Hungary: specific labor courts will soon cease to exist

As of 01 January 2020, Hungary’s labor courts currently dealing with private sector employee cases will cease to exist. Legislation adopted at the end of 2018 on labor tribunals (21 December 2018, text in English) enacted the end of these courts that had specifically addressed labor disputes. They will now see their prerogatives taken up by two different bodies: the administrative tribunal that will address issues pertaining to the public sector, and the currently operating general regional tribunals (roughly twenty currently) that will focus on private sector labor disputes. On average more than 10,000 such legal cases are brought to the courts in Hungary, although that number has been shrinking over several years. László Kordás, president of MASZSZ (Hungarian Trade Union Association with 120,000 members) is critical of the fact that going forward, work-related complaints may be heard by judges not versed in this subject matter. He also warned that the changes risked putting workers off from wanting to exercise their rights in the area of labor disputes. He affirmed, “Since the new Labor Code was adopted in 2012, the government has been sticking to its intention to destroy employees’ rights.”