SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jernej Jeraj and Katja Triller Vrtovec, PFP Law
Representative Status of Trade Unions Representative trade unions are those that are demo - cratic, independent from state bodies and employers, primarily financed by membership fees, and have a certain percentage of members based on the industry, activity or profession. Trade union representativeness is divided into sectoral unions, activity unions and pro - fessional unions, where representativeness is crucial for the conclusion of collective agreements and par - ticipation in bodies that decide on the economic and social security of workers. A confederation of trade unions represents an association of unions from vari - ous sectors, activities or professions. The status of representativeness on the level of an industry (branch) is obtained through a decision issued by the minister based on legal conditions; such a decision is published in the OJ. Since ZRSin does not provide for periodic verification of the conditions for representativeness, the employer may only chal - lenge the trade union’s authority for collective bargain - ing stemming from trade union representativeness in a collective labour dispute. A trade union organised on the level of the company becomes representative once a certain percentage of employees (15%) join the trade union, provided that all other conditions for representativeness (as stated above) are met. 6.2 Employee Representative Bodies Workers have a constitutional right to participate in the management of economic organisations and institutions, as regulated by the Constitution, where the details and conditions are specified by law. The Law on Worker Participation in Management ( Zakon o sodelovanju delavcev pri upravljanju , OJ no 42/93 et sec – “ZSDU”) sets out the methods and condi - tions for workers’ participation in the management of economic companies, regardless of ownership type, as well as sole proprietors with at least 50 employees, and co-operatives. Worker participation is realised through the following means: • the right to initiate proposals and to receive responses to those proposals;
• the right to be informed; • the right to provide opinions and suggestions and to receive responses to them; • the possibility or obligation of joint consultations with the employer; • the right to co-decision; and • the right to veto employer decisions. Comparison to Trade Unions Unlike trade unions, works councils are primarily designed to engage in co-management rather than in employment relations that establish rights and obliga - tions within employment relationships. Works councils only take on the role of trade unions in employment matters under certain exceptional circumstances, as outlined by ZDR-1, particularly when no trade union exists at the employer. This generally means that works councils do not address workers’ rights and obligations related to employment, such as salaries or working conditions (and they are prohibited from doing so if a trade union is active within the compa - ny). Instead, they serve as the representative voice for workers in the management and business decision- making processes of the company. 6.3 Collective Bargaining Agreements The Law on Collective Bargaining Agreements regu - lates the parties involved, the content, the process of concluding a collective bargaining agreement and its form, validity and termination, as well as the peace - ful resolution of collective labour disputes, and the record-keeping and publication of collective agree - ments. A collective agreement may only include pro - visions that are more favourable for workers than the statutory provisions, with some exceptions as speci - fied in ZDR-1. Parties to and Contents of Collective Agreements Collective agreements are concluded between trade unions or associations of trade unions on behalf of workers and employers or employers’ associations on behalf of employers. They consist of: • an obligational part that regulates the rights and obligations of the parties who signed the agree - ment, and may also address methods for the peaceful resolution of collective disputes; and
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