Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Slovenia (Ratification: 1992)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the legislative and policy developments reported by the Government, including amendments to the Act on Labour Market Regulation. It notes the Government’s indication that the active employment policy in Slovenia is defined in the framework Act on Labour Market Regulation, which specifies five measures, of which three are funded during the reporting period and are therefore active: education and training, employment incentives, and job creation. The Act also stipulates that vulnerable groups on the labour market should have priority for inclusion in the policy measures and these are further described in the implementing strategic Guidelines for implementing the active labour market policy for 2021–25: older than 50 years, youth up to 29 years of age, long-term unemployed, recipients of social benefits, lower-educated persons, and persons with disabilities. The new Guidelines for the period 2026–30 are expected to be adopted by the end of 2025. The Government indicates that 2022–25 has been marked with economic growth and labour market recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, although somewhat slower towards the end of this period. Still, the employment rate (20 to 64 years) is rising (76.1 per cent in 2021; 77.9 in 2022; 77.5 in 2023; and 78.3 in 2024), and the unemployment rate is at a historically low level (4.0 per cent in 2022, and 3.7 per cent in 2023 and 2024). The Committee notes from the Statistical Office of Slovenia’s labour force survey results for the second quarter of 2025 that the unemployment rate was at 3.2 per cent, the lowest since this indicator started to be measured and published since 1997. The Committee further notes from the July 2024 OECD Economic Outlook for Slovenia that, following a robust recovery from the pandemic, economic growth has slowed amid weaker private consumption and foreign demand. The labour market remains tight, although employment growth is weakening, notably in manufacturing. Elevated job-vacancy levels point to widespread labour shortages. The Government reports that the country is experiencing a record low number of registered unemployed, the lowest in the past 30 years, but at the same time staff shortages exist, notably in the health, long-term care for the elderly, tourism and gastronomy sectors. Registered unemployment figures show a decline from 78,534 in 2018, to 65,969 in 2021, and 42,398 in June 2025, with women comprising roughly half of the total each year. Among new programmes and projects, the Committee notes the development of a foresight and matching infrastructure, with the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities implementing a project to forecast skills with a long-term perspective to 2037 and integrating the results into the Labour Market Platform, a comprehensive online tool that will also enable supply-and-demand matching. The Government indicates that the platform is not a self-standing project but is implemented with continuous cooperation and interaction with steering and advisory groups, consisting of numerous government sectors, employers’ and workers’ organizations and educational institutions. The Committee notes that these findings are corroborated by the European Commission’s 2024 Country Report, which identifies labour shortages as a major structural barrier to growth. The Committee further notes that addressing these shortages requires not just activation but also attracting talent and upskilling for the green and digital transitions. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the specific strategy adopted to address the labour shortages identified in key sectors (health, long-term care, manufacturing). The Committee also requests government to report on the impact of the new “foresight and matching infrastructure” and the “Labour Market Platform” in alleviating these shortages. The Committee further requests the Government to explain how the new Guidelines for 2026–30 will specifically address the skills needs of the green and digital transitions.

Education and training. The Committee notes a national 2030 goal to achieve at least 60 per cent adult participation in learning annually, and the adoption of the Resolution on the National Programme of Adult Education 2022–30, which seeks to, inter alia, increase educational attainment and raise participation in lifelong learning. The Government indicates that participation in adult learning (Labour Force Survey, past four weeks) dropped from 16 per cent in 2011 to 11.2 per cent in 2019, and 8.4 per cent in 2020, while the last annual figure (2016, past 12 months) was 40 per cent. The Committee notes the establishment of an Office for Digital Education in June 2021 to ensure coordination and coherence, as well as a voucher-based training and education scheme for employed and self-employed individuals, aiming to reach 11,300 employees by 2026. The Government indicates that the total number of active labour market policy inclusions has decreased significantly, partly due to the decreasing number of registered unemployed persons, but also due to the transitioning period between two financing periods in EU Cohesion Funds. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that major training offers will resume with programmes to be reactivated in the second half of 2025 and accompanied by an additional large-scale project, Competent Slovenia, offering funding for training for the labour-active population, according to individual choice and independent of employers’ needs. The Government refers to the OECD, which in 2025 delivered an impact evaluation showing that informal education programmes offered are well received by employers, proving them as relevant to the labour market and up to date. The Committee requests the Government to provide a specific assessment of why previous participation rates declined and how the new “Competent Slovenia” project is designed to reverse this trend. Government is to provide data on the participation of low-skilled workers and older workers in these new training schemes, as they are often the hardest to reach. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on participation levels in lifelong learning and further information on the Competent Slovenia project, as well as its impact in terms of sustainable integration into employment. It further requests the Government to continue providing updated data on the number of beneficiaries, disaggregated by sex and age, of education and training programmes, as well as on their employment outcomes, including placement rates in full, productive and lasting employment.

