Labour and Social Security Law: Contracts, Protection, and Security
Individual labour law
Start with the employment contract: its defining elements (work, remuneration, authority), the distinction from a contract for services, and the rules on trial periods, fixed-term and part-time work, and temporary agency work. Know the obligations of both parties: the employee's duty to perform and to be loyal, the employer's duty to pay, to provide safe working conditions, and to respect the employee's privacy. Study the rules on working time, rest periods, overtime, and leave. Master the grounds and procedures for termination: dismissal for serious cause, for economic reasons, and for reasons related to the employee's person, plus the notice periods and severance pay. Know the protection against dismissal for protected categories and the remedies for unlawful dismissal.
Collective labour law
Understand the role of trade unions, collective bargaining agreements, the right to strike, and the rules on employee representation. Know the hierarchy of sources: law, collective agreement, individual contract, and workplace rules.
Social security
Master the branches: sickness, invalidity, unemployment, pensions, family allowances, and occupational accidents. Know the conditions of entitlement, the calculation of benefits, and the role of the social security institutions. Understand the financing model and the rules on the limitation of claims.
Traps
Questions often test whether a dismissal is for serious cause and whether the procedure was followed. Watch for the difference between notice and severance pay, and between suspension and termination of the contract.
Rule of thumb
For any termination question, check the ground, then the procedure, then the notice period, then the sanction.