Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) - Hungary (Ratification: 2003)

Article 4 paragraph 4 of the Convention. Postnatal leave. The Government states that maternity leave is generally utilized following birth. The Committee points out that this practice needs to be put into law by expressly establishing the compulsory nature of post-natal leave during the first six weeks following childbirth as required by the Convention.

Article 8 paragraph 2. Right to return to the same or an equivalent position after leave. According to section 90(1) of the Labour Code, employers cannot terminate an employment relationship by ordinary dismissal if the employee receives childcare (maternity) allowance, whether or not they require unpaid leave until the child is 3 years old. Section 102 provides that the employer is required to re-integrate an employee interrupting unpaid leave. If the employee’s position has been terminated or filled during leave, the employee remains eligible for protection against dismissal. In order to give full effect to this provision of the Convention, the Committee would like the Government to consider the need to complement these provisions by guaranteeing a woman after the period of maternity leave protected by the Convention the right to return to the same position occupied before leave, or an equivalent position paid at the same rate.

Article 8 paragraph 1. Protection against dismissal. The Committee hopes that the Government will act on its promise to consider amending sections 90–92 and 190(2) of the Labour Code by which executive employers are excluded from the periods of protection against dismissal afforded by section 89(2) of the Labour Code so as ensure better employment protection of women in these positions in line with the Convention.

Article 6 paragraph 6. Adequate benefits financed out of social assistance funds for women not entitled to cash benefits. Please indicate whether the amount of maternity allowance and additional means-tested social assistance benefits are adequate in order to allow for the needs of the mother and her child to be met throughout the period of maternity leave in accordance with this provision of the Convention.

Articles 1 and 2. Scope. The Committee asks the Government to indicate how maternity protection is ensured to: (1) workers whose employment relations are regulated by section 106 of the Labour Code (employees hired by foreign employers to perform work within the framework of a temporary assignment), and (2) persons who are excluded from social insurance by virtue of section 11 of Act LXXX of 1997 (foreigners employed in Hungary by a foreign employer, or who work for private companies with foreign participation).

The Committee would like to remind the Government that in order to consolidate its international obligations regarding maternity protection, the Government might wish to consider denouncing the Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3), in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of Convention No. 3.