Long-term unemployed persons. The Committee notes that long-term unemployment rose during the pandemic, from 48.9 per cent of the registered unemployed at the end of 2019 to 56.4 per cent in 2021, and that changes in the unemployment register structure led to increased participation of the long-term unemployed in active labour market programmes (44.1 per cent in 2021). The Government indicates that, more recently, the share of long-term unemployment decreased. At the end of 2023, 43.0 per cent of all unemployed were long-term unemployed (more than 12 months), decreasing at the end of 2024 to 38.7 per cent, while the extremely long-term unemployed (24 months and more) were 23.8 per cent. Apart from the general trend of a decrease in the total number of registered unemployed and also the specific groups of unemployed, lower-educated persons are the only group that became more pronounced in this reporting period, due to the fact that although the absolute numbers have been decreasing year-to-year, the decrease in other groups was larger, making this group slightly more noticeable within the total structure of unemployed. The Committee notes that the Government has undertaken several development projects, including a new service model and digitalization of services, with a personal adviser available for in-depth career counselling to support individuals further removed from the labour market, and further institutional cooperation, especially between the Public Employment Service and Centres for Social Work. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information on the nature and impact of measures taken to support and facilitate the reintegration of long-term unemployed persons into the labour market.

Vulnerable groups of workers. The Committee notes the information provided concerning older workers, young persons, and persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the Government’s data that the employment rate of older workers increased for the 50–59 age group from 77.1 per cent in 2018 to 81 per cent in 2021 and for the 60–64 age group 24.9 per cent in 2018 to 30.6 per cent in 2021, with the rate in Slovenia at 52.7 per cent for ages 55–64, below the EU average of 60.5 per cent. The Government also reports that the employment rate of the older population aged 55–64 was 56.3 per cent in 2024 (EU: 65.2 per cent). The Committee notes additional incentives and measures, such as an employment incentive for unemployment benefit recipients, aged 59 and over who exit into employment, allowing them to receive 40 per cent of the unemployment benefit for the remainder of the eligibility period, and an incentive for workers aged 58 and over to work 80 per cent of working time, receive 90 per cent of the wage, and have 100 per cent coverage of social security contributions. With regard to young persons, the Government indicates that from 2014 until the end of 2024, a total of more than 204,400 young people have been included in the Youth Guarantee measures, and the overall number of all young people who have transitioned from unemployment to employment has exceeded 207,600. It also reports that the rate of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) was 7.6 per cent in 2024, well below the EU average of 11.0 per cent. Active labour market programme participation among youth was mostly stable over 2022–24, at 27.8, 30.8 and 29.0 per cent, respectively. With regard to persons with disabilities, the Government refers to the implementation of the quota system, introduced in 2006 and has since provided an established mechanism for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, which enables the majority of persons with disabilities to be employed by employers in the market economy. The quota system itself and its levels were defined in social dialogue at the Economic and Social Council. The Public Employment Service has also renewed efforts to highlight opportunities to employ persons with disabilities, primarily through the quota system which has proven to be a crisis-resistant approach, as the employment of this group has remained stable or has grown over time. The Committee notes that, in addition to the quota system, additional measures are implemented, and notes that approximately 11 to 13 per cent of participants in active labour market programmes in 2022–24 were persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that, despite recent improvements, the employment rate of older workers (55–64) remains significantly below the EU average (56.3 per cent vs 65.2 per cent in 2024). The Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed evaluation of the impact of the specific incentives introduced. Government is to indicate whether and which further measures are envisaged to encourage longer working lives and combat age discrimination. Government is also to indicate whether further measures are envisaged to encourage longer working lives and combat age discrimination and whether measures taken to promote longer working lives have been accompanied by adequate safeguards to protect workers’ accrued rights, ensuring that social security entitlements are not retroactively reduced. Regarding persons with disabilities, the Committee requests specific data on the transition from the quota system to the open labour market without subsidies. It also requests the Government to provide details of the consultations with organizations of and for persons with disabilities for measures targeting their employment.

Article 3. Consultation with the social partners. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the social partners are closely and actively involved at all phases of labour market and education policy design, implementation and assessment of their impact, including through the Public Employment Service Administrative Board. Furthermore, the tripartite social dialogue takes place at the Economic and Social Council, which considers all relevant issues for the labour market before adoption by the Government, including the active labour market policy guidelines and proposed legislation changes. The Economic and Social Council also considers annual reports on public employment services which include information on specific programmes’ success in sustaining longer-term employment. The Committee notes with interest that the social partners can also be embedded as implementors of specific measures. The Act on Labour Market Regulation gives the social partners the power to formulate and implement labour market measures on their own initiative. In terms of challenges, the Government indicates that social dialogue was challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic when the social partners reported insufficient time for examination in the preparation of the national recovery plans as well as the lack of adequate feedback. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information on the involvement of the social partners and representatives of affected groups in the design and evaluation of employment policies and programmes, including lessons learned, successes and challenges. It further requests the Government to provide information on the employment measures implemented by the social partners, including their scope and results.