The social policy of a business is important in Slovakia and is regulated by legislation. It has been a factor in the culture of industrial policy for some time. One part of a business’s social policy is the social fund, used to pay for a variety of services for employees, and most commonly for catering. Money for the fund comes from employers setting aside a sum equivalent to a percentage of the total annual wage bill. The amount can be increased during collective agreement negotiations.
Social policy has been an important component in the policy of Slovakian businesses for a number of years. It is also regulated by labour legislation. Act No. 311/2001 Coll. covers the labour code, Act No. 152/1994 Coll. covers the social fund (SF), and Act No. 2/1991 Coll. deals with collective bargaining.
This legislation provides for the creation of a social fund, and includes rules which give employees the chance to increase its scope in collective agreements. It also covers how the SF is put to use by an enterprise. The constitutional Act No. 23/1991 Coll. introducing the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms also belongs among the relevant regulations in this area.
According to the Act on SF, the fund can be created by using four basic components:
The Working Conditions Information System (ISPP) is issued annually by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (MPSVR SR) and statistical survey company Trexima Ltd. It gives details from a sample of companies in Slovakia about how Social Funds are created and used. The ISPP sample survey for 2008–2012 is shown in Table 1.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of enterprises | 3,502 | 3,647 | 4,502 | 5,088 | 5,261 |
| Number of employees | 751,000 | 663,000 | 765,000 | 810,000 | 842,000 |
| Proportion of total number of employees | 31% | 28% | 39% | 40% | 43% |
Source: Information System on Labour Conditions (ISPP) 2008-2012. MPSVR SR and Trexima Ltd.
According to ISPP, SF is most commonly created from components 1 and 2 of the basic list. Apart from the mandatory component, most businesses increased the resources of their SF through collective bargaining. The proportion of enterprises that did this increased significantly in 2012. A summary of how enterprises create their social funds is shown in Table 2.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprises using component 1 (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Enterprises using component 2 (%) | 25.2 | 24.2 | 22.8 | 23.0 | 37.9 |
| Enterprises using component 3 (%) | 9.1 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 9.5 |
| Enterprises using component 4 (%) | 13.6 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 7.0 |
Source: ISPP
The largest proportion of a business’s social fund goes towards catering for a business’s employees. In 2008–2012, the proportion of SF resources used for catering, and the total volume of those resources increased. Companies provided catering for their employees in different ways. Details are shown in Tables 3 and 4.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proportion of resources of SF | 32.5% | 30.9% | 34.9% | 38.3% | 42.7% |
| Volume of resources of SF (in thousands €) | 32,854 | 26,958 | 34,007 | 38,314 | 48,821 |
Resource: ISPP
SF resources are also used for other purposes. In 2012, they were used to fund workforce recovery programmes (12.1%), grants towards employees’ transport to work (6.7%), individual recreation (5.4%), rewards for employees’ life anniversaries (5.0%), support to employees in poor social situations (3.4%), and loans and contributions to employees’ complementary pension schemes (both 2.9%).
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-house - number of employees - average price of meal (€) - employer’s contribution (€) | . 108,600 2.17 1.29 | . 111,000 2.28 1.35 | . 123,500 2.29 1.34 | . 123,700 2.40 1.40 | . 129,000 2.43 1.41 |
| Catering by external company - number of employees - average price of meal (€) - employer’s contribution (€) | . 206,800 2.45 1.53 | . 160,000 2.54 1.57 | . 167,000 2.54 1.55 | . 162,800 2.70 1.60 | . 180,000 2.73 1.70 |
| Meal vouchers - number of employees - average price of meal (€) - employer’s contribution (€) | . 259,600 2.74 1.7 | . 248,000 2.98 1.82 | . 301,000 3.01 1.84 | . 337,000 3.10 2.0 | . 343,000 3.16 1.99 |
| Financial contribution towards catering cost - number of employees - average price of meal (€) - employer’s contribution (€) | . No data | . No data | . 19,800 2.84 1.63 | . 18,000 3.0 1.7 | . 17,000 2.94 1.73 |
Source: ISPP
The data show that the more employees received certified meal vouchers than any form of meat assistance, and the method of catering was chosen by the employees themselves. The least popular method is catering in-house.
Results for the years 2008–2012 point to a general increase in the price of the food provided, as well as an increase in the contribution of employers towards catering for their employees.
Teodor Hatina, Institute for Labour and Family Research