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

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Slovenia (Ratification: 2003)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. National policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. Nursing education and training. The Committee notes that, during the reporting period, the Government faced an increasing shortage of nursing personnel and that the situation worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government indicates that, according to the National Institute of Public Health, the composition of the nursing workforce by sex in 2017 was as follows – 21,045 workers,18,061 women and 2,984 men. For 2021, there were 22,805 workers (19,261 women and 3,544 men). The Government reports that, since interest in the assistant nurse programme at the secondary school and the caregiver programme had declined for many years, it projected to promote the nursing profession and a three-month training programme for caregivers. The Committee notes that the programme has been approved and that procedures for its implementation are being prepared. The Government indicates that there are limited opportunities for the education of midwives due to the number of births and the clinical environment, and this is the reason why the number of midwives is increasing very slowly and why certain competencies are still being carried out by nurses. The statistical information provided by the Government on the number of students following careers in midwifery and nursing care in the years 2020–21 and 2021–22, which reflects a decrease in students. The study programme for midwives will establish another faculty in the coming years in order to address the lack of workforce. New measures were adopted in the spring of 2022 for the development of higher education programmes in nursing in different regions of the country. The Government further indicates the creation of an inter-ministerial Expert Working Group on Clinical Training in Nursing, Midwifery, Pharmacy, Medicine and Dentistry in 2020, which is in charge of developing the study programmes and approaches to address the common challenges to clinical training. The Committee welcomes this information and notes that, according to the European Commission 2023 Country Health Profile on Slovenia, nurse density levels were high compared to the EU average, however, shortages persisted in hospitals, primarily due to salary imbalances. The Country Health Profile also indicates that reforms of the public sector salary system, which would affect nurses’ salaries and give public providers more managerial freedom, are under consideration.

The Committee observes that the measures mentioned by the Government aim at improving its nursing personnel policies by focusing on better workforce planning. It wishes to point out in this regard that successful policies aim at duly financing such measures and increasing funding to ensure a resilient nursing workforce, including securing sustainable funding and building an adequate workforce to meet healthcare demands. The Committee also wishes stress that investing in the education and continuous professional development of nurses is crucial to ensure a steady supply of qualified nurses and welcomes the programs aimed at expanding nursing programs. In parallel, in line with the Convention, the Committee considers that improving working conditions, including offering competitive salaries and ensuring safe staffing levels also helps maintain a motivated and effective nursing workforce and build a resilient and effective nursing workforce, ensuring high-quality healthcare for all citizens. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply detailed updated information on the national programmes and their outcomes, including information on any developments concerning the short-cycle higher education programmes, higher education study programmes for senior nurses or other long-term education initiatives, including information on the work done by the recently created Expert Working Group on Clinical Training, as well as any other programmes relevant to the employment conditions of nursing personnel. Moreover, the Committee reiterates its requests to the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure access to quality nursing care, including access to midwifery care, particularly in rural areas.

Article 6. Employment conditions of nursing personnel. Hours of work. Annual holidays with pay. The Committee welcomes the copy of the collective agreement for persons employed in healthcare provided by the Government. The Government refers to Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, which provides in section 1(3) that the Directive shall apply to all sectors of activity, both public and private, within the meaning of section 2 of Directive 89/391/EEC, without prejudice to sections 14, 17, 18 and 19 of the Directive. The Government points out that Directive 2003/88/EC, in order to promote measures to improve the health and safety of workers at work and the living and working conditions of workers, lays down minimum health and safety requirements for the organisation of working time by stipulating that the maximum average weekly working time may be no more than 48 hours per week (with a balancing period of 4 months or, exceptionally, 6 or 12 months). The Government refers to the amendments to the Labor Relations Act (ZDR-1) adopted in the reporting period and indicates that the regulation in the ZDR-1 as a general regulation in the field of labour relations follows the highlighted requirements of Directive 2003/88/EC, which means that the regulation of overtime work in the ZDR-1 also follows these requirements. The Government further states that in workplaces where the continuous presence of employees (rotation work) must be ensured, a worker should not leave his or her workplace before the arrival of his or her replacement and that workers may benefit from overtime or receive overtime pay. The Government adds that in the event of a shortage of nursing care providers, departments are closed for shorter periods and staff are redeployed. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on how it ensures that nursing personnel enjoys working conditions at least equivalent to those of other workers as regards the items listed by Article 6 and provide further details concerning how it is ensured that the obligation not to leave the workplace before the arrival of a replacement does not compromise the established maximum limits for overtime work.