EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

Prague, Czechia

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

Decent working conditions for a person are directly related to human dignity. It is possible to search as early as in the ancient world for various normative or philosophical indications concerning the conditions of human work. In a systemic way, this issue was not dealt with until the end of the 19th century. This was undoubtedly influenced by Catholic social doctrine, largely initiated by the encyclical Rerum novarum (Leo XIII 1891). In turn, John Paul II in the encyclical Labourem exercens (John Paul II, 1981) wrote about the human dimension of work, i.e., about its subjective dimension. Therefore, work cannot be treated only as a means of economic development, but also the man himself and his various powers should be taken into account. Article 30 of the Constitution states: “The inherent and inalienable dignity of the person shall constitute a source of freedoms and rights of persons and citizens. It shall be inviolable. The respect and protection thereof shall be the obligation of public authorities.” The essence of human dignity is the subjectivity and autonomy resulting from the fact that a man, as the only living being, is endowed with reason and free will. Human dignity understood in this way, defined as personal, belongs to every human being, therefore also to every employee and employer (being a natural person). An employer is obliged to respect the dignity and other personal rights of an employee. The dignity of an employee, like their other personal rights, belongs to the employee as a person in general. Article 11 (1) of the Labour Code shows that an employer infringing an employee’s personal rights violates the obligation to respects the dignity and other personal rights of every human being, as well as the additional obligations set out in Article 11 (1) of the Labour Code, which is universally binding on all entities. Currently, the doctrine indicates that decent working conditions include, inter alia , factors such as: appropriate sanitary and epidemiological conditions, protection against unwanted negative effects of work, appropriate working hours established by law, appropriate exposure to light, and providing the employee with appropriate conditions, including mental conditions. Therefore, provisions were introduced to combat mobbing, discrimination and marginalization of an individual. Moreover, the introduction of forced labour, which took place in both totalitarian systems of the 20th century, is forbidden. An element of decent working conditions is enabling the employee to improve their qualifications. Working conditions undoubtedly depend on the financial capabilities of the entrepreneur and the state itself. This is how to justify the existing differences in this respect between different countries or parts of the world. However, it is not acceptable for entrepreneurs to differentiate the level of wages of individual employees in the same positions or to lower the level of wages using their stronger market position. When it comes to remuneration for work, it is obvious that every person should be remunerated for their work. Currently, the conditions

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