POTENTIAL LEGAL PITFALLS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY: NAVIGATING WORK LEAVE LAWS IN THE USA AND HUNGARY

Öz

The American worker’s right to time off work for personal reasons as specified in a federal statute, the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, is sparse relative to the more liberal European rights.  With a focus on Hungarian law, this article compares these two bodies of law regarding length of leave; reasons for leave; any conditions the worker must meet for such entitlement; compensation during leave, if any; and consequences of abuse of rights.  A brief survey of comparable laws in some other eastern European countries (Croatia, Poland, Czech Republic, the Baltics, Finland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey) shows the generous leave right trend not apparent in American domestic law.  

Typically, European workers have statutory job security, whereas the several United States generally recognizes the “employment-at-will” rule, permitting the employer to terminate without cause.  Only those discharges based upon grounds specified in federal legislation—race, color, religion, national origin, disability, or age—are prohibited. An exception to this right-to-terminate applies to the worker during and immediately after lawful leave

The purpose is to present a guide for the enterprise doing business in both the USA and Eastern Europe, in particular, Hungary.Many management prerogatives that are taken for granted by American employers would impose considerable liability in a European setting.   

Anahtar Kelimeler

• comparative law,transnational commerce,work leave laws,social benefits,termination rights

POTENTIAL LEGAL PITFALLS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY: NAVIGATING WORK LEAVE LAWS IN THE USA AND HUNGARY

Öz

Bu çalışma ABD ve Macaristan'da çalışma hayatının hukukunu gözden geçirerek uluslararası şirketler için potansiyel bir yasal tehlikeden bahsetmektedir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• karşılaştırmalı hukuk,çokuluslu ticaret,çalışma hayatı hukuku,sosyal fayda,sona erdirme hakkı

Kaynakça

1. Connell, No More Half Measures: A Case-Based Approach for Addressing FMLA Abuse, 39 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS LAW JOURNAL 1 (2014)
2. Rasnic, Germany’s Statutory Works Council and Employee Codetermination: a Model for the U.S.? 24 LOYOLA INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL 275 (1992)
3. Yang and Gimm, Caring for Elderly Parents: A Comparative Evaluation of Family Leave Laws, 42 JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE, AND ETHICS 501 (2013)
4. Determann and Sprague, Intrusive Monitoring: Employee Privacy Expectations are Reasonable in Europe, Destroyed in the United States, 26 BERKELEY TECHNOLOGY LAW JOURNAL 979 (2011)