A comprehensive guide to employers’ reporting obligations
The employment of foreign workforce in Hungary entails additional administrative duties on the part of the employer in addition to obtaining the necessary permits such as the Residence permit for the purpose of working. In all cases, the employment of non-Hungarian citizens means reporting obligations from the employer to the competent authorities. Our article helps employers to fulfill these requirements.
Employers must pay close attention to the fulfillment of reporting obligations related to the employment of foreigners, as late or incorrectly submitted reports may even result in fines.
Depending on the circumstances, the reporting must be made to the competent Labor Office or the Immigration Office (OIF).
Labor Office announcements
In the cases of permit-free employment, it is necessary to notify the competent Labor Office of about the start and end of employment.
The deadline for submitting the notification: the start date of the foreign employee’s employment must be reported on the day before the start of employment, but no later than on the first day of employment, and its termination no later than on the day of termination of employment, or before that, but no later than on the working day following termination.
The main cases of employment without a permit:
- Employment of EEA nationals
- a non-EEA citizen who has been issued a residence card or permanent residence card on the basis of their EEA citizen family member
- a non-EEA citizen who has a permanent residence permit (can be national, EC residence permit or temporary pemanent residence permit), immigration permit
- a non-EEA citizen who has a residence permit for study purposes (during the semester maximum thirty hours per week, outside the semester full time, on maximum ninety days per year or sixty-six working days)
- in the case of a non-EEA citizen whose spouse is a Hungarian citizen
- employment of Ukrainian and Serbian citizens in on-demand professions
- a foreigner with refugee status
The employer notification is anonymous and does not contain personal data about the employee.
The employer's reporting obligations to announce to the OIF (Immigration Office) includes the following cases.
In the case of employment of EEA nationals
The start of employment does not need to be reported, only the termination. The deadline for submitting the report: the report must be submitted within 3 working days.
In the case of employment of non-EEA nationals
A report must be made about the establishment of the employment relationship, as well as if the foreigner’s employment ends before the residence permit entitling him to work expires, or the employment relationship was cancelled after the pemrit was granted.
The deadline for submitting the report:
- About the start of employment within 5 days,
- the termination / failure of the employment relationship must be reported within 5 days.
When reporting to the immigration office, it is necessary to provide the employee’s personal data.
Both the information about the start of employment is important information for the OIF, as well as the notification related to the failure and termination of the employment relationship, because the failure and termination of the employment also has additional immigration law implications.
Penalties for fail in reporting
The immigration authority imposes a fine on employers who fail to comply with their reporting obligations – proportionate to the number of non-EEA nationals employed. The amount of the fine can be up to HUF 500,000 per employee.
Acting within its discretion, the employment supervisory authority may impose labor fines in connection with Government Decree 115/2021 (III.10). The minimum amount of the labor fine is HUF 30,000, the upper limit is not maximized, the amount of the fine is determined by the supervision taking into account the legal violations discovered in one procedure.
Posting reporting
Within the European Union, businesses have the opportunity to send their employees to work in another EU country as part of cross-border service provision (posting).
The employer has reporting obligations, a notification must be made to the competent authority of the host Member State – at the latest when the service provision begins. We will soon publish a detailed article on the subject.
All employer notifications detailed in our article are fully addressed by our company to the relevant offices.
