Author(s): Tamás PRUGBERGER – Róbert ROMÁN

Title: CENTRAL EUROPEAN ISSUES RELATED TO THE PROTECTION OF THE INTERESTS OF EXECUTIVE EMPLOYEES IN THE LIGHT OF EURO-ATLANTIC LAW

Source: E. Korcsmáros (ed.): 12th International Conference of J. Selye University. Economics Section. Conference Proceedings

ISBN: 978-80-8122-375-4

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36007/3754.2020.335

Publisher: J. Selye University, Komárno, Slovakia

PY, pages: 2020, 335-342

Published on-line: 2020

Language: en

Abstract: This article examines a specific chapter of the Hungarian Labour Code, the regulation on executive employees. The study is comparative in nature and aims to reveal the difference between the old and the new legislation. It compares changes in past and current legislation and presents the solutions used in Western European labour law to achieve the most optimal regulation of the executive status. The study also looks at what solutions should be adopted in the field of management regulation and what would be the tasks of the legislation that would bring about the updating of labour law provisions. The final chapter presents the forms of Euro-Atlantic settlements that include rules for the protection of the interests of executive employees. The narrowed “de iure” notion of executive employees in Hungary also allows for abuse. That is because, in the absence of an 'ex lege' chain hierarchy of executive employees that exists in Western Europe and the United States, executive employees may be entitled to exercise ‘de facto’ management and control rights at lower levels on the basis of instructions and work organization from the employer. This, in turn, may lead to a background situation. According to Section 235 of the Hungarian Labour Code [1], the Hungarian works council belonging to the German-type unique works council systems, may only have subordinate employees as members and such a works council shall negotiate with the works owner and the management. However, due to the fact that the Hungarian Labour Code does not broadly define the concept of a manager and the hierarchical ranking of managers, it is possible to nominate formally nonmanagers to the works council as subordinate employees and direct the works council through them. So far, no one has addressed this problem in the Hungarian legal literature. Such a problem does not arise in the Western European legal literature, as in countries following the unique works council system this is prevented by the legal disclosure of the hierarchical chain of executive employees, and in dual systems the dual composition of works councils, where one side is occupied by members elected by subordinate employees from among their own circle, while the other side is provided by the upper level of executive employees by delegation from the employer. Regarding the conceptual scope of executive employees, the Hungarian legal literature only distinguishes executive officers from other executive employees with a particular emphasis on managers.

Keywords: labour law, executive employee, incompatibility, remuneration, working time

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