On March 11, 2025, the government approved the draft law on the implementation of partial compensation of wages for reduced working hours. This introduces a permanent scheme of reduced working hours aimed at preserving jobs due to the temporary inability to provide work by the employer. The draft law stipulates that employers who employ workers on a full-time basis order reduced working hours (at least half-time) while partially placing workers on temporary standby.
Employee Compensation
While working, the employee is entitled to payment. Unlike full-time hours, when the employee is not working due to ordered reduced hours, they retain all rights and obligations from the employment relationship, as if they were working full-time, except those differently regulated in the proposed law. During this time, the employee is entitled to wage compensation as defined by the labor law for temporary inability to provide work due to business reasons, which is 80% of their average wage. This compensation must not be less than a part of the minimum wage proportional to the difference between reduced and full working hours.
Who is Eligible
The measure would apply to employers who are individuals or legal entities registered in the business register, employing workers on a full-time basis, or individuals engaged in agricultural activities and registered in the agricultural holdings register. These would be eligible for the subsidy if they could not guarantee at least 90% of work for at least 30% of their employees, reducing their working time by 5 to a maximum of 20 hours per week.
Duration and Activation of the Measure
The government would activate the scheme. An eligible entity could be included in the scheme for a maximum of six months within 24 months from the first order of conditions for reduced working hours due to a single event (natural disaster, epidemic, or economic crisis).
Compensation Amount
The Republic of Slovenia would cover 60% of the paid compensation wage without employer contributions (gross I).
Employee Obligations
Upon the order of reduced working hours, within five days, the employee must register in the record of workers included in the reduced working hours scheme at the Employment Service and notify the employer. During the measure, the worker has the right and duty to participate in training and education programs, as agreed with the institute. For each hour of actual presence in the program, the worker would be entitled to an integration allowance consisting of an activity allowance and a transportation allowance, as specified by the regulation governing the implementation of active employment policy measures. Upon successful completion of the program, the worker would also receive a monetary reward of 100.00 EUR.
Attention, Beneficiaries!
During the subsidy receipt period, beneficiaries should not pay out rewards and profits. To avoid cases where beneficiaries, after receiving the subsidy, would wait to make these payments and then pay them double the next year, it is envisaged that they could pay out profits and bonuses in the second and third year but would have to return an equivalent amount to the state budget.
Source: GOV
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