In the last two parts of our series introducing the new legal framework of the employment of third-country nationals in Hungary we dealt with the basic types, the procedural rules, and the details of employing “ordinary workers”. In this last part of our article series, we share the detailed rules for employing highly competent employees.
After introducing the types of residence permits for employment purposes in our previous article, this time we will examine in detail the forms of employing “ordinary workers” in Hungary based on the new legal environment. By “ordinary workers” we mean workers who do not belong to the category of highly competent employees, which will be discussed in the next part of this series.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Hungarian lawmaker created a completely new legal environment for the employment of third-country nationals and introduced special residence titles. We will introduce the new legal regime in a series of articles, the first part of which will cover the types of residence permits for employment purposes and the procedural rules.
When it comes to joint data processing, the simplest case is for the joint controllers do declare themselves as such and to set out their tasks and responsibilities in an agreement. There are, however, cases where the capacity of joint controller arises from a legal provision. In its fresh decision, the Court of Justice of the European Union answers the questions whether national law can implicitly nominate the controller or joint controllers.
Do supervisory authorities have the power to order the erasure of unlawfully processed personal data even if the data subject has not made such request? What is more important: ensuring the high level of protection required by the GDPR or respecting the data subject's private autonomy which is served by the principle of limits of action? In its fresh decision, the Court of Justice of the European Union had to answer these questions in a case related to Hungary.
I often hear from clients when we are discussing their role in relation to personal data processing that “we cannot be controllers, we do not hold and process the data, but an agent does”. This idea may seem logical at first sight, but is this indeed the case? Let’s find out from a recent judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which addresses the issues of controller and joint controller status.
I often hear from clients when we are discussing their role in relation to personal data processing that “we cannot be controllers, we do not hold and process the data, but an agent does”. This idea may seem logical at first sight, but is this indeed the case? Let’s find out from a recent judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which addresses the issues of controller and joint controller status.
Under the GDPR, data subjects may claim compensation if they suffered damages because the controller infringed his obligations under the GDPR. Does a data theft by cybercriminals mean that the controller has not adopted appropriate data security measures meaning that he failed to comply with his data protection obligations? Can the data subject claim compensation if his only damage is the fear that his personal data was misused? The Court of Justice of the European Union answered these questions in a fresh decision which will be analysed in this short article.
From 1 January 2024, companies operating in Hungary will face new significant cyber security related obligations under the Hungarian legislation implementing the EU NIS2 Directive. In this short article, we describe which companies will be affected by the new regulation and what are the most important tasks in the new year.
There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic was a fundamental shock to the Hungarian economy. Many business operators have tried to reduce their losses by terminating contracts, referring to the coronavirus as force majeure cause and there have now been more court decisions in such cases. A recent one deals with the question whether a long-term framework contract may be terminated because of the impossibility of the performance, invoking the coronavirus as a force majeure.
Social media platforms significantly changed the ways how people express their opinions: sharing views became easier than ever. On the one hand, this is positive, but on the other hand, it is also dangerous in the employment context, as the employee's opinion may be prejudicial to the employer's interests. A recent decision of the Hungarian Supreme Court gives answer to the question whether the employer can dismiss the employee for expressing his opinion on Facebook.
Based on the GDPR, data controllers have several obligations, such as maintaining the records of data processing or in case of joint controllers, entering into an agreement which determines their respective responsibilities for compliance with their data protection related obligations. In a recent case, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) needed to decide on the issue whether the non-compliance with these obligations constitutes unlawful processing resulting in the duty to erase the personal data of the data subject.
Five years ago, probably the most common concern of companies across the European Union was to reach compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. In the recent years, tempers have calmed down, nevertheless the application of the GDPR raises interesting legal questions from time to time. To celebrate the GDPR’s fifth birthday, we collected five landmark decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreting the GDPR that made a high impact on data controllers’ lives.
Companies who are the victims of trade secret thefts by their employees in Hungary are protected on more levels: in addition to relying on the Business Secret Act, they can invoke the Labour Code, as well. Less clear is to which court should employers turn to in case they decide to sue their former employee and the competitor, employing the latter. Is the commercial court or the labour court the right forum? We analyse the question in the light of a recent judgment of the Hungarian Supreme Court.
