Annual Review 2012 Regional Project on Labour Relations and Social Dialogue Warsaw in February 2013 Slovak Republic ­Labour Relations and Social Dialogue Author: Dr. Marek Švec 1 Executive Summary In 2011 – 2012, developments in the field of economy and law were significantly influenced by reforms im­plemented by the then right-wing coalition government led by Prime Minister Iveta Radi č ová and early elec­tions which brought into power a different government led by a new Prime Minister – Róbert Fico. In econ­omy, several measures have been implemented in accordance with the planned financial consolidation of state budget with regard to the ongoing economic crisis. People’s standard of living has deteriorated due to increasing tax burden and declining real wages. Changes in industrial relations legislation with effect from 1 September 2011 which reduced the level of employee protection in legislation have also contributed to the overall deterioration of their situation. Generally, it may be concluded that most of the measures imple­mented were targeted to backing business environment with the aim of creating new jobs and higher labour law flexibility, often without any due regard to potential practical consequences for employees. During 2011, growing mistrust between the government in power, employee representatives and civil society induced by the implementation of unpopular measures, as well as several political scandals indicating inter­twined politics and business for the sake of acquiring economic benefits particularly from public contracts, could be observed. The fall of Iveta Radi č ová’s government and the results of the early 2012 elections marked by a significant victory of the center-left party Smer-SD led by former Prime Minister Róbert Fico account for the return to social democracy values of civil society. Upon assuming the office, the new gov­ernment of Prime Minister Róbert Fico has immediately started with the implementation of promised changes in all areas, first of all in industrial relations legislation. An amended Labour Code which removes the existing disparity between the legal status of the employer and the employee has been adopted, the establishment of a unitary health insurance system is proposed. The entire effort of the new government led by Róbert Fico is characterized by the endeavour to comply with a maximum of 3% budget deficit in line with the Maastricht criteria in 2013. 1 Metalworkers’ Federation, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava 1