Slovakia

Temporary Refuge (protection) in the Slovak Republic is currently provided until 4 March 2023 (unless the Slovak government prolongs it) to the following groups of people:

a) Ukrainian citizens and their family members (husband / wife, minor child of Ukrainian citizen or Ukrainian citizen’s spouse, parent of minor child who is citizen of Ukraine, other close relative of Ukrainian citizen who lived in the common household at the time of the circumstances surrounding the mass influx of displaced persons and was wholly or partly dependent on him/her).

b) Foreigners who are not citizens of Ukraine and have international protection or equivalent national protection in the territory of Ukraine granted before 24 February 2022 and their family members, if their family lived in Ukraine before 24 February 2022.

c) Foreigners who are not nationals of Ukraine and have a permanent residence in the territory of Ukraine granted before 24 February 2022 and who cannot return to their country or region of origin under safe and stable conditions.

Those eligible can apply for Temporary Refuge in the large registration center (Michalovce, Bratislava), or the respective Foreign Police department (in case of pregnant women, families with children of up to 6 years old, persons older than 65 years). There is also transfer arranged for persons to get to the large registration centers.

​Ukrainian citizens can also apply for Temporary Refuge electronically. If they fill in their data in advance, this will considerably speed up the administrative processes directly at the police department. After filling in the electronic form for registering for Temporary Refuge, it is necessary to visit the police department or a large registration center in person. In case of minor children, declaration is made by their legal representative.

Temporary Refuge will be provided immediately if the person has a travel, identification or other documents.

In the case of person not having any documents, the application for Temporary Refuge should be processed within 30 calendar days. Even if applying without having required documents, based on official information provided by the Ministry of Interior, accommodation, food, health care and hygienic packages will be provided straightaway.

Once a person is granted Temporary Refuge, he/she can be employed immediately by Slovak employers.

a) The right to accommodation,
b) The right to food in the establishment of the Ministry of the Interior of the SR,
c) The right to urgent and necessary health care,
d) The right to hygienic needs (if accommodated in the establishment of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic),
e) The right to be employed,
f) It makes it easier for children to access education.

In the absence of prolongation of Temporary Refuge, in order to be able to stay in the territory of Slovakia after expiry of Temporary Refuge for longer than 90 days (period applicable based on visa-free regime), a person with granted Temporary Refuge (protection) should apply for temporary residence.

The conditions for obtaining temporary residence are as follows:

a) The first step is to apply for temporary residence. The application must be made in person and in the Slovak language.

b) The application must be accompanied by several documents, such as:

• valid passport
• photograph,
• document confirming the purpose of the stay (certified copy of a trade licence/ work permit/ school admission document/ marriage certificate)*
• criminal record extract
• proof of accommodation in the Slovak Republic – the title deed of the property in the Slovak Republic or an affidavit of the property owner to provide a person with accommodation.

*In case of temporary residence for the purpose of entrepreneurship, the applicant must first acquire a trade license, which must be submitted together with the application for temporary residence.

The Authority shall issue a decision within 90 days from the date of submission of a complete application. The temporary residence permit is granted for the first time for a maximum period of 2 years and may be renewed repeatedly. If a person is granted temporary residence for 5 years, he/she has the right to apply for permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

Under Slovak law, a dependent work can only be performed in an employment or similar labour relationship. The Slovak Labour Code provides for a definition of dependent work:

Dependent work is 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 for a wage or remuneration.

Based on the provided definition, there are following criteria for dependent work which must be fulfilled at the same time:
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1. Subordination of the employee to the employer;
2. Personal performance of work for the employer;
3. Work is performed in the employer’s name;
4. Work is performed during a specified working time set by the employer;
5. Work is performed for a wage or remuneration.

​Despite the above criteria must be fulfilled at the same time, the absence of an agreement on some of the defining features (e.g. specified working time) does not automatically exclude the reclassification of relationship to employment. Such absence, especially if the practice between the parties indicates otherwise (the legal relationship is primarily assessed based on its contents) might be considered as circumvention of law rather than actual absence of a defining feature.

​Therefore, if services provided by a self-employed person meet the above criteria and constitute dependent work under Slovak Labour Code, there is a risk that the relationship between a self-employed person and a legal entity to which the services are provided might be reclassified to employment relationship. Evaluation of the risk would depend mostly on the dynamics between the legal entity and the independent contractor, i.e. whether the criteria for dependent work are met. This risk would be imminent mostly with respect to relationship between self-employed persons and Slovak legal entities (e.g. in case of labour inspection). However, since the employment relationship is in the case of absence of choice of law governed by the laws of habitual place of work (in this case Slovakia), even if the self-employed person is contracted by a foreign legal entity, in the case of reclassification of the relationship to employment, based on conflict-of-law legal provisions, the relationship would enjoy statutory protection of the Slovak labour law provisions that cannot be derogated from.

Thus, as long as the habitual place of work is in Slovakia and the self-employed person performs services which qualify as dependent work, the risk of reclassification of relationship to employment under Slovak law cannot be excluded.

Consequences of reclassification of relationship to employment are as follows:

a) relationship would be considered illegal employment under the Slovak Act No. 82/2005 Coll., on Illegal Work and Illegal Employment, as amended;
b) for a violation of the prohibition of illegal employment, the Labour Inspectorate is required to impose a penalty of EUR 2,000 up to EUR 200,000;
c) employer is banned from public procurement, public subsidies and from receiving funds from the EU and ESF;
d) Social Insurance Agency may impose a penalty of up to EUR 16,596.96;
e) Health Insurance Agency may impose a penalty of up to EUR 3,319; f) Mandatory contributions to social insurance can be imposed for the period of duration of the concealed employment.
f) Mandatory contributions to social insurance can be imposed for the period of duration of the concealed employment.