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• Does the Ebktv. provide adequate protection on the labor market for child-raising? Equal employment of pregnant women and parents in Hungary

  47-60.

  Zoltán Földvári

  Views:

  232

  In the recent years, there were several government programs in Hungary aiming to boost the number of childbirths, mainly through direct financial support for parents. But undertaking the commitment to raise a child is not just a financial issue for parents, and especially women. The work – life balance is just as important for many, especially for college-educated ones.

  My paper aims to examine the legal framework of the equal treatment focused on the abovementioned situation, about how it can prevent the discrimination of pregnant women and parents in the workforce. I briefly look at the legal development of the area in the European Union, and the most relevant issues and procedural questions in the Hungarian Act CXXV of 2003 on equal treatment and the promotion of equal opportunities. For the main part of the paper, I focus on the case law of the Equal Treatment Authority, on how certain conducts (direct or indirect discrimination, harassment, victimization) surface in relation to childbearing and child raising, how did the Authority decide in these cases, and how do these decisions affect the practice of this field. The Kúria is also a substantial actor in this area, as the highest court in the country, its binding uniformity decisions hold significant weight for the law of equal treatment, therefore I examine some of its important decisions.

  In the end, I summarize my findings. In today’s labor market, pregnant women and parents face discrimination, this is especially true for pregnant women on probationary period. Employers feel burdened if an employee gets pregnant, and in some cases, they still try to lay off women who do not put their career ahead of family. Overall, I conclude that the legal framework is satisfactory, but several underlying social issues will continue to generate obstacles if the employers’ and society’s view about motherhood and roles in the family will not change.

• Comparison between the requirements of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Hungarian judicial practice in terms of equal treatment and/or the breach of thereof in the field of labor law

  Edit Duró

  Views:

  238

  Employment and occupation are crucial to ensuring equal opportunities for all and in large measure contribute to the full participation of citizens in economic, social and culture life. However, many cases of discrimination have been identified in the field of employment and the labour market.

  In this study I try to examine how the equal treatment works in the EU Law and Hungarian national law, and I try to present the case-law of the European Court of Justice and the Hungarian Courts in this area. The first part of the study deals with the definition of key concepts (direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment), and include its legal background – with respect to the directives of the European Parliament and the Council, and the Hungarian legislation. The second part tries to describe the legal concept of indirect discrimination, mentioned as justification (statutory derogation, objective justification). And finally I try to present the special burden of proof, which is used in discrimination cases.

• Theoretical issues of equal treatment in relation to the legal classification of labour law

  57-79

  István Herdon

  Dóra Takács

  Views:

  162

  There are many national and international academic debates on the classification of labour law. On the one hand, labour law can be categorised as private law when we consider the establishment of employment relationships. The legal basis for an employment relationship is exclusively the employment contract, thus labour law belongs to classical private law. On the other hand, the content of the employment relationship can be determined not only by the employment contract, but also by a number of other rules. These norms typically have public law content and, as so-called public law elements of labour law, seek to limit the contractual freedom of the parties. The existence of public law elements is typically justified by the legislator on the grounds that there is subordination between the parties in the employment relationship, so that the contractual balance of rights, which is characteristic of private law, is shifted in favour of the employer. The presence of elements of public law, and in particular the requirement of equal treatment, is intended to redress this imbalance in employment law by limiting the contractual freedom between the parties. In the present article, we examine in particular whether the presence of public law elements gives labour law a specificity of its own. In addition, focusing on the principle of equal treatment, we examine how the prohibition of discrimination in labour law and classical private law can be interpreted and whether this general behavioural requirement is capable of redressing the balance that has been shifted between the parties. Finally, we ask the rhetorical question: if the requirement of equal treatment is capable of redressing the balance, why is there a need for additional public law elements in labour law?