Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Labour Law : right of pregnant women to lie to employer

The Hungarian Constitution Court („CC”)issued a detailed decision [decision No. 17/2014. (V. 30.) AB] on the right of pregnant women and women under medical fertilization treatment to hide their pregnancy / fertilization process. The decision was published on 27 May 2014. The breakthrough ruling is introducing the “right to lie” in Hungary that is already recognized in some other EU member states.

In its decision the CC expressed its privacy concerns and eliminated a provision from Act No. I. of 2012 on the Labour Code, with retroactive effect.

Background
The Fundamental Law of Hungary protects privacy and family life. According to Article II thereof, human dignity shall be inviolable and every human being shall have the right to life and human dignity; embryonic and foetal life and shall be subject to protection from the moment of conception. Further, according to Article VI of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, every person shall have the right to the protection of his or her private and family life, home, relations and good reputation, and every person shall have the right to the protection of his or her personal data, and to access and disseminate data of public interest.

Further, in Hungary, pregnant woman are protected by law from termination (during pregnancy and until the third anniversary of the child or when they terminated their nursing period without work). According to some judgments the protection is “objective” and consequently applies to the woman even if she was not aware of her pregnancy; however, such judgments are rare.

The consistent court practice relating to the interpretation of the above provision has always been controversial, most judges argued that the employee must inform the employer at the time of the termination (at the latest) in order to benefit from the protection. Moreover, an individual judgment even confirmed that if the employee hides her pregnancy from the employer, she is not protected from the termination since she is acting in bad faith.

In order to unify the court practice in this regard and to protect the employer’s interest, the parliament incorporated a provision to the LC that the protection applies only if the employee informs the employer about the pregnancy / medical treatment. According to the original section 65 (5) of LC, the pregnant women and women under fertilization process are subject to termination protection provided that they properly inform their employer about the fact of pregnancy / fertilization process.

The commissioner for fundamental rights (“Commissioner”) submitted to the Constitutional Court a petition for ex-post normative control, asking for the constitutional review of Section 65 (5) of the LC. According to his opinion formed on the basis of reviewing the studies dealing with the codification of the new LC as well as the Hungarian and the European practice of fundamental rights, there are serious justifiable constitutional concerns regarding the challenged regulation on the termination protection. As pointed out by the petitioner, the provision requiring an employee to talk about pregnancy is impossible if the employee is not aware of the pregnancy. He highlighted that those who are not aware of their medical status should also need protection. He referred to the Fundamental Law which ensures the right for privacy and private family life. The commissioner for fundamental rights held that the recent changes in the provisions of the Fundamental Law in the field of privacy do not imply the disregarding of the Constitutional Court’s judicial practice – based also on the practice of the European Court of Human Rights – related to the right to private life. Moreover, the Commissioner made a reference to a Curia decision from 2004 arguing that it is against the principles of law to require an employee to talk about her pregnancy to the employer or even to give false information.

 Decision of the Constitutional Court


The Constitutional Court accepted the claim of the Commissioner and canceled section 65 (5) from the LC with retroactive effect. In the decision the CC gives a detailed analysis on the concept of privacy and introduced the “right to lie” in order to prevent human dignity.

In the decision the CC gives a detailed reasoning relating to the practice of the European Court of Justice protecting the rights of pregnant women and the requirements for equal treatment. However, the CC explains that it is not only an equal opportunity question but also an issue relating to privacy protection. In its view, the CC must examine (within the frame of the petition of the Commissioner) whether making the protection against dismissal defined in the Section 65 (3) a) and e) conditional upon informing the employer about it – before giving notice of dismissal – by the employee infringes the right to privacy or private family life. During this scrutiny by the CC, the starting point was the determination of the protection scope of the referred fundamental rights.