The General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) offers more types of remedies to individuals whose rights were infringed. Can those remedies be exercised parallelly, or shall the person concerned choose among them? The Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) provides an answer to this question in its fresh decision, delivered in a Hungarian case.
Non-competition agreements are popular for protecting the employer’s economic interest in Hungary. While employers try to secure their businesses as much as possible by stipulating excessive restrictions in the non-compete clauses, it is not always the right tactic, as shown by a recent decision of a Hungarian appellate court. The analysis of this decision provides a perfect opportunity to see how not to fall into the pitfall of an invalid non-competition agreement in Hungary.
What can the judge do if the facts support the claimant's claim, but the party incorrectly stated the legal title of the claim? Can the court award the claimant's claim on the correct legal title? The Civil Procedure Code, which has been in force since 2018, provides a clear answer to this question, and in our short article we will explore the issue of the limits of action by legal title through a recent decision of the Supreme Court.
The General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) offers more types of remedies to individuals whose rights were infringed. Can those remedies be exercised parallelly, or shall the person concerned choose among them? The Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) provides an answer to this question in its fresh decision, delivered in a Hungarian case.
The only thing more annoying than an award-debtor concealing their assets after successful arbitral proceedings is an award-debtor trying to further frustrate the award-enforcement by concluding a choice-of-court agreement. But does this kind of jurisdiction clause extend to the non-signatory award-creditor? This article analyses the recent decision of a Hungarian appellate court, delivered under the EU Brussels Ibis Regulation,(1) in which the court had to rule on the personal scope of a jurisdiction clause.
Business life involves a variety of contracts that are not regulated by the civil codes in continental jurisdictions. In cases where the parties conclude a so-called "atypical contract", it is for the judge to decide whether the default rules of a nominated contract regulated by the Civil Code can be applied in a gap-filling function. The recent decision of a Hungarian appellate court, which was also published in the Hungarian Collection of Court Decisions, analysed whether a workforce supplier could invoke the rules applicable to agency contracts to support their damage claim under Hungarian law.
As the well-known proverb says humans make mistakes. Thus, it can happen that a contract prepared by the employer contains clauses that do not represent his real will. What measures can the employer take in such cases under Hungarian labour law? Is the employee expected to point out the error? The recent judgement of the Hungarian Supreme Court answers these questions.
Our Managing Partner, dr. Richard Schmidt has been listed as international arbitrator practitioner at the Vienna International Arbitration Centre, with effect from 1st January 2022.
The Supreme Court recently ruled in the case of a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award-winning composer who sued a French company in Hungary because of the illegal use of his music in video games distributed on online platforms. Besides the issue of the Hungarian courts' jurisdiction on a matter involving a foreign defendant and international copyright infringements, the other issue was whether the original licence granted by the claimant covered these different modes of exploitation.
In its recent judgment, the Hungarian Supreme Court addressed the question whether the immediate termination is lawful if it refers to several minor infringements of the employee already sanctioned by the employer prior to the termination. In our short article we analyse the decision of the Supreme Court and the relevant judicial practice.
The non-compete agreement may provide protection of the legitimate economic interests of the employer even after the termination of employment relationship. However, the Hungarian Labour Code lays down strict requirements for the agreement. In our article we analyse a recent decision of the Supreme Court about the importance of the precise determination of the compensation, so you as an employer can conclude a valid non-compete agreement.
Our Colleague, Anita Vereb made a presentation at the debate meeting of the Hungarian Labour Law Association called „The right to freedom of expression in the employment relationship” about the court practice of employee opinions published on social media platforms.
In the recent weeks, a number of questions have been arisen whether the employer may know the data contained by the „immunity card”, which aim is to certify immunity to coronavirus. Is the employer entitled to request information from the employee regarding the immunity card or store the information concerning its employee? In this article we answer the above questions on the basis of the information („Information”) of Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
Our Managing Partner, dr. Richard Schmidt has been enrolled on the list of arbitrators of the Arbitration Court attached to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with effect from 1st February 2021. In connection with the above, our colleague, dr.Anita Vereb made a short interview with Richard about arbitration in Hungary.
