Slovenia
Background information on industrial relations in Slovenia
- 19 Dec 2008
Slovenia: Slovenia: Temporary agency work and collective bargaining in the EUAll social partners agree upon the importance of TAW in Slovenia for higher employability of unemployed persons and those searching for job and higher mobility of workforce. The number of temporary work agencies and also the number of workers employed at agencies is recently increasing, mostly due to the nature and increased amount of work. The lack of lower educated and qualified workers and dynamic economic growth demand future development of TAW. Trade unions are critical to unequal rights and worse working conditions of agency workers in practice, while employer associations refer to workers` equal rights, as defined under the law.
- 11 Dec 2008
Slovenia: Industrial relations in the public sector – SlovakiaThis report presents an overview of industrial relations in the central government and public sector in Slovakia.
- 15 Oct 2008
Slovenia: Decline in employer organisations’ density ratesBased on 2008 figures, all member companies of employer organisations in Slovenia employ 80%–90% of private sector employees. This provides a rough estimate of the combined density of employer organisations. If this density rate declines further, it could in a few years fall below the required density threshold of over 50% that is necessary for the extension of collective agreements. This can have serious consequences for collective agreements.
- 23 Sep 2008
Slovenia: Slovenia: Industrial relations developments in Europe 2007On 14 December 2007 the Economic and Social Council of Slovenia (Ekonomsko socialni svet Slovenije, ESSS) discussed the draft Law on Financial Participation of Workers (LFPW) prepared by the Ministry of the Economy (Ministrstvo za gospodarstvo, MG). The government then adopted the draft LFPW and submitted it to the parliamentary procedure (see below 3. Legislative developments).In the most recent sectoral collective agreements the pay rises are related to the achieved results. Instead of the starting pay they determine the lowest basic pay and the basic pay. Such agreements exist in the construction, agriculture and food production, road transport, retail trade (SI0604019I), wood processing and other sectors (see below 2. Collective bargaining developments.).
- 15 Sep 2008
Slovenia: Increase in labour law breaches relating to employmentThe Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia (IRSD) has published a report on its work for 2007, warning the public about the increase in labour law violations with regard to employment relationships. Employers argue that many infringements are due to the rigidity and inflexibility of labour legislation. Meanwhile, trade unions believe that the state should strengthen IRSD’s resources and give it greater responsibility.
- 08 Sep 2008
Slovenia: Intersectoral collective agreement on pay concluded in private sectorIn May 2008, following lengthy negotiations, the social partners finally concluded the national intersectoral collective agreement on pay adjustment for the private sector for the period 2007–2009. Despite the consensus reached, some trade unions view the agreement as a defeat, as it only determined the rise of the lowest possible basic pay instead of all basic pay for 2008 and 2009.
- 08 Aug 2008
Slovenia: Slovenia: representativeness of the European social partner organisations – Sea and coastal water transportThe sea and costal water transport sector is very small in Slovenia. There is no collective bargaining at the level of the sector, but the majority of workers in the sector are covered by the collective agreements concluded in the biggest employer in the sector (and its subsidiaries). Smaller employers in the sector are not covered by these collective agreements. In addition to the trade unions that are members of bigger Slovene trade union associations, there are two independent trade unions in the sector that cover seamen and are representative for the sector. Although some trade unions have been proposing collective bargaining at the sectoral level, it is hard to predict whether agreements will be concluded in the near future. It is expected that further collective bargaining will be oriented towards improvement of working conditions (higher than minimal ILO standards), higher wages and the payment of social security and pension contributions.
- 17 Jul 2008
Slovenia: Employer groups question representativeness criteriaIn the past, Slovenia had a system whereby all enterprises and craftworkers were organised in chambers with obligatory membership. According to a recent law, membership of a chamber is voluntary for companies. However, some new chambers claim that the representativeness criteria are too stringent. They fear that the new Chamber of Commerce and Industry will acquire all of the assets of its former organisation, instead of sharing them with other representative chambers.
- 16 Jul 2008
Slovenia: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Post and courier services – SloveniaThe aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the post and courier activities sector in Slovenia. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.
- 11 Jul 2008
Slovenia: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Manufacture of sugar – SloveniaThe aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the sugar manufacturing sector in Slovenia. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.
- 29 May 2008
Slovenia: General warning strike goes ahead in private sectorOn 12 March 2008, a general warning strike was held in Slovenia’s private sector. The strike was organised by all six representative trade union confederations in the private sector and was the third such strike in Slovenia’s history. The trade unions demanded pay adjustments due to high inflation levels and in line with productivity growth in the particular economic sectors.
- 19 May 2008
Slovenia: European trade unions call for better pay in collective rallyIn April 2008, the European Trade Union Confederation and its Slovenian member organisation, the Union of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia, organised a European demonstration for higher pay in Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana. The Slovenian trade unions expect that this mobilisation will support them in their fight for higher wages and in concluding the intersectoral collective agreement CAMPA 2008–2009 in the private sector.
- 30 Apr 2008
Slovenia: Telework in SloveniaRecent amendments to the Law on Labour Relations in Slovenia have introduced a specific reference to telework. However, only about 2.2% of the employed population were teleworking in 2005. Such workers tend to have a higher educational profile. This article looks at the extent of telework in Slovenia and explores the progress in implementing the EU framework agreement on telework, concluded by the European social partners in 2002.
- 01 Apr 2008
Slovenia: Union federation accuses employers of violating basic right to strikeAt a press conference on 7 February 2008, the Union of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (ZSSS) informed the public that numerous companies had proposed a special agreement to trade unions: in exchange for an employee pay increase, unions would have to waive the right to strike for pay-related issues in the future. ZSSS is planning penal proceedings against the employers concerned, and has also informed relevant international organisations on the matter.
- 04 Mar 2008
Slovenia: Elections to National Council concludedIn November 2007, the elections to the National Council (DS), the second chamber of parliament, were concluded. Among the new councillors, four employer and four trade union representatives have been elected. Many experts say that the DS is not in a position to operate more effectively because of its lack of power. Therefore, the question remains whether the council should be transformed or abolished.
- 18 Feb 2008
Slovenia: Change in rules of conduct and composition of Economic and Social CouncilThe composition of the Economic and Social Council of Slovenia (ESSS) has changed, following the government and social partners’ adoption of the newly amended Rules of Conduct of the ESSS in June 2007. At present, there are seven employer and government representatives respectively, along with eight trade union representatives on the council..
- 18 Feb 2008
Slovenia: General strike in private sector likely to go aheadIn November 2007, all six private sector trade union confederations organised a mass rally in Ljubljana. They demanded higher pay, a fairer distribution of high company profits in light of strong GDP growth, rising inflation and living costs. In January 2008, a compromise seemed to be reached when social partners concluded a tentative agreement on an extraordinary pay adjustment. However, when legal experts from both sides began to draft the collective agreement, disagreements erupted anew.
- 01 Feb 2008
Slovenia: Representativeness of the social partners: Gas sector — SloveniaThe aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the gas sector in Slovenia. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.