The Slovakian parliament passed the Platform Work Directive, the Act on Work Performed through Digital Labour Platforms, on 23rd September 2026. The law will come into effect on 2 December.
Section 3.1 of the Bill proposes a presumption of employment in the platform economy (including for intermediaries) which is based on either: a) Slovakia’s already-existing definition of dependent work. Slovakia’s definition of dependent work is that the work is performed:
- in a relationship of the employer’s superiority and the employee’s subordination,
- personally by the employee for the employer,
- according to the employer’s instructions,
- in the employer’s name.
Or, b) the presumption can also be based on section 17.5 of the Act if a court rules that is the case, which is a general presumption and states: “The contractual relationship between a digital labour platform or an intermediary and a person performing platform work shall be deemed an employment relationship if the person performing platform work or a trade union representing that person presents facts reasonably suggesting that the platform work is performed under a relationship of subordination to the digital labour platform or intermediary and in accordance with the instructions of the digital labour platform or intermediary, and the digital labour platform or intermediary fails to prove in court proceedings that the platform work is not performed under such a relationship of subordination and in accordance with such instructions.”
The presumption is based on the facts of the working relationship, including how automated monitoring and decision-making systems are used in the organisation of the work.
Section 3 goes on to explain that, when trying to identify whether subordination exists, consideration must be taken also of indirect forms of monitoring, direction and control, such as the application of punitive measures and the restriction of a platform worker’s account. Also, it should not only be considered who owns the algorithmic management system but also must “include an assessment of for whose benefit the management of platform work is carried out through that system.”
In Section 5, it is stated that platform workers who are genuinely self-employed will have the right to establish and join trade union organisations.
The Bill also contains rights relating to algorithmic management, including transparency rights, the right to human oversight and a human review of automated decisions, etc.
There will also be a public register of platforms established, and platforms will have to provide data to the Labour Inspectorate every six months, including on the number of workers, their earnings and working hours.
Fines will be up to €50,000 for non-compliance.
Amendments that were passed sought to make the law stronger, including allowing the labour inspectorate to access information from the tax authority when pursuing investigations over bogus self-employment.
In May, the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (KOZ SR) criticised that the original draft of the law went further in terms of rights around collective bargaining for individual platform workers and stronger occupational health & safety. Following the inter-ministerial review process, these elements were dropped..
You can read more about the passing of the law here.
You can access the full law here.