In the recent past, the Court of Justice of the European Union had to deal with the question whether an accommodation operator registered to Booking.com can sue the latter because of abuse of dominant position. In this short article we analyse the background of the case and the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In its recent decision, the Curia dealt with questions, which may affect many employer in Hungary. Whether the non-compete clause of an employment contract, obliging the employee to pay a fixed amount damages in case of breach of the non-competition agreement, is valid? We analyse the decision in our short article.
Since in the middle of summer 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) invalidated the Privacy Shield and put into question the applicability of the standard contractual clauses, we were wating for guidance from the European Data Protection Board (EDPR) how to transfer personal data to non-EEA countries in a GDPR-compliant way. Finally, the EDPB broke the silence and provided a 6-step guide which we summarize in this short article.
In its recent decision, the Curia dealt with the issue concerning what are the consequences if you fail to put in writing the employment contract which contains a probationary period clause. Is the probationary period clause valid or invalid in that case? We analyse the decision in our short article and answer the question above.
From September 2020 the rules, which regulate the status of the adult educators and the organisation of adult educations have changed. There are significantly more educations, which are considered as adult education and performing an adult education entails a lot more obligation. The changes affect almost every employer who organises certain kind of educations for its employees. We summarize the most important changes concerning the adult education.
The parties usually establish the employment relationship for an unlimited period. However, in certain cases, for various reasons, like business or organisational considerations, it seems to be better to conclude a fixed-term labour contract. In this article we summarize what you as an employer shall consider in Hungary in case you would hire someone for a fixed period.
What are the main risks if you employ your staff at different employer, within or outside the company group? Is that a new legal relationship, is remuneration payable for that, or the “good old” labour contract can cover this situation? In a recent judgement the Hungarian Supreme Court Curia addressed these questions. In our short article we analyse the judgement and summarize what you as an employer should consider if you would like to temporary reassign your employee.
Can parties' conduct during litigation amount to an implied choice-of-law agreement based on EU Regulation 593/2008 (Rome I Regulation)? This article analyses a recent Supreme Court judgment concerning this question.(1)
The recent judgement of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) invalidating the EU-US Privacy Shield raised several questions concerning international personal data transfers. Companies who normally transfer personal data to the U.S. and use U.S.-based service providers are asking themselves: are we still allowed to do this? If not, what should we do now? In this short article we will explain the judgement of the CJEU and the current situation.
The European Union adopted the so called P2B (Platform-to-business) Regulation, providing enhanced protection to the business users against dominant online intermediation service providers like Amazon, eBay, Booking.com and other similar online marketplaces. In this short article we summarize the most important provisions of the Regulation applicable from 12th July 2020.
The „start-up capital” of the limited liability company is the initial capital which is the totality of the capital contributions provided by the shareholders. Since the shareholders may declare that the capital contribution shall only be provided after the establishment of the company in a later date, the painful situation might occur that the shareholder does not provide or only partly provides the capital contribution. Given that this may create unwanted consequences, the settlement of the capital-related problem is the common interest of the shareholders. In this article we summarize the possible methods to solve this issue.
The Data Protection Authority imposed the highest fine ever in Hungary against Digi Távközlési és Szolgáltató Kft. because of the infringement of the GDPR. Let’s see what led to the record fine of HUF 100 Million.
In the emergency situation due to COVID-19 the rules of the civil litigation were modified: the most important change was that courts did not held court hearings at all or only through electronic telecommunication channels. Because of the moderation of the epidemic, from 1st June 2020 the civil litigations can return to “normality” with a few slight changes. In our short article we summarize the new rules.
In a judgement published recently, the Curia examined the question whether it may be the justified reason of the extraordinary dismissal if the employee operates a webpage closely related to one of the activities of the employer. In our short article we summarize the decision of the Curia and shortly analyse what lessons you as an employer can learn from this case.
In the difficult economic situation triggered by the coronavirus in several European countries the state takes over the payment of certain part of the employees’ salaries. Based on the government decree published on Good Friday, and already modified on 21st April, finally there is a possibility in Hungary as well to request support from the State in case of employment in reduced working time. In this article we summarize the characteristics of the support and the most important eligibility criteria.
