On January 1, 2019, the amendment to the Act on Trade Unions entered into force, which significantly expanded the group of entities authorized to create and join trade unions. Until now, they were only employees, i.e. persons employed under an employment contract, appointment, selection, appointment or cooperative employment contract, as well as members of agricultural production cooperatives and persons performing work on the basis of an agency contract. The amendment gave the right to create and join trade unions to persons performing paid work. This means that they must be paid for their work. The regulations do not specify a minimum amount of remuneration that would qualify such a person to be able to form and join such unions.
On this basis, persons employed on the basis of civil law contracts (e.g. commission contracts, service contracts) may join the unions. Joining a union means granting union rights, e.g. employment protection, the right to dismiss from work while maintaining remuneration.
Unpaid persons (volunteers, trainees and other persons) have the right to join unions only in cases and under the conditions set out in the statutes of the unions. They cannot form such a relationship themselves.
It is worth mentioning that the amendment was caused by the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 2 June 2015 (reference number K 1/13), which stated that limiting the possibilities of creating and joining trade unions only to employees is unconstitutional.
[legal status: March 2020]