Visegrad Collective Agreements Before and After COVID-19

Abstract

This research report aims to investigate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the content of collective bargaining agreements in the 4 Visegrád countries, namely Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. This report conducts a systematic comparison of altogether 17 collective bargaining agreements from the Visegrád countries for which both pre- and post-COVID-19 (i.e. concluded before and after March 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in European countries) documents could be found for comparison.

By analysing the presence or absence of specific clauses within these agreements, this report aims to assess how the pandemic has impacted the outcomes of collective bargaining, particularly in four specific areas of interest. Taking into the inherent limitation stemming from a small sample of analysed agreements, the report concludes that there have been some noteworthy changes in the content of CBAs before and after the pandemic, in particular concerning the prevalence of once-only bonuses, the use of flexible hours and working conditions arrangements, the inclusion of health and safety provisions concerning health impairment and the relationship between health and work. Furthermore, we found that explicit mentions of COVID-19 measures are rare in CBAs, similarly to other arrangements deemed more relevant in other countries, such as remote work, social distancing or relevant training measures.