SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jernej Jeraj and Katja Triller Vrtovec, PFP Law
1. Employment Terms 1.1 Employee Status
Executive Employees Certain deviations from the minimum rights outlined in ZDR-1 are also allowed for executive employees, albeit to a lesser extent than for legal representatives of the employer. Executive employees are employees who manage a business area or an organisational unit of the employer and are authorised to make independ - ent decisions about either personnel or the organisa - tion of work in their respective department or legal transactions. The executive employees must have such competences not just “on paper”, as the agree - ments on deviations from the minimum rights set forth by ZDR-1 will otherwise not be valid. A special regime applies to the duration of such con - tracts, as they can be concluded for a fixed term if such executive employee is already employed with the employer for an indefinite term in a non-executive position to which the employee will be able to return after their employment agreement for an executive position terminates. Further deviations from the minimum rights are permit - ted with regard to working hours, night work and rests and breaks, provided that the executive employee has certain independence regarding the organisation of their working hours or if their working hours cannot be planned in detail in advance (due to the nature of the position) and provided that health and safety at work are ensured. To a certain extent, employers can also agree with such employees that the contractual monthly salary will encompass overtime and work out - side of regular working hours. 1.2 Employment Contracts Difference Between Indefinite and Fixed-Term Employment Contracts Employment contracts for an indefinite term are the “standard” under Slovenian law, whereas fixed-term contracts are regulated as exceptions, which can only be concluded in cases and under conditions stipu - lated in ZDR-1. Written Form of Employment Contracts The law requires an employment contract to be con - cluded in written form. The employer is obliged to pre - sent a written proposal to the employee at least three
There is no formal distinction between blue-collar and white-collar workers in Slovenia. The Slovenian law is generally employee-friendly and determines a rather wide scope of minimal rights that need to be provided to all employed persons – ie, persons working based on an employment contract. However, the law allows certain deviations from the mandatory provisions of the law (ie, minimum employee rights) regarding the legal representatives of employers and executive workers. A special regime also applies to so-called public employees. Employers’ Legal Representatives The Slovenian Employment Relationships Act ( Zakon o delovnih razmerjih , OJ no 21/13 et seq – “ZDR-1”) allows deviation from the minimum rights and obliga - tions set forth therein for managing directors of the company and (registered) proxy holders – ie, employ - ees who have a corporate mandate in addition to their employment contracts. With these employees, the employer can agree on a regime deviating from ZDR-1 with regard to the fol - lowing rights and obligations: • the term of the contract (it is usually linked to the term of the mandate of such employee); • working hours and provisions on breaks and rest periods; • remuneration of work; • disciplinary responsibility; • termination of the employment contract; and • the applicability of collective bargaining agree - ments for such employees. In practice, employers prefer to reach all-in agree - ments with such employees, by which they agree on a fixed compensation for work provided under such an agreement (which is not possible for other employees, even executives). The flexibility regarding the termina - tion of the employment agreement is also important, as it allows the parties to deviate from the rather strict and formalistic termination regime set forth in ZDR-1 for all other categories of workers.
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