Am I owed severance pay in Hungary?
If the employer lets you go — yes; if you leave — no, with one important exception. Severance is owed when the employer terminates (or the company dissolves without successor) and you hold at least 3 years' continuous tenure. The ladder, in absence pay: 1 month after 3 years, 2 after 5, 3 after 10, 4 after 15, 5 after 20, 6 after 25 — raised by a further 1–3 months within 5 years of retirement age. Not owed: on your own (ordinary) resignation, on the employer's immediate termination (when you breached seriously), or when the dismissal rests on your conduct or non-health-related capability. The big exception: when you lawfully terminate with immediate effect (over the employer's serious breach, like unpaid wages), you're settled as if they had dismissed you — severance included. In mutual agreements it's bargaining: you can ask for a 'severance-equivalent' sum, but it isn't automatic.
📋 The key rules
- Owed: on employer termination and successor-less dissolution, from 3 years' tenure
- Scale: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 months' absence pay (after 3/5/10/15/20/25 years)
- Within 5 years of retirement age: +1–3 months raised severance
- Not owed: on your ordinary resignation; on conduct-based dismissal
- Owed though on your lawful immediate termination
🔓 Exceptions
- Mutual agreement: no statutory severance — but any sum can be written into the deal
- Collective agreements or contracts may grant more favourable rates
- Within 5 years of retirement age the scale is topped up by a further 1–3 months of raised severance
⚠️ Penalties
Unpaid severance is a wage claim: recoverable with interest within the 3-year limitation period, through the labour courts. Where the dismissal is unlawful — built on a false reason, say — compensation comes on top of the severance. Getting the order wrong is its own trap: quitting in anger usually forfeits both the severance and the immediate start of jobseeker's benefit, since neither is automatic on your own ordinary resignation. And a mutual agreement is final: the sum can't be topped up later, so the bargaining must happen before you reach for the pen.
📎 Official sources
- Forvis Mazars · Severance: the key rules 2026 (HU) →
- Officina · Severance 2026: all you need (HU) →
- Jogászvilág · Immediate termination and severance (HU) →
❓ Frequently asked questions
I resign — do I get severance?
Not on ordinary resignation. The exception: if you lawfully terminate with immediate effect over the employer's serious breach (unpaid wages, say), you are settled as if they had dismissed you — severance included.
What's owed after 12 years?
Per the 10-year step, 3 months' absence pay; the next rung (4 months) only arrives at 15 years, with no proration between rungs — year 14 still pays 3. Within 5 years of retirement age that amount is raised by a further 1–3 months.
Do I lose it in a mutual agreement?
Statutory severance isn't automatic there, but the sum is negotiable. If the employer initiates the deal, asking for at least the statutory scale is realistic — and it must be written into the agreement.
What counts towards the 3 years?
Continuous tenure with that employer, including time with a predecessor in a business transfer. Certain unpaid absences beyond 30 days, however, do not count — so it is worth checking the employment certificate line by line.
What if the company shuts down?
Dissolution without a successor grounds severance exactly as employer termination does — the 3-year tenure condition still applies. In a transfer with succession, by contrast, the employment simply continues.
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