Let's have a look at the changes in the field of law in 2022, which concern entrepreneurs, namely in the field of labor, construction and corporate law.

Labor law

The most important changes to the Labor Code since 01. 01. 2022

• New reason for termination of work contract - termination due to the age of 65 - update: suspended due to a decision of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic - employers will therefore not be able to use it yet.
• Catering for employees:
  • from 1 January 2022 at the latest, the employer is obliged to provide the employee, who performs work for more than 4 hours within the work shift, either to provide meals in the catering facility or if he does not provide meals in the catering facility, he is obliged to allow the employee to choose between meal voucher or financial contribution for catering;
  • there is a unification of the maximum amount of allowance for all forms of meals (employer's allowance for food, allowance for a meal voucher so-called gastro ticket and financial allowance for meals) up to a maximum of 55% of the amount of meals provided for business trips lasting 5 to 12 hours.
  • If the employer provides a higher meal allowance, it will no longer be considered a tax expense and will be subject to levy by both the employer and the employee. However, the employer may provide the employee with a higher contribution from the social fund, which would exempt him from taxes and levies.
• Support during part-time work (kurzarbeit)
  • On 1 January 2022, Act no. 215/2021 on support during part-time work and on the amendment of certain laws (referred to as the “Kurzarbeit Act”) was supposed to enter into effect, which regulates the provision of support during part-time work (referred to as “support”). However, the effectiveness of the Kurzarbeit Act will be postponed to 1 March 2022.
  • ATTENTION Although the legislator postponed the drawings of the Kurzarbeit, it did not postpone the exemption from the obligation to register the recipient of COVID in the register of public sector partners (referred to as "RPVS"). Therefore, those entrepreneurs who will receive first aid in January and February 2022 will be obliged to enroll in RPVS under certain conditions.

The most important changes being prepared by the Labor Code since 1 August, 2022. - the amendment proposes:

• supplementing the provisions concerning the employment contract (e.g. clarification of the essential elements of the employment contract),
• expanding the range of information that the employee should receive in order to ensure the requirement of transparency and predictability of the work performed
• introduction of a new information obligation of the employer regarding the provision of information on working conditions and employment conditions, if they are not included in the employment contract (e.g. regarding the place of work and its designation)
• provision for the providing of information also in electronic form
• addition of provisions concerning the work-life balance of parents (e.g. the possibility to request flexible forms of work),

Construction law

In 2022, a new building law is to be approved with effect from 1 January 2023. The most important changes:

• the whole process of obtaining a building permit should be electronic;
• all building offices will be abolished and a new central building office will be created, which will have detached workplaces in regions;
• approximately from 2030, all municipalities should have developed new zoning plans according to the new methodology. This obligation will be covered by the recovery fund. A zoning decision will not be necessary if the municipality has a zoning plan according to the new methodology;
• binding deadlines are set for the comments of the authorities concerned. If the authority does not respond within that period, it shall be deemed to have given its consent.

Corporate law

Institute for the Renewal of the Registration of Deleted Companies from 14 December 2021.

• the amendment to the Commercial Code allowed the extension of deleted companies that did not fulfill the obligation to convert the share capital from the Slovak currency to the euro currency.
• the amendment temporarily introduces the institute of renewal of the registration of such deleted companies in the Commercial Register. The proposal for renewal of the registration must be submitted by 31 January 2022.

Family business from 1. 7. 2022

The interdepartmental comment procedure also includes an amendment to the Act on the Social Economy and Social Enterprises, which, among other things, introduces the concept of family business as well as the mechanism of family business registration or the creation of a new body "family business council".

Bankruptcy Act

A new law on resolving imminent bankruptcy is in the interdepartmental comment procedure:

• the aim is to provide debtors with sufficient scope for effective and rapid preventive restructuring at an early stage, when bankruptcy is still 'imminent', in order to prevent the debtor from going bankrupt;
• the obligation of the debtor to file for bankruptcy due to insolvency is returned.