legal regulation of the prohibition of discrimination in the field of labour

The derogatory discrimination of employees is prohibited by legal regulations. Legal regulation and the system of sanction with respect to discrimination were previously embedded in the certain branches of law. However, due to the declarative nature of the regulations scattered around in the different branches of law, the order of the Constitution of paragraph 70/A section (2) on the severe punishment of discrimination could not prevail, as most of the regulations did not include a system of sanctions.[1] The new law on equal opportunities[2] (hereafter Egyb) is effective as of January 2004. It lays down the prohibition of discrimination for the whole of the legal system in general, specifies definitions, specifies the regulations concerning other special areas (employment, social security and healthcare, housing, education and training, trade of goods and services), and appraises the sphere of procedures that can be initiated upon violation of equal opportunities.

Specialists lobbying for the establishment of a uniform law criticised the regulations of labour law the least, as this was the only area of law besides the Constitution, where the definition of discrimination was laid down – even if with shortcomings. It established the reverse burden of proof, and in cases of labour discrimination, sanctions could be put in place against the perpetrator.

However, the experiences that we have collected from labour discrimination cases handled by the NEKI show that the practice and effectiveness of the regulations concerned is extremely uncertain. Although the number of plaintiffs who turn to our Bureau and have been discriminated in the filed of labour is swiftly increasing, the number of infringement and court procedures is still insignificant. The majority of condemnatory judgements and verdicts have been born in cases represented by our Bureau. It is widely known that latency is especially big in this area and that the victims of discrimination cannot really enforce their interests. According to our point of view it is a signal that in the world of labour, due to racial discrimination, so far 2 condemnatory judgements have been brought despite the favourable legal regulation.

Our effective laws provide an administrative (infringement and labour supervision) and a judiciary (judicial) system of forum for the legal redresses of labour discrimination. We introduce the legal background for the proceedings of these bodies and the unique cases that have been initiated before them as follows.