Declaration by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Social Partners

concluded between

the Government of the Republic of Slovenia

and

representatives of employers:

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia, Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, Association of Employers of Slovenia, and Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia

and

representatives of employees:

Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia, Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia PERGAM, Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia, Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions of Slovenia, Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia "Independence", Slovenian Association of Trade Unions "Alternative", and Association of Workers' Trade Unions of Slovenia "Solidarity"


The representatives of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, employers and employees unanimously adopt this Declaration with a view to fully complying with the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (ESC) and to ensuring equal tripartite social dialogue in considering regulations, strategic issues and documents and measures relating to economic and social policy, which should contribute to the overall prosperity of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the social partners agree on the following:

1. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the social partners shall fully comply with and implement the provisions of the applicable Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (the ESC Rules).

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia shall not adopt or propose for adoption, without a proposal for prior substantive consideration by the social partners at a session of the ESC, regulations relating to the main economic and social areas with which in accordance with the ESC Rules the ESC is concerned.

2. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia shall ensure compliance with the ESC Rules at the level of all line ministries, thus enabling the ESC, as an important stakeholder, to participate in the drafting of regulations before and during the formal public debate by formulating positions, opinions and recommendations on proposals for laws, decrees, orders and other acts relating to the main economic and social areas with which the ESC is concerned, in accordance with the ESC Rules.

3. In order to make the work of the ESC more efficient, the ESC College shall determine the future topics to be considered by the ESC on the basis of a list of regulations submitted monthly by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and to be drawn up by the line ministries in the next two months.

This does not exclude the consideration of other laws, implementing regulations or other acts governing subject matter referred to in paragraph two of Article 3 of the ESC Rules. Nor does the preceding paragraph exclude the right of an individual social partner to propose that a particular subject matter be considered at a session of the ESC.

In order to make the work of the ESC more efficient, each member of the ESC may have two alternates if the ESC College so decides.

4. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia shall submit to the ESC for consideration starting points which it discussed and adopted at its session.

5. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia shall forward to the ESC all documents for its consideration in due time, as provided for in the ESC Rules.

6. In its opinion, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia shall summarise the positions, opinions and recommendations on working documents, drafts and proposals for acts and decrees in the field of the ESC's activities which have been coordinated by the ESC, in such a manner that it is clearly evident from the opinion what the coordinated positions, opinions and recommendations of the ESC are, and shall refer to them in further procedures in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

7. After the ESC completes the coordination of a law, an implementing regulation and another regulation or act, the working body shall draw up and sign a declaration of coordination, which shall clearly indicate which articles are coordinated and which are not, and in the case of non-coordinated articles, include statements of the individual partners with regard to the non-coordinated article or solution.

The declaration of coordination shall include an indication of the duration of the coordination and the parties involved in the coordination, and shall be attached to the minutes of the session of the ESC at which the final proposal for an act, implementing regulation or another regulation is discussed. After approval, the minutes of the session of the ESC, which show the positions of the individual members of the ESC, together with the declaration of coordination, shall be submitted to the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the National Assembly.

8. Compliance with the ESC Rules and this Declaration shall be verified at each session of the ESC College. In the event of alleged breaches of this Declaration, the ESC Rules or decisions adopted at a session of the ESC, the breach alleged by one of the social partners shall first be attempted to be resolved by the ESC College. If the ESC College fails to find a solution, a tripartite meeting with the minister responsible for social dialogue, the minister of the relevant line ministry or the Prime Minister shall be organised at the request of the social partner within two weeks at the latest, with a view to preventing social dialogue from being suspended again.

If the ESC College fails to find a solution, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the social partners may agree to obtain an expert opinion on the alleged violation of the ESC Rules and/or this Declaration from an expert designated by agreement among the members of the ESC College.

9. The substantive topics to be addressed by the social partners in the first three sessions of the ESC and in accordance with the ESC Rules and this Declaration shall be:

– tax treatment of postings in the context of the transnational provision of services;
– recording of working time;
– implementation and financing of long-term care;
– healthcare;
– pension insurance; and
– reform of tax legislation.

10. In order to strengthen social dialogue at all levels, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities shall launch a call for tenders in 2024 to provide funding for capacity building of social partners in the area of social dialogue under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) in the period 2024–2028.

11. The social partners undertake to adopt, taking into account the provisions of this Declaration, the appropriate amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council annexed to this Declaration.

