In Hungary, vaccination cannot be requested for workers at present, but the legislature may decide to make it mandatory. However, workers may be required to take a test. There is a place outside where it is not possible to enter the workplace without vaccination.
“In Hungary – and in most European countries – employers cannot compel their employees to be vaccinated or punish them if they do not vaccinate themselves. The exception is health care workers, who in some cases still have to test for the Coronavirus daily. However, it is important to note. That the legislature may decide to extend the vaccination obligation, “concludes Branner Thorsten, Taylor Wessing Managing Partner of his Budapest office and Head of his Labor Law Team.
In Hungary, employers can legally test workers for a coronavirus test if the test is taken upon entering the workplace, if identification is not required and the data is not stored (without the workers’ explicit consent). Workers who are unable to work remotely and refuse to test can take paid leave in consultation with their employer, otherwise they will not be entitled to payment.
We also find more stringent regulations in the region. According to the decision of the Czech Ministry of Health this week, all companies with at least 50 employees are required to test their employees. The test is mandatory for employees, and as of March 15th, those who refuse to take the test may be barred from entering the workplace with a wage waiver.
In terms of vaccination, the hands of employers across Europe are tied
With regard to the mandatory nature of the vaccine, the situation in the countries of Visegrad is similar to that of Hungary. According to summaries from local experts at Taylor Wessing, employers in Slovakia and the Czech Republic cannot compel anyone to give the vaccine because there is no legal basis for compliance. In Poland, vaccination is also optional and the employer can only encourage, not oblige, management.
The situation is different in neighboring Austria. Although the employer can only recommend vaccination there, but he cannot make vaccination mandatory, at the same time he can prevent unvaccinated workers from entering the workplace and transporting them in certain situations. However, you can only do all of this if the wage is paid in full.
In Germany, local experts at Taylor Wessing have urged employers to be particularly careful, noting that even when recommending a vaccine, care must be taken to ensure workers do not feel any pressure. The only tool available to employers is to give vaccinated workers the opportunity to return from work from home to the office earlier than unvaccinated.
In the UK, until vaccines are widely available, there is no legal basis for punishing not being vaccinated, but local experts at Taylor Wessing indicate that employers may require employees to be vaccinated when it is necessary to do their job, for example because they work with vulnerable people or They are forced to go on business trips to countries whose entry is conditional on vaccination.
