Agreement to unilateral amendment of the remuneration rules in case of threat of insolvency
Judgment of 9 May 2018. The Supreme Court ruled in a case ref. no. II PK 60/17 that an employer who tried to agree with trade unions amendments to the remuneration regulations aimed at reducing the costs of an enterprise threatened with bankruptcy does not abuse its right when it repeals the regulations, despite a negative position of the trade unions.
This is the second decision of the Supreme Court departing from the existing line of jurisprudence in the scope of repealing and amending the remuneration regulations after receiving a negative position of the trade unions.
In the justification of the ruling, the Supreme Court pointed out that “in the light of the constitutional standard as of the date of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the perpetual nature of the provisions of such sources of labour law as collective agreements constitutes a disproportionate restriction on the freedom to conduct business activities, limits the principle of voluntary bargaining and violates the principle of equality of parties in negotiations”.
