Hiring People for Your Hungarian Company: Employment Is Not the Only Option

05/10/2026

Insights / Employment / Hiring

You have set up a company in Hungary, or you are planning to do so.

Sooner or later, you may need other people to support the business. You may need someone for sales, administration, IT, marketing, consulting, or other professional tasks.

The first idea is often simple:

We need an employment contract.

But employment is not always the only possible legal structure in Hungary.

Depending on the work and the real cooperation between the parties, other legal solutions may also be available.

Employment or another legal relationship?

If a person works as an employee in Hungary, the employment relationship is mainly regulated by the Hungarian Labour Code.

This means that Hungarian employment rules apply to important questions such as working conditions, working time, salary, leave and termination.

However, a Hungarian company can also work with independent professionals and service providers.

For some types of work, a service or mandate agreement may be suitable. In other cases, a contract for work may be the correct structure.

These civil law relationships are mainly regulated by the Hungarian Civil Code.

They are not simply easier versions of employment. They are different legal relationships with different rules.

The name of the contract is not enough

International companies often use terms such as:

employee, freelancer, consultant, contractor or independent contractor.

These terms are common in international business, but they do not automatically define the legal relationship under Hungarian law.

Calling a document a "Consultancy Agreement" or an "Independent Contractor Agreement" does not solve the question by itself.

The real cooperation between the parties is also important.

For example, a person who works as part of the company's organisation and under the company's direction may be in a different legal position from an independent professional who provides a specific service or delivers a specific result.

The contract should reflect how the parties actually plan to work together.

There is more than one option

This is the important point for foreign business owners in Hungary.

You do not necessarily need to use the same legal structure for every person who works with your company.

One person may be an employee.

Another professional may provide services under a civil law agreement.

For a specific project, another contractual structure may be more suitable.

There is no single solution that is best in every case.

The right choice depends on what the person will actually do and how the cooperation will work in practice.

What if the person is a foreign national?

There may be one more question if your Hungarian company wants to work with a foreign national.

You should also check whether the person has the right to work or carry out the planned activity in Hungary.

This is especially important for third-country nationals.

The planned legal relationship and the person's immigration status may need to be considered together.

For this reason, it is better to check these questions before signing the agreement.

Choose the structure before the contract

When building a team in Hungary, do not start with the question:

"Which contract template should we use?"

Start with the cooperation itself.

What will the person do?

How will the person work with the company?

Is this an employment relationship, or would a civil law relationship be more suitable?

Once the structure is clear, the correct agreement can follow.

Need practical legal advice?

Before signing your first agreement, it is worth checking the planned cooperation and choosing the legal structure that fits your business.

This can help you avoid later employment law, contractual and tax issues.

If you are setting up or operating a company in Hungary and need support with employment or service agreements, contact my law office to discuss the appropriate legal structure for your business.

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