Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Slovakia (Ratification: 1993)

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. Extension of collective agreements. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to assess the effects on the collective bargaining machinery of the suppression in legislation of the extension mechanism. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the legislation has since been amended and that the Collective Bargaining Act (sections 7, 7(a), 9(a) and 9(b)) now again contains a mechanism for extending higher-level collective agreements. The Committee trusts that this will have a positive impact on the coverage rate of collective agreements in the country.

Collective bargaining in practice. The Committee previously encouraged the Government to set up a database on collective bargaining coverage and requested it to continue providing statistical data on the number of collective agreements concluded and in force. The Committee notes that while the Government does not possess quantitative data on the total number of collective agreements concluded, except for higher-level agreements deposited at the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, it does provide information on the proportion of workers covered by company agreements in several sectors. The Committee notes that collective bargaining coverage varies considerably between the sectors, the lowest being in the administrative and support services (5.84 per cent) and the highest in the education sector (84.82 per cent). Recalling the obligation to promote collective bargaining that stems from Article 4 of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the steps taken to encourage collective bargaining in sectors with lower bargaining coverage (administrative and support services; agriculture, forestry and fisheries; accommodation and catering services; information technology; wholesale and retail commerce; and motor vehicle and motorcycle repair). The Committee further requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of collective agreements concluded and in force in the country, specifying the sectors, as well as the number and percentage of workers covered, and to consider setting up a database containing reliable and exhaustive information on collective bargaining coverage.