Hungary Employment Law

The regular daily working time is 8 hours per day (exclusive of overtime) or 48 hours per week (inclusive of overtime for the week). The employer and the employee can agree to increase daily working hours to not more than 12 hours daily for employees working on call or who are close relatives of the employer.     

Work shall be scheduled for 5 days a week, between Monday through Friday (standard work pattern). The scheduled working time of an employee may not be less than 4 hours except for part-time employees. According to the work schedule –

• • • The daily working time of employees shall not exceed 12 hours including overtime or 24 hours in the case of employees in stand-by jobs.
    • The weekly working time of employees shall not exceed 48 hours including overtime, or 72 hours in the case of stand-by jobs if so agreed by the parties.

Employers are required to ensure that the work schedule of employees is drawn up in accordance with occupational safety and health requirements and in consideration of the nature of the work. The employer shall notify the working schedule in writing at least 1 week and at least 168 hours in advance of the start of the daily working time according to the schedule.

Daylight savings: If the date of switching to wintertime falls within the working hours of an employee as may have been scheduled, in such case, the daily or weekly working time can be exceeded by a maximum of 1 additional hour.

In cases where the duration of work performed by an employee cannot be measured, the entire duration of on-call duty with respect to such an employee shall be included in his/her scheduled daily working time. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 93 – 100 and 103.

Working Time Banking

A working time bank allows employees to save and combine their working time, earned time off, or monetary benefits converted to time off and also enables them to accumulate longer periods of time off in the bank. Working time flexibility is primarily ensured through implementing and allocating cumulative working time (or working time banking) when the actual working time schedule can be adjusted to the labor force requirement

The employer may define the working time of an employee in terms of the ‘banking’ of working hours. The period covered by banking of working time shall be arranged based on daily working time (8 hours) and standard work pattern(5 days working week). Any public holidays falling on a working day within the standard work pattern and the duration of absence (for example due to training provided by the employer, breastfeeding, etc.) shall not be counted.

An employer shall ensure that the maximum daily working time in the working time banking is not less than 4 hours per day and shall not exceed 12 hours inclusive of overtime.

In the case of working time banking, the beginning and ending date shall be clearly mentioned to the employee.

The weekly 40 working hours (full-time) shall be completed during the whole period of working time banking in irregular weekly working time. During the work schedule compilation,  employees shall be entitled to weekly rest time for at least 2 days or 48 consecutive hours, and also 11 hours of consecutive rest time (daily rest) must be provided between the end of the daily work and the beginning of the daily work on the next day.

For example, when applying a working time banking of 2 months, the employer can schedule the working time of employees to weekly 45 hours in the first month and to 35 hours in the second month. In such cases employees work more than the weekly 40 working hours (full-time) in the first month and still, the additional working time shall not be considered overtime work. In the second month, employees work less than the weekly 40 working hours (full-time) and still shall be entitled to the employee’s monthly wage.

The maximum duration of working time banking is 4 months or 16 weeks. And the maximum duration of working time banking is 6 months or 26 weeks in the case of employees working in continuous shifts, working in shifts, etc.

The maximum length of working-time banking period can be extended up to 36 months if this is stipulated in a collective bargaining agreement. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 93 – 94 and 143.

Split Working Time – The employer shall in agreement with the employee’s scheduled daily working time be up to 2 periods split up over the day. Between the split daily working times scheduled at least 2 hours of rest must be provided.

On-call and Stand by – An employee may be required to stand by and remain available beyond the regular daily working hours scheduled. Standing by for a period of over 4 hours may be ordered.

Pay – For on-call and standby duty, a premium corresponding to 20% and 40 %, respectively, of the regular wage must be paid. If the duration of  work performed cannot be measured, the employee is entitled to a 50% premium at the regular rate of pay

The monthly duration of standby duty may not exceed 168 hours, which shall be taken as the average in the event that banking of working time is used and the duration of on-call duty shall not exceed 24 hours and shall include both the duration of scheduled daily working time and overtime work on the first day of on-call duty. The employee may be ordered to be on stand-by for not more than 4 times a month if it covers the weekly rest day (weekly rest period).

In cases where the duration of work performed by an employee cannot be measured, the entire duration of on-call duty with respect to such an employee shall be included in the employee’s scheduled daily working time.

If an employee working in a stand-by job is scheduled to work on Sunday, he may not be scheduled to work on the preceding Saturday. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 92, 103, 139-142, and 144(3).

Information Requirement

the employer must inform the employee of the essential characteristics of the employment relationship on the first day of the employment relationship, but no later than the seventh day. The obligation to provide information must cover the following:

• • • start and term of the employment;
    • workplace;
    • the duration of the daily working time, the days of the week on which working time may be scheduled, the possible starting and finishing times of the scheduled daily working time, the possible duration of the extraordinary working time, the specific nature of the employer’s activity (multi-shift, uninterrupted, etc.);
    • number of annual leave days, the method of calculation and the rules of issuing the leaves.
    • the rules relating to termination of employment. In this context, reference should be made to the need for written declarations on termination of employment and to the possibilities for legal remedies and protection against dismissal.
    • the employer’s training policy, the length of time the employee may receive training, including training that is compulsory by law and training organized by the employer, and
    • the name of the authority to which the employer pays the public charge relating to the employment relationship. This is currently the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) in Hungary, so the NAV details should be provided in the information notice.

Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 46.

Recordkeeping Requirements – The employer shall keep records of normal working hours, overtime working hours, period of leave, and start and end times of standby work. The register can be kept by confirming the working time schedule communicated in writing at the end of the month and by indicating the change up to date. The records shall be maintained and kept up to date by the employment. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 134.

Any work performed beyond 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week shall be considered overtime work. The maximum overtime limit per day shall be 12 hours.

The employer may require employees to work up to 250 hours of overtime per year, but if the employer concludes an agreement with the employee in writing, the employee can be assigned an additional 150 hours per year, and overtime can be increased up to a maximum of 400 hours per year.

Employers also can take up to 36 months to settle payments of accrued overtime and may agree on overtime arrangements directly with employees without having to include unions in the negotiations.

Overtime working hours cannot be ordered – 

• • • for the employee, from the time her pregnancy is established until her child is three years old,
    • for an employee raising his child alone until his child is three years old, or
    • in the event of a health risk identified by the employer for the job or the employee.

Pay for Overtime Work – Employees are entitled to a 50% premium at the regular rate of pay for overtime work performed in addition to the daily working time as mentioned in the schedule of the employee, for work performed in the working time banking period, or for work performed over and above payroll period or time off from work, the duration of which shall not less than the amount of overtime work performed with adequate part of the base wage. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 107­ – 109 and 143.

Night work shall mean work carried out between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The employee’s daily working time during night work may not exceed 8 hours.

Pay – In the case of employees working in shifts, if the beginning of their scheduled daily working time changes frequently, for work performed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., a 30% premium at a regular rate of pay (shift allowance) shall be paid. 

Employees must be paid a 15­% premium at a regular rate of pay for working at night (performed between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.), if the duration of night work exceeds 1 hour, provided that the employee is not entitled to shift allowance provided above. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 139­ – 142.

If the scheduled daily working time or duration of overtime exceeds 6 hours, the employee is entitled to a minimum 20-minute uninterrupted unpaid break from work. If the duration of work exceeds 9 hours, an additional 25-minute unpaid break must be given to the employee. Break shall not be included in working time.

An agreement between the parties or a collective agreement may provide employees with a break between work of up to 60 minutes. The break must be issued by interrupting work. The break must be provided after at least 3 and at most 6 hours of work. The employer is entitled to issue the break between work in several installments, and the installment issued in the period must be at least 20 minutes long. Labor Code, Act 2012, (as amended), §§ 103.

Daily Rest Period –

Employees must be allowed at least 11 hours’ uninterrupted rest after the conclusion of daily work and before the beginning of the next day’s work. If the employee works split shifts, continuous shifts, multiple shifts, or seasonal work, the daily rest period must be at least 8 hours. Employees shall not be entitled to any rest period after an inactive standby period. 

The daily rest period, if it falls at the beginning of summertime, shall be at least 10 hours, or at least 7 hours if the employee works split shifts, continuous shifts, multiple shifts, or seasonal work. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 104.

Weekly Rest – Employees are entitled to 2 rest days in a given week. Employees shall be provided at least an average of 48 hours of a weekly rest period.

In the case of an irregular work schedule, the weekly rest days may be scheduled irregularly and after 6 days of work, 1 rest day shall be allocated in a given week. In the case of unequal working hours without interruption, multi-shift, seasonal activity employees shall be entitled to at least 1 weekly rest day per month.

Employees shall be allocated at least 1 weekly rest day in a given month on a Sunday, except for part-time employees who work on Saturday and Sunday only. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 105, 106, 140 and 143(3).

If an employee works on a Sunday, they shall be entitled to a 50% premium at the regular rate of pay.  If an employee working in a stand-by job is scheduled to work on Sunday, he may not be scheduled to work on the preceding Saturday.

Pay for overtime work on a weekly rest day 

For overtime work performed on weekly rest days/periods, an employee shall be entitled to a 100% premium at the regular rate of pay or a 50% premium at the regular rate of pay if the employer provides another weekly rest day (weekly rest period).

The time off or the weekly rest day (weekly rest period) shall be provided at the latest in the following month from when the overtime work was performed, or by the end of the banking of working time or the payroll period in the case of an irregular work schedule. By agreement of the parties, time off shall be provided at the latest by 31 December of the following year. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 105, 106, and 143(3)

Employees must be paid a 50 ­percent allowance in addition to regular wages for employees working in shifts and stand-by jobs on Sundays. If an employee working in a stand-by job is scheduled to work on Sunday, he may not be scheduled to work on the preceding Saturday.

Pay for overtime work on Sunday – An employee shall be paid at a rate of 100 percent wage supplement or shall be paid at 50 percent if the employer provides another weekly rest day to the employee. Labor Code, Act I of 2012, (as amended), §§ 139­ – 142.