LEGAL SITUATION OF MUSEUM EMPLOYEES IN THE CASE OF MERGING MUSEUMS WITH OTHER CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Mergers of cultural institutions, including museums, quite often arouse controversies and emotions, which we learn about from the media. The employees of the merging institutions involved may feel apprehensive about being secured employment from the new employer. A merger of a museum with another museum or with another cultural institution which is not a museum in legal terms is qualified as a transfer of a work establishment to another employer in the understanding of Art. 231 of the Labour Code. The present paper is dedicated to the legal situation of museum employees of the merged museums. Its major part focuses on the rights of employees related to the transfer of a work establishment to another employer, and the paper answers the question whether employees’ interests are sufficiently protected in such a situation. De lege lata analysis of the employees’ situation yields de lege ferenda conclusions, since it seems that the legal protection of the transferred employees could be consolidated.