New conditions for employing foreigners

Employing workers from so-called third countries, i.e. countries outside the European Union, between a Slovak entity and a company based outside the EU is no longer possible under Slovak law. As the consultancy firm Deloitte reported in a press release, this major change in the labour market has occurred since May 1 this year, stemming from amendments to the Act on the Residence of Aliens and the Act on Employment Services. Slovak authorities, according to Deloitte, did not have the opportunity to verify the existence of the real functioning of a foreign company which sent workers to Slovakia. This caused the risk of fictitious employment between Slovak firms and companies which send foreign workers. Under the new rules, third-country workers will be able to work for a Slovak employer only directly on the basis of a work contract or a so-called in-house transfer of an employee.