The Government has adopted the Draft Act Amending the Employment Relationships Act (Draft Act Amending the Amending the Employment Relationships Act: hereinafter ZDR-1), which incorporates into national legislation the necessary amendments as required by EU law.  The main purpose of the proposed amendments is to improve working conditions by promoting more transparent and predictable employment, while ensuring flexibility in the labour market, improving workers' access to information on their working conditions and improving working conditions themselves.

The proposed amendments to the ZDR-1 transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union (Directive 2019/1152/EU) and Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU (2019/1158/EU) insofar as it relates to the exercise of employment rights and obligations.

An additional five days of unpaid leave has been introduced in the event of caring for a family member or a person with whom the worker shares a household and who requires more extensive care and support for health reasons. The obligation is imposed upon workers, in the event of such absence, to inform their employer before the absence commences and inform their employer of the reason for such absence. The worker shall prove the right to the absence by submitting a statement to the employer, accompanied by such supporting documents as the worker may provide according to the circumstances of the absence (e.g. medical certificate, certificate from a Social Work Centre, etc.).

The proposed amendments to the ZDR-1 introduce five days of paid leave for victims of domestic violence for the period during which such victims must arrange matters with a Social Work Centre and the courts, organise supervised contacts and, in some cases, relocate or temporarily stay in safe houses. If a victim of domestic violence wishes to claim the right to absence from work, they will have to provide the employer with a certificate of a domestic violence risk assessment, proof of having made a police report and evidence on arranging matters associated with domestic violence.

A new obligation has been introduced for employers, namely to give a worker, in the event of a warning given before dismissal, the opportunity to make a statement (statement concerning the alleged violations) within a reasonable period of time, which may not be less than 3 working days and not more than 30 days, at the worker's written request, which may be made within 3 working days of the receipt of the written warning, unless there are circumstances that would make it unreasonable to expect this from the employer.    In this manner, a hearing on the circumstances of the violation shall be conducted upon the worker's request and, upon their request, the workers' representative is included as well (the trade union, or, if the worker is not a member of a trade union, the works council or the workers' representative), or any other person authorised by the worker for that purpose.

In order to provide the worker with additional legal certainty in the event of a warning before the substantiated termination of the employment contract, a new time limit is set for the possible termination of the employment contract should the worker again breach contractual or other obligations under the employment contract after having been warned in writing by the employer of the breach or failure to comply with their obligations. The proposal changes the time limit within which the worker may not commit the violation again from 1 year to 6 months. The maximum time limit allowed where such a time limit is set in a branch collective agreement is also reduced from 2 years to 18 months.

The right to disconnect is implemented, giving the worker the freedom not to be called by the employer during the afternoon or weekly rest periods, weekends or holidays. The proposal includes the obligation to define these measures in a branch collective agreement, or to be defined by the employer, and the assumption that the burden of proof lies with the employer if the worker alleges in a dispute that the employer has failed to ensure the right to disconnect.

The proposal transposes the requirement of Directive 2019/1152/EU to allow the worker to request from the employer an alternative, more predictable and more secure form of employment, where available. Where the conclusion of an amended or new employment contract does not occur, the employer will be required to provide a reasoned response to the worker's request. Directive 2019/1152/EU also transposes the requirement that the employer must provide the worker in writing with information relating to the employment relationship entered into, including relevant information on remuneration to be provided, which should include all elements of the remuneration (including bonuses and overtime payments), and information on any right to training provided by the employer.

Workers' representatives and trade union representatives will now enjoy effective legal certainty, as up until now employers have had the possibility of unjustifiably dismissing prominent workers' representatives who advocate for improved working conditions or draw attention to irregularities in the company. To this end, the proposal enacts the suspension of the effect of termination until first instance labour courts have ruled, or for a maximum of six months for workers' representatives, an increase in their compensation for work suspension (instead of 50%, they will be entitled to 80% of their salary) and legal certainty against written warnings before termination.

The proposed amendment to the ZDR-1 also provides for the possibility of establishing a special fund for reimbursing compensation paid to an employee for periods of work suspension when the termination of the employment contract referred to in the preceding paragraph is suspended, where a first instance court finds that the termination of the employment contract was lawful. The details of the fund will be determined by a branch collective agreement.

A worker with a child up to the age of eight is given the option of proposing a fixed-term part-time employment contract to achieve a better work-life balance. To facilitate work-life balance, the option of working part-time for a certain period of time is additionally being implemented for workers carers in the case of caregiving.

Furthermore, the non-discriminatory subsidiary liability of a contractor for the non-payment of salary to a worker in the context of subcontracting is being regulated. A contractor for whom a subcontractor performs a service will be subsidiary liable for the non-payment of salary to the worker by the subcontractor's employer pursuant to the ZDR-1. Subsidiary liability will apply to the construction industry. The remuneration of agency workers in companies is also increased, thereby improving workers’ social security when they are furloughed.

