Per diem for foreign business trips
Per diem on a foreign business trip is owed to the employee for each calendar day based on hours spent abroad: up to 6 hours 25%, over 6 to 12 hours 50%, and over 12 hours 100% of the daily per-diem rate for that country (§ 13 of Act 283/2002 Coll.), reduced by any meal deductions and converted at the ECB exchange rate.
Legal basis
Travel reimbursement for both domestic and foreign business trips is governed by Act No. 283/2002 Coll. on travel reimbursement. Foreign per diem specifically is covered by § 13: the base daily rate for each country is set by a Regulation of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic on foreign per-diem amounts, which is updated periodically.
Both employees and sole traders are entitled to per diem on a business trip outside Slovakia; the amount depends on the country, the number of hours spent abroad, and whether the employer provided a free meal.
Time bands by hours spent abroad
Per diem is calculated separately for each calendar day, not for the whole trip at once. What matters is how many hours the employee spent outside Slovakia that day:
On a mixed first/last day of the trip (part of the day in Slovakia, part abroad), only the time spent abroad counts toward the test.
Crossing midnight
A trip that continues past midnight is split into separate calendar days exactly at midnight, and the time band is evaluated for each day separately. For example, if the employee crosses the border outbound at 22:00 on the first day and continues the trip: the first day counts 2 hours abroad (22:00–24:00), and the second day starts counting again from 00:00.
A trip through several countries in one day
If the employee passes through several countries within one calendar day, per diem is calculated using the rate of the country where they spent the most time that day (§ 13(5) and (6)). For example, with 3 hours in Austria and 5 hours in Germany on the same day, the German rate is used.
Deductions for meals provided
If the employer (or, for example, a hotel as part of accommodation) provides the employee a free meal, per diem for that day is reduced by a fixed share of the full daily rate:
The total of the deductions never brings per diem below zero, even if the employee received all three meals for free.
Exchange-rate conversion
Per diem for the whole trip is converted to euros using a single rate: the ECB reference rate valid on the first calendar day of the month the trip started. The same rate applies to every day of the trip, even if it runs into the next month. (This differs from the rule for foreign-currency expenses on receipts, which use the rate valid the day before the expense date.)
Worked example
An employee travels to the Czech Republic from 15 June 2026, 08:00 to 16 June 2026, 18:00, at a rate of 600 CZK/day, with an ECB rate of 24.7 CZK/EUR.
- 15 June: 16 hours abroad → 100% band → 600 CZK
- 16 June: 18 hours abroad → 100% band → 600 CZK
Total 1,200 CZK ÷ 24.7 = €48.58