Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Slovenia (Ratification: 1992)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Legislation. Protection of workers against discrimination based on political opinion. In its report, the Government reiterates that the Protection against Discrimination Act of 2016 includes protection against discrimination based on political opinion, under the broader, non-exhaustive category of “any other personal circumstances”. Additionally, section 6 of the Employment Relations Act of 2013 specifically protects against discrimination based on political “belief”. The Government further notes that although cases of this nature are underreported, the Advocate of the Principle of Equality (‘Advocate’) has addressed several complaints of discrimination based on political opinion, and cites two cases: (1) A headteacher who was not appointed due to his political beliefs, where the Advocate concluded in fine that no discrimination had occurred; and (2) An editor of a municipal newsletter who was required not to be a member of any political party, by virtue of a municipal decree (the outcome of the case was not communicated). In response to the Committee's previous request about the functioning of the Advocate established by the Protection against Discrimination Act of 2016, the Government indicates that the Advocate Office offers legal advisory services, conducts research and data collection, and engages in awareness-raising efforts. The Advocate can participate in legal proceedings, request legislative reviews, and is authorized to receive complaints and issue rulings in cases of discrimination. Recently, the Advocate issued recommendations to the Government, including: (1) developing a comprehensive national anti-discrimination strategy to address all forms of discrimination and track progress toward equality, and (2) amending the Act on Regulation of the Labour Market to eliminate the requirement for entry-level Slovenian language proficiency for foreigners registering in the unemployment database. In 2021, the Advocate provided legal assistance in 34 employment-related cases and, with a notable rise in discrimination complaints post-COVID-19, received a total of 424 new complaints. Of these, 31 per cent were related to employment, with disability (10.8 per cent) and nationality, race, ethnic origin, or language (9.2 per cent) cited most frequently as grounds for alleged discrimination. By contrast, in 2023, the Advocate resolved 13 cases only, of which 30.1 per cent were employment related. However, the Advocate expanded its efforts by offering legal counselling to 611 people, conducting six assessments on the discriminatory nature of certain regulations, and concluding 34 discrimination procedures. The Government also highlights several awareness-raising initiatives, including developing guidelines and leaflets, conducting surveys, and organizing conferences and workshops for relevant stakeholders. The Committee notes the Government’s efforts in this regard. The Committee asks the Government to provide information: (i) on any complaints alleging discrimination based on political opinion reported to the Labour Inspectorate or the Advocate or filed before the courts; and (ii) on its continued effort to prevent and address discrimination in employment and occupation based at least on all the grounds of discrimination specified in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, both in the private and public sectors.

Discrimination based on sex. Sexual harassment. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Government on various measures implemented to raise awareness and offer information and training on work-related harassment, including sexual harassment. These initiatives include guidelines, handbooks, surveys, awareness posters, theatre performances, online courses, training sessions, and conferences targeting different stakeholders (such as the police, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and other public servants and high-ranking public officials), as well as support for workers and employers through the labour administration’s “Stop Conflicts at Work” project. According to the Government, increased inspection and awareness-raising efforts have led to a rise in recorded violations under section 47 of the Employment Relations Act. In 2019, a total of 250 violations were recorded, followed by a significant decrease in 2020 and 2021, likely due to the temporary closure of certain sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from 2020 indicates that 31.7 per cent of women who have ever worked have experienced sexual harassment at work. The Committee also takes notes of the 2022 public opinion survey results, which revealed that 75 per cent of individuals who experienced sexual harassment did not report it, primarily due to concerns that reporting would not lead to a change or might worsen the situation. The Committee reiterates its request for the Government to provide information on: (i) the specific measures employers are implementing to prevent, and protect workers against, sexual harassment, considering its high prevalence in workplaces; and (ii) the number of sexual harassment cases identified, along with details on sanctions imposed and remedies granted by the Labour Inspectorate or courts.

Articles 2 and 3. Equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women. The Government indicates that an evaluation was carried out to assess the achievement of the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2015–2020, in particular on measures to promote female entrepreneurship, and eliminate gender stereotypes and discrimination. The Government reports that in 2021 women's employment rate in the country (72.6 per cent) was higher than the EU average (67.7 per cent), but that a great number of women continue to be overrepresented in occupations of clerical support work, care work, and services and sales work, whereas men are more concentrated in jobs as, among others, legislators, senior officials, managers, skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, craft and related trades workers, plant and machine operators and assemblers, and in the armed forces. The Government also indicates that in most of these sectors, occupational gender segregation increased between 2017 and 2023, and recognizes that the progress towards gender balance has been slow, with women holding only 23.2 per cent of decision-making positions in the largest listed companies in the first half of 2024, and only 5.9 per cent of the women were chairpersons in the management and supervisory boards of these companies. The Government highlights two key legislative measures adopted to address women’s representation in decision making: (1) the amendment in 2021 to the Companies Act of 2006 aims to improve the gender balance among directors of listed companies, which requires large and medium-sized companies to disclose in their annual report the ratio of men and women in their management and supervisory boards; and (2) the amendment in 2019 to the Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Act of 2002, which requires self-governing local and national communities to respect the principle of balanced gender representation when appointing or nominating representatives to supervisory bodies of public law entities. The Committee takes note of the Government’s ongoing initiatives to improve gender balance across the labour market. The Committee encourages the Government to assess the measures taken and implemented with a view to tackling more effectively the persistent gender segregation of the country’s labour market. It also asks the Government to provide information on the impact of the targeted measures taken to improve the participation rates of women in those economic sectors and occupations in which they are underrepresented, including by promoting women’s access to a wider range of jobs with career prospects and higher pay following the recent amendments made to the Companies Act and the Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Act.

