What is written information on working conditions, and must we provide it in addition to the employment contract?

In addition to the parties’ identifying details, an employment contract must contain four essential terms: the type of work, place of work, start date and pay terms (Section 43(1) of the Labour Code, Act No. 311/2001 Z. z.). Employees must also receive written details of other conditions, such as working hours, leave and the notice period. This is the purpose of the written information on working conditions under Section 47a. A separate document is unnecessary if the employment contract already contains all the prescribed information.

What the information contains

The Labour Code imposes the obligation as follows:

The following quotation is reproduced in its original language:

Zamestnávateľ je povinný poskytnúť zamestnancovi písomnú informáciu o jeho pracovných podmienkach a podmienkach zamestnávania najmenej v rozsahu týchto údajov, ak ich neobsahuje pracovná zmluva […]

§ 47a ods. 1 Zákonníka práce

The information must include:

• the method for determining the place of work, or the principal place of work if the contract specifies several,
• the prescribed weekly working hours, the rules for scheduling them, including anticipated working days and the reference period for averaging working hours, breaks, uninterrupted daily and weekly rest, and overtime rules, including the pay premium,
• leave entitlement or the method for determining it,
• when wages fall due and how they are paid, including pay dates,
• the rules on termination of employment, the length of the notice period or the method for determining it, and the time limit for bringing an action challenging the validity of termination,
• entitlement to vocational training, if provided by the employer, and its scope.

The information may also be provided by reference to the relevant provision of the Act, other legislation or a collective agreement (Section 47a(4)). If the conditions are governed by a collective agreement, the information must also identify that agreement and its parties (Section 47a(5)).

Deadlines, changes and pre-existing employment relationships

You must provide information on the place of work, working hours and payment of wages within 7 days of the start of the employment relationship, and information on leave, termination of employment and vocational training within 4 weeks (Section 47a(2)). If the employment relationship is to last for a shorter period, the information must be provided no later than its termination (Section 47a(3)). If the stated conditions change, you must inform the employee in writing without undue delay and no later than the day the change takes effect. This does not apply if the change concerns only legislation or a collective agreement referred to in the information (Section 54c).

For an employee whose employment relationship began before 1. 11. 2022, you must provide the information at their request within 1 month, unless you already provided those details under the rules applicable at the time (Section 252s). Work outside Slovakia requires additional information, such as the currency in which wages are paid and the conditions for repatriation, which must be provided before departure if the work abroad will exceed 4 consecutive weeks (Section 44a(2) to (4)). Posting to another European Union Member State requires specific information under Section 54b(2).

Agreements outside an employment relationship

For these agreements, the obligation applies if average weekly working time over a period of 4 consecutive weeks exceeds 3 hours. In that case, information must be provided on the place of work and when remuneration falls due and how it is paid; the time limit starts on the day following the day on which the threshold was exceeded (Section 223(3)). The limits for the individual types of agreement are explained in the question how many hours can be worked under an agreement outside an employment relationship.

Compliance with this obligation is monitored by the labour inspectorate, which may impose a fine of up to 100 000 euros for a breach of employment legislation (Section 19(1), letter a), of Act No. 125/2006 Z. z. on Labour Inspection). You should therefore provide the information in a way that can be evidenced, for example by obtaining a signed acknowledgement of receipt, and place it in the employee’s personnel file.

We will prepare your employment contract so that it contains the prescribed information and a separate information document is unnecessary, or provide a template information document aligned with your contract through our employment contracts and documentation service. Written information on working conditions is also included in the Essential package of our employment documentation under supervision service, and we can update the package on an ongoing basis when the law changes. This answer is based on the Slovak Labour Code; Czech law applies to an employee in Czechia.