Legal Journal: Student Internship Agreement – A Proposed But Unapproved Labor Law Institute

The National Council of the Slovak Republic submitted a bill aiming to amend and supplement Act No. 311/2001 Coll., the Labor Code, as amended, and certain other acts. The objective of this amendment was to introduce a new institute into the Labor Code: the student internship agreement, which was intended to come into effect on October 15, 2025. This institute was designed to enable students to gain professional experience with guaranteed financial remuneration, while also eliminating unpaid internships, which exacerbate social inequalities.

Key Aspects of the Proposed Student Internship Agreement

Subject of the Agreement

The student internship agreement was to be concluded between an employer and an individual who holds the status of a secondary school pupil or a full-time or external university student and who has not yet reached the age of 26.

Individuals were also to be considered as pupils/students in the following periods:

• From the proper completion of secondary school studies until October 31 of the same calendar year.
• From the proper completion of university studies (1st or 2nd degree) until October 31 of the relevant year.

Work under this agreement could be performed no later than the end of the calendar year in which the individual reached the age of 26.

Scope of Work and Duration of the Agreement

Under the student internship agreement, work could be performed for a maximum of 40 hours per week on average. This average was to be assessed over the entire duration for which the agreement was concluded. The student internship agreement was to be concluded for a fixed period, for a maximum of 6 months. The agreement could specify the method of its termination. Immediate termination of the agreement could only be agreed upon in cases where an employment relationship could be terminated immediately. If the method of termination was not directly stipulated in the agreement, it could be terminated by mutual agreement of the parties on a specified date, or unilaterally by notice without cause, with a 15-day notice period starting from the day the written notice was delivered.

Formal Requirements of the Agreement

The student internship agreement was to be concluded in writing; otherwise, it would be invalid. The agreement was to include the following information:

• Identification and contact details of the employer

• Identification and contact details of the employee

• Start and end dates of the internship

• Maximum weekly working hours permitted in the agreement

• Exact name of the educational institution, including the study program and field

• Description of activities and tasks the student would perform

• Skills to be acquired or developed during the internship

• Name of the responsible teacher from the educational institution

• Name of the assigned worker from the employer

• Wage and contribution conditions for the student

Signatures

A specific feature of this agreement was that it was to be signed not only by the employee and the employer, but also by:

• The educational institution (specifically, the authorized person or responsible teacher)

• The assigned worker from the employer's side

Confirmation of Student Status

An integral part of the agreement was also to be a confirmation of the status of a secondary school pupil or a full-time or external university student.

Unlike the agreement on temporary student work (dohoda o brigádnickej práci študentov), which is exclusively for full-time students, the student internship agreement was intended to be available to external students as well, making it a significantly more inclusive institute.

Employer's Obligations

The employer was to be obliged to ensure proper record-keeping and administrative requirements of the agreement. The agreement was to be prepared in three copies:

• One for the student

• One for the school

• One for the employer

The employer was to ensure that the number of interns did not exceed 10% of all employees. Upon completion of the internship, the employer was to issue a certificate of internship to the student containing:

• Identification details of the contracting parties

• Name of the educational institution and study program

• Dates of the internship duration

• Total amount of wages paid

Remuneration for work performed was to be paid no later than the end of the following month after the work was performed.

With Whom Could the Agreement Not Be Concluded?

The proposed law explicitly stated cases in which this agreement could not be concluded – for example, for the purpose of substituting an employee during maternity, paternity, or parental leave, for work corresponding to an employment relationship, or for seasonal work.

Differentiation by Employer Type

The bill distinguished between state institutions, which would be obliged to conclude this agreement from the beginning of each internship, and other employers, for whom the obligation would only apply to internships longer than 2 months.

Significance of the New Legal Regulation

According to the explanatory report of the bill, the main objective was to introduce a system that would adequately compensate students financially, eliminate unpaid internships, and ensure that young people gain relevant work experience necessary for their employment in the labor market. Unpaid internships have been a subject of criticism from European institutions, with the European Parliament unequivocally supporting their ban in June 2023.

Current Development: The Bill Was Not Approved

Despite the good intentions and broad expertise of the proposal, the National Council of the Slovak Republic did not move the bill on the student internship agreement and on ensuring the mandatory right to financial remuneration for students to a second reading on Thursday, June 4, 2025. The Ministries of Finance and Economy warned of a possible negative impact of the proposed legal regulation on the state budget and the business environment.

For this reason, the law was not adopted, and Slovakia thus remains, for now, without mandatory legal regulation of financially compensated student internships, which we consider a step backward in the effort for fairer conditions for students in the labor market.

Note: This article is based on the submitted bill, which was not approved by the National Council of the Slovak Republic, and therefore the Labor Code does not yet contain provisions on the student internship agreement.

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