The CC has interpreted the right to privacy and its relation to the right to human dignity in its previous decision No. 32/2013. (XI. 22.). It came to the conclusion that the Article VI (1) of the Fundamental Law – contrary to Article 59. § (1) of the previous Constitution – provides comprehensive protection of privacy: and covers the private and family life, home, communication and good reputation of the private individual. As regards the substance of privacy, it continued to deem sustainable the definition – representing the overall essence of the notion of private life - reached by the Constitutional Court in its earlier practice, according to which, the essential conceptual element of privacy is that others may not interfere or have access thereto against the will of the person concerned. The Court highlighted that there is a particularly close relationship between the right to privacy ensured by Article VI. (1) of the Fundamental Law and the right to human dignity guaranteed by Article II. of the Fundamental Law.

In the CC’s interpretation, Article II. of the Fundamental Law provides basis for the protection of the “untouchable area of the formation of privacy”, which is completely excluded from any kind of state intervention, since it is the basis for human dignity. Nonetheless, according to the Fundamental Law, the protection of privacy is not restricted only to the inner sphere or intimacy protected also by Article II of the Fundamental Law, but it also covers privacy of a wider sense (communication) and the territorial sphere, in which the private and family life unfolds (home). Beyond this, the image created about one’s life enjoys individual protection as well (right to good reputation).

 [30] Article XVII (3) of the Fundamental Law concretizes the protection of rights ensured in Article II and VI (1) of the Fundamental Law in relation to employment: „Every employee has the right to working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity.” The safe working conditions, not endangering the health of employees are ensured by the Act XCIII of 1993 on labour safety; to respect employees’ dignity by the Act CXXV of 2003 on Equal Treatment and the Promotion of Equal Opportunities, furthermore during the employment by the provisions of the LC guaranteeing the protection of personal rights and Sections 2:42–54. § of the Act V of 2013 on the Civil Code.

Section 9 § (1) of the LC stipulates the general requirement of the protection of personal rights. Personality rights are named within the Civil Code, thus the right to privacy and the right to the protection of personal data as well [CC 2:43. § b), e)]. The protection of personality rights in labour law – according to the reasoning of the LC – is of high importance, primarily due to the imbalanced nature of the employment relationship. According to Section 10. § (1) of the LC, an employee may be requested to make a statement or to disclose certain information only if it does not violate his rights relating to personality, and if deemed necessary for the conclusion, fulfilment or termination of the employment relationship.

With view to the fact that the circumstances defined in Sections 65. § (3) a) and e) of the LC are regarded as personal data, the Constitutional Court referred to its previous practice regarding the relationship of the right to privacy and the right to protect personal data ensured by Section VI. (2) of the Fundamental Law. The Constitutional Court (since 1991) had not construed the right to protect personal data as a traditional protective right, but taking into account its active side as well, interpreted it as right of informational self-determination.

The CC highlighted that the right of informational self-determination is closely linked to the right to privacy, whilst it contains the right to decide as to when and within what limits will the individual reveal its data related to its person. The restriction of the right of informational self-determination – contrary to the right to privacy– is not aligned primarily to the character of the data, but to its use. The right of informational self-determination comprehensively protects the personal data of the private individual, irrespectively of how the data controller came to the possession of those.


                                    

Interpretation of the term “private life” in Hungary by other authorities

The definition of private life is a broad concept with no exhaustive definition in Hungary. Different interpretations are available in decisions adopted by criminal or civil courts. However, in general, the concept is wider than that of the right to privacy and it concerns a sphere within which everyone can freely pursue the development and fulfillment of his/her personality. In the interpretation of the CC, the right to private life is not only wider than to right to privacy, but it is covered by the “information self-determination” that requires active (pro-active) conduct from the affected individual.

The previous Data Protection Commissioner already analyzed in details the employee’s rights to protect certain information from the employer and he pointed out in several opinions and statements that the employee may not be forced to provide information on his /her private life to the employer unless the question of the employer affects the material part of the employment relationship. For example, pregnant women can only be requested to provide information on their pregnancy if the information is relevant to work schedule or to dangers involved in fulfilling certain positions. In any other case, it falls under the right of the woman’s information self determination whether to provide the information to the employer or not.

Under Hungarian law, the decision of the CC may serve as a basis for the re-opening of the closed litigation in which pregnant woman were affected. The case also shows that the interpretation of privacy law remains at the table of the Constitution Court, further refining its previous practice interpreting the notions of privacy, private life, and personal data protection.
 
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