The right to a first job. Repealed § 51a and the labour office project with the same name

An employer looking for support to recruit a young person without experience will find a page called The Right to a First Job in the Youth Guarantee section of the Slovak Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family’s website. It describes the subsidy under § 51a of the Employment Services Act, Act No. 5/2004 Z. z., and says that it has been part of the Act since 1 January 2015. We last opened the page on 14 October 2026 and found no mention of the provision’s repeal. However, § 51a has not been in the Act since 1 January 2023.

What § 51a provided for

The labour office could award a subsidy for creating a first regularly paid job to an employer who recruited a registered jobseeker aged under 25 who had been registered for at least three months, or aged under 29 who had been registered for at least six months. The jobseeker must not previously have had regularly paid employment. Support lasted six to twelve months, and the amount depended on the region and the district’s unemployment rate (§ 51a in the version effective until 31 December 2022). The Ministry’s page still described those conditions when we checked it.

When and how § 51a was repealed

Act No. 488/2022 Z. z., amending the Employment Services Act, repealed § 51a with effect from 1 January 2023. Subsidy agreements concluded before that date continued under the version effective until 31 December 2022 (§ 72aw(6)). No new agreement under § 51a can be concluded after that date.

Young jobseekers did not lose access to support. From the same date, § 50(3) has provided a higher rate of support for employing a disadvantaged jobseeker also where the jobseeker is under 30. It is 80% of the total labour cost, subject to an annually determined cap, for no more than 12 months (§ 50(3)). However, the conditions differ. The jobseeker must have been registered for at least 3 months, and the Act does not require this to be their first regularly paid job. The wording of § 50 does not clearly establish whether they must also meet one of the disadvantage criteria in § 8(1). It is worth checking this with the labour office.

The same name for a different scheme

A new project later appeared under the name “The Right to a First Job”. From 10 April 2024, employers could apply for support through that project. According to the notice issued by the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, it operated under § 54 of the Employment Services Act, which includes projects and programmes among active labour market measures. Applications were accepted until October 2024. Its specific conditions were set out in the Central Office’s notice and updates, rather than in the Act. The project had no age limit. It was intended for jobseekers registered for at least two months who had not previously had employment lasting at least six consecutive months. On 2 October 2025, the Ministry announced a second phase financed from EU funds, with a different amount and duration of support from the first phase.

Original statutory wording:

Na príspevky poskytované v rámci projektu alebo programu podľa § 54 nie je právny nárok, ak podmienky projektu alebo programu neustanovujú inak.

§ 70 ods. 6 zákona o službách zamestnanosti

Unofficial translation: There is no legal entitlement to contributions provided under a project or programme under § 54 unless the project’s or programme’s conditions provide otherwise.

The same name therefore refers both to a repealed statutory provision and to a project whose conditions changed between phases. The conditions described on the page about § 51a, including the age limits of 25 and 29 and support for six to twelve months, correspond neither to the project nor to the subsidy under § 50.

What to check before applying for a subsidy

Information pages from the Ministry and labour offices provide a useful overview, but they may not be updated immediately after legislation changes. When checked on 14 October 2026, the Central Office’s page on § 50, last updated on 2 January 2026, also contained outdated information. It says that the subsidy is not available alongside support under § 56a, although neither that restriction in § 50(1) nor § 56a itself has been in the Act since 1 January 2024. Its description of the support period reflects the position up to the end of 2022. Slov-Lex is a more reliable source. It provides dated versions of each enactment and identifies the amendment responsible for each change.

Before applying for any employment subsidy, we therefore recommend checking:

• the legal basis, meaning the specific statutory provision or, for a project, the notice number and its latest update,
• the wording effective on the date when you will conclude the agreement with the labour office, using the Slov-Lex version for that date,
• whether the project is still accepting applications,
• the general employer conditions under § 70(7), such as compliance with tax and social insurance contribution obligations,
• the draft agreement, particularly the support period and how long the job must be maintained.

For subsidies calculated from total labour costs, the amount is determined by the period in which the agreement was concluded. Subsequent changes in average earnings do not alter the subsidy paid (§ 70(14)).

How we can help

Before you recruit someone to a supported position, we can check the subsidy’s legal basis and conditions and prepare the employment contract and onboarding documents to align with the labour office agreement. For businesses that regularly use subsidies, our ongoing employment documentation service monitors legislative changes. Our article on support for employing someone over 50 explains how the subsidy under § 50 works for jobseekers in that age group.