Hungarian ministry warned over alleged discrimination

The Equal Treatment Authoriy (Egyenlő Bánásmód Hatóság; EBH) has warned the ministry of agriculture and rural development (FVM) on two occasions for withdrawing leading positions from young mothers, reports origo.hu. The incidents, in addition to several similar ones, happened years ago. No responsible parties have been named, and they are not being searched for either.

One woman - and at least one more who had a complaint -, worked for the Control Authority Head Department (current Agriculture and Rural Developement Head Department) of the FVM. She was appointed commissioned department head in September 2002, which was later modified to assistant department head. In April 2004, she went on unpaid leave, because she was expecting. She said that during her absence, she kept contact with her workplace, but nobody informed her that her appointment would be withdrawn. Finally, she received a letter from the HR department, which said: "Your appointment to the leading position has been withdrawn, because you have not attended to your tasks as leader for two years, as you are on unpaid leave caring for your child." The letter was signed by former Public Administration State Secretary (current Agriculture State Secretary) Fülöp Benedek.

The woman then turned to the EBH, which warned the ministry. At the hearing, the ministry said the woman's appointment was withdrawn, because due to a reorganization, it was important for an active worker to attend to the tasks. The EBH did not accept this reasoning, saying that a substitute could have been found for the job. The woman could not find out who initiated the decision on withdrawing her appointment. "Everybody pointed at someone else, both the boss and the HR department," she said. The ministry offered her a position as clerk instead of the leading position, which Benedek explained by saying that "this is what the law specifies for these cases."

The EBH made a decision on warning the ministry on September 21, 2006. During the proceedings, the ministry had promised not to withdraw appointments of women at home with their young children before a decision was made. However, it happened again on September 19, when the appointment of one woman to assistant department head was withdrawn while she was on unpaid leave caring for her six-month-old child.

The EBH warned the ministry again, which appealed against the decision, but the judge decided the EBH was right. The ministry then withdrew its decision which discriminated against the young mother, but despite this, the EBH imposed a fine of Ft 1.5 million. This exceptionally high fine was explained by the fact that the ministry had breached the law again.

The portal contacted the ministry which would only say: "We do not comment on or explain details of the proceedings of the EBH."

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