Refusal to Work

An employee is obliged to perform the work specified in his/her employment agreement. The tasks can be defined in the agreement either specifically or on a general level, e.g. so that they include tasks separately appointed by the employer. When defining the content of the employee’s employment agreement related tasks, the actual assignments performed by f the employee must also be taken into consideration. If the assignments have been diverse and there has been no specific job description in the agreement, the employer has a wide right to supervise the work. In these situations, the employer can also appoint the employee to assisting tasks e.g. to clean the office. However, the employer may not assign the employee assignments that are unreasonable or against good practice.

The employee has no right to refuse to perform assignments that are included in his/her employment agreement.

If an employee refuses to perform his/her duties under an employment agreement without a valid reason, the employer usually has the right to either terminate the employment agreement or cancel the employment agreement to end immediately, depending on the circumstances. However, before terminating the employment agreement, the employer must give the employee a warning and explain the consequences of the refusal. Termination of the employment agreement may take place immediately after the warning if the employee declares that he/she will not perform the duties assigned to him/her.