The coronavirus and the state of emergency ordered by the Hungarian government to fight this epidemic affects every part of our life. Civil and business litigations are not exceptions either. In our short article we summarize what are the most relevant changes in the ongoing and envisaged court procedures in Hungary.
The coronavirus is already having its unfortunate impacts in the whole world and there is almost no sector which has not been rocked by the effects of the virus. In this rather difficult situation, it is questionable for the employer how to manage their resources and how to protect their employees. The decree of the government effective from 19th March 2020 gives certain tools to the employers which may help them to optimize their operations and to defend their employees. In our short article we summarize these measures.
The coronavirus has appeared in Hungary as well: when writing this article 9 infected and 67 quarantined persons are registered. Because of the virus, the employers may have headaches, too since often it is not obvious how the situation shall be handled from labour law perspective. In this short article we explain the relevant legal provisions by presenting some typical cases.
The supervisory authorities in Europe controlling compliance with the GDPR have not sat on their hands in the last couple of months. In this short article we collected five interesting cases from the recent past. The wide discretionary powers of the data protection authority is well illustrated by the fact that sometimes the GDPR fine was only EUR 2000, but in another case a company has been fined for EUR 11,5 Million! Continue reading if you would like to avoid the same or similar expensive errors.
In its recently published decision, the Hungarian Data Protection Authority (NAIH) has dealt with the questions of the usage of the corporate email account for private purposes and the monitoring of the e-mail account. As the topic can affect every employer, who provides an e-mail account for its employees for working purposes, we summarize the most important conclusions of the decision in our short article.
How to balance between the employer’s business interests and the employee’s right to freedom of expression? Can the employer restrict the employee’s freedom of expression and terminate his employment because of a blogpost? The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) addressed these questions in his fresh judgement brought in the case of a Hungarian applicant. In this short article we summarize the facts of the case and the findings of the Court.
I suppose that you also frequently see that a pop-up window appears on the screen when you visit a webpage and informs you that the webpage uses cookies. After the entry into force of the GDPR the issue of the cookies became even more central. Recently the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has also paid special attention to the cookies. Read our short article if you are also using cookies on your webpage and would like to know how to do it right in the light of the new decision of the CJEU.
During this summer, the Hungarian Supreme Court (Curia) made a judgement in a case, where the central question was whether the monitoring of the employee’s own cell phone used for job-related purposes by the employer was lawful. Although the legal framework was slightly modified lately because of the entering into force of the GDPR, the case can offer important lessons. Read our short article if you would like to know whether you can monitor your employee’s cell phone which he uses for job related purposes.
Before the summer break the Court of Justice of the European Union made a decision in a data protection related matter which concerned Facebook as well. The decision may be interesting and useful for everybody who embeds of his website the Facebook “Like” button. In our short article we summarize the most important findings of the Court.
Operating video surveillance in a GDPR-compliant way can be a real challenge for data controllers in Hungary. A key aspect of the compliance with the GDPR is how the controller informs the data subjects (e.g. employees or customers) about the CCTV surveillance. Luckily, the European Data Protection Board which is the data protection authority of the EU has recently published a guideline on this issue. Read our short summary so that you know what to include in your camera privacy notice.
A few days prior to the first anniversary of the entry into force of the GDPR the Hungarian Data Protection Authority imposed the biggest data protection fine in Hungary so far. The target was the biggest Hungarian festival organizer company thanks to whom the public may enjoy the SZIGET, the VOLT or the Balaton Sound Festival. The Data Protection Authority reviewed the check-in system of the festival and the data processing in relation with the check-in. In our short article we summarize the mistakes the Authority identified.
Do you plan to register a word or slogan as a trademark in Hungary? You should be careful, if you plan to refer to your company’s activities, because using general and describing words may cause problems either during the registration procedure, or later when someone else wishes to use your trademark. This time we will focus on the importance of having a unique trademark.
What can be the basis of deletion if somebody has a registered trademark which is identical to the name of a world-famous footballer? What are the factors to consider when assessing whether the trademark applicant acted in bad faith? In his fresh judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union gave answer to these questions and we shortly summarize them.
Are you negotiating on salary with a new colleague in Hungary? Even if salary is subject to free negotiation, a higher salary for the same work can cause a tension in wage levels. In our short article we summarize the fresh decision of the Curia which can serve as a compass in relation with the applicability of the equal pay principle.
