*This article is also available in Slovenian (see below).

On 22 March 2023, the Slovenian National Assembly adopted the long-awaited amendment to the Labour and Social Security Registers Act (Zakon o evidencah na področju dela in socialne varnosti – ZEPDSV, “Amendment“). The Amendment does not introduce mandatory electronic time and attendance records for all employers, as was originally proposed in the previous amendments to the act, however, it does introduce some other important novelties to the recording of the working time.

Regulation of work time and its implementation in practice often has concrete and direct effects on employees’ remuneration. When employees’ remuneration is being determined, case law must also  be considered. However, the court’s views regarding the remuneration for overtime work of leading employees and regarding other allowances in cases where the employer is not bound by any collective agreement at the industry level, have recently been subject to significant change.

Labour and Social Security Registers Act 

The Amendment to the Labour and Social Security Registers Act was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia on 20 May 2023 and its provisions will apply six months after its entry into force, i.e. on 20 November 2023. 

Obligation of keeping electronic records of work time

The obligation of keeping electronic work time records is provided under two circumstances, namely:

(i) if the employer has been fined for violating the Employment Relations Act or the Labour and Social Security Registers Act, the employer must establish the records of employees’ work time within three months of the finality of the decision imposing the fine; or

(ii) if the employees’ representatives propose to the employer in writing the establishment of electronic work time records, the employer has 30 days to either (a) establish such records, or (b) respond to the proposal of the employees’ represntatives in argumentative writing and notify the Slovenian Labour Inspectorate of its decision in writing.

Work time data that must be included in records

The main purpose of the Amendment is to ensure more transparent keeping of work time records and consequently to enable the labour inspectorate to carry out more effective inspection proceedings.

The current regime requires that work g time records contain information on the number of hours worked per day, and with the enactment of the Amendment, the recording of start and end of the daily work g time will be mandatory, along with the recording of breaks, the recording of time worked under special working conditions, time periods of irregular distribution of working time and time periods of temporary redistribution. This effectively prevents employers from retroactively correcting the work time records.

The Amendment requires that work time records be kept not only for the employees, but also for persons who perform work on other legal basis (e.g. based on a civil law contract), but perform the work personally and are involved in the employer’s work process or who predominantly use the employer’s resources for their work.

Employees’ right to access work time records

In order to ensure the authenticity of the data, the Amendment requires the employer to provide the employee with access to the data in the employee’s work g time records.

The employer must keep the employee informed in writing, or by electronic means, of the information contained in the work time records for the previous month until the last payday of the month. The employee may request for the employer to inform him/her in writing once a week of the information contained in the work time records. The obligation to inform the employee is fulfilled if the employee is provided with direct electronic access to the timesheets from the employee’s work time records.

Other novelties

The Amendment changed the deadline for submitting data to the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia (Zavod za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije, “Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia“). The data from the employee’s records must be submitted to the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia as soon as the employee starts working under the employment agreement, and not within 8 days after the start as was the case before the Amendment.

Furthermore, the Amendment establishes new violations, increases the amount of the fines and imposes fines for the responsible persons of the legal entities. The fine for violations related to employer’s record keeping (e.g. failure to keep, maintain or update records, providing false information in records, using information from records for purposes other than those provided by law, failure to inform an employee of his/her information from records) ranges from EUR 1,500 – 20,000 for legal persons and EUR 150 – 2,000 for their responsible persons. For violations related to the electronic method of keeping records of work time (e.g. failure to keep records in accordance with the law, failure to act on the proposal of employees’ representatives), the Amendment sets fines ranging from EUR 3,000 – 20,000 for legal persons and EUR 300 – 2,000 for their responsible persons.

Overview of the new case law on overtime pay

Payment of leading employees for overtime work

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia (Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije, “Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia“) has harmonised the previously inconsistent practice of the Higher Labour and Social Court (Višje delovno in socialno sodišče, “Higher Labour and Social Court“) regarding the inclusion of remuneration for over-time work in the (basic) salary of leading employees (“vodilni delavci”).

