Employment and labor laws vary from country to country. This guide is intended to provide the most up to date information available. We will update this guide as needed when changes are made to the laws.
Employment Contracts
Employers are legally required to provide formal written contracts for all employees that include salary/wage, termination terms, job title, etc. The contracts must be written in Slovene and use the Euro currency (EUR).
Working Hours
The standard working week consists of 40 hours over a five-day working week, including a 30-minute lunch break. To be considered a full-time employee in Slovenia, an employee must work at least 36 hours a week except for employees who work in a particularly dangerous environment who may work fewer than 36 hours.
Overtime
All work more than the standard working hours a week is to be paid as overtime and is regulated by the employment contract/collective agreement. When an employee is requested to work overtime or work on holidays, there are maximums in relation to the number of hours allowed. These maximums are 8 hours per week, 20 hours per month, or 170 hours per year. Maximums may differ for minors, pregnant women, and minors.
All overtime hours in excess of 40 hours a week are paid at an overtime compensation rate; this rate is to be stipulated in the employment contract/collective agreement, though is usually around 150% salary.
An employer must provide written notice of any upcoming overtime.
Public Holidays
Public holidays that fall on the weekend are usually lost.
For the year 2024:
1 Jan: New Year’s Day
2 Jan: New Year’s Holiday
8 Feb: Prešeren Day
1 Apr: Easter Monday
27 Apr: Resistance Day
1 May: Labour Day
2 May: Labour Day Holiday
25 Jun: National Day
15 Aug: Assumption Day
31 Oct: Reformation Day
1 Nov: All Saints’ Day
25 Dec: Christmas Day
26 Dec: Independence & Unity Day
Annual Leave (Vacation)
Employees are entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks (20 working days) in every calendar year regardless of whether they work full-time or part-time. An employee is entitled to this payment after six months of continuous employment, prorated accordingly.
The employer must let the employee take the annual leave entitlement by the end of the current calendar year. The employee must use at least two weeks of annual leave before the end of the current calendar year; the remaining part can be used in agreement with the employer up until 30 June of the following year.
Local labor law defines cases of personal circumstances on the basis of which based on the law itself, the worker is entitled to additional days of annual leave:
Length of Service Leave:
3-5 years of service: 1 day additional leave
6-10 years of service: 2 days additional leave
11-15 years of service: 4 days additional leave
16-20 years of service: 5 days additional leave
21-25 years of service: 6 days additional leave
Workers with a child up to 15 years of age (1 additional day per child).
A worker who has not yet reached the age of 18 has the right to an additional seven days of annual leave.
Disabled workers with at least 60% physical disability, and workers who care for and protect a child in need of special care and protection, are also entitled to additional leave.
Sick Days
Slovenia requires employers to compensate an employee for sick leave for up to 30 days of absence; the amount is stipulated within the employment contract/collective agreement. If an employee is absent due to a work-related illness or accident, the employer should compensate them at 100% of their regular salary. 80% salary is usually paid out for regular sick leave.
Sick leave in excess of 30 days is to be compensated by Social Security until they are deemed fit to return to work or their employment is terminated.
An employee must provide a medical certificate as soon as possible following sickness.
Maternity Leave
Mothers in Slovenia receive 105 days of paid maternity leave which begins 28 days before the estimated date of birth. An employee must take a minimum of 15 days maternity leave. To be eligible for paid maternity leave, an employee must have made a year’s worth of insurance payments to the Parent Protection Insurance over the three years preceding the pregnancy.
Social Security will compensate the employee based on the amount contributed to the Parent Protection insurance; the benefit will be between 55% of a minimum base salary and twice the average monthly salary in Slovenia.
Paternity Leave
The father/partner is entitled to 75 days of paid paternity leave. The first 15 days must be taken within three months of the child’s birth. The remaining leave can be taken at any time before the child is 8 years old and can be taken on multiple occasions.
Paternity paid is compensated based on the average earnings over the previous year and it may not be lower than 55% of the value of minimum wage for ZUTPG indexation and may not be higher than double the value of the average monthly wage for ZUTPG indexation in Slovenia, (ZUTPG – Act regulating adjustments of transfers to individuals and households in the Republic of Slovenia).
Parental Leave
Slovenia grants each parent 130 days of parental leave to care for a child. This entitlement can increase in the case of multiple/complicated births.