In case trademarked goods have been put on the market by the proprietor or with his consent in the EEA, the exhaustion rule allows the parallel importer to further commercialize those products. However, this is not the case, if the trademark proprietor has legitimate reasons to oppose the commercialization. In this article we summarize the main cases when the proprietor can prohibit the use of the trademark.
Is it considered as a trademark infringement if a similar sign as the trademark has been put on products which are different from those for which the trademark is registered? Can the trademark-owner prevent such a usage? The European Court of Justice answered those questions in his very fresh judgement which revolved around a toothpaste. In our article we summarize the decision of the Court.
A trademark right gives the proprietor the sole right to use and exploit the trademark and to prohibit others form using that trademark. However, there is an exception from this general prohibition, which is the principle of exhaustion giving possibility for parallel importers to commercialize trademarked goods. In this article we summarize when trademark rights are exhausted under the EU law.
It is not an April’s fool joke that almost one year after the GDPR entering into force, finally the Hungarian Parliament adopted the GDPR implementation act on 1st April. The act harmonizes various areas of the Hungarian legal system with the GDPR as it will amend more than 80 legal sources. In this short article we collected the 5 most important provisions of the implementation act.
In a fresh judgement of the Curia the main question was how to define the working place in the labour contract. At first sight, this seems quite simple and it might be surprising why such a question needed to be decided by the highest forum. However, from our article summarizing the decisions of the Curia you will see that even a simple question can be misunderstood and can cost a fortune for the employer.
Our law firm provides legal services to Hirschmann Car Communication Kft. from March. In order to understand better out Client’s operations, our colleagues travelled to Békéscsaba to visit our new client.
The Hungarian data protection authority, the NAIH has imposed the first data protection fine in December 2018 which was based on the infringement of the GDPR. It appears that in relation with the „first cuckoo” the NAIH applied the so called „early bird” discount known as a marketing strategy. Indeed, the fine was not particularly high considering that it should be imposed because of the infringement of data subject rights. Well, let’s see the details of the case.
The ink on the French data protection authority’s decision in the Google-case is not even dry and the German antitrust authority has already imposed sanctions against the other ’giant’ Facebook because of its unlawful data processing activities. I suppose you wonder what is the connection between the data protection and the economic competition? Well, read our short article and you will know the answer.
During the preparation of the GDPR, it was often pointed out in professional circles that Google and Facebook are the primary targets of the strictest data protection regime of the world. Well, a little more than half a year after the GDPR entered into force, the sword of the French data protection authority has hit Google. Let’s see why the authority awarded the tech-giant with a modest fine of 50 Million Euros?
Can the executive employee undertake a non-competition obligation after the termination of the employment for free? It seems that the Hungarian Supreme Court finds the limits of party autonomy elsewhere than the legislator. We summarise the merits of the judgment in our article.
Have you ever experienced that if you deal with a topic excessively you start to see it everywhere? For me, it was clearly the GDPR that filtered into my private life. This gave me the idea to collect the GDPR “fails” of the year that me or my colleagues experienced. Of course, “our GDPR infringers” have not played as big as Facebook and his “little” buddies, but maybe our stories will show you how easy it is to slip on a banana peel when it comes to GDPR compliance.
Do you operate an e-shop in Hungary, but you refuse to sell your products to a German customer? By doing so you might be noncompliant with the EU law, more specifically with the Geo-blocking Regulation which prohibits certain forms of discrimination in cross-border sales. In this article we explain you the key elements of the new law which will be applicable from 3rd December 2018.
During our GDPR compliance projects I often hear from clients that they copy or scan the identity cards of their employees. It may not be my most thrilling article, but I find it important to clarify once and for all that is a bad practice as it is against the GDPR and the recommendations of the Hungarian Data Protection Authority. Below I shortly explain you why copying ID cards is problematic and what you should do instead.
It only spotted some weeks ago that the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued its first GDPR formal notice. The target was AggregateIQ Data Services, a Canadian company who allegedly processed UK citizens data for political advertising. Read our article to know the details of the case and to find our why I find it particularly interesting.
