The number of legal debates about work shows a marked turn from 2008, when despite the large number of firings, labor-related legal disputes dropped 20%, figures from the National Council of Justice (OIT) reveal. Experts explain the trend with the uncertainty prevalent in employment, namely employees opting to avoid conflicts at their jobs under any circumstances in fear of becoming unemployed. Since then, the number continues to rise.
In 2008, 24,086 matters were brought to court, 25,075 in 2009 and 26,745 in 2010. The types of cases differ greatly region to region.
The capital adds up some 25% of all cases on record. Here 6,124 lawsuits were initiated in 2010 opposed to the 5,831 of 2009. The most common grounds for motioning legal proceedings were being made redundant, which accounts for 25-28% of all cases in the city. In 2009, aggrieved parties filed 1,558 legal complaints and 1,642 in 2010.
Despite the growth in numbers, there are still fairly few breaches of the labor code that are reported to authorities, especially instances that would call for seeking out the law. It is still general practice to employ workers unregistered, to reduce their travel compensation or to make them submit to probation periods without getting paid. But since most are happy to find work at all, questionable cases only surface after the employment relation has been terminated.
There is no official data on which side is typically the preferred winner by the courts. Although there are few fresh reports, a study from 2008 shows that the numbers of times either the employer or the employee wins the procedure are roughly evenly divided. Out of 100 cases handled by the Budapest labor court, 40 were won by the employee, 40 by the employer and a compromise verdict was reached in 19 instances. There are no records on which side characteristically initiates the lawsuit.
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