Undeclared work liability
The term “undeclared work” is not defined in Slovak legislation. The most relevant legal reference is provided by the Act on illicit work and illicit employment (Act No. 82/2005 Coll.).
The law defines illicit work as dependent work performed by a natural person for a legal entity or sole proprietor, where:
(i) there is no labour-law or state- civil-service-law relation established between the two parties pursuant to special regulation347, or
(ii) the natural person is a third country national employed in conflict with respective provisions.
At the same time, the law determines illicit employment as employment of a natural person by a legal entity or sole proprietor who makes use of dependent work of
a) of a natural person and do not have an employment relationship with them or a civil service relationship pursuant to a special regulation,
b) of a natural person, they have a labour-law relationship but the employer has not complied with his/her obligation to notify the Social Insurance Agency within 7 days from the expiry of period for registering to this register at the latest to the commencement of the inspection of illegal work and illegal employment, provided the inspection commenced within 7 days from the expiry of period for the registration to this register or
c) third country national and the conditions for their employment are not met pursuant to provisions on employment of third country nationals and asylum seekers and/or staying in the territory of the Slovak Republic in conflict with legal provisions regulating the stay of foreigners.
A key aspect in defining (and proving) illicit work and illicit employment is the performance of dependent work, which is defined as work carried out in a relation where the employer is superior and the employee is subordinate, and in which the employee carries out work personally for the employer, according to the employer’s instructions, in the employer’s name, during working time set by the employer.
Penalties
Employers who illicitly employed persons are fined with EUR 2 000 – 200 000 (the minimum fine is EUR 5 000 if two and more persons were illicitly employed).
Administrative sanctions include, for example, cancellation of trade license, license of temporary work agency, no access to EU funds and public tenders for a period of 5 years, etc.
Illicit workers may be fined with EUR 331, removed from the register of job seekers and obliged to return received unemployment benefits (if relevant).
National Labour Inspectorate maintains a publicly accessible list of employers who have infringed the ban on illicit employment in the past 5 years.