- Termination of employment by agreement
- Termination of employment by giving notice
- Notice given by the employer
- Notice given by the employee
- Immediate termination of employment
Employment may be terminated by:
a) agreement;
b) notice of termination;
c) immediate termination,
d) notice of termination during a probationary period.
Fixed-term employment is terminated upon expiry of the agreed period. Employment lapses upon the death of the employee and on upon temporary assignment in acordance with the law.
1. Termination of employment by agreement
If an employee and employer agree on termination of the employment, the employment terminates upon the agreed day. Agreement on the termination of employment should be done in writing. The agreement should stipulate the reasons for the termination of employment if requested by the employee, or if the employment relationship was terminated by agreement for the following reasons:
- the employer being wound-up or relocated while the employee does not agree with the change of the agreed place of work;
- the employee becoming redundant;
- the employee’s health condition causing long-term loss of ability to do the present work or he mustn’t perform it due to an occupational disease or due to a threat of this disease, or the employee has reached the highest permissible exposure within the workplace.
2. Termination of employment by giving notice
An employment may be terminated by giving notice by the employer or employee. Notice must be given in writing and delivered to the other party, otherwise it is considered invalid.
An employer may only give notice to an employee for reasons expressly stipulated in the law. The reason for giving notice must be defined in such a way that no confusion with another reason is possible. The reason for giving notice may not be amended subsequently.
Notice period
Where notice has been given, the employment terminates upon expiration of the notice period. The notice period is at least 1 month unless the law stipulates otherwise.
If the notice is given employee due to:
- the employer being wound-up or relocated while the employee does not agree with the change of the agreed place of work;
- the employee becoming redundant;
- the employee’s health condition causing long-term loss of ability to do the present work; the notice period is:
a) at least 2 months if the employment lasted at least 1 year and less than 5 years as at the date of delivery of notice;
b) at least 3 months if the employment lasted at least 5 years as at the date of delivery of notice.
For reasons other than those already mentioned - the notice period is at least 2 months, if the employment relationship lasted at least 1 year as of the date of delivery of notice.
If the notice is given by the employee - the notice period is at least 2 months, if the employment relationship lasted at least 1 year as of the date of delivery of notice.
3. Notice given by the employer
An employer may only give notice to an employee for the following reasons:
- the employer being wound-up or relocated while the employee does not agree with the change of the agreed place of work;
- employee becoming redundant;
- the employee no longer complies with the requirements pursuant to special regulations;
- the employee no longer fulfils the requirements for the proper performance of the work determined by the employer in internal regulations;
- the employee does not carry out work duties in a satisfactory manner;
- there are reasons on the part of the employee for which the employer is entitled to terminate the employment immediately.
- the employee’s health condition according to medical assessment causing long-term loss of ability to do the present work or he mustn’t perform it due to an occupational disease or due to a threat of this disease, or the employee has reached the highest permissible exposure within the workplace.failure of the employee to meet preconditions set by legal regulations to perform the agreed work;
Prohibition of notice
An employer may not give a notice to an employee during a protective period, i.e.:
- during a period when the employee is acknowledged to be temporarily incapable of working;
- in the event of a call-up to for emergency service during a state of crisis;
- during voluntary military training;
- during the employee's pregnancy;
- during the employee's maternity leave;
- during the employee's parental leave;
- when the employee, who is a single parent, is caring for a child under the age of three;
- when the employee is exercising a public function;
- when an employee working at night shifts is recognized on temporarily unfit for night work on the basis of a medical assessment
An employer may give notice to an employee with a disability only with the prior consent of the relevant office of labour, social affairs and family, otherwise the notice is not valid.
4. Notice given by the employee
An employee may give notice to an employer for any reason or without giving a reason.
5. Immediate termination of employment
An employer may immediately terminate an employment relationship by dismissing an employee only where the employee has been lawfully sentenced for an intentional criminal offence or has seriously breached labour discipline.
An employee may immediately terminate an employment relationship, if:
- according to a medical assesssment, the employee is unable to keep workingwithout serious risk to their health and the employer has not reassigned him to another job suitable for him within the period of 15 days of the submission of this assessment,;
- the employer has failed to pay the employee a wage or wage compensation, travel allowances, standby duty allowance or incapacity benefit within 15 days of their due date;
- the employee’s life or health is directly threatened.
The immediate termination of the employment relationship must be done by the employer and the employee in writing; the reason for termination must be defined in such a way that it cannot be confused with another reason. The reason for giving notice may not be amended subsequently.
Termination of employment during the probationary period
During the probationary period, the employer and the employee may terminate the employment in writing for any reason or without giving a reason. The employer may terminate the employment of a pregnant woman, a mother before the end of the ninth month after childbirth and a breastfeeding woman during probationary period only in writing and only in exceptional cases unrelated to pregnancy, maternity and the employer must justify this in writing, otherwise the termination is invalid.
Termination of fixed term employment
Fixed-term employment is terminated upon the expiry of the agreed period.
Last modified: 24. 10. 2021
Publication date: 6. 10. 2020
The responsible person:
Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of Slovak Republic
+421 2 2046 0000
web@employment.gov.sk