SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jernej Jeraj and Katja Triller Vrtovec, PFP Law
needs to be checked by the employer prior to initiat - ing a termination procedure. If the employee enjoys protection based on more than one circumstance, the most favourable protection regime for the employee applies. Pregnant Workers and Parents on Leave Pregnant workers, breastfeeding mothers of children not older than one year and parents on full-time paren - tal leave are protected from termination during these periods, and for one month afterwards. The law also prohibits employers from initiating any (even prepara - tory) steps against such employees during this peri - od of protection, providing job security for expecting and new parents. Exceptions are termination due to extraordinary reasons by the employer and termina - tion due to the winding-up of the employer, provided that the employer previously obtains the consent of the Employment Inspectorate for such termination. Disabled Workers Disabled workers also enjoy broad protection against termination. Their agreements can only be terminated in accordance with specific laws regulating the rights of disabled persons, except in cases of termination due to the employee’s fault or due to the winding-up of the employer. The regular termination proceedings are rather lengthy and complex, and are subject to additional approvals by the competent authorities. Employee Representatives The law provides specific protections against termi - nation for certain categories of employee representa - tives, including worker delegates, employee repre - sentatives in the supervisory board of the employer, and appointed or elected trade union representatives. Their employment contracts cannot be terminated without the consent of the works council, the employ - ees who elected them or the trade union, except in cases of terminations due to the employee’s fault or due to the winding-up of the employer. This protection remains in place throughout their term of office and extends for an additional year after their term ends. Organisations that have elected such employees also have relatively broad participation rights in such termi - nation proceedings (and can oppose the termination),
and can even request the suspension of termination for a certain period, etc. Workers Approaching Retirement For employees close to retirement (not the same cat - egory as older workers), the employer is prohibited from terminating the contract for business reasons once the employee reaches the age of 58 or has a limited time left (less than five years) to qualify for a pension without any deductions. However, this pro - tection does not apply in certain cases, such as when compensation is provided through unemployment insurance for the remaining period or if suitable new employment is offered or if the employee provides their written consent to the termination. Employees can contest wrongful terminations on the basis of procedural errors or because the termination was unjustified or unfounded. Terminations and any other situations where the employment agreement has ceased contrary to the law (eg, expiration of an ille - gally concluded fixed-term employment agreement, termination of a concealed employment relationship) may be subject to challenge. Wrongful terminations can be challenged within 30 days after the employee receives such termination or since the employment ended based on any other illegal grounds. 8. Disputes 8.1 Wrongful Dismissal Not every violation of termination proceedings results in the unlawfulness of such termination; the courts assess whether or not the procedural violation actually affected the outcome of the termination. If the employee’s lawsuit is successful, the court may rule that the employment relationship never actu - ally ended due to the unlawful termination. In such cases, the court can award the employee all rights from the employment relationship for the period since the unlawful end of the employment relationship until the finality of the decision, which can be a significant financial burden for the employer. The court can also order the employer to reinstate the employee.
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