Minimum Wage

General

The national minimum wage is 3.71 EUR per hour and 646.00 EUR per month.

Payroll

Payroll Cycle

The payroll frequency is typically month. The employer must make salary payments at least once a month.

13th Salary

There is no legal requirement for 13-month payments. Employers may issue bonuses at their discretion.

Working Hours

General

A standard work week is 40 hours, at 8 hours per day.

Overtime

All work over the the standard working hours a week is to be paid as overtime and is regulated by employment contract/collective agreements. When an employee is requested to work overtime or work on holidays, there are maximums in relation to the number of hours allowed.

• Hours in excess of 40 hours a week are paid at an overtime compensation rate; typically 125.00% of the employee’s average salary rate.
• Hours performed at night, the overtime is paid at 140.00% of the employee’s standard rate.
• Hours completed on a Saturday are compensated at 150.00% of the employee’s salary
• Overtime worked on a Sunday is paid at 200.00% of the employee’s standard pay.

Working Week

Monday-Friday

Leave

Paid Time Off

The annual leave entitlement differs depending on the employees’ time in service and the job sector.

• The standard rate of allowance is four weeks;
• Employees that are 33 years of age or older are entitled to five weeks of annual leave.
• Employees who work in dangerous, complex, or demanding jobs such as teachers are allowed eight weeks of leave.
• Employees who are also parents are also entitled to eight weeks of vacation leave.
• Employees who haven’t completed a year of service but have worked 60 consecutive days are entitled to annual leave accrued at the rate of 1/12 for every 21 days worked.

An employee may carry over unused annual leave entitlement to the next vacation year; however, an employee must take the leave that year.

Public Holidays

There are 15 public holidays in Slovakia.  

Sick Days

Employees are entitled to ten days of paid sick leave, which is compensated at 25.00% of the employees’ standard pay rate for the first three days of sickness. For the 4th to the 10th day of sickness, the leave is paid at 55.00% of the employee’s standard salary.

Sick leave that surpasses ten days is compensated through a social security benefit of 55.00% of the employee’s regular daily rate.

To gain sickness pay employees must provide a medical certificate.

Maternity Leave

A female employee is entitled to 34 weeks of paid maternity leave. An employee expecting multiple births is entitled to 43 weeks of maternity leave, and a single mother is entitled to 37 weeks of paid maternity leave. Commonly, an employee would begin their maternity leave between six and eight weeks before the expected delivery date, and the leave cannot be less than 14 weeks by law.

The Social Security agency pays maternity leave at 75.00% of the employee’s daily salary.

Paternity Leave

If a mother is not receiving maternity or parental benefits, the child’s father may take leave beginning when the child is six weeks old for 28 weeks.

Single fathers are entitled to 31 weeks of paternity leave paid by the Social Security agency.

Parental Leave

A parent or guardian can request parental leave until the child reaches three years of age. In the unfortunate case that the child has a long-term health condition, an employee can request parental leave until the child is six years of age.

The parental allowance is paid by the Central Office of Labor Social Affairs and the family.

Other Leave

In Slovakia, in civic duty leave, an employer must provide unpaid leave to enable an employee to fulfil their civic duties.

An employee is also granted paid military service leave compensated by the military authority directly.

Termination

Termination Process

The termination process varies according to the Employment Agreement or Collective Agreement in place and is based on the type of contract and reason for termination.  Employees may be terminated in writing with two months’ notice by:

• Agreement
• Notice of termination
• Immediate dismissal or termination
• Notice of termination during a probationary period

Employees are entitled to severance pay if they have been terminated due to:

• Company being dissolved or moved, and the employee not wanting to move
• Employee is made redundant
• Employee is no longer able to perform the job for health reasons

Notice Period

The notice period is dependent on the employees’ time of service as follows:

• All employees must be given at least one months’ notice unless the Labour Code stipulates a longer notice period
• 1 year up to 5 years an employer must give two months’ notice
• 5 years+ three months’ notice must be provided.

Employees who wish to terminate the contract employment must provide one month of notice if they were employed for one year or less and two months of notice if the employer has completed two or more years of service.

Severance Pay

An employee’s length of service and the reason and type of termination determines the severance pay rate. If an employee is terminated with notice, a minimum of four times the employee’s average monthly earnings is to be paid.

Probation Period

Probation periods may vary depending on the employment contract in place. However, a probation period is limited to three months for operational roles or six months for managerial positions.

VISA

VISA

Slovakia’s immigration system provides several options for employers of foreign nationals. Slovakia ​is a member of the European Union (EU) and the Schengen Area. Requirements, processing times, employment eligibility, and benefits for accompanying family members vary by permit type.

Business visitors to Slovakia typically use a local version of the Schengen C Visa, which foreign nationals must obtain before travel unless they are visa exempt based on their nationality. The Schengen Area generally limits stays to 90 days in any 180 days.

The main work authorisation categories are:

• The EU Intra-Company Transferee Permit, suitable for the intracompany​ transfer of managers, specialists, and graduate trainees from outside the European Union
• The Single Permit for Local Hires, suitable for locally hiring experienced foreign workers where no local staff is available
• The EU Blue Card, suitable for local hiring of highly skilled, highly paid workers. EU/European Economic Area (EEA)/Swiss nationals do not require work or residence permits, but they must report their stay and register their residence if their stay exceeds three months.

VAT

General

The standard VAT rate is 20%.