According to Article 109 § 1 of the Labour Code, a disciplinary penalty may not be imposed after two weeks from the date the employer became aware of the employee’s breach of duty, nor after three months from the date the breach occurred. If the employee cannot be heard due to their absence from the workplace, the two-week period specified in Article 109 § 1 of the Labour Code does not begin to run, or if it has already begun, it shall be suspended until the employee returns to work.
Once these deadlines have passed—especially the three-month period—the employer can no longer impose a disciplinary penalty. Therefore, if the employer becomes aware of an employee’s misconduct more than three months after it occurred, they are no longer legally permitted to impose a penalty.
To correctly calculate the deadlines related to imposing disciplinary penalties, Articles 112 to 115 of the Civil Code should be applied. According to Article 112 of the Civil Code, a time limit defined in weeks or months ends on the day whose name corresponds to the initial day of the period.
A disciplinary penalty can only be imposed after the employee has been given an opportunity to explain themselves, as required by Article 109 § 2 of the Labour Code.
This means a conversation should be held with the employee during which they have the chance to provide explanations regarding the incident – how the breach of regulations occurred, or more generally, their perspective on the situation for which the employer intends to impose the penalty. The employee may refuse to give an oral explanation and instead submit their explanation in writing. The Supreme Court has held that an employer cannot impose a disciplinary penalty without first giving the employee an opportunity to be heard, unless the employee voluntarily waives the right to give an oral explanation or chooses to submit it in writing.
The hearing may be conducted by the employer or by another person authorized by the employer. This does not violate Article 109 § 2 of the Labour Code, although such conduct may be evaluated in terms of rational workplace organization.
Only after the procedure of hearing the employee is completed may the employer proceed to impose the disciplinary penalty and deliver a written notice of the penalty to the employee. While the employee may refuse to accept this notice, such refusal does not negate the fact that the employee has been notified of the penalty. It is safer if other persons are present during this procedure, as they can confirm this fact in court if necessary.
In the written notice informing the employee of the disciplinary penalty, the employer should clearly specify what the breach of duty consisted of, when it occurred, and which duties were violated. The notice must also include information about the employee’s right to file an objection.
A copy of the disciplinary notice should be placed in the employee’s personal file, although it is not necessary to mention this in the content of the notice itself.