New rules on employing non-EU citizens might be of advantage for employers
Recently, Slovakia took several steps to counteract its lack of human resources. New rules in the Slovak Labour Law ‒ in force from 1 May 2018 ‒ simplify employment of non-EU citizens.
Employing non-EU citizens is simpler if two conditions are met: 1. lack of human resources in a certain field, 2. unemployment under 5% in the respective region. The Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family must keep a list of these jobs and regions and publish the list on its website before 31 January of the following year. The list was published for the first time on 30 June 2018.
From now on, the Office of Labour will not check the situation in the labour market, i.e. if the position can be filled by an unemployed Slovak citizen. This will make employment of non-EU citizens quicker and simpler. Previously, a position could only be filled by a non-EU citizen after the expiry of 30 days from publication of the job offer. In cases where the new, simpler procedure does not apply, the amendment reduces the period to 20 days.
So, for those who are looking for human resources in one of the fields included in the list, the Office of Labour will issue confirmation about the possibility to fill the position immediately. However, this applies only if fewer than 30% of employees are non-EU citizens. This number includes part-time employees.
For employers who are interested, we are ready to provide more information on this topic.