Transfer to Another Job and Changing the Terms of an Employment Contract

Permanent transfer: only with consent

A permanent transfer to another job is allowed only with the employee's consent (Labor Code, Art. 140). Before obtaining consent, the employer must familiarize the employee with the content of the new job, its working conditions and the local acts related to it.

A transfer is prohibited if the new work is contraindicated for the employee for health reasons confirmed by a medical report (Art. 138). For any transfer, the date when the employee starts the new work must be set (Art. 139).

Temporary transfer

By agreement of the parties, an employee may be temporarily transferred for up to one year, or, to replace an absent employee whose position is retained, until that employee returns (Art. 141). If after the term the previous job is not provided, the employee does not demand it and continues working, the transfer becomes permanent — a common trap for HR.

The term of a temporary transfer is set in days, months or years, by calendar dates, or by an event such as the return of the absent employee (Art. 139). When the term expires, the employer must give the employee their previous job back.

The employer must grant a request for a temporary transfer if, under a medical report, the employee needs lighter work, if a pregnant woman has such a report, or if a parent caring for a child under two cannot perform their previous work (Art. 142).

Transfer without consent: production necessity and downtime

Without the employee's consent, a temporary transfer is possible only due to production necessity or downtime (Art. 145). Production necessity means urgent, unforeseen work: preventing downtime, replacing a temporarily absent employee, eliminating the consequences of an accident, work in an emergency. Downtime is a temporary suspension of work for economic, technological, organizational or natural reasons.

Pay during this period is for the work performed, but not lower than the previous average earnings. Such transfers may not exceed sixty calendar days in total in a calendar year. A downtime transfer to work requiring lower qualifications requires the employee's written consent.

Changing salary and other working conditions

Working conditions set by the employment contract, collective agreement or local acts cannot be changed at the request of one party, except in the cases of Arts. 136 and 137 (Art. 135). A salary increase agreed by the parties is formalized by a supplementary agreement.

The employer may change conditions without consent only if the previous conditions cannot be retained due to changes in technology, the organization of production and work, or a reduced volume of work, and the job function stays the same (Art. 137). The employee is notified in writing, against signature, at least two months in advance. If they refuse to work under the new conditions, the contract may be terminated with severance pay under Art. 173. In a dispute, the burden of proving that the previous conditions could not be retained lies with the employer.

The employee may also demand a change of conditions in cases provided by law or the contract; the employer considers the application within three days and gives reasons for a refusal in writing (Art. 136).

Changing the workplace

Moving an employee to another workplace with the same employer, to another non-separate subdivision in the same locality or to another machine, with the same job function and the same conditions, does not require consent (Art. 148). But if a specific workplace is written into the employment contract, it can be changed only with the employee's consent.

How to document it

Changes to an employment contract are formalized by an employer's order (Art. 149). For a permanent transfer or a change of working conditions or of a workplace specified in the contract, the basis for the order is a written supplementary agreement in at least two copies. The order is issued in exact accordance with the supplementary agreement and announced to the employee against signature.

A temporary transfer is not reflected in the employment contract: it is formalized by an order stating its term. The basis is the employee's written application (by agreement or on their initiative), an application plus a medical report (for health reasons), or the facts of production necessity or downtime (on the employer's initiative).

• supplementary agreement — new position or terms, start date, signatures of both parties;
• order — exactly matching the supplementary agreement, with the employee's acknowledgment signature;
• HR records — changes in the staffing and the timesheet;
• payroll — the new salary from the date stated in the supplementary agreement.

Consequences of an unlawful change

The employee may challenge a change to the contract (Art. 150). If conditions are changed unlawfully, the employee may demand restoration of the previous conditions and compensation for losses if pay was reduced. If a transfer is unlawful, they may demand reinstatement in the previous job and payment for forced absence; if they worked in the new position for less money, the difference is compensated. Compensation for moral damage is also possible.