Chat “GPT” Géza answers

The usability of artificial intelligence in legal matters

AI in law: Friend or a future Skynet?

I have been planning to interview Géza the “Legal Scholar” regarding his legal knowledge for a long time. We haven’t had the chance to exchange ideas on professional topics yet. Regarding AI, the concern naturally arises among lawyers that these beasts will take our jobs. One can prepare for the battery existence well-known from the Matrix, not to mention Skynet. So the other day I asked Géza to write me a brief summary of labor hire.

Géza takes the exam

Géza fulfilled my request with great pleasure, and I would now give the floor to the Legal Scholar:

“Hi! Labor hire is a legal construction in Hungary where one enterprise (the lender) temporarily provides employees to another enterprise (the user) in order to replace the temporary labor shortage of the user enterprise. The regulations regarding labor hire can be found in the Labor Code (Mt.).

Rights and obligations of the lending enterprise:

    The lender is responsible for creating, maintaining, and terminating the employment contract of the hired employee.

    It is obliged to ensure that the hired employee has appropriate qualifications and experience to meet the needs of the user enterprise.

    It must provide appropriate working conditions and protective equipment for the hired employees.

Rights and obligations of the user enterprise:

    It is responsible for directing the hired employee, monitoring their work, and providing daily supervision.

    It may use the hired employee in the job description and for the duration specified by it.

    It must pay sufficient attention to the safety and health of the hired employee.

Employer rights are shared through the following examples:

    Work instructions: The user enterprise may determine what work the hired employee should perform, at what times, and at what location they should work.

    Monitoring and direction: The user enterprise supervises the work of the hired employee and is entitled to give instructions regarding the method of work.

    Providing the work environment: The user enterprise must take care of the appropriate work environment, including tools, protective equipment, and compliance with labor safety rules.

    Working time and remuneration: The user enterprise determines the working time frame and the remuneration of the hired employee.

    Benefits and perks: The user enterprise is responsible for providing the benefits and other employer perks due to the hired employee.

It is important to note that during labor hire, both parties must cooperate to comply with legal regulations and contractual terms. The exact details of employer rights and obligations depend on specific cases and the effective legal regulations. It is recommended to seek the advice of a legal expert to obtain accurate and up-to-date information for the specific situation.”

When the algorithm gets lost in the thicket of the Labor Code

Thus far the Legal Scholar’s treatise, and now for the relentless critique.

Géza correctly established that the hired employee is in an employment relationship with the lender. The lender enters into the employment contract with the employee. Consequently, only the lender will be entitled to terminate the contract as well.

Labor hire looks like this legally: 1) The lender and the user enter into a civil law contract (labor hire agreement) with each other. In this, they agree on the terms of the hire and, of course, the fee to be paid to the lender.

2) The lender enters into an employment contract with the employee.

3) There is no contract between the user and the employee, but the user exercises a portion of the employer’s rights.

It is unknown what the author meant by the term “maintaining the employment contract”. Perhaps the ghost of Kazinczy possessed him?

It is also a correct statement that the lender must ensure the appropriate qualifications of the employee. The Labor Code does not regulate this explicitly, but it follows logically from the Civil Code. Every contract must be performed in a way that makes it suitable for the given purpose. If I want to hire a marbled electric ray keeper for the Tropicarium at the end of the garden and I get a mason instead, it is easy to see that the lender has not performed appropriately and the rays will starve. The lender, on the other hand, faces a nice little lawsuit for damages, as rays are no cheap amusement.

Distribution of employer rights and obligations

It is a factual error that the lender should provide appropriate working conditions and protective equipment. These are certainly the tasks of the user, so much so that one cannot deviate from them even by mutual agreement. The Labor Code allows for relatively flexible regulation of the labor hire agreement, but one cannot deviate specifically from this.

It is somewhat interesting that Géza contradicts himself in the section on employer rights, as he already assigns obligations related to labor safety to the user here. I might add, correctly.

Common misconceptions regarding labor hire agreements

Payment of wages by the user is also a serious error. The deduction and payment of employees’ wages, as well as contributions prescribed by law, sick pay, etc. is the obligation of the lender. This is entirely logical this way, since—as we saw above—the employment contract is established between the lender and the employee.

There is also a small inaccuracy regarding benefits outside of wages. Providing these benefits is a matter of agreement between the parties; the law does not clearly assign it to the user, and the lender may also pay them.

Why doesn’t AI replace the flesh-and-blood lawyer?

Overall, Géza’s knowledge can currently be compared to that of a university student who woke up on Tuesday morning after Monday’s departmental meeting. He then noticed that he should go to take an exam in labor law on Wednesday, for which he naturally did not study a single word during the semester. He took a dive into the Labor Code on Tuesday, then produced something on Wednesday. There are vague memories, sometimes a bit of light shines through, but overall a rather gray fog prevails over the landscape.

If the examiner is permissive, they might give Géza a grade of two. It is well known that Géza is quite a fast learner, so it is not excluded that in the future it will be worth turning to him for legal advice (he might pass the bar exam with a grade of five). Until then, however, the dear public seeking justice will fare better if they favor my humble person.