Equality of opportunity and treatment of workers with disabilities. According to the statistical information provided by the Government, the Committee notes that in 2023, persons with disabilities represented 16.1 per cent of registered unemployed persons and 26.9 per cent of long-term unemployed persons; and 13 per cent of persons in Active Employment Policy programmes and 28.7 per cent of persons in Public Works Programmes targeted as long-term unemployed people – hence the reason why unemployed people with disabilities registered with the Employment Service receive priority treatment in labour market measures, including occupational and vocational rehabilitation and active employment policies. As regards dissemination of information among persons with disabilities and various stakeholders, the Committee notes that the Advocate has been very active. For example, it has organized public discussions on difficulties encountered by persons with disabilities as regards employment, to raise awareness of the nature and extent of these problems; published information on discrimination and existing remedies on its website; promoted sign language interpretation; and developed brochures, application forms and instructions in braille or in an easy-to-read format. The Committee also notes, based on the Advocate’s reports, that disability continues to be the most frequently mentioned ground of alleged discrimination (11.6 per cent of all cases); and that, between January 2019 to April 2024, the Advocate Office issued 76 recommendations on the rights of persons with disabilities, including on the inadequate application of the requirement to provide reasonable accommodation. The Government mentions the development of guidelines and workshops conducted by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZ) on mainstreaming diversity for employers and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) professionals, with disability being one of the personal circumstances covered by these guidelines. The Government refers to the Third Action Programme for Persons with Disabilities 2022–2030. Its purpose is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal exercise of all human rights by persons with disabilities and to foster respect for their inherent dignity. The Programme comprises 13 main objectives with 120 actions, which comprehensively address all areas of life of people with disabilities. The Committee notes in particular objectives number 1 (raising awareness and providing information), 3 (accessibility), 4 (education), 5 (work and employment) and 12 (violence and discrimination). It also notes that, regarding objective 5, some of the measures envisaged aim at: (1) providing open, inclusive and accessible workplaces; (2) increasing the employability of both employed and unemployed persons with disabilities through different programmes and training, or vocational and occupation rehabilitation; (3) ensuring transition of young persons with disabilities to the labour market; (4) raising awareness on violence and discrimination, with particular attention to women, older people and children with disabilities; and (5) introducing more flexible working methods adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities in sheltered companies and employment centres. Furthermore, the Government indicates that a Strategy for Persons with Disabilities with Intersecting Discrimination is in preparation. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to increase the employability of employed and unemployed persons with disabilities through different programmes and training, or vocational and occupational rehabilitation, as stated in its Third Action Programme for Persons with Disabilities 2022–2030, and to report periodically on the progress achieved.

Enforcement. The Committee takes note of the clarification provided by the Government on the respective functions of the Labour Inspectorate and the Advocate. The Government explains that both entities are required to cooperate and, particularly, that the Advocate: (1) does not have inspection powers but issues a declaratory, but legally binding, administrative decision on whether discrimination has occurred; (2) in case of minor offence proceedings, it may refer its findings to the Labour Inspectorate for further consideration (unlike the Labour Inspectorate, the Advocate is not a minor offence body and therefore cannot take action against offenders who violate the prohibition of discrimination in minor offence proceedings); (3) cannot deal with a case in which proceedings are already underway before the Labour Inspectorate; and (4) may represent and provide support to the victim in court proceedings, regardless of the outcome of the inspection. Finally, the Committee also notes the statistical information provided by the Government, according to which: (1) the total number of violations of the prohibition of discrimination under the Employment Relations Act identified by the Labour Inspectorate was 11 in 2017 and 10 in 2023; (2) the total number of cases dealt with by the Advocate’s Office for establishing the existence of discrimination in employment and occupation was 15 in 2017 and 13 in 2023. In that regard, the Committee notes that the Advocate does not collect data on the cases it handled nor on advice provided in such a way as to track the parties' genders. The Committee asks the Government: (i) to provide information on any relevant cases dealt with by the Labour Inspectorate, the Advocate and the courts, the sanctions imposed, and the remedies granted; and (ii) to take steps to ensure that the data collected by the Advocate is disaggregated by sex.