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

Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (No. 52) - Slovakia (Ratification: 1993)

Article 4 of the Convention. Prohibition to relinquish or forgo the right to annual holidays with pay. The Committee notes with interest that section 116(3) of the Labour Code (Act No. 311/2001 Coll.), as amended, permits cash compensation in lieu of holidays in cases other than the termination of employment and thus appears to be inconsistent with the Convention to the extent that it might as a result waive the right to annual holidays with pay. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures in order to bring its legislation in line with the Convention on this point and to keep the Office informed of any progress made in this regard.

Article 7. Record-keeping. The Committee notes that under section 130(5) of the Labour Code, an employer is obliged to issue a written statement for an employee containing information on the individual components of the wages. It also notes that according to a Government’s earlier report, these wage statements contain information on the days worked, the claims made for annual holidays, the dates of annual holidays taken and the holiday pay. The Government further adds that there exist standard forms for maintaining those wage records. The Committee would appreciate receiving copies of the standard wage statement forms currently in use.

Article 8. Sanctions. The Committee notes that under section 17(1) of Act No. 95/2000 Coll. on labour inspection, a fine of up to 1,000,000 Slovak crowns (no longer in use) is provided for non-observance of the labour legislation. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would provide uptodate information on the nature and amount of penalties currently applicable, and transmit copies of any relevant legal text not previously communicated.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided since the date of the ratification of the Convention any general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice. It therefore requests the Government to provide in its next report all available information in this regard, including, for instance, statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number and nature of contraventions reported and sanctions imposed, copies of collective agreements containing clauses on annual leave, etc.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to recall that, based on the conclusions and proposals of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, the ILO Governing Body has decided that Convention No. 52 should be classified as an outdated instrument and consequently States parties to this Convention should be invited to consider ratification of the more recent Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132) (see GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraph 12). The acceptance of the obligations of Convention No. 132 in respect of employed persons in economic sectors other than agriculture by a State which is a party to Convention No. 52 involves the immediate denunciation of that instrument. The ratification of Convention No. 132 is all the more advisable as the legislation of Slovakia, which provides for annual paid leave of four weeks, appears to be in substantial conformity with the requirements of that instrument. The Committee therefore requests the Government to favourably consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 132, and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.