Working life country profile for Slovenia
This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Slovenia. It aims to provide the relevant background information on the structures, institutions and relevant regulations regarding working life.
This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are systematically updated every two years.
‘Individual employment relations’ refers to the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over terms and conditions. This section looks at the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Slovenia.
Requirements regarding an employment contract
According to Article 21 of the Employment Relationships Act, an employment contract may be concluded with people who have reached the age of 15. Article 22 of this act stipulates that a worker who concludes an employment contract must meet the requirements for the performance of work laid down in a collective agreement or the employer’s general acts or as required by the employer and published in accordance with a public notice of a vacancy, which must contain the job requirements.
Workers under the age of 18 are not allowed to carry out work that may be harmful or dangerous. An employment contract has to be issued before work begins.
Dismissal and termination procedures
The 2013 Employment Relationships Act covers dismissal and termination procedures, including an employer’s obligations in terminating an employment contract. In the event of the termination of the employment contract due to incompetence, the employer must give notice of dismissal no later than six months following the occurrence of the justified reason. In the event of misconduct, the employer must give notice of termination no later than 60 days after identifying the justified reason and no later than six months from the occurrence of the justified reason. If the misconduct on the part of the worker has all the characteristics of a criminal offence, the employer may give notice of the termination of the employment contract within 60 days of the date they identify the misconduct for ordinary termination; this applies to the entire period in which the offender may be subject to criminal prosecution.
In the event of termination owing to misconduct on the part of the worker that has all the characteristics of a criminal offence, the employer may prohibit the worker from carrying out work for the duration of the proceedings. During the period of being prohibited from carrying out work, the worker is entitled to wage compensation amounting to half of the average salary that they earned in the three months before the institution of the termination proceedings.
Parental, maternity and paternity leave
A mother has the right to maternity leave. Under certain conditions, this right may also be exercised by the father or another person. The mother normally starts maternity leave 28 days before the anticipated date of birth, as specified by a gynaecologist. If the mother does not start maternity leave at that time, the unused part of their maternity leave may not be used after the child’s birth, unless the birth is premature. If, on the day of giving birth, the mother has not begun maternity leave, it should begin on that day. Maternity leave lasts 105 days and must be used in a single block in the form of a complete absence from work.
The father has the right to maternity leave if the mother dies, abandons the child, is deemed by a competent physician to be permanently or temporarily incapable of independent living and working or is younger than 18 years and has the status of an apprentice, pupil or student. In the last case, the mother must give her consent for the father to use the remaining maternity leave. The father has the right to the same amount of maternity leave as the mother, minus the number of days that the mother has already used, which will be at least 28 days.
A father has the right to paternity leave of up to 30 days. This right is not transferable. The father must take at least 15 days of his paternity leave in the form of a full-time or part-time absence from work within 6 months of the child’s birth; he must take a maximum of 15 days in the form of a full-time or part-time absence from work before the child finishes the first grade of elementary school. Fathers receive compensation of 100% of their wage for this leave.
Parents have a right to leave in order to care for a child for a combined period of 260 days immediately upon the expiry of maternity leave. The amount of their childcare allowance is determined on the basis of the average pay that the beneficiary received in the preceding 12 months. However, the allowance may not exceed 2.5 times the gross average pay in Slovenia. Every parent has the right to 130 days of parental leave. The mother can transfer 100 days of parental leave to the father, while 30 days are non-transferable. The father may transfer all 130 days of his parental leave to the mother.
Statutory leave arrangements
| Maternity leave | |
| Maximum duration | 105 working days, of which 28 days must be taken before the birth of the child. The father has the right to maternity leave in special circumstances. In the case of premature birth, leave is extended by the number of days by which the pregnancy was shorter than 260 days. |
| Reimbursement | 100% of wage |
| Who pays? | Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (Zavod za pokojninsko in invalidsko zavarovanje Slovenije) |
| Legal basis | Law on Parental Protection and Family Benefits |
| Parental leave | |
| Maximum duration | 130 days for each parent. There is no mandatory period for fathers. An additional 90 days are provided for the birth of twins and a further 90 days are provided for each additional child born alive. |
| Reimbursement | The amount of the childcare allowance is determined on the basis of the average monthly pay that the beneficiary received in the preceding 12 months. The allowance may not exceed 2.5 times the gross average pay in Slovenia. |
| Who pays? | Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (Zavod za pokojninsko in invalidsko zavarovanje Slovenije) |
| Legal basis | Law on Parental Protection and Family Benefits |
| Paternity leave | |
| Maximum duration | 30 days |
| Reimbursement | 100% of wage |
| Who pays? | Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (Zavod za pokojninsko in invalidsko zavarovanje Slovenije) |
| Legal basis | Law on Parental Protection and Family Benefits |
Sick leave
According to the Act Amending the Employment Relationships (Zakona o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o delovnih razmerjih, Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 114/2023), the employer must pay wage compensation from their own resources in cases where workers are unable to work due to illness or injury not related to work for up to 20 working days for individual absences from work, but no more than 80 working days in a calendar year. If a worker is unable to work due to an occupational illness or an injury sustained at work, the employer must pay the worker wage compensation from their own resources for up to 30 working days for each individual absence from work. In the event of a longer absence from work, the employer must pay additional wage compensation, which is covered by health insurance. Unless otherwise stipulated by law, the worker is entitled to wage compensation in the amount of their average monthly wage for full-time work during the previous three months or during the period they worked in the three months prior to the start of the absence. If, during the period of employment in the previous three months the worker did not work and received wage compensation for the entire period, the basis for this compensation should be the same as the basis for wage compensation in the three months prior to the start of the absence. If, during the previous three months the worker did not receive at least one monthly salary, they are entitled to wage compensation in the amount of the basic salary set out in their employment contract. The amount of wage compensation may not exceed the amount of pay that the worker would have received if they had worked during that period.
In the event of the worker’s absence from work due to illness or injury that is not related to work, the wage compensation to be covered by the employer should amount to 80% of the worker’s salary in the preceding month for full-time work.
The Health Insurance Institute pays an allowance from the first day of a worker’s absence from work if he or she:
donates live tissue or organs for the benefit of another person
suffers from the effects of donating blood
has to care for a close family member
has a medical condition requiring isolation
is ordered by a doctor to accompany a patient
has injuries that were sustained in certain circumstances
The base for calculating the allowance is the worker's average monthly pay for full-time work in the preceding year.
The employment relationship of a worker whose employment contract has been cancelled for a business-related reason or owing to incompetence and who is, upon the expiry of their period of notice, absent from work due to temporary incapacity because of illness or injury should be terminated on the day the worker returns to work or should return to work, but no later than six months after the expiry of their period of notice.
Retirement age
The retirement age for both men and women is set at 65 years, or 60 years if they have completed 40 years of service. The retirement age for men and women was equalised with a pension reform that has been in force since 1 January 2013. The equalisation of the retirement age was reached gradually over six years.
