Background information

Working time account is a way of irregular distribution of working time. It is regulated by the Labour Code. The measures can be introduced on the basis of collective agreement or an agreement between an employer and employees’ representatives. In case of higher workload the employee works longer hours than the originally set weekly working time. This is called a positive working time account. In case of lower workload the employee work shorter hours than the original weekly working time or does not work at all. This is called a negative working time account.

Content of measure

An agreement on working time account implementation has to be in written form and cannot be replaced by the decision of the employer. An agreement between the employer and an employee must be concluded if this employee is a person with disability, pregnant woman, a parent taking care of a child younger than three years of age or a single parent taking care of a child up to 15 years of age.

Collective agreement or an agreement with employees’ representatives also recognises the period to balance the difference between originally set weekly working time and the real time worked. This balancing period cannot exceed 30 months.

Employer is obliged to announce the distribution of working time at least one week in advance. An average weekly working time, including the positive working time and other extra hours cannot exceed 48 hours in the period of 12 months. Furthermore, the employer pays the employee the basic wage component which refers to the originally set working time regardless the real worked hours. The employer pays also other wage components which are obligatory on basis of the Labour Code, working contract or the collective agreement.

Use of measure

An evaluation of the measure is not available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment Workers in non-standard forms of employment Parents in employment Single parents in employment Disabled workers Female workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Trade unions Company / Companies	Employer

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Unknown
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Not applicable

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

• Only trade unions
• Main level of involvement: Company level

Involvement

The measure can be implemented on the basis of collective agreement at company level.

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 01 January 2012: Working time account (Konto pracovného času) (www.kozsr.sk)
• 09 June 2020: Companies can avoid layoffs by the working time account implementation (Zavedením konta pracovného času sa firmy môžu vyhnúť prepúšťaniu) (www.webnoviny.sk)
• 01 June 2022: Act No. 311/2011 on Labour Code, as amended. Article 87a Working time account. (Zákon č. 311/2011 Z. z. Zákonník práce. Paragraph 87a Konto pracovného času) (www.slov-lex.sk)