Employment 2025

SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jernej Jeraj and Katja Triller Vrtovec, PFP Law

5. New Work 5.1 Mobile Work

Based on the EU Blue Card Directive, national authori - ties are mandated to recognise high professional qualifications of foreigners to facilitate the mobility of highly qualified workers (before July 2025, the rec - ognition was only optional). The conditions for both short-term (up to 90 days) and long-term (over one year) mobility of highly qualified workers have been simplified. Thus, the salary threshold for defining a highly qualified employment is being lowered (from requiring a one-year employment contract to a six- month one) and from 1.5 times the average annual gross salary to the average gross annual wage. 4.2 Registration Requirements for Foreign Workers There are no registration requirements for employers seeking to hire foreign workers, although foreign citi - zens can only enter into an employment contract in Slovenia if they meet the requirements for obtaining a work or single permit. They must not begin work - ing until the permit is issued. Any employment con - tract signed with a foreign citizen who does not hold a valid permit is considered null and void. Employers are allowed to hire only those foreign workers who possess valid work permits. The application for a work permit can be submitted by either the employee or the employer. Depending on the severity of the violation, employers who are fined for an offence may be prohibited from hiring or working with foreign nationals for one to five years, and a new registry of such offenders is put in place from June 2025. In order to speed up the process of issuing single permits for residence and work, the local jurisdiction limitations have been lifted in 2024. From November 2025 onwards, a simplified tempo - rary residence permit is being introduced for digital nomads, defined as third-country nationals who work remotely for an entity based outside of Slovenia and who demonstrate sufficient means of subsistence (at least twice the average monthly net salary in Slovenia). As digital nomads do not compete for work with other employees in the Slovenian labour market, they are not required to get a permit from the ESS.

The location of work is an essential element of the employment contract. The parties can agree on remote work or a hybrid arrangement (which is cus - tomary), but this requires: • an amendment of the employment agreement; • notification of work at home to the Employment Inspectorate; and • a prior assessment of the suitability of the remote workplace with regard to the health and safety at work requirements. These formalistic requirements often prevent the par - ties from agreeing on more flexible forms of remote work (where the employee could, for example, freely choose their daily workplace). These and additional considerations (eg, recognition of minimum employ - ee rights of the host country) also apply in cases where the employee would temporarily work in other jurisdiction(s). Furthermore, in November 2024, ZDR-1 officially rec - ognised the so-called “right to disconnect”, which obliges employers to undertake measures aimed at ensuring employees are aware of their right not to monitor emails or other telecommunications during their breaks, rests and other off-work times, which further limits the flexibility of such arrangements. The relative complexity of such relationships often leads to employees deciding to become self-employed and to conclude a civil law agreement with their (previ - ous) employer. 5.2 Sabbaticals Sabbatical leave (as a longer absence from work) is not common on the market, and Slovenian laws do not explicitly regulate it. Due to the very shallow labour market and increas - ing competition for high-performing workers, some employers are introducing such measures and their own systems regarding sabbatical leave. Some opt for temporary suspension of the employment (meaning that the agreement remains in force but the employer

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