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, in its judgment no. VIII Ips 22/2022, dated 29 November 2022, took the view that it is not permissible to include the remuneration paid to leading employees for working overtime in their basic salaries. While the provision of Article 157 of the Slovenian Employment Relationships Act (Zakon o delovnih razmerjih – ZDR-1, “Employment Relationships Act“) allows for different regulation of working hours, breaks and rest periods for leading employees, it does not allow any interference with the otherwise applicable remuneration arrangements, including the right to be paid for working overtime or for work performed pursuant to a less favourable arrangement of working hours.

According to the above opinion of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, leading employees are always entitled to additional payment for working overtime. However, it is important to note that, in accordance with Article 157 of the Employment Relationships Act, the employer is allowed to agree with the leading employee on what the definition of full-time work is (i.e. also a weekly work commitment exceeding the statutory 40 hours per week). It is essential that the definition of full-time work also includes the definition of overtime work. The basic prerequisite for entitlement to overtime pay is that the (leading) employee works beyond the agreed weekly work commitment.

The above position of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia does not necessarily mean that leading employees are on an equal footing with other employees regarding the regulation of work time and with overtime-related remuneration.

However, as it was specifically pointed out by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, in accordance with the Employment Relationships Act, such agreements are limited only to certain categories of leading employees – those whose work time cannot be scheduled in advance and those who schedule their work time independently. In view of the Supreme Court’s position in judgment no. VIII Ips 22/2022, dated 29 November 2022, in the event of a dispute regarding the legality of a different work time arrangement, the courts will examine whether, in light of the specific nature of the work and the actual circumstances of the work, the leading employee fulfills either of these conditions.

Amount of the overtime allowance and shiftwork allowance

The Higher Labour and Social Court, in its judgment no. Pdp 453/2022, dated 5 January 2023, argued that even if the parties to an employment agreement are not subject to any collective agreement, the employees are entitled to an overtime allowance and to the allowances for special working conditions arising from the distribution of work time, where the amount of the allowance is determined by the terms of the entitlement found in collective agreements.

With the abovementioned decision, the Higher Labour and Social Court has specified and slightly broadened the previous views of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia and the legal theory on statutory allowances in cases where the employer is not bound by any regulation in determining the amount of the allowance.

Based on all previously mentioned legal sources, it can be concluded that employers are obligated to pay allowances based directly on the Employment Relationships Act, in the amounts comparable to those set forth in collective agreements of comparable industries.

For employers who are not bound by any collective agreements, it may therefore be advisable to explicitly set out in their internal regulations or employment agreements the amount of any allowances payable to employees based on the law, and comparable collective agreements, in order to avoid potential disputes regarding the payment of such allowances and any default interest.

How can Wolf Theiss assist you?

Wolf Theiss offers integrated and tailor-made solutions for business compliance, including:

(i) drafting of new employment agreements or reviewing existing employment agreements with ordinary and managerial employees, as well as agreements with executives and procurators,

(ii) drafting new or revising existing policies or internal acts of the employer,

(iii) legal advice from an experienced team of employment lawyers.

Novosti glede evidentiranja delovnega časa in izplačila nadur

Dne 22. 3. 2023 je Državni zbor sprejel dolgo pričakovano novelo Zakona o evidencah na področju dela in socialne varnosti (“Novela“). Novela sicer ne uvaja obveznega elektronskega vodenja evidenc delovnega časa za vse delodajalce, kot je bilo sprva predvideno, prinaša pa nekaj pomembnih novosti.

Ureditev delovnega časa in njena implementacija v praksi ima konkretne in neposredne učinke na prejemke iz delovnega razmerja. Pri določanju le-teh so v ospredju stališča sodne prakse, ki so se v zadnjem času pomembno spremenila zlasti glede plačil za delo preko polnega delovnega časa vodilnim delavcem ter glede višine dodatka za nadurno delo in drugih dodatkov v primerih, ko delodajalca ne zavezuje katerakoli kolektivna pogodba dejavnosti.   

Zakon o evidencah na področju dela in socialne varnosti

Novela je začela veljati dne 20. 5. 2023, pri čemer se spremembe pričnejo uporabljati šest mesecev po uveljavitvi, tj. 20. 11. 2023. 

Obveznost elektronskega vodenja evidenc

Obveznost vodenja elektronskih evidenc delovnega časa je določena le za dva primera, in sicer: 

(i) če je bila delodajalcu pravnomočno izrečena globa zaradi določenih kršitev Zakona o delovnih razmerjih ali Zakona o evidencah na področju dela in socialne varnosti, mora delodajalec vzpostaviti evidenco v treh mesecih od pravnomočnosti odločbe, s katero mu je bila izrečena globa; oz.

