Author
According to Article 23a(1)(i) and (j) of the Act No. 5/2004 Coll. on Employment Services and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts (the Employment Services Act), beneficiaries of international protection have free access to the labour market. They may be employed without having to obtain any special work authorisation (work permit, confirmation of the possibility to fill in a vacancy, or confirmation of the possibility to fill in a vacancy which corresponds to highly qualified employment). This means, inter alia, that the employers are not required to report a job vacancy to the OLSAF prior to hiring a beneficiary of international protection, and that the OLSAF does not assess the labour market situation in such cases.
Beneficiaries of international protection may work within an employment relationship (employment contract), or on the basis of agreements on work performed outside an employment relationship (agreement for work performance, agreement on work activity or student temporary job agreement). No distinction is made between asylum holders and holders of subsidiary protection.
Employers hiring beneficiaries of international protection are required to notify the OLSAF within 7 working days from the commencement of employment and within 7 working days from the termination of the employment relationship. Such notification is submitted electronically.[1] This obligation applies to the employment of all third-country nationals and is not specific to the employment of refugees.
In general, beneficiaries of international protection are excluded from employment in civil service. According to Article 2 of the Act No. 55/2017 Coll. on Civil Service and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts, only citizens of the Slovak Republic, citizens of the EU member states, citizens of the EEA Member States and citizens of the Swiss Confederation are entitled to apply for admission to the civil service.
The Employment Services Act classifies persons granted asylum and subsidiary protection as disadvantaged jobseekers[2] and, in this context, provides them with specific forms of support throughout the Act in order to facilitate their integration and retention in the labour market.
Within the AMIF-funded project Rifugio II, SHC provides beneficiaries of international protection with job counselling, including skills and qualifications assessment, identification of employment or internship opportunities, and preventive measures against exploitation or the non-payment of fair wages. Apart from individual counselling, asylum and subsidiary protection holders may attend group workshops focused on different topics related to refugees’ labour market integration.[3]
In cooperation with IKEA, the HRL has been implementing the Skills for Employment project aimed at supporting the labour market integration of refugees and other beneficiaries of international protection in Slovakia. The project focuses on improving participants’ employability through skills and qualifications assessment, career counselling, job-search assistance, CV and interview preparation, and orientation in the Slovak labour market. It also provides information on employment rights and obligations, including employment contracts, working conditions, and protection against labour exploitation.
In practice, beneficiaries of international protection face several obstacles in accessing the labour market. According to the 2021 research study Refugee Integration into the Labour Market in Slovakia (Integrácia utečencov na trh práce na Slovensku),[4] which examined challenges related to labour market access and working conditions through interviews with asylum seekers, asylum holders, and subsidiary protection holders, HRL identified the following challenges and areas for improvement:
- violations of rights and exploitative working conditions affecting refugees, including: excessive amount of overtimes (sometimes under a threat of being laid off), minimum wage laid down in the employment contract (the rest of the salary paid in cash), employment without a contract, non-payment or irregular payment of wages, lower wages on the grounds that the worker was a refugee, lack of respect and humiliation in the workplace, non-payment of taxes and levies, obligation to perform work not specified in the employment contract, insufficient understanding of employment contracts due to language barriers; denial of annual leave or failure to provide leave in the statutory extent, and failure to compensate public holidays and leave entitlements.
- insufficient language training and preparation of beneficiaries of international protection for the labour market
- inadequate mechanisms for recognition of education and professional qualifications, including non-formal learning, skills and qualifications of refugees
As of 31 December 2025, there were 88 asylum holders (68 males, 19 females and 1 person of unknown sex) and 79 subsidiary protection holders (74 males, 4 females and 1 person of unknown sex) employed in the Slovak Republic.[5] Additionally, 1 beneficiary of international protection was registered as a job seeker.[6]
Educational qualifications obtained abroad are not automatically recognised in Slovakia as equivalent to Slovak qualifications. A distinction is made between professional recognition of educational qualifications for the purpose of pursuing regulated professions and academic recognition of educational qualifications for the purpose of continuing to a higher level of education. The recognition of educational qualifications or professional qualifications is carried out by the Centre for Recognition of Education Documents (Stredisko na uznávanie dokaldov o vzdelaní).[7] The process of recognition of professional qualifications is regulated primarily by the Act No. 422/2015 Coll. On the Recognition of Educational Qualifications and the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts (The Act No. 422/2015 Coll.).
