An amendment to the Slovak Labour Code has introduced the possibility for employers to terminate employees who reach the age of retirement pension entitlement, 65.
On 4 February 2021, the deputies of the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved an amendment to the Labour Code, which brings several changes to the world of labour law.
One of the changes is the possibility of terminating an employment relationship with an employee who reaches the age of 65 (the age determined for entitlement to a retirement pension). This reason for termination of employment has existed in Slovakia since 2017, but exclusively for civil service jobs.
The system will therefore also be introduced for employment relationships that are regulated by the Labour Code. The main argument in favour of this change was the renewal of generations of employees in the workplace. This has been significantly disrupted by the raising of the retirement age. An employee whose employer terminates his or her employment for the above reason will also be entitled to severance pay. The amount will depend on the number of years worked.
In this context, however, it is important to point out the wording of s63 of the Labour Code. This provision creates a possibility and not an obligation to terminate the employment relationship with an employee for the reasons stated. From this it can be concluded that the decision whether or not to keep the employee after s/he reaches retirement age will be entirely up to the employer.
The full text of the amendment to the Labor Code can be found here, in Slovak.
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