Compulsory Vaccination and Fundamental Human Rights in the World of Work

During the COVID-19 epidemiological emergency, several countries adopted regulations which have affected the world of work. The impact of these measures on workers and other employees has been the subject of numerous studies. Among the legislation, there are some that apply to specific occupational groups, such as healthcare workers, and others that apply more generally to a broad section of society. What they have in common is that they restrict the fundamental rights of workers to an extent that justifies a thorough human rights and constitutional rights analysis. The aim of this paper is to analyse the issue of compulsory vaccination by focusing primarily on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and attempt to interpret it in relation to the domestic regulation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second part of the paper is a case study based on the Hungarian legislation, which was adopted recently. © 2022, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej w Lublinie. All rights reserved.

The level playing field of Hungarian social partners before and during the CUVID-19 pandemic: Case studies from the automotive industry

For numerous reasons, social dialogue in Hungary generally does not fulfil its role on the national, sectoral, or workplace level. Social dialogue as a democratic process is dysfunctional, since its institutions and mechanisms are not imple- mented democratically, and no real dialogue or actual debate take place. Instead, these mechanisms work in a top-down manner - the illiberal state and its cen- tral governing bodies expect certain solutions and answers, leaving no scope for transparent democratic dialogue with the relevant social partners. Against this background, in 2019 major strike activity was witnessed in the automotive sector. However, in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hungarian govern- ment deployed its full power by adopting the 'Authorization Act,' which allowed the government to introduce significant restrictions, practically without any time limits, any debate in parliament, or guarantee of swift and effective con- stitutional review. Our research paper investigates these recent developments in social dialogue using a case study, with the aim of understanding the forces underlying the collective action organized in the automotive sector. Our research demonstrates that, due to the lack of institutional guarantees, social dialogue is very fragile in Hungary, and the landslide victory in 2019 was a mere reflection of labour shortages. Our mixed methodology - which combines legal and soci- ological approaches - is suitable for examining this complex issue;interviews conducted with representatives of labour and employers provide deep insight into motives and action in a circumvented level playing field.