You may have heard that British Airways suffered a serious data breach some weeks ago. As they reported the data of 380.000 passengers have been compromised during a 16 days period. The case was widely reflected in media and some press-organs talked about the possibility of a record GDPR fine and class-action against BA. Given that the breach is still under investigation, I do not wish to speculate on the fines but rather summarize how I see British Airways (BA) handled the data breach and what you can learn from it.
I hope that the Hungarian Basketball Association is better at the game than at data protection. Indeed, based on the fresh decision of the Hungarian Data Protection Authority they have serious problems with the latter and their data protection faults have been “awarded” with a fine. Let’s see the mistakes of the Association your company should avoid.
Are you under the scope of GDPR if you collect personal data only in paper format? Are you data controller if it is not you who determine for your business partner what kind of personal data should be collected, and you do not even have access to data? You can get the answers from our article which summarizes the EU Court’s judgement in the case of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Community.
In the recent past the Hungarian Data Protection Authority imposed a fine of 2 Million Hungarian Forints against Telekom, a major Hungarian telecommunication company, because of his unlawful direct marketing activity. Although the decision has been made before the entering into force of the GDPR, it is worth to examine the mistakes of Telekom. Indeed, the fine would have been much higher if it was imposed after the GDPR.
Some GDPR myths make you see a problem where you should not, or what is even worse, they prevent you from detecting a problem when you should. To have a successful GDPR compliance project, you should avoid both above faults. To help you, we debunk the 5 GDPR myths that we faced the most often during our compliance projects.
If data leakage, data theft or other breach happens at your company and it is likely to result in a risk to the data subjects’ rights, you have to report it to the supervisory authority. If this risk is likely to be high you shall as well inform the affected persons. In this article we mention 5 things that you need to consider when you decide about whether you should notify the authority or the data subjects.
You may think that a data breach incident can only be a consequence of a cybercriminal attack like malware or ransomware. However, among particular circumstances a simple human error, like losing a company laptop can be considered as a data breach. In this short article we explain you what exactly a data breach is and how to handle such an unwanted situation to be GDPR proof.
Last week during a GDPR related meeting with one of our clients, he told us: honestly, I have the feeling that this GDPR project is all about paperwork. Although it is not entirely true, we totally agree with our client that a huge part of the compliance project is drafting and adopting several documents. In this article we summarized the 5 basic types of documents that you must have in order to achieve GDPR-compliance.
The Hungarian customer protection authority has announced that e-shops will continue to be the primarily target of their inspections. Indeed, the experiences this year showed that 88% of the e-shops inspected infringed the mandatory consumer protection rules in Hungary. In this short article we summarize what are the most frequent infringements and what are their consequences.
Do you operate a small e-shop and think that GDPR and data protection concerns only giants like Amazon? Let’s just face it: you could not be more wrong. Think of the mere fact that your customers are private persons and you process at least their name, e-mail address and address. Before totally panicking from the realisation that GDPR applies to your e-shop, too, take a deep breath and read our 5 tips how your e-shop can be GDPR-compliant.
This was the basic question in a lawsuit in Austria filed by a private person against the social media giant. In this short article we explain the decision of the European Court which was published these days.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) established in his fresh decision that the camera surveillance of lecture halls violated the professors’ right to privacy. Let’s see the details of the case and the findings of the Court.
The European Court of Human Rights usually condemns Hungary because of too slow legal proceedings, breaching the fair trial principle as human right. However, the latest judgment of the Court, condemning Hungary was delivered because of a too fast judicial decision.
On 1st January 2018 a new Civil Procedure Code enters into force in Hungary with the principal aim to speed up civil & business litigations, through divided litigation structure and important restrictions for the litigants. In this short article we collected the 5 most important changes which will affect you if you start a litigation in Hungary from 2018.
Our regular readers know that the clock is ticking, the General Data Protection Regulation will the part of our daily lives within 6 months. Despite this fact, the Hungarian SME sector seems quite unprepared for the changes. That is why we have decided to organize a small “conference” for our clients to raise their awareness on the GDPR and the necessary steps to be prepared.
