Slovakia

In Slovakia, commercial agency is governed primarily by the Commercial Code (Act No. 513/1991 Coll.), especially the provisions on the commercial agency agreement in Article 652 and following. The Code defines the agent directly as an entrepreneur acting for the principal in relation to certain transactions, requires the agreement to be in writing, and regulates commission, exclusivity, termination, post-termination commission, indemnity, and non-compete clauses.
As to collective agreements, in practice these are a matter of labour law and apply to employees and employers through trade unions. Slovak collective bargaining exists at sector and company level, but it is not a typical source of regulation for commercial agents, because Slovak commercial agents are generally entrepreneurs, mostly being self-employed entrepreneurs. Thus, no collective agreements apply to them.
Upon termination, a Slovak commercial agent may have two distinct monetary claims. First, the agent may claim damages if, because of the termination, commissions to which the agent is entitled or reimbursable costs were not paid, even though the agent’s activity brought substantial benefit to the principal. Second, the agent may claim a termination indemnity (Slovak “odstupné”) where the statutory conditions are met. The indemnity is available if the agent brought the principal new customers or significantly increased business with existing customers (NB: no closer definition in the Code what is significantly increased business), the principal continues to derive substantial benefits from those customers, and payment of the indemnity is equitable in all the circumstances, especially considering the commission the agent loses.
The indemnity is capped: it may not exceed an amount equivalent to the agent’s average annual commission, calculated over the last five years, or over the entire duration of the contract if it lasted less than five years. The indemnity is excluded where the principal terminated for a serious breach by the agent giving rise to withdrawal, where the agent terminated without justification attributable to the principal (unless age, disability, or illness made continuation unreasonable), or where the agent transfers the contract to a third party.
Yes, to preserve the right to indemnity, the agent must notify the principal of the claim within one year of the termination.
Andrej Terem (andrej@terem.legal)

Spread the love

Slovakia

Recent Posts