terminated with notice, a minimum of four times the employee’s average monthly earnings is to be paid.

Probation Period

The length of Probation periods is limited to 3 months for Operational positions and 6 months for Managerial positions.

VISA

Slovakia’s immigration system provides several options for employers of foreign nationals. Slovakia is a member of the European Union (EU) and the Schengen Area. Requirements, processing times, employment eligibility, and benefits for accompanying family members vary by permit type.
Business visitors to Slovakia typically use a local version of the Schengen C Visa, which foreign nationals must obtain before travel unless they are visa exempt based on their nationality. The Schengen Area generally limits stays to 90 days in any 180 days.
The main work authorization categories are:

• The EU Intra-Company Transferee Permit, suitable for the intracompany transfer of managers, specialists, and graduate trainees from outside the European Union
• The Single Permit for Local Hires, suitable for locally hiring experienced foreign workers where no local staff is available
• The EU Blue Card, suitable for local hiring of highly skilled, highly paid workers. EU/European Economic Area (EEA)/Swiss nationals do not require work or residence permits, but they must report their stay and register their residence if their stay exceeds three months.

General

The Slovak Labor Code legislates that working from home must be agreed upon between the employer and the employee in writing in an employment contract. Teleworking may be performed anywhere outside the employer’s premises, it is not required to be only performed from the home of the employee.

Employees and employers may agree that employees will determine their own working hours for more flexibility. In that case, the employee may lose its entitlement to certain salary premiums.
Employees’ right to disconnect outside working hours must be agreed upon between the parties.

Employers are required to reimburse employees for increased expenses related to telework as agreed upon in the Collective Agreement or negotiated in the employment contract.

Teleworkers should enjoy the same rights as on-site employees.

General

The standard VAT rate is 20%.