LEGAL HARMONIZATION-RELATED TASKS, SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE REGULATION OF WORK HOURS
LEGAL HARMONIZATION-RELATED TASKS, SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE REGULATION OF WORK HOURS

Summary/Abstract: The domestic regulation of working time cannot be considered as harmonised with the European Union's law, which should be regarded as a serious enough lag in itself, but – in our opinion – an even bigger challenge lies in the one-sided power position, the diminution of the significance of employee opinions and the safeguarding of employee interests in this regard, and thus, through the increase of employee vulnerability, workers' dwindling sense of comfort and security, and, as a result, the inevitable decline of their labour efficiency. Unilateral power is basically not typical to be enforced in labor law, and therefore, working time-related regulations – that belong to the employer’s own discretion – form an exception in such respect. At the same time, the option of flexible work order provides an exception from the superiority of unilateral power, and therefore it is actually an exception to the exception. Such complex system, however, provides the option to make sure whether the enforcement of unilateral power is constructive in labor law, or it would be more reasonable to apply a more balanced system such as the principle of the employer’s ultima ratio as suggested by Guy Davidov. Hungarian legislation, and labor law legislation in particular has numerous tasks to do in order to promote the solution of socio-economic problems, as well as to fulfill our obligations related to legal harmonization; in our opinion, the conclusions above confirm that making working time regulations more liberal is one of the major tasks of legislation. The promotion of the harmonisation of law is a necessary endeavour also in the field of labour law. This involves a considerable workload, and in view of today's labour market difficulties and the resulting incredible extent of labour's appreciation, these efforts are a matter of urgency.

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