3.2 Working time and wages

According to the Labour Code, the agreement of wages conditions is a substantial item of the employment contract, in case the remuneration conditions of employees are not designed in the collective agreement or in the work rules. If the employer has neither the collective agreement nor the work rules, he will be obliged to agree upon the remuneration conditions in the employment contract. If the employer has agreed upon the employee’s remuneration in the collective agreement or in the work rules, it suffices to give reference to the relevant provisions of wages regulations in the employment contract which have to be in accordance with the law. The work rules are binding for the employer as well as for all of his/her employees who must be apprised of it. Under the wages conditions the determination of individual wages parts, their amount and the conditions of their provision is understood.

According to the Labour Code, the employer is obliged to provide the employee with wages for the work performed. The wages is a financial settlement or a settlement of a financial value (in-kind wages), provided by the employer to the employee for work. The wages must not be lower than the minimal wages determined by the Act on minimal wages. Currently (by October 1. 2007) it is SKK 8,100.

In the wages praxis, various forms of wages are used, and the employer is free to stipulate a concrete wages form.

An overtime work is a work :

performed by the employee at the employer’s bidding or with his/her consent ,

beyond the determined weekly working time arising from the predetermined distribution of the working time ,

outside the scope of the timetable of work shifts

The overtime work can not overreach on average 8 hours per week, 150 hours in a calendar year. For the overtime work, the employee is entitled to :

the attained wages and

the wages surcharge of at least 25 % of his/her average earnings

For the work on a public holiday, the employee is entitled to :

the attained wage and

the wages surcharge of at least 50 % of his/her average earnings

With regard to the employee who is remunerated monthly, a public holiday falling on his/her normal working day shall be considered a working day for which he/she shall be entitled to the wages.

A night work is a work performed between 10 pm and 6 am. For the performance of the night work, in addition to the wages attained the employee is entitled to the wages surcharge for each hour worked at night at the level of at least 20 % of his/her minimal wages claim stipulated on the first degree. The lowest limit of the wages surcharge for the night work is currently SKK 9.32 per hour of the night work (20 % of SKK 46.60) It is possible to agree with the executive employee on the wages in the employment contract taking the possibility of the night work into account. The executive employee is not entitled to the wages surcharge in such a case.

The wages compensation is provided :

upon paid holiday ,

upon the performance of civil duty ,

upon substantive personal obstacles of the employee to work ,

temporary suspension of the work performance

Under the conditions established by the law, the employee shall have the right for a paid holiday. The Labour Code recognizes three kinds of paid holidays :

paid holiday pertaining to a calendar year or a proportionate part thereof ,

paid holiday for days worked ,

supplementary paid holiday

Annual paid holiday - The basic scope of a paid holiday is at least four weeks. Seven consecutive calendar days shall be understood as one week of a paid holiday. This paid holiday is provided by the fulfilment of two conditions. The employee is entitled to an annual paid holiday if he :

performed work for at least 60 days in the calendar year (number of days worked)

during the continuous duration of the employment relationship (duration length of the employment relationship with the same employer)

The employee who is entitled neither to an annual paid holiday nor a proportionate part thereof, as he/she has not performed at least 60 days of work in the calendar year with the same employer, is entitled to a paid holiday for days worked to the extent of one twelfth of the annual paid holiday for each 22 days worked in the pertinent calendar year.

The employee working in constrained or health detrimental conditions over the whole calendar year or is performing particularly difficult or health-endangering work in the extraction of minerals or driving tunnels or passages and workplaces with contagious materials is entitled to a supplementary paid holiday of one week.

The Labour Code uses the weekly working time as a basic time unit. The legal working time is determined as the highest acceptable extent of the weekly working time, which matches 40 hours weekly (Seven consecutive days are understood as one week). It is the so-called straight time because the breaks for eating and rest are not calculated in the working time.

Maximal working time :

30 hours weekly	an adolescent employee up to 16 years
37 and ½ hours weekly	an adolescent employee over 16 years
33 and ½ hours weekly	the working time of an employee who works with proved chemical carcinogens
38 and ¾ hours weekly	if an employee regularly performs work alternately on both shifts of a two-shift operation
37 and ½ hours weekly	if an employee regularly performs work on all shifts of a three-shift operation or a continuous operation

Source : Legislation of the SR

The maximal weekly working time of the employee, including overtime, shall be 48 hours.