(ii) če delavski predstavniki pisno predlagajo vzpostavitev elektronske evidence delovnega časa, ima delodajalec na voljo 30 dni, da bodisi (a), evidenco vzpostavi, bodisi (b) se do predloga pisno in argumentirano opredeli ter o svoji odločitvi pisno obvesti tudi Inšpektorat za delo.

Podatki o delovnem času, ki jih je potrebno evidentirati

Smisel Novele je zagotoviti bolj transparentno vodenje evidenc delovnega časa ter posledično tudi omogočiti učinkovitejši nadzor inšpekcijskim organom. 

Doslej veljavna ureditev zahteva le, da evidenca vsebuje podatek o številu dnevno opravljenih ur, z uveljavitvijo Novele pa bo postalo obvezno tako evidentiranje podatka o začetku in zaključku dnevnega delovnega časa, kot tudi evidentiranje časa odmora, časa, ko se je delo opravljalo v posebnih pogojih dela, opravljenega delovnega časa v neenakomerni razporeditvi ali začasni prerazporeditvi. S tem se dejansko onemogoča popravke “za nazaj”.

Novela zahteva, da se evidence o delovnem času ne vodijo le za zaposlene osebe, temveč tudi za osebe, ki delo opravljajo na drugi pravni podlagi (npr. civilnopravni), vendar delo opravljajo osebno in so vključene v delovni proces delodajalca ali pa za opravljanje dela pretežno uporabljajo delodajalčeva sredstva.

Pravica delavca, da vpogleda v evidenco delovnega časa

Novela z namenom zagotavljanja verodostojnosti podatkov določa obveznost delodajalca, da mora delavcu zagotavljati vpogled v njegove podatke iz evidence o izrabi delovnega časa. 

Delodajalec mora delavca pisno ali po elektronski pošti obveščati o podatkih iz evidence o izrabi delovnega časa za pretekli mesec do konca plačilnega dne. Delavec lahko od delodajalca enkrat tedensko zahteva, da ga pisno seznani s podatki iz evidence o izrabi delovnega časa. Obveznost seznanitve je izpolnjena, če je delavcu zagotovljen neposreden elektronski dostop do evidence o izrabi delovnega časa. 

Druge novosti

Novela spreminja rok za posredovanje podatkov Zavodu za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije (“ZZZS”), in sicer določa, da je treba podatke iz evidence o zaposlenih delavcih posredovati ZZZS že z nastopom dela po pogodbi o zaposlitvi, ne šele v roku 8 dni po nastopu dela, kot je veljalo doslej. 

Novela tudi dodaja nove prekrške, zvišuje znesek glob ter globe predpisuje tudi za odgovorne osebe. Globa za prekrške v zvezi z vodenjem evidenc (npr. nehranjenje, nevodenje ali neposodabljanje evidenc, navajanje neresničnih podatkov v evidencah, uporaba podatkov iz evidenc za druge namene kot predvideva zakon, neobveščanje delavca o njegovih podatkih iz evidence) znaša med 1.500 – 20.000 EUR za pravne osebe in 150 – 2.000 EUR za njihove odgovorne osebe. Za prekrške v zvezi z elektronskim načinom vodenja evidence o izrabi delovnega časa (npr. nevodenje evidence v skladu z zakonom, neopredelitev do predloga predstavnikov delavcev) pa Novela določa globe v razponu med 3.000 – 20.000 EUR za pravne osebe in 300 – 2.000 EUR za njihove odgovorne osebe.

Pregled novejše sodne prakse s področja plačila za nadurno delo

Plačilo vodilnim delavcem za delo preko polnega delovnega  časa

Vrhovno sodišče RS je uskladilo doslej neenotno prakso Višjega delovnega in socialnega sodišča glede vključevanja plačila za delo preko polnega delovnega časa v (osnovno) plačo vodilnih delavcev.  