Signatories:

Government of the Republic of Slovenia:

Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Luka Mesec

Employers:
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
Tibor Šimonka

Association of Employers of Slovenia
Marjan Trobiš

Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Blaž Cvar

Slovenian Chamber of Commerce
Mariča Lah

Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Marko Lotrič

Employees:
Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia
Lidija Jerkič

Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia PERGAM
Jakob Krištof Počivavšek

Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia
Damjan Volf

Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions of Slovenia
Branimir Štrukelj

Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia "Independence"
Evelin Vesenjak

Slovenian Association of Trade Unions "Alternative"
Zdenko Lorber

Association of Workers' Trade Unions of Slovenia "Solidarity"
Albert Pavlič


Ljubljana, 4 July 2024





concluded between

the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: Government),

and

representatives of employers:
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Association of Employers of Slovenia, Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia, Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia

and

representatives of employees:
Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia, Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia PERGAM, Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia, Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions of Slovenia, Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia "Independence", Slovenian Association of Trade Unions "Alternative" and Association of Workers’ Trade Unions of Slovenia "Solidarity"

(hereinafter: social partners).


In order to fully respect and promote social dialogue in addressing strategic issues and measures relating to economic and social policy, which should contribute to the overall prosperity of the Republic of Slovenia, the social partners have agreed that:

1. The Government will strictly abide by and implement the provisions of the applicable rules on the operation of the Economic and Social Council (ESC), and will not, without a prior substantive consideration by the social partners at the ESC, adopt or propose for adoption any regulations that are within the main economic and social fields dealt with by the ESC in accordance with its rules.
2. At the level of all line ministries, the Government will ensure that the ESC rules are observed and will thus facilitate the participation of the ESC, in its capacity as an important stakeholder, in the preparation of legislation, before and during public discussion thereof, by formulating positions, opinions, and recommendations concerning working papers, drafts and proposals for acts, regulations, and orders within the scope of the work of the ESC.
3. In its opinion, the Government will summarise the positions, opinions and recommendations concerning working papers, drafts and proposals for acts, regulations, and orders within the scope of the work of the ESC that have been coordinated at the ESC in such a manner that the positions, opinions and recommendations of the ESC will be clearly shown, and will proceed to support them in further proceedings before the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

Signatories:
Government of the Republic of Slovenia
Marjan Šarec, m. p.

Employers:
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
mag. Sonja Šmuc, m.p.

The Association of Employers of Slovenia
Marjan Trobiš, m.p.

The Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Branko Meh, m.p.

The Slovenian Chamber of Commerce
mag. Mariča Lah, m.p.

The Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Drago Delalut, m.p.


Employees:
The Slovenian Association of Free Trade Unions
Lidija Jerkič, m.p.

Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia - PERGAM
Jakob Krištof Počivavšek, m.p.

Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia
Peter Majcen, m.p.

The Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions of Slovenia
Branimir Štrukelj, m.p.

The Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia – Independence
Evelin Vesenjak, m.p.

The Slovenian Federation of Trade Unions – Alternative
Zdenko Lorber, m.p.

The Association of Workers’ Trade Unions of Slovenia – Solidarity
Albert Pavlič, m.p.

Ljubljana, 15. November 2019





Withdrawal of employer associations and chambers from the Social Contract for the 2015-2016 period - 2 December 2015


Association of Employers of Slovenia, Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia and Slovenian Chamber of Commerce withdrew from the Social Contract for the 2015-2016 period on 27 November 2015.

They stated in their letter that according to the Social Contract, fundamental issues from the fields of labour legislation, health care and pension insurance as well as wage system require a consensus of all social partners, i.e. the Government, trade unions and employers. They also stated that the Social Contract stipulates that collective agreements constitute a foundation for determining the scale and method of calculating wages in the private sector, and that the level of legal certainty, people's trust in the legal system and the work of state and judicial authorities also depend on how rights are exercised in practice, the duration of administrative and judicial procedures, the accessibility of legal remedies and predictability and stability of legal norms.

They believe that two social partners essentially violated at least three provisions of the Social Contract by the manner of adopting one of the fundamental laws from the field of labour legislation, i.e. the Act Amending the Minimum Wage Act, which they find completely unacceptable. In their opinion, this manner of adopting the Act has strongly undermined the trust among the social partners and disabled the social dialogue in Slovenia.

On 1 December 2015, the last member of employer organisations, i.e. the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia, withdrew from the Social Contract. This was done on the basis of an unanimous decision of its management board.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia was not among the signatories of the Social Contract for the 2015-2016 period.



SOCIAL AGREEMENT FOR THE PERIOD 2015 – 2016




STARTING POINTS FOR THE SOCIAL CONTRACT 2012-2016




SOCIAL AGREEMENT FOR THE PERIOD 2007-2009