Online shopping is more and more trendy. While it is a very good opportunity, it has more risks for consumers than traditional retail shopping. For example, you cannot see the product in reality, so what if the shirt you ordered for your father as a Christmas present does not fit? The European Union recognized the risks of online shopping and adopted several consumer protection rules. In this short article I collected 5 issues you must include in your terms&conditions if you operate an E-shop in Hungary. Please note that these rules only apply if your buyer is a consumer (a natural person who is not acting for business purposes).
Online shopping is more and more popular among customers for certain reasons: it is more convenient and often cheaper than traditional shopping. Online shopping is not only an attractive alternative for the shoppers but for the traders, too. By opening an online shop, you can remove the need for expensive retail premises and customer-facing staff. Another huge advantage is that you can expand your market beyond local customers very quickly. Here are 4 things that you need to clarify if you decided to open an online shop in Hungary.
The Hungarian Data Protection Authority just published his decision about the unlawful data processing activities of the Church of Scientology Hungary. The Authority imposed the maximum level fine of 20Million Forints against the Church, taking into account the huge number of the persons concerned and the gravity of the infringements. Luckily for the Church, the decision was not based on the GDPR, otherwise the fine would not be 20 Million Forints but 20 Million Euros. Nevertheless, the mistakes of the Church would also infringe the GDPR, thus it is worth to mention and learn from them.
In his fresh article the Guardian reported that a Japanese lady logged 159 hours of overtime in one month which lead to her death. In Japan this is not an isolated case, they even have a word for the death from overwork called ‘karoshi’. Of course, this is an extreme situation and European work culture is different. Nevertheless, it is worth to read the 4 must-knows about the legal conditions of overtime work in Hungary.
Nowadays we cannot imagine a workplace without Internet and e-mailing. Besides the countless benefits of these tools, the use of digital technology also carries significant risks for employers. Given that the Hungarian labour law is left behind by the faster-than-light developing new digital word, employers have to keep the pace in order to avoid future labour disputes. In this short article we tell you the five most important reasons why your company should have an Internet and E-mail policy.
In a very fresh judgement, the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights ruled that employers can monitor their employees’ messages only within certain limits. This judgement gave me the idea to collect 5 areas of the employment relationship where personal data of employees may be collected and processed and thus the principles of the GDPR such as lawfulness or purpose limitation should be taken into account.
My colleague, Viktória achieved great success in claiming compensation for air travelers whose flight was cancelled or delayed. As a frequent air passenger, it is worth to now your rights in relation with these unpleasant experiences. I am asking Viktória how and under what conditions you can get compensated.
In Hungary, executives are a special group among the employees with a special labour-law regime. In this article we summarise the must-knows before hiring an executive officer under the Hungarian labour law regime as an employee.
Many are already familiar with the so called client gate and use it on a daily basis, it may be new that now the companies are required to register their own “gates” called company gate. The registration portal is already available and companies are obliged to make the registration until 30th August 2017. However, a grace period until the end of this year is provided and until this date companies can live a gate-free life. After 1st January 2018 those companies who have not entered the gate can expect sanctions. In this short article, we tell you what exactly is the company gate and how you can make the registration.
As we mentioned in our earlier article the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply from May 2018 in the EU. That means that you have about 1 year to make your business compliant with the new rules. Otherwise your company faces fines up to 20 Million Euro, not to mention the reputational loss a data breach can cause. A compliance project is always difficult to start. Thus, we would like to make it easier for you by collecting the 5 most important topics that you need to understand and clarify at the beginning of your compliance project.
Our followers may know that our Law Firm is the Hungarian member of the International Law Firms (ILF) which is a worldwide association of independent small and mid-sized law firms. This year, the regional conference of the ILF was held in the beautiful city of Vienna. Our Austrian Colleagues organized a professional conference where more than 25 members represented themselves.
I bet you know the situation when your employee calls in sick but you suspect that he is not actually ill. You are between a rock and a hard place. If you are not sympathetic with a truly ill employee, you will be the worst boss ever. But if you do not take actions against the employee who is not truly ill, workplace productivity and employee morale may suffer. Here is what you can and cannot do with sick-leave abusers in Hungary.
Recently, more and more clients complain about employees who are resigning orally or without giving the necessary notice period. Unlawful resignation causes uncertainties, inconvenience or in the worst case, serious damages to the employer. In this short article, we collected the four must-knows about unlawful employee resignation in Hungary.