The Act No. 422/2015 Coll. regulates a two-stage model of recognition of foreign education for the exercise of a regulated profession. The first stage is the recognition of the evidence of formal education, and the second stage is the recognition of the evidence of professional qualifications. The decision on the recognition of the evidence of formal qualifications alone does not necessarily entitle the applicant to exercise the regulated profession.
Where both the recognition of formal educational qualifications and the recognition of professional qualifications fall within the competence of the same authority, a combined procedure may be conducted. In such cases, a single decision is issued encompassing both the recognition of the educational qualification and the recognition of the professional qualification. The MoERDY applies this procedure in relation to qualifications required for the exercise of professions in the fields of education, sport, and healthcare.
In the case of other regulated professions, the MoERDY acts as the competent authority for the recognition of educational qualifications. Where additional qualification requirements apply beyond formal education – such as professional experience, lifelong learning certificates, or professional examinations – these are assessed by the competent authority responsible for the recognition of professional qualifications. Information on the competent authorities for individual professions is available in the Regulated Professions Database. The database of regulated professions is available online.[8] Professions that are not listed in the database are considered unregulated.
The official processing times for recognition of formal qualifications and professional qualifications depend on the profession and the country where the qualification was obtained, and it may take up to 3 months from the submission of a complete application. The administrative fee for submitting an online application for recognition of qualifications is €90 for professions in the fields of education, healthcare, and sports and €35 for other regulated professions. In case of submission of an application in paper form, the administrative fee is €140 for professions in the fields of education, healthcare, and sports and €70 for other regulated professions.[9]
Article 57 of Act No. 422/2015 Coll. establishes a specific procedure for beneficiaries of international protection who are unable to present documentary proof of their previous education due to the circumstances connected with their displacement. Under this provision, a person granted asylum, subsidiary protection or temporary protection may request an assessment and verification of their attained education by MoERDY SR. Where the application is accepted, the Ministry designates a secondary school or higher education institution to verify the applicant’s level of education through an examination conducted in the Slovak language. The examination may include written, oral, and practical components and aims to determine the extent to which the applicant’s previous education corresponds to comparable education in Slovakia. Although this mechanism may facilitate access to further education, the resulting protocol does not authorise access to regulated professions, which substantially limits its practical value for labour market participation.
Field research conducted by HRL in 2021 showed that beneficiaries of international protection continue to face difficulties in obtaining recognition of their education and skills acquired through employment in their countries of origin. Many are forced to perform low-skilled work or remain unemployed, resulting in a waste of their potential, commonly referred to as “brain waste.” The research further demonstrated that refugee women face the greatest difficulties in accessing the Slovak labour market, particularly where they have children. At the same time, highly educated refugee women perceive their inability to find adequate employment as especially frustrating and discouraging.[10]
[1] Art. 23b(5) of the Employment Services Act.
[2] Art. 8(1)(f) of the Employment Services Act.
[3] More details about the SHC´s AMIF project Rifugio II can be found (in Slovak) here.
[4] HRL, Integrácia utečencov na trh práce na Slovensku, 2021, available (in Slovak) here.
[5] Official response of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (No. UPS/US1/OPS/INF/2026/12) from 19 January 2026 to a request for information submitted on 7 January 2026.
[6] Ibid.
[7] The website of the Centre for Recognition of Education Documents is available here.
[8] The database of regulated professions is available here.
[10] HRL, Integrácia utečencov na trh práce na Slovensku, 2021, available (in Slovak) here.