Hungary

The monthly minimum wage is 266,800 HUF for unskilled labour and 326,000 HUF for skilled labour (jobs requiring secondary education or professional qualifications). Minimum wages may also be set within Collective Bargaining Agreements.

Common Benefits

Individual or season tickets for sports events, holiday gift cards, meals allowance, mobile phone allowance, car allowance/reimbursement.

Employees are entitled to 15 days of paid sick leave paid by the employer. They receive 70.00% of their salary rate based on the average salary across the previous six months.

Should the sickness continue past the 15th day, the employee is entitled to further time off up to one year (or in the event of a work accident for an unlimited period). The sick payment is paid at a rate of one-third of the payment made by the employer and two-thirds paid by the National Health Insurance Fund.

All employees are entitled to a paid vacation of 20 days every year, which increases according to the employee’s age to a maximum of 30 days for employees over 45 years of age.

In addition, employees with children under 16 years of age are entitled to extra vacation time as follows:

• Two working days for one child

• Four working days for two children

• Seven working days for three children

In case the child is with disabilities, extra vacation days must be increased by two working days.Both parents may request this extra vacation time.

Upon the birth of his child, a father shall be entitled to five extra vacation days, or seven days in the case of twins, until the end of the second month from the date of birth.

Public holidays that fall on the weekend are usually lost.

Date Day Holiday
1 Jan 2024 - Monday - New Year’s Day
15 Mar 2024 - Friday - Revolution Day
29 Mar 2024 - Friday - Good Friday
1 Apr 2024 - Monday - Easter Monday
1 May 2024 - Wednesday - Labour Day
20 May 2024 - Monday - Whit Monday
20 Aug 2024 - Tuesday - Saint Stephen’s Day
23 Oct 2024 - Wednesday - Republic Day
1 Nov 2024 - Friday - All Saints’ Day
25 Dec 2024 - Wednesday - Christmas Day
26 Dec 2024 - Thursday - 2nd Day of Christmas

Employers can terminate a fixed-term contract for the following reasons – business, personal, or worker misconduct. It requires notice and a written explanation for the termination.

If the employer terminates an indefinite employment contract by dismissal notice, the employer must provide written reasoning (except for retired employees). The employment relationship can be terminated by the employer, based on only the following reasons:

• The employee’s behaviour at work (e.g., not fulfilling obligations, being unable to cooperate with colleagues, causing a breach of trust, etc.)

• the employee’s skills mismatch (e.g., lack of the right abilities, capabilities, knowledge, etc.), with no right to terminate an employee due to temporary incapacity for work

• Company operations (e.g., reorganization within the company, “quality replacement” with a better qualified employee)

• The reason for termination must be factual, reasonable, and clear.

The employee needs to be warned if the reason is misconduct, so they have an opportunity to explain their actions. the employer must be able to prove the validity and reality of the reasons for termination.

The employer has the right to terminate the employment contract with immediate effect under specific circumstances:

• significantly breaches any substantial obligations deriving from the employment contract, willfully or with gross negligence, or

• behaves in a way that makes the continuance of the employment impossible.

• The breach of an obligation from the employment relationship must be significant to enable the employer/employee to terminate the employment relationship immediately. However, the significance of the breach correlates not to the amount of the damages occurred but to the degree of the gravity of the breach.

As per the Labour Code, immediate termination can be initiated within 15 days of discovering the grounds for termination or in cases of criminal offences up to the statute of limitations for criminal liability. Failure to adhere to this deadline would render the termination unlawful.

During the probation period, both parties can terminate the employment contract immediately.

Certain employees enjoy protection from termination during specific periods, including:

• Pregnancy

• Maternity leave

• Unpaid child care leave (This protection extends until the child reaches the age of 3, if the employee chooses not to take this leave)

• Voluntary military service

• In vitro fertilization process (for a duration of six months)

Upon termination of the employment relationship by notice, the employee should receive the final salary payment no later than the fifth working day after the termination of the employment relationship.

Under the EOR model MTA is advised to minimize risk

Notice Period

In Hungary, the notice period is 30 days. If the employer terminates the employment, the 30-day notice period must be extended by a set number of days based on the years of service:

• After three years of service, five additional days’ notice is required

• After five years of service, 15 additional days’ notice is required

• After eight years of service, 20 additional days’ notice is required

• After ten years of service, 25 additional days’ notice is required

• After fifteen years of service, 30 additional days’ notice is required

• After eighteen years of service, 40 additional days’ notice is required

• After twenty years of service, 60 additional days’ notice is required

By agreement of the parties, the notice period may be extended by up to six months. No notice is required whilst on probation.

Severance Pay

Employees are entitled to severance pay after completing 3 years of service. It is required and varies between 1-6 months’ salary depending on the length of service and age of the worker.

Severance is not required when using a fixed-term contract.

Probation Period

The statutory length of probation in Hungary is no more than three months. Should the contracted probation period be less than three months, the parties may extend the duration once, but for no longer than three months in its entirety.

For foreign nationals to enter Hungary to work, they need to apply for one of the following work permits:

• Individual work permit – For foreign nationals who want to work in Hungary for no more than 90 days.

• Joint work permit – For foreign nationals who wish to work in Hungary for more than 90 days and within 180 days.

• Residence permits – Permits residency in Hungary for up to 90 days.

• Single application procedure – Non-EEA nationals who wish to reside in Hungary for more than 90 days within 180 days. An employee can only apply for this permit type through an employment relationship with a Hungarian employer.

Types of Visas

• Long Stay Visa (D) – Those who wish to stay in Hungary long-term act as a pre-approved residency permit.

• Working Schengen Visa – This visa type is used for short-term employment opportunities.

• Schengen Business Visa – For foreign non-EEA nationals who wish to travel to a Schengen area temporarily. This visa can be used for single or multiple entries. It allows holders to stay for 90 days within six months.

• Seasonal Employment Visa – foreign nationals who wish to work in agriculture, animal husbandry, or fishing are eligible for this visa. This allows the applicant to work for no more than 180 days.

• EU Blue Card – a highly-skilled non-EU worker, residing in an EU-member country can apply for this card as long as a residence permit is acquired. The foreign national will need to prove 18 months of lawful stay in a member state to be eligible for this card.

A residence permit is valid for up to 3 years. A work permit is valid for two years, while a visa can be valid for a year.