# Labour law inspection focuses in 2026 – what should employers prepare for?
The national labour and employment inspection plan for 2026 indicates that the authorities will primarily focus on the practical enforcement of existing labour law and occupational safety rules, rather than introducing new obligations.
Targeted and thematic inspections will be carried out on a coordinated, nationwide basis and within defined timeframes. As a result, increased inspection activity can be expected in specific periods during the year, focusing in particular on the following areas:
(i) In the area of employment inspection, in the first half of the year, a target inspection will be carried out to monitor the employment of protected employees, especially women, young employees and people with reduced working capacity. Within this framework, the authority examines the practical enforcement of the guarantee rules set out in the Labour Code, i.e. not only the formal compliance of employment contracts, but also the actual conditions of employment. A nationwide action inspection will be carried out during the summer period to examine the regularity of employment. The express aim of this is to uncover undeclared employment and protect the fundamental rights of employees. In practice, this may affect the regularity of the establishment of the employment relationship, the fulfilment of the notification obligation and the actual content of the legal relationship. In the second half of the year, a separate targeted inspection will be carried out to observe the rules relating to wages. This includes the legality of the payment of wages, the regular accounting of supplements and other wage-related benefits, and the adequacy of deductions. The examination of wage rules is one of the most sensitive areas of employer practice, as incorrect accounting may have not only labour but also tax law consequences.
(ii) Two national target inspections have also been defined in the field of occupational safety and health. One is aimed at the performance of occupational safety and health professional activities, i.e. whether the employer actually performs the professional tasks prescribed by law – such as involving an occupational safety specialist, providing occupational health tasks – and at an appropriate professional level. The other target inspection focuses on the content adequacy of employers’ occupational safety risk assessments. The plan explicitly refers to the fact that, according to the authorities’ experience, risk assessments are often template-based, do not cover the actual risks of accidents and health hazards, and do not follow changes in working conditions. During the 2026 inspections, the authorities may compare on-site experiences with the content of the documentation, which poses a serious risk in the case of documents that are formal but not in line with real operations.
The means of the inspections include on-site inspections, document checks and querying electronic records. This means that employment contracts, working time records, wage records, occupational safety documents and risk assessments may be subject to inspection not only for their existence, but also for their content and up-to-dateness.
Based on the overall picture of the 2026 inspection program, it is therefore not the emergence of new legal obligations that should be expected, but rather that the authorities will examine the practical enforcement of existing regulations in a more consistent and coordinated manner. Accordingly, the key to preparation is to ensure that employment contracts, wage regulations, working time records, occupational safety documentation and risk assessments are coherent in terms of content, up-to-date and truly reflect practice.
# Teleworking and Home Office Regulation and Inspection
The legal assessment of working from home, commonly referred to as “home office”, depends on the regularity and legal basis of the work. If the employment contract specifies the employer’s premises as the place of work and the employer permits working from home on an ad hoc basis and on an individual basis, based on internal regulations, this can be considered a revocable option provided by the employer within the scope of work organization powers, which does not result in a modification of the employment contract. On the other hand, if working in a place other than the office becomes regular, permanent and an essential element of the employment relationship, it can be considered as teleworking under the Labor Code, based on the agreement of the parties, regardless of the name. In connection with the conditions of working from home outside the office, the employer has occupational health and safety responsibilities, and the employer also has cost reimbursement obligations.
In order to ensure legal security for the employer, it is justified to have written internal regulations regarding home working, a work location definition in line with employment contracts, occupational health and safety information and risk assessment, a documented working time recording system, and regulations recording the legal title and method of accounting for expense reimbursements. In the absence of this documentation, the employment supervisory authority may examine the legality of the actual place of work and compliance with working time regulations, the occupational health and safety authority may examine the provision of working conditions that do not endanger health, the tax authority may examine the tax classification of expense reimbursements, and the data protection authority may examine the control and data management practices related to remote working.
# Working time recording: is Excel enough?
The Labor Code does not prescribe a specific form for keeping working time records, it only requires the employer to record regular and extraordinary working hours, on-call time and leave. This often leads to the conclusion that a simple Excel spreadsheet meets the legal requirements. The legal significance of working time records lies not in the formal requirements, but in their evidentiary value. The Labor Code does not prescribe a specific technical solution, but the employer is responsible for proving that the rules on working time have been complied with. This proof is based on the records. A simple Excel file – which can be modified without restriction, does not log data changes and does not ensure the authentication of the recording time – does not in itself guarantee the immutability of the data. If the possibility of subsequent modification arises in a disputed situation, the evidentiary value of the document is weakened. The question is not whether a modification has been made, but whether the employer is able to exclude the possibility of it. Judicial and official practice is consistent in that a formally kept record that cannot be verified by actual work is not suitable for fulfilling the employer's obligation to prove. If the system does not ensure up-to-dateness, access control and traceability of subsequent changes, the employer's evidentiary position may be damaged.
Working time records are not just an administrative obligation, but the employer's primary means of proof. It is therefore worth applying a solution that leaves no doubt about the authenticity and immutability of the data and clearly strengthens the employer's position during a possible official inspection or labor dispute.
# "Right to disconnect" - what is it and should it be addressed in Hungary?
The “right to disconnect” – in Hungarian, the right to be unavailable outside working hours – means the principle that employees should not be burdened with regular work or response obligations via digital means during their rest periods. The topic has also been on the agenda at EU level in recent years, especially with the spread of teleworking and hybrid working. It is important to note, however, that there is currently no binding EU directive that would require independent national regulation of the “right to disconnect”. Although the European Parliament has urged the Commission to submit a legislative proposal on several occasions, no directive specifically addressing this has yet been adopted. However, the current EU Working Time Directive requires the provision of daily and weekly rest periods, as well as a limit on maximum weekly working hours. Based on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, rest periods must be effectively free from work obligations. If employees are regularly required to respond to emails, take calls or “standby” outside working hours, this may raise issues of overtime or availability.
Hungarian law does not currently contain a separate “right to disconnect” rule, but the issue can already be interpreted within the framework of the Labor Code. The employer is obliged to ensure daily and weekly rest periods, and must legally order and account for extraordinary working hours. If organizational practice results in the employee actually working or remaining available during rest periods, this may have labor law consequences.
The “right to disconnect” is therefore not currently an independent legal institution in Hungarian law, but rather an aspect of the enforcement of working time and rest time rules. For the employer, the essential question is not whether the actual enforcement of rest periods is ensured in practice. If the reaction outside working hours – for example, answering emails or receiving calls – becomes regular and expected, it may be classified as overtime or availability, and may result in a corresponding accounting obligation.