As a foreign company who plans to do business in Hungary, it sounds a great idea to open a Hungarian branch office. The main reason for this is that you do not need to provide the minimum capital contribution. Even if at first glance, opening a branch office seems simpler and cheaper than founding a Hungarian LLC as subsidiary, yet there are strong reasons to do the latter. In these article we share with you these considerations.
Many believe that as a shareholder of a limited-liability company they will not be liable for the debts of the company with their own assets. In most cases this is true, yet there are situations, when the rule of limited liability shall not prevail and the shareholder of the LLC will be directly and unlimitedly liable for the company’s debts. In this short article we summarize the most important cases when the limited liability becomes unlimited.
I can imagine that when you hear the words data protection, you may not really be excited. What is worse you may skip to read this article. You probably think that when running your business, you have much bigger problems than data protection compliance. Still, I encourage you to give it 5 minutes and read through this short summary about the 5 most important impacts of the Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on your business. The GDPR will only enter into force in May 2018 so this is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with the new rules.
Learn from others' mistake by reading the summary of a very fresh decision of the Supreme Court about an ordinary dismissal.
As the fresh members of the Belgian Business Club in Hungary we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves in the framework of a presentation.
Under special conditions, the shareholder of a terminated LLC will be directly and unlimitedly liable for the company’s debts. You might think that your debt recovery problem is then solved: if the debtor company is terminated, you will sue the shareholder. However, the devil is always in the details and certain conditions must be met in order to turn successfully against the shareholder. In this short article we tell you 4 things that you need to know if you decide to sue the shareholder of a terminated LLC in Hungary.
There is no worse feeling after a won court case than realizing that your debtor is not going to pay, because it has no assets at all or, even worse, it has been already deleted from the company register. In this short article we provide you with 5 tips to avoid writing-off uncollectible debts in Hungary.
Introduction of a new contract template - In strong cooperation with our Client our Law Firm developed a new supply contract template which will be used by our Client for domestic supplies. Our goal was to draft a contract which is easy to use but gives a wide range of legal protection to our Client’s business.
After having found the perfect location for your business you might think that all you need to do is to move in and start. However, before moving in the leased property, there is an important part of the process: negotiating the conditions of the lease. In this short article we share five tips with you in order to sign a favourable lease as tenant in Hungary.
Based on recent surveys among employers, empathy, compromising skills and flexibility are the main advantages of hiring female employees, while pregnancy and child-related parental leave cause the vast majority of labour issues in Hungary. Since expectant female workers and mothers enjoy special protection under the Hungarian Labour Code we sum up the must-knows for employers in this domain.
Wage costs represent significant part of the corporate expenditures. While employers are interested in decreasing these amounts, it is hardly reconcilable with employees’ interests to achieve higher salary. Given that salary is one of the most important motivating force, besides complying with the Labour Code, employers should avoid demotivating their workforce. In this short summary we gathered 5 tips how you can reduce your company’s labour costs without demotivating your employees and violating the Labour Code.
The worst nightmare of every creditor after a successful litigation is to find out that the debt cannot be recovered, because the debtor has no assets. However it might be that the case is not lost: in case that the court establishes that the contract is fraudulent, it has no legal effect in respect of the creditor. In our short summary, we address the question, when the contract shall be regarded us fraudulent under Hungarian case-law.
Wrongful termination of an employment contract is the most common trigger for lawsuits arising out of labour relationships. The following guide summarizes the most important rules of firing an employee in Hungary in order to help you to reduce your company’s exposure for unlawful firings and lower the risks of a costly labour litigation.
One of the simplest ways to communicate basic yet important information and policies to employees is through the employee handbook. While a well-written employee handbook serves to proactively confirm company policies and it can be also a litigation prevention tool, not too many employers have one. In this short article we tell you what exactly an employee handbook is, why you should have one and some tips about what to include in your employee handbook.
In the world of globalization interconnection agreements between telecommunication operators have growing importance. Efficient interconnection is not only important for customers, but also to enable activities like electronic banking, e-commerce or mobile roaming. If you decided to enter into an interconnection agreement with a Hungarian operator, this short article may be a useful guideline for you.