Source: Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

Decree on the determination of electricity price

The Government issued the Decree on the determination of electricity price. Article 8 of the Price Control Act provides that the Government may stipulate appropriate price control measures via a decree in certain cases.

Electricity prices on wholesale markets have fallen in 2023. On HUDEX, the Hungarian Derivative Energy Exchange closest to Slovenia in terms of prices, baseload power prices in 2023 for 2024 ranged from €250 to €135/MWh, while peakload power prices were €20 to €40/MWh higher than those of baseload power. It is very difficult to know from the exchange prices in 2023, 2022 and 2021 what the suppliers' actual purchase prices for energy will be in 2024, as the fluctuation makes them largely dependent on when the purchases are made. The lowest baseload price in 2023 for 2024 was around €135/MWh and the lowest peakload price was €140/MWh. Forward payments in 2022 were even higher, and purchases in 2022 will also have an impact on the sales price for households. What is clear is that wholesale prices are higher than the Government's household cap of €100/MWh. Based on current exchange prices and on the purchases made in the years before and during 2023, we can estimate that prices for households, which are currently capped at around €100/MWh, could rise to between €150/MWh and €200/MWh if the Government does not adopt a price cap measure.

The current proposal for caps also aims at a gradual deregulation, without a price shock. The price cap measure therefore only applies to 90% of customer consumption. 10% of consumption will be paid by households at the market price freely set by suppliers. This promotes efficient use, allows competition between suppliers, and enables a gradual transition back to a free market.

Given the predictability or known market conditions for customers and suppliers, and given that most leasing is concluded on an annual basis, it is already necessary to extend the measure now.

There is no doubt that this is a severe disturbance in the market in price trends, but it is not ordinary seasonal fluctuation as defined in point 3 of Article 8 of the Price Control Act.

The Decree has no impact on businesses, as it partially restricts prices only for households.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy

Decree on setting gas prices from the system

The Government issued the Decree on setting gas prices from the system. Article 8 of the Price Control Act provides that the Government may stipulate appropriate price control measures via a decree in certain cases.

The Government adopted the Decree on setting gas prices from the system setting a maximum retail price for natural gas for household customers and households. The Decree applies from 1 January 2024 until the end of the heating season, i.e. 30 April 2024.

With the global gas market situation forecast to tighten in the coming months, the Government is keen to ensure stable prices for the heating season for household customers beyond the expiry of the cap currently in place, i.e. 31 December 2023.

As the Regulation only applies to households, it will indirectly preserve part of households' purchasing power, which will have a positive impact on the economy.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy

Reintroduction of border control at the borders with Croatia and Hungary

The Government issued the Ordinance temporary reintroducing control at internal borders of the Republic of Slovenia with the Republic of Croatia and with Hungary, and published it in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

Temporary border control at the internal borders with Croatia and Hungary shall be reintroduced on Saturday, 21 October 2023, and shall last until 30 October 2023.

In accordance with Article 28 of the Schengen Borders Code, internal border controls may be reintroduced in cases requiring immediate action for a limited period of up to ten days. At the same time, the Member State shall notify the other Member States and the Commission, stating the reasons justifying the use of the procedure.

The duration of the temporary reintroduction of border control may be prolonged in accordance with the Schengen Borders Code.

The Schengen Borders Code provides that a Member State may reintroduce border controls at all or at specific parts of its internal borders in the event of a serious threat to its public policy or internal security.

The reintroduction of internal border controls shall be used in exceptional cases and the principles of proportionality and necessity shall be respected.

The competent national authorities of the Republic of Slovenia have noted the increasing scale of organised crime in the Western Balkans, which is also confirmed by the data Slovenia receives from other countries in the region, and by the reports of the European Union agencies. Organised criminal groups are becoming interconnected and intertwined, as they share the same or similar objectives, which means that their members often associate and help each other in carrying out their otherwise different criminal activities.

Recent events have confirmed that members of various terrorist and extremist movements and groups are withdrawing from areas of armed conflict in order to avoid possible consequences for their actions, or even with the intention of jeopardising our security and stability in the future. At the same time, there is a risk that these persons, including through the services of smuggling networks, may infiltrate mixed migration flows and attempt to enter the Republic of Slovenia illegally, where 48,076 illegal internal border crossings have been recorded so far this year up to 15 October.

Slovenian security authorities are closely monitoring potential risks and the security situation in the country and the wider region, as well as the factors that could influence radicalisation and the spread of violent extremism.

The increased terrorist threat to this part of the European Union is also reflected in the recent decision by neighbouring Italy to temporarily reintroduce border controls at its internal border with Slovenia.

This is why immediate measures are needed to ensure public order and security for Slovenia's citizens, as well as for the citizens of the European Union.

This Ordinance shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

Source: Ministry of the Interior