Procedural protection of employees in individual employment disputes under Slovak civil procedure

Abstract

Individual employment disputes represent a specific category of civil litigation characterised by a structural imbalance between the employee and the employer. This imbalance, rooted in the nature of dependent work and the unequal distribution of economic, organisational, and informational power, significantly affects not only substantive labour law but also the procedural position of the parties in judicial proceedings. The article examines the theoretical foundations of individual employment disputes as conflict-driven legal relationships and analyses the procedural mechanisms introduced by the Slovak Civil Dispute Procedure Code to protect employees as the weaker party. Particular attention is devoted to the classification of these disputes as disputes involving protection of the weaker party, the expanded duty of the court to provide guidance, the inclination towards the investigative principle in evidence taking, the exclusion of procedural concentration in relation to the employee, and the prohibition of default judgments to the employee’s detriment. The article further evaluates the effectiveness of these procedural instruments in practice, with a focus on causal jurisdiction and access to justice. The analysis demonstrates that while the current procedural framework strengthens the formal and material protection of employees, it also raises concerns regarding the length of proceedings, judicial accessibility, and overall procedural efficiency. The article concludes that effective protection of employee rights requires not only enhanced procedural safeguards but also organisational and systemic adjustments within the judiciary to ensure accessible, timely, and professionally competent adjudication of employment disputes.