Today, on 28 February 2014, the Association of Employers of Slovenia – Textile and Leather Section and the Textile and Leather Processing Union of Slovenia signed a new collective agreement for textile, clothing, leather and leather processing activities.
The Collective agreement takes effect on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia and applies on the first day of the month following its publication. Upon the date of entry into force of this Collective agreement, the Collective agreement for textile, clothing, leather and leather processing activities, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 55/2009, ceases to apply to the members of the Association of Employers of Slovenia.
The new Collective agreement brings considerable benefits to employers, particularly in relation to the exploitation of opportunities from the new Employment Relationships Act. The agreement has redefined, inter alia, the following:
- Pre-employment skill testing of workers during a period of up to three working days;
- New reasons or cases for the conclusion of a fixed-term employment contract;
- Conclusion of fixed-term employment contracts for project work lasting more than two years;
- Cases and conditions to perform other work;
- Full working time shorter than 40 hours a week;
- The longest reference period for the compensation of working hours in the event of a temporary assignment and irregular distribution of working time;
- Cases for elimination of overtime;
- Six-month reference period to ensure daily and weekly rest for shift workers;
- Six-month reference period to ensure weekly rest in the event of irregular or increased volume of work;
- Lump sum compensation;
- In the event of full working time shorter than 40 hours a week the salary may be paid in proportion to the hours worked (e.g. if workers work full working time of 36 hours/week their monthly salary is 10% lower than if they work 40 hours/week). This means that the hourly rate is always the same regardless of whether a worker works 36 hours or 40 hours/week;
- If jobs are at risk the employers may maintain the lowest basic salaries at the levels applying before this Collective Agreement;
- If workers fail to achieve the expected performance targets they are entitled to a salary complying with their achieved results;
- Jubilee benefits are compulsory for the members of the trade union, signatory of the Collective agreement, and optional for other workers;
- If a worker moves for reasons not attributable to the employer the worker is not entitled to the reimbursement of higher travel costs.
With financial support from the European Union.