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Hungary: New rules for remote work

23.11.2020

In the present Covid-19 pandemic, working from home has been becoming more and more popular as a means of protecting employees’ health. The Hungarian Government also wishes to support this phenomenon and has therefore simplified the rules on remote work with Government Decree no. 487/2020 during the state of danger.

What does remote work mean?

According to Hungarian law, working from home does not automatically result in the applicability of the rules regarding remote work. In accordance with consistent legal practice, when employees do not work in the office, a distinction must be made between home office and remote work. Home office is said to occur if the employee works from home only on an ad hoc basis, but remote work is if the employee works from home regularly, for a longer period. Accordingly, the new rules of remote work are to be applied in the latter case. 

What are the new rules?

The main changes regarding remote work during the state of danger are as follows:

  • The provisions of the Hungarian Labour Safety Act regarding remote work need not be applied, e.g. risk assessment regarding remote work need not be carried out, safety of working tools and working environment need not be examined by the employer, etc. However, employers must inform their employees of the rules of healthy and safe working conditions based on which employees shall choose their workplaces.
  • The rules of accounting regarding reimbursement provided to employees in connection with remote work have been also changed. A part of this reimbursement is to be considered an item that may be charged as an eligible cost without certificate, etc.

    Employers and employees can now agree to deviate from provisions of the Hungarian Labour Code related to remote work from which it was not possible to deviate in an agreement before. This means that, if the parties mutually agree,
  1. the employee can be employed under the condition of remote work even if this condition was not included in his/her original employment agreement (remote work cannot be ordered by the employer unilaterally, as was possible during the state of danger last spring),
  2. the employer is not obliged to fulfil its information obligations regarding remote work, and
  3. the employer is not obliged to ensure the employee to enter the employer’s premises and contact other employees.

 

Employment & Pensions
Corona Task Force

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