Student work
Student work is an occasional or temporary work performed by a student for payment through an authorized organization (most often a Student Service). The student may perform the work through a student referral, which is the legal basis for the student work, and must be ordered before starting work. The purpose of temporary and occasional work for students is to enable them to gain work experience and additional earnings during their education, and to provide employers with a selection of potential future staff and a flexible workforce to meet exceptional staffing needs. The temporary and occasional nature of the work of students is emphasized: it is a work that is performed for a shorter period of time or from time to time. Temporary and occasional student work may not be – in accordance with the Labour Relations Act – performed when the elements of employment are met.
Foreign students who, as part of international exchange programmes carry out their study obligations in Slovenia, and foreign students studying in Slovenia, may also work through the Student Service.
On the Student Service Website, you will find useful information in English regarding student work in Slovenia. Visit their website here.
Service contract
The service contract or employment contract is concluded between the contractor (you) and the client. The contractor undertakes to perform the work as specified in the contract and the client undertakes to pay for the work.
The scope of work that can be done under a service contract is very broad. The Obligations Code defines that under a service contract, works such as making or repairing, physical and mental work are performed. In practice, under service contract, most of the time, physical work, handicrafts and repairs, cleaning of premises or, for example, babysitting are performed.
Under a service contract, you can only perform work that is occasional and temporary. Although the legislation does not specify how long a service contract may last, it must specify a time limit for completion of work. Thus, a service contract between a contractor and a client does not create a lasting relationship, but expires when certain work is completed.
The advantage of a service contract is that it allows occasional additional work even if you are full-time employed. You can also work under a service contract as an unemployed person or student. The disadvantage of a service contract is that it does not provide any or very weak social security.
You can find more about the service contract here.
Copyright contract
With the copyright contract, the author and the client agree on the commission of the copyrighted work. The copyrighted work is an individual intellectual creation in the field of literature, science and art. Only copyrighted works can be done through a copyright contract.
The copyright contract does not regulate a regular employment relationship and therefore the author does not have the rights from the employment relationship (vacation allowance, leave). The disadvantage of the copyright contract is that it does not provide any or very weak social security.
A copyright contract can therefore only be used when its subject matter is a certain copyrighted work, in all other cases a service contract may be considered.
Learn more about the copyright contract here.
Freelance (or independent entrepreneur)
A freelance is a natural person who independently performs a gainful activity on the market within an organized company. Registration of a freelance is simple and it does not require start-up capital. This does not mean, however, that a freelance does not need nominal capital. Consideration should be given to how much responsibility a freelance is prepared to bear, as he or she, as an economic agent, has unlimited liability with all his or her assets.
Lately, many employers have been demanding – as a condition of employment – that you have your freelance status open. In this way, employers avoid paying social security contributions, since the holder of the freelance status has to pay for these contributions himself or herself. The cost of an employer is just a pay check, and you have to cover the rest yourself.
You can apply for your freelance status at the Slovenia Business Point VEM.
Your rights
An employee who is employed has certain legal rights. The essential rights of the employee are:
- the right to pay,
- the right to reimbursement for lunch and transport,
- the right to severance upon termination of an employment contract of an indefinite duration,
- the right to severance upon termination of a fixed-term contract in accordance with the law;
- the right to severance upon retirement,
- the right to notice,
- the right to remuneration for justified absence from work,
- the right to annual leave and vacation allowance,
- organization of working hours,
- the rights arising from the inclusion of the employee in social security benefits on the basis of employment, i.e. guaranteed social security.
How to respond to rights violations?
An employee may report violations of labour law to the Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia. An employee may file a complaint if he or she believes that the employer violates his or her rights and if he or she believes that the employer violates the provisions of Employment Relationship Act-1, which are specified in Article 215 of this Act.
Questions can also be addressed to the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. You can see Ministry subpages that relate to employment relationships and where information is available on the forms of work for which the Ministry is responsible.
You can also contact the Trade Union Youth Plus with questions. The Trade Union Youth Plus advocates for the rights of students and young unemployed people, paying particular attention to the self-employed, as well as to all those who work through copyright and service contracts. They want to connect young people, educate them about their rights when entering the world of work, support them in finding a job and help them solve the problems they face.
Useful links:
Prevention of Undeclared Work and Employment Act
Movement for decent work and welfare society
As most of the work-related websites are in Slovenian language, you can contact us for questions and we will help you or guide you forward. You can write to info.skuc@lmit.org.