V sodbi opr. št. VIII Ips 22/2022 z dne 29. 11. 2022 je zavzelo stališče, da pri vodilnih delavcih plačila za delo preko polnega delovnega časa ni dopustno zajeti v osnovni plači. Določba 157. člena ZDR-1 sicer res omogoča drugačno ureditev delovnega časa, odmorov in počitkov za (določene) vodilne delavce, pri čemer pa ne dopušča poseganja v siceršnjo ureditev plačila za delo, med drugim tudi v pravico do plačila za delo preko polnega delovnega časa ali v manj ugodni razporeditvi delovnega časa. 

Po zgoraj navedenem stališču vodilnim delavcem vedno pripada dodatno plačilo, kadar delajo preko polnega delovnega časa. Pri tem pa je pomembno, da lahko delodajalec skladno z določbo 157. člena ZDR-1 z vodilnim delavcem dogovori, kaj predstavlja polni delovni čas (tj. tudi tedensko delovno obveznost, ki presega zakonsko predpisanih 40 ur na teden). Z opredelitvijo polnega delovnega časa se nujno opredeli tudi, kaj predstavlja delo preko polnega delovnega časa. Osnovni predpogoj za upravičenost do plačila za delo preko polnega delovnega časa je namreč, da (vodilni) delavec dejansko delo opravlja prek dogovorjene tedenske delovne obveznosti. 

Zgoraj navedeno stališče Vrhovnega sodišča RS tako ne pomeni nujno, da so vodilni delavci glede urejanja delovnega časa in s tem povezanih plačil v celoti izenačeni z drugimi delavci. 

Vendar – kot posebej izpostavlja tudi Vrhovno sodišče RS – je takšen način dogovarjanja skladno z ZDR-1 omejen le na določene kategorije vodilnih delavcev – tiste, katerih delovnega časa ni mogoče vnaprej razporediti in tiste, ki si delovni čas razporejajo samostojno. Glede na stališče Vrhovnega sodišča v sodbi opr. št. VIII Ips 22/2022 z dne 29. 11. 2022 bodo sodišča v primeru spora o zakonitosti drugačnega urejanja delovnega časa preverjala, ali vodilni delavec glede na konkretno naravo dela in dejanske okoliščine dela izpolnjuje katerega izmed teh dveh pogojev.

Višina dodatka za nadurno delo in delo v manj ugodni razporeditvi delovnega časa

Višje delovno in socialno sodišče je v sodbi opr. št. Pdp 453/2022 z dne 5. 1. 2023 zavzelo stališče, da so delavci tudi v primeru, če za stranki pogodbe o zaposlitvi ne velja nobena kolektivna pogodba, upravičeni do dodatka za nadurno delo ter druge dodatke za posebne pogoje dela, ki izhajajo iz razporeditve delovnega časa, pri čemer je za določitev višine dodatka pomembna ureditev pravice v kolektivnih pogodbah. 

Z zgornjo odločitvijo je Višje delovno in socialno sodišče konkretiziralo in nekoliko razširilo sicer že poprej uveljavljena stališča Vrhovnega sodišča RS in pravne teorije glede zakonsko predpisanih dodatkov v primerih, ko delodajalca glede same višine dodatka ne zavezuje noben predpis. Iz seštevka vseh navedenih virov je tako mogoče zaključiti, da so delodajalci dolžni izplačevati dodatke, ki delavcem pripadajo neposredno na podlagi zakona, v višini, ki je primerljiva višini v kolektivnih pogodbah primerljivih dejavnosti. 

Za delodajalce, ki jih ne zavezuje katerakoli kolektivna pogodba, utegne biti zato smotrno, da v internih aktih ali pogodbah o zaposlitvi na podlagi primerljivih ureditev izrecno določijo višino vseh dodatkov, ki delavcem pripadajo neposredno na podlagi zakona, saj se s tem lahko izognejo morebitnim sporom in plačilu teh dodatkov skupaj z zamudnimi obrestmi.   

Kako vam Wolf Theiss lahko pomaga 

Wolf Theiss ponuja celostne in hkrati po meri strank prilagojene rešitve za zagotavljanje skladnosti poslovanja, in sicer:

(i) pripravo novih oz. revizijo obstoječih pogodb o zaposlitvi z navadnimi in vodilnimi delavci, kot tudi pogodb s poslovodnimi osebami in prokuristi,  

(ii) pripravo novih oz. revizijo obstoječih pravilnikov oz. internih aktov delodajalca,

(iii) pravno svetovanje izkušene ekipe odvetnikov s področja delovnega prava