A new amendment to the Labor Code, entering into force on August 1, 2024, supplements and revises the provisions on the obligation of a service supplier in the territory of the Slovak Republic to pay wages that were not paid to the employee by the employer who is a direct subcontractor of the service supplier.

The obligation applies only to wages for the performance of construction works related to the construction, repair, maintenance, alteration or demolition of buildings, and only to the extent of the minimum wage valid at the time the employee performed the work in question.

Until now, the Labor Code contained similar regulation applicable only to employees sent to perform work in the territory of the Slovak Republic. From the effective date of the amendment, this obligation will apply also to domestic relations.

The service supplier may refuse to pay the wage if it proves that it had proceeded with due diligence to select the direct subcontractor, i.e. the service supplier must demonstrate that it made an effort to choose a contractual partner that is not expected to fail to pay wages to employees.

The service supplier will thus be required, for example, to ensure that the agreed price for the performance of the subcontractor is not unreasonably low without economic justification, or the subcontractor does not have arrears on taxes, social security contributions and health insurance, i.e. it can be foreseen that the company will not fail to pay wages.

However, the service supplier will not be able to refuse the payment of wages to the employee of the subcontractor if, as of the day of exercising the right to payment of wages, the service supplier has not fulfilled its due monetary obligation for the performance of work owed to the subcontractor.