POTENTIAL LEGAL PITFALLS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY: NAVIGATING WORK LEAVE LAWS IN THE USA AND HUNGARY

The American worker’s right to time off work for personal reasons as specified in a federal statute, the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, is sparse relative to the more liberal European rights. With a focus on Hungarian law, this article compares these two bodies of law regarding length of leave; reasons for leave; any conditions the worker must meet for such entitlement; compensation during leave, if any; and consequences of abuse of rights. A brief survey of comparable laws in some other eastern European countries (Croatia, Poland, Czech Republic, the Baltics, Finland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey) shows the generous leave right trend not apparent in American domestic law. Typically, European workers have statutory job security, whereas the several United States generally recognizes the “employment-at-will” rule, permitting the employer to terminate without cause. Only those discharges based upon grounds specified in federal legislation—race, color, religion, national origin, disability, or age—are prohibited. An exception to this right-to-terminate applies to the worker during and immediately after lawful leave The purpose is to present a guide for the enterprise doing business in both the USA and Eastern Europe, in particular, Hungary.Many management prerogatives that are taken for granted by American employers would impose considerable liability in a European setting