rickster000

Hiyall,

I've been told that according to Hungarian law a worker on a definite contract (ie. fixed term) is not entitled to sick leave. I can't believe that this is true.

I can find nothing online which totally clarifies it.

Can anyone confirm?

Many thanks.

Peter_in_Hungary

I presume you are using sick pay and sick leave as interchangeable

As far as I know contract workers are not entitled to sick pay nor are they entitled to holidays, maternity leave or redundancy. This means that if they do not turn up for work for what ever reason they do not get paid. Contract workers are usually contracted for a number of hours a month at an agreed rate of pay and they are usually responsible for their own tax NI and pension contributions but will (usually) have a higher hourly rate than employed people to compensate.

The use of contract workers is convenient for employers as it removes from them the liability of employing people and their workers are 'self employed' under contract. Of course as 'self employed' the worker is responsible for their own 'in work benefits' such as holiday entitlement, sick pay etc.

In the same way if you contracted a builder to build an extension then you would not expect to pay him sick pay or paid holidays. There are regulations that define who can be a contract worker that are supposed to prevent employers essentially employing what should be permanent staff as self employed contractors to avoid employers liabilities but many firms ignore the rules and contracted employees don't complain because they want the job.

I know an interpreter who worked for a large Japanese car firm who was contracted for about 4 -5 years on a continually renewed contract before the firm offered him a permanent job (Strictly speaking this was illegal but neither the firm nor the interpreter was going to complain).

There would be nothing to stop a contracted worker having sick pay or paid holidays written into their contract but it would have to be written in and I doubt that any employer would want this.

rickster000

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply.

But aren't you blurring contract worker with self-employed?

The contract I refer to is not a self-employed contract. Rather it is a fixed period contract for 12 months with full-time hours, holidays, and the employer paying the tax/NI.

Peter_in_Hungary

If it is a fixed contract work period then what goes into the contract between the employer and the contracted worker will be negotiable between the 2 parties (within the framework of the law). Holidays and sick pay will be part of that negotiation. I can imagine that for a 12 month contract you could plan for some holidays but the risk of sickness potentially for a protracted period (e.g.after a car accident or some serious illness) where the employer might be paying for months of a 12 month contract with no work done could be a risk employers don't want.

For permanent employees there are regulations that cover protracted sick leave which provide for the employer to require medical examination if they wish after 3 or 6 months of sick leave and then further procedures for dismissing the employee in the case of prolonged sick leave. But this would not be appropriate for a 12 month contract.

Most contracted employees in Hungary are contracted as self employed for the reasons I said above.

rickster000

Thanks Peter.

I guess 'framework of the law' is what I need to clarify. What I've been finding online so far suggests to me that all employees (excluding self-employed) are entitled to sickness leave whether the contract is permanent or fixed (although the payment amounts do differ slightly).