CEE Legal Matters
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Business start-ups and terminations reflect the recovery of the Hungarian economy after the downturn following the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. In the second quarter of last year, when the epidemic hit the country, only 5,041 companies were set up. Meanwhile, in the last three months of last year, the number was close to 9,000 and in the first quarter of this year it has already exceeded 9,000, as we discussed in a recent joint webinar with OPTEN.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) has issued a guidance document entitled “Return to the Workplace and EUI’s (European Institutions, Agencies and Bodies) screening of Covid immunity or infection status” (the “Guidance”).
The Government of the Republic of Serbia passed the Decision on the level of minimum labour wage for the period January – December 2022 and it was published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 87/2021 of 10 September 2021, while it shall apply from 1 January 2022 (“the Decision”).
Employees may have access to important and confidential information related to the employer, including the company’s operations, clientele and trade secrets. Use of such information without employer’s knowledge may harm the legitimate interests of the employer. In this respect, an employee should not compete with his/her employer according to the duty of fidelity during the term of the employment agreement. As this is a statutory duty imposed on the employee, there is no need for such non-compete obligation to be explicitly set out in the employment agreement.
COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly brought significant changes not only to the everyday life of citizens but also to the operations of business entities, i.e. to the way of establishing and conducting the work process.
During the summer, the Assembly in North Macedonia adopted relevant amendments to the Labour Law concerning the conditions for retirement. According to the estimations by the proposers of the amendment, around 6000 employees from the public and the private sector already reached 64 years of age by the end of 2020.
Technological progress has a magnificent impact on everyday business life, and one of the things made possible by it is creating the opportunity for employees to perform work outside their business premises. But although technological progress gave employers the means to operate their business through remote work, the rigidity in incorporating this work model in practice was shaken only after the COVID-19 pandemic struck, making the expansion of remote work models a result of practical necessity. The sudden spread of remote work in companies also brought concerns of legal nature, and questions like what are the best ways to regulate contracts, safety measures etc.
