Background information

This instrument was introduced in 2012 and is available to all employers. The explanatory ministerial note that came with the new labour code characterises employee sharing as a special form of part-time work, where an employee performs the same job for multiple employers – as set down in Article 195 of the Labour Code. More specifically, this means that only one job profile is provided in an employment contract, and all employers can request tasks that fit within the framework of that job specification, but not beyond it. Although Section 8 of Act CL of 2017 on Taxation slightly modified the wording of the Act, the essence has not changed.

Content of measure

The concept of employee sharing is based on an employment contract signed by one employee and two or more employers. Hence there is one employment relationship between the parties concerned and the employee works for all the employers.

The parties might specify for which employer the employee should work during specific hours of the working day. Such a setting is considered part-time work from the employer's point of view, as none of the employees count as a full-time employee.

Unlike agency work, employee sharing is not about transferring employers' rights to an outside party for profit, but involves two or more employers right from the beginning. Any employer may give orders to the shared employees, but cannot request all of their time. Moreover, the employee should not be requested to work more hours than a standard full-time employee. The employers may conclude an agreement among themselves specifying their respective rights and obligations regarding the shared employees (Kozma, 2012).

On the other hand, the employers must officially assign the obligations concerning the payment of wages, taxes and social security contributions to one among them, and they need to inform the employee about the choice.

Use of measure

It is a marginal, but growing form of employment in Hungary.  In 2012 there were only 54 cases where employees were shared, and their number reached nearly 14,000 in 2015. They constituted 0.12% of all Hungarian employees in 2015. No new data about the use of this employment form is available. Employee sharing is mostly established by members of groups of companies that organise their work in a uniform way, not at the level of individual companies, but at the level of company groups.

Advantages include flexibility: the regulation enables the parties involved to design the employee-sharing scheme according to their own needs – it may be used for ad-hoc employment for a joint project or for creating a more permanent employee-sharing structure. Employers can share payment, tax and social security obligations among them as they see fit, and the arrangement decreases the administrative burden compared with other legal options used for shared employment, for example when each employer in parallel conducts a part-time employment contract with the same employee.

Shortcomings include under regulation: the law gives only rough definitions for the specifics, while in practice, more boundaries should be set. Thus, there is some vulnerability to abuse. The lack of financial details and the need for constant coordination makes employers reluctant to enlist for employee-employment. It may also have a negative effect on employee benefits. While in principle the level of benefits is the same, in terms of employers paying the same as when paying wages, the jointly employed worker could be disfavoured compared with other workers.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	Employer

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 19 May 2011: Government of Hungary (2011), Magyar Munka Terv (The 'Hungarian Work' Plan) (2010-2014.kormany.hu)
• 03 October 2014: Kártyás, Gábor (2014), A több munkáltatóval fennálló munkaviszony dogmatikai és gyakorlati értékelése. (The doctrinal and practical assessment of shared employment). Iustum Aequum Salutare, Vol. X, No. 3. (epa.oszk.hu)
• 01 January 2016: Eurofound (2016), New forms of employment: Developing the potential of strategic employee sharing, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. (www.eurofound.europa.eu)
• 01 March 2016: Eurofound, New forms of employment Employee sharing, Hungary. Case study 15: Policy analysis (www.eurofound.europa.eu)
• 08 May 2017: Article on employee sharing - When the bosses join together: the employee sharing (kamaraonline.hu)
• 26 September 2019: Teszéri-Rácz Ildikó (2019): Több munkáltató, egy munkaviszony - de ki fizet? (Several employers, one employment contract – but who pays?). (www.jogkoveto.hu)
• 31 October 2019: Dr. Pintér Mariann (2019), A több munkáltatóval fennálló munkaviszony (ado.hu)