Either the father or the mother can transfer 100 days of their leave to the other to care for their child, making a total of 260 days that can be taken.
Other Leave
In Slovenia, employees are entitled to up to seven days of paid personal leave. This leave is to be used for weddings, births, and bereavement.
Employee Severance and Terminations
Termination Process
The termination process varies according to the employment agreement or collective agreement in place and is based on the type of contract and reason for termination. There are two types of dismissals:
Regular dismissal is issued for a business reason (redundancy), worker incompetence, an at-fault reason (misconduct), unfitness to work due to disability, or failed probation period.
Extraordinary dismissal is issued for severe scenarios such as criminal offense, declining a transfer and similar breaches.
All dismissals must be presented to the employer in writing, and the employee must be given the opportunity to present a defense. In extraordinary dismissals, the termination must be presented in writing and in person.
Notice Period
The length of the notice period depends on the type of dismissal:
Dismissal for business reasons has notice periods dependent on the employee’s length of service:
Up to 1 year service = 15 days’ notice
1 to 2 years service = 30 days’ notice
Above 2 years service = 30 days plus an additional 2 days notice for every additional year of service above two years, up to a maximum of 60 days notice.
Dismissal for at fault reasons = 15 days notice.
Dismissal for failed probation period = 7 days notice.
Extraordinary dismissal = no notice required. However, the employer must still provide termination of the notice within 30 days of the incident that led to the termination.
Severance Pay
For dismissal due to business reasons or employee incompetence, employees are entitled to severance pay based on the employee’s service length:
1-10 years of service receive 1/5 of the employee’s average salary from the previous three months for every year of service.
10-20 years of service receive 1/4 of the average salary from the past three months for every year of service.
Over 20 years of service receive 1/3 of the average salary from the past three months for every year of service. However, there is a maximum severance payment limit of ten times the employee’s basic monthly salary.
Severance might also be required in certain cases of termination of Fixed Term contracts, receiving 1/5 of the average monthly salary for the first year of service. An additional amount (which amounts to one-twelfth of the one-fifth of salary calculated for the first year) will then also be added for each extra month of employment above the first year of employment.
Probation Period
In Slovenia, probation periods are outlined in the employee’s employment contract. The probation period can be no more than six months.
Payroll Cycle
In Slovenia, the payroll frequency is monthly with the payment of salaries usually made on the last working day of each month.
13th Salary
In Slovenia, a mandatory Holiday allowance is paid by June 30th each year, it is tax-free up to a certain amount (the current maximum non-tax amount is approximately 2,200 EUR). Employers must pay at least the minimum monthly wage for the year, unless the employee was hired during the year, in which case they receive a proportional payment.
In addition, many employers choose to give a 13th-month salary payment in December as a Christmas bonus, though this is optional.
Contributions
Employer Payroll Contributions
*The following mandatory allowances must also be given by the employer:
Meal Allowance – paid monthly at a rate of up to 7.96 EUR per working day.
Transportation allowance (for office workers) – Employees are entitled to receive transportation allowance if commencing to work. This can be settled whether with mileage compensation (0.21 EUR per kilometre) or by settling monthly public transportation cost.
Homeworking allowance (for homebased workers) – Mandatory payment for all employees working from home. This compensation amount is exempt from the income tax base up to 2% of employee’s monthly salary. This amount usually varies from 1-5 EUR, depending on employer’s decision.
Employee Payroll Contributions
VISA
Work and residence permits are regulated under the Employment, Self-employment, and Work of Foreigners Act, enacted in 2015. The permits are obligatory for all non-EU nationals who wish to be employed in Slovenia. Unless they can be considered for the following exception:
Refugees
Immediate family members of Slovenian citizens
Non-EU nationals with a permit for permanent residence
Non-EU nationals who have obtained the status of a long-term resident in another Member State of the EU after residing in the Republic of Slovenia for one year
Non-EU nationals of Slovenian origin up to the third successive generation
To obtain a long-term work permit, an individual should apply for a single residence permit for work and residence in Slovenia (The Single Permit).
Single permits are issued by the administrative unit (“Upravna enota”) with the consent of the Employment Service of Slovenia (“ESS”) on the basis of the Employment, Self-employment, and Work of Foreigners Act and corresponding regulation.
After applying for The Single Permit, the administrative unit will automatically begin the process of obtaining consent from the Employment Service of Slovenia. An application for The Single Permit may be submitted by a foreigner or by the employer.
