Signing an Employment Contract Online: What You Need and When It Is Valid

Article content

The electronic signing of an employment contract makes it possible to enter into an employment relationship remotely as well, without printing documents and meeting in person. For the document to be legally valid, however, “just any” e-signature is not enough. In this article you will find an overview of the types of electronic signatures, the conditions for their use in labour-law relationships, and specific situations where a qualified electronic signature is required.

The Legislative Framework for Signing Labour-Law Documents

The electronic signing of labour-law documents is governed by several legal regulations that determine its validity and use in practice:

• Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (hereinafter the “eIDAS Regulation”),
• The implementing legal regulation for the eIDAS Regulation in the Slovak Republic is Act No. 272/2026 Coll. on trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and on amendments to certain acts (hereinafter the “Trust Services Act”),
• Act No. 305/2013 Coll. on the electronic form of the exercise of the powers of public authorities and on amendments to certain acts (hereinafter the “e-Government Act”),
• Act No. 311/2001 Coll., the Labour Code (hereinafter the “Labour Code”),
• Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code (hereinafter the “Civil Code”).

Types of Electronic Signatures

In Slovakia, the types of electronic signatures are governed by the eIDAS Regulation and the Trust Services Act. Under these legal regulations, there are three basic levels of electronic signatures:

Electronic Signature (Simple)

This e-signature represents data in electronic form which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form and which the signatory uses to sign. In practice, it is used for ordinary communication, internal approval or logging in (e.g. clicking “I agree”, a scanned signature).

Advanced Electronic Signature (AdES – Advanced Electronic Signature)

This electronic signature must meet stricter requirements. It must be uniquely linked to the signatory, allow their identification, be created using data that the signatory can use under their sole control, and be linked to the document in such a way that any subsequent change to the data can be detected.

Qualified Electronic Signature (QES – Qualified Electronic Signature)

This is the highest level of electronic signature. It is an advanced electronic signature that is created with a qualified electronic signature creation device and based on a qualified certificate for electronic signatures.

Legal effect: Under eIDAS, a QES has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature.

Practical use: a qualified electronic signature is mandatory when communicating with public administration (the cadastre, courts, the Financial Administration, the Commercial Register). In Slovakia, it is most often carried out using an identity card with a chip (eID). You also need a qualified signature when signing most labour-law documents and the employment contract.

Electronic Signing of an Employment Contract

In Slovakia, most labour-law documents can be signed electronically in labour-law relationships, provided that the form of e-signature ensuring the integrity of the document and the authenticity of the electronic signature is observed.

If you are signing an employment contract remotely, a qualified electronic signature (QES) is the safest choice, eliminating the risk of the document being challenged. A QES is the highest level of electronic signature, and its use ensures the possibility of unambiguously identifying the signing person and the immutability of the signed documents at the time of their signing.

• The signed person thus cannot claim that they did not create the qualified electronic signature.
• A qualified electronic signature has the legal force of a person’s handwritten signature.

A list of labour-law documents that you can sign with a qualified electronic signature:

• Employment contract.
• Agreements performed outside an employment relationship (Agreement on the Performance of Work, Agreement on Work Activity, Agreement on the Temporary Work of Students).
• Amendments and changes to the employment contract and to agreements performed outside an employment relationship.
• Agreement on wage deductions.
• Agreement on sending an employee on a business trip.
• Agreement on the employee’s material liability.
• Familiarizing the employee with internal company guidelines.
• Leave schedule.
• Confirmation of attendance at training.
• Work assessment.
• Acceptance and handover protocols.
• Job description.

Notice: For unilateral acts, such as a notice of termination, immediate termination of an employment relationship or termination of an employment relationship during the probationary period, the valid and effective legislation requires the strictest form of authorization in electronic signing, which is the qualified electronic signature.

For most of the labour-law documents listed, the law requires written form. In the provision of Section 42 of the Labour Code, written form is also required for the employment contract. If the employment contract is not created in writing, then, under this provision, it is not valid.

When a legal act is carried out (an employment contract created) in written form is governed by the Civil Code, in its provision of Section 40. According to this provision, one of the ways in which the written form of a document is preserved is when the document is signed by electronic means that allow the capture of the content of the legal act and the identification of the person who made the legal act.

It further follows clearly from the provision in question that the written form of an employment contract and other labour-law documents is always preserved when it is signed with a qualified electronic signature, which is an equivalent counterpart of the handwritten signature.

The Advantages of Signing Labour-Law Documents Online

The electronic signing of labour-law documents in the Slovak Republic brings you, as an employer, many significant advantages from the point of view of process efficiency, time and cost savings, and also in the area of security.

The main advantages of electronically signing an employment contract and other labour-law documents:

• Speed and simplicity: Signing both ordinary and important documents becomes faster. For HR teams, this means less administration when onboarding employees and faster conclusion of employment relationships.
• Cost savings: Introducing electronic signing also brings significant savings on the costs associated with printing, purchasing and consuming paper, scanning and physically sending documents.
• Identification and security: An electronic signature (especially a QES) uniquely links the signatory to the document, allows the precise identification of the acting person and ensures the integrity of the document’s content.
• Preservation of written form: A qualified electronic signature meets the legal requirement of the written form of legal acts, which is key especially for employment contracts and other important labour-law documents.
• Flexibility and availability: The electronic signing of an employment contract and other labour-law documents allows employers and employees to enter into labour-law relationships remotely as well, which is ideal especially for employees working from home or from other locations.

For valid electronic signing, it is also very important that the employer has well-configured labour-law processes within their company, in compliance with the Labour Code and the other legal regulations governing the issue of labour law and labour-law relationships. Read about everything you can arrange online thanks to a QES.

What Determines the Validity of an Electronic Signature

The electronic signing of labour-law documents significantly simplifies processes and daily administration for companies today. It is important, however, to understand which type of electronic signature you will use in a specific situation. This is precisely what determines whether the document will be not only signed but also legally valid.

If you want to be sure that your employment contracts and other documents will stand up from the legislative point of view as well, it is worth betting on a qualified electronic signature. It will allow you to enter into labour-law relationships remotely as well, without unnecessary delay and with full legal certainty.