On 25 November 2020, the Slovenian National Assembly adopted the sixth Anti-Corona Act[1], which will enter into force the next day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.
The measure of partial reimbursement of salary compensation for employers who order employees to wait for work at home due to the implications of the epidemic has been prolonged for all industries until 31 January 2021.
Employees remain entitled to salary compensation in the amount of 80 % of their average salary in the last three months, but not less than EUR 940.58 gross. The State will reimburse 80 % of paid salary compensations to employers, whereby from (including) November 2020 onwards the maximum reimbursement is being raised to the amount of average wage in the Republic of Slovenia. The employers will also be able to apply for reimbursement of 100% of paid salary compensations, provided that the total amount of received public funds will not exceed EUR 800,000 which includes the amount of public funds received so far.
The conditions for eligibility remain the same. Employers who did not operate in 2019 will be entitled to a partial reimbursement of salary compensation in line with the sixth Anti-Corona Act under the condition that they were registered by 1 September 2020 and that their average monthly turnover in 2020 was decreased by more than 20% in comparison to the turnover made until 31 August 2020. According to sixth Anti-Corona Act the employers cannot claim partial reimbursement of salary compensation for employees during the notice period.
Applications need to be filed electronically with the Employment Service of Slovenia within 8 days from ordering the employees to wait for work at home, but in any case not later than by 15 January 2020.
The sixth Anti-Corona Act also introduces the following new measures that are relevant for employers:
- reimbursement of salary compensations paid to employees who are unable to perform work due to force majeure as a result of shut down of public transportation or closed borders with neighboring countries; these employees are entitled to salary compensation in the amount of 80% of their average salary in the last three months. Employers can apply for reimbursement of salary compensations paid to such employees with an application submitted electronically to the Employment Service of Slovenia. In relation to employees who are already unable to perform work, the application must be filed within 8 days after the day the sixth Anti-Corona Act will enter into force, otherwise the application must be filed within 8 days from the first day of the employee’s absence;
- possibility to conclude fix-term employment contracts due to urgent needs of the work process during the epidemic (applicable for the public sector); the employers from the public sector may conclude fixed-term employment contracts without announcing a vacancy. Such employment contracts cannot be agreed for a period exceeding 31 August 2021;
- simplified procedure for notification of work from home; the notification of the Labor Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia regarding the organization of work from home has been simplified. Employers will be able to submit all necessary information by filling in a special form, which will be published at the website of the Labor Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia. Employers will be able to submit the form electronically via Business Support Information System (SPOT).
According to the publicly available information, the subsidies for reduced working hours will be regulated by a separate law.
[1] Intervention measures act to mitigate the effects of the second wave of the epidemic (ZIUOPDVE).
