Schmidt László: Liability for Damages in Labor Law In the Light of Court Practice
2022/21
According to Act XXII of 1992 (old Labor Code), the employer was liable (objectively) for the damage caused to the employee in connection with the employment relationship, regardless of fault. He could only be exempted if he proved that the damage was caused by an unavoidable cause outside his sphere of activity or solely by the unavoidable conduct of the injured party.
However, Act I of 2012 (Act I of the Labor Code) has partly put the system of liability under labour law on a new basis by bringing it closer to the rules of the new Civil Code in terms of the method of liability and the level of compensation, and by creating a new definition of exemption. Under the new rules, the employer will be exempt only if he proves that the damage was caused by a circumstance beyond his control which he could not have foreseen and could not reasonably have been expected to avoid or prevent, or was caused solely by the uncontrollable conduct of the injured party. Several positions have emerged in connection with the interpretation of the new regulation, which has caused legal uncertainty in the application of the law, and in view of this the Curia adopted the KMK Opinion 1/2018 (VI.25.).