The Constitutional Court has decided that employees are entitled to higher compensation for work accidents than was previously awarded by governmental regulation and the Labor Code.
If an employee suffers an accident at work which damages their health, they have the right to claim compensation from their employer.
If the employee’s health problems persist and make it hard for him to continue working, they may claim compensation for ‘impairment of social position’.
The amount of compensation for deteriorated social position in employment relationships is determined by a governmental regulation in conjunction with the Labor Code. In contrast, in the case of civil law relationships the amount of compensation for impaired social situation is calculated based on the Civil Code and the methodology of the Supreme Court.
The problem is that the amount of compensation under the governmental regulation may in some cases be significantly lower than the amount determined according to the court’s methodology. Employees are therefore at a disadvantage compared to a situation where they have suffered an injury outside the employment relationship.
The Constitutional Court has responded to this situation in its current ruling. According to the Constitutional Court, it is not permissible for employees’ compensation for deteriorated social position in the form of reduced working capacity to be lower under the governmental regulation than they would have been entitled to according to an assessment under general civil law regulation and methodology.
If an employee proves in judicial proceedings that under an assessment according to the methodology of the Supreme Court they would be entitled to higher compensation for deteriorated social position than they would otherwise have been entitled to based on a calculation made according to the governmental regulation, the courts must award the employee compensation at least at the level which they would otherwise have received in a civil law relationship according to the methodology.
At the same time, the employee is not required to assert or prove that circumstances have arisen that would make his case exceptional. It is sufficient for them to show that, according to the methodology of the Supreme court, the compensation would be greater than that awarded by the governmental regulation in labor disputes.
