The outbreak of a global pandemic affects the entire economy, including the labour market. In Hungary, a state of emergency was declared in view of the coronavirus pandemic by Government Decree No. 40/2020 (III. 11.), which also resulted in several further indirect effects. Events have been cancelled, hospitality venues have emptied, their opening hours have been restricted, and as a result of the subsequently ordered curfew restrictions, many shops have closed or moved into the online space, serving their customers exclusively through delivery. Such a shutdown deeply affects all employers, whether large corporations or SMEs.
Government Decree No. 47/2020 (III. 18.) also introduced changes to labour law regulation, as the provisions of the Labour Code must be applied with the derogations set out in the government decree until 30 days after the end of the state of emergency. Under the government decree, the employer may modify the already communicated working time schedule — in practice, the daily working time — at any time before the start of the scheduled daily working time. In addition, the employer becomes unilaterally entitled to order home office work and remote work for the employee.
This gives employers the opportunity to take several steps both to protect employees and to preserve the workplace. At the same time, these provisions shift the balance of power towards the employer by unilaterally authorising it to take the above measures. However, basic rules, such as the employer’s obligation to provide the tools necessary for work, may become a critical issue in the case of home office work.
The government decree also allows the employee and the employer to derogate from the provisions of the Labour Code in a separate agreement. The significance of this becomes particularly clear when compared with the traditional rule, under which derogation is only possible in favour of the employee. As a general rule, the Labour Code defines the minimum level of employee rights. The new rule created the possibility for the parties to derogate, for example, from guarantee rules such as the requirement to justify employer termination or the notice period.
Naturally, even in this case, any derogation from the Labour Code must be based on an agreement. Hopefully, this will lead to mutually acceptable solutions in a difficult situation perceived by both parties. From the perspective of general processes, however, it can be assumed that preserving employment relationships is valuable in itself, especially when compared with the increasingly common alternative of work performed in the platform economy — meaning work carried out through an online interface or mediated by a platform, legally as an entrepreneur, typically on an occasional basis — where individuals are not entitled to rights similar to those of employees.
In summary, it can be seen that market participants are given significant room for manoeuvre to find solutions to the unfortunate situation that has arisen, and we can only hope that this will lead to an outcome that is beneficial for all parties, at least as far as possible.