AKMV Night Work of a Driver – Night Allowances
QUESTION
We are a transport company engaged in international transport. I am not entirely clear on how to handle night shift allowances in the payroll for drivers. If a driver starts their work trip at 5:00 AM and the journey to the Austrian border takes about 1 hour, so they cross the border at 6:00 AM, are they entitled to a night shift allowance for that 1 hour? How would it be if, on the return trip, they cross the Slovak border at 10:00 PM and finish their work trip at 11:00 PM?
ANSWER:
We would like to inform you that night work is work performed between 22:00 and 06:00. If an employee works during this time, they are entitled to a night work allowance, even if it is just for one hour. Therefore, in your case, for the trip there from 05:00 to 06:00 and for the return trip from 22:00 to 23:00. We are also attaching articles related to this topic.
According to § 1 of Act No. 462/2017 Coll. on the organization of working time in transport: “This Act regulates a) minimum requirements for the organization of working time in transport, b) the performance of road checks and inspections in the premises of transport companies, and c) the competence of state administration authorities regarding control of working time organization in transport. Unless otherwise stipulated by this Act, the Labour Code applies to employment relationships of employees in transport.”
According to § 3(2) of the Labour Code, “Employment relationships of employees who are required to ensure compliance according to special regulations, employees working in operation, maintenance and development of the gas transmission network, employees directly managed by the statutory body of the gas transmission operator, employees in transport, employees performing healthcare professions, pedagogical employees, employees who are theatrical or musical artists, crew members of vessels sailing under the Slovak Republic’s flag, and employees of private security services are governed by this Act unless a special regulation provides otherwise.”
Under the Labour Code, it is necessary to distinguish whether an employee is regularly or irregularly employed in night work. According to § 98 of the Labour Code, “Night work is work performed between 22:00 and 06:00. An employee working at night for the purposes of this Act is an employee who a) regularly performs work at night for at least three consecutive hours, or b) is likely to work at least 500 hours at night in a year.” As legal literature states (Barancová et al.: Labour Code Commentary, C.H. Beck 2017), “If an employee is only irregularly employed in night work or works less than three hours at night, they have a legal entitlement to a wage supplement because they worked during night work, but they do not have entitlement to other special employer obligations that must be fulfilled in relation to employees working at night.“
According to § 123(1) and (2) of the Labour Code: “An employee is entitled to a wage supplement for night work in addition to their salary, amounting to at least 40% of the minimum wage in euros per hour according to a special regulation, and if it concerns an employee performing hazardous work, they are entitled to a wage supplement of at least 50% of the minimum wage in euros per hour according to a special regulation.
(2) At an employer where, due to the nature of the work or operating conditions, the majority of work is performed as night work, it is possible to agree, if the employee is not performing hazardous work, on a lower wage supplement than under paragraph 1, but at least 35% of the minimum wage in euros per hour according to a special regulation, in:
1. a collective agreement,
2. an employment contract, if the employer does not have a trade union and employed fewer than 20 employees as of December 31 of the previous calendar year.”
Given the above, we state that truck drivers are entitled to a wage supplement for night work.
JUDr. Veronika Michalíková, MBA