CMS Expert Guide on discrimination in the workplace in Hungary

The main laws governing workplace discrimination in Hungary are Section 12 of Hungary’s Act No. 2012/I on the Labour Code (the 'Labour Code') and Act No. 2003/CXXV on equal treatment and the promotion of equal opportunities (the 'Equal Treatment Act'). The anti-discrimination rules of the Labour Code should be interpreted in light of the Equal Treatment Act, which covers both direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, unlawful segregation and retaliation.

Section 8 of the Equal Treatment Act contains a non-exhaustive list of protected characteristics, such as sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, native language, disability, health status, religion, family status (including maternity, pregnancy and paternity), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, financial situation, the part-time or fixed-term nature of one’s employment, being a member of a representative body or any other situation, trait or characteristic.

The Labour Code also prescribes the requirement of equal treatment, particularly for remuneration. The equal treatment rules of the Labour Code must be applied to all phases of the employment relationship, including the establishment, the duration, and for part of the period following the end of the relationship. 

The rules of these two acts cover every type of employment relationship. (Part-time or fixed-term employment cannot serve as ground for discrimination based on the Equal Treatment Act). Similarly, work based on an employment relationship or another employment-related legal relationship (in Hungarian: “munkavégzésre irányuló egyéb jogviszony”) mustn’t serve as grounds for discrimination. 

The employee may raise discrimination claims within the framework of a labour law court procedure only if the discrimination occurred in relation to the establishment (or the procedure prior to the establishment, such as the recruitment process), performance or termination of the employment relationship. The amount of restitution will be decided by the competent court and is not maximised by law.

Other means of remedy are regulated in the Equal Treatment Act, such as the administrative procedures of the ombudsman (in Hungarian “Alapvető Jogok Biztosa”) or other administrative bodies competent under other specific laws. The proceeding of the competent administrative body can also be initiated in parallel with the above-mentioned labour law court procedure. The authorities may, as a worst-case scenario, impose a fine on the employer if a violation of the Equal Treatment Act is established. The fine can range from HUF 50,000 (approximately EUR 125) to HUF 6 million (approximately EUR 15,000). 

Since violations of anti-discrimination rules can constitute infringements of personal rights (in Hungarian: “személyiségi jogok”), Hungary’s Act No. 2013/V on the Civil Code allows such claims to be brought to the civil court as well. For non-material infringements of personality rights, restitution may be awarded, the amount of which is decided within the framework of the claim by the competent court and is not maximised by law.

Although no legislation in force prescribes that employers have mandatory policymaking or conduct training in the field of workplace discrimination, it is considered common practice that employers define minimum standards in this regard within an internal policy. 

There is no legal requirement for employers to have a D&I Policy in place. However, it is considered common practice to have such a D&I Policy.

Since having a D&I Policy is considered best practice for most private companies and businesses, it is recommended that a company lay down the minimum standards of D&I in the workplace to help safeguard a good reputation. However, this is not prescribed by law.   

There is no state regulation or legal requirement made by the competent authorities for employers to report on pay transparency or a gender pay gap. Accordingly, companies may have internal rules and regulations requiring that they publish such reports on a regular basis, but there is no legal requirement to do so.

Most categories of diversity data fall under the category of special categories of personal data (e.g. revealing racial or ethnic origin, political or religious beliefs, trade union membership) as prescribed in Article 9(1) of the GDPR (Regulation 2016/679/EU on general data protection). The processing of such data is, in principle, prohibited, and Article 9(2) of the GDPR prescribes exceptions, in which cases the prohibition does not apply (e.g. the explicit consent of the data subject, or the processing is necessary for carrying out obligations in the field of employment, etc).

The Labour Code, the Equal Treatment Act and Hungary’s Act No. 2011/CXII on the right to information self-determination and freedom of information do not contain special rules on the processing and retention of diversity data.

There are no existing quotas that must be reached by companies in order to be compliant with Hungarian law. However, in early June 2022, the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the Directive on improving gender balance among non-executive directors of listed companies. Consequently, after the Directive is adopted, member states including Hungary will have to amend their national regulations.

There are no general corporate governance rules to be followed. Companies should develop their own policies.