Employment relationships in the field of culture are regulated by general legislation; some special provisions regarding public servants are also included in the Act Regulating the Realisation of the Public Interest in the Field of Culture (2002). In Slovenia, the Civil Servants Act mainly regulates the status of state employees and only its initial principles and articles apply to public servants. The Law allows for separate questions to be regulated by special laws which regulate separate areas of public sector.
Otherwise the employment relationships with public servants are regulated by the same law that applies to the overall economy, i.e. the Employment Relationship Act (Official Gazette No. 42/02, 79/06 – ZZZPB-F, 103/07, 45/08). This kind of system is possible only because all public institutions in Slovenia are independent legal persons, entered in the register of companies together with enterprises and they conduct activities in the same way regardless of their public financing (sometimes entirely). The main consequences for the field of culture are:
- that the employer is a public institution and not the state; and
- that no transfer is possible within the system of public servants.
Otherwise there are no essential differences since the salaries and the manner of promotion are uniformly regulated by the Salary System in the Public Sector Act (Official Gazette No. 56/02, 72/03, 115/03 – UPB1, 126/03, 20/04 – UPB2, 70/04, 24/05 – UPB3, 53/05, 70/05 – UPB4, 14/06, 32/06 – UPB5, 68/06, 110/06 – UPB6, 1/07 – odl. US, 57/07, 95/07 – UPB7, , 17/08, 58/08, 69/08 – ZTFI-A, 69/08 – ZZavar-E, 80/08, 48/09, 91/09, 108/09 – UPB8, 13/10, 59/10, 85/10, 107/10, 35/11 – ORZSPJS49a, 27/12 – odl. US, 40/12 – ZUJF, 46/13, 25/14 – ZFU and 50/14). This uniformity has also a positive aspect. Due to equalising measures between the salaries of different public sectors, those of the public culture workers have been raised since 2007.
The Employment Relationship Act is based on non-fixed-duration employment and allows for fixed-duration employment only as an exception. Therefore, the Act Regulating the Realisation of the Public Interest in the Field of Culture (2002, last amended 2013) enacted special provisions that would allow for more flexible working relationships in the cultural field. Fixed-duration employment also makes it possible to receive a higher wage within an otherwise uniform system of salaries. The law also introduces reasons for hiring people on fixed-term contracts: because otherwise workers would be made redundant or when the work exceeds the needs identified in the work plan of the public institution. These provisions are extremely important because the Slovenian cultural field is over institutionalised and all employees are public servants. As one would expect, there is a strong resistance to the law. At the moment, only new staff / younger generation are engaged on temporary contracts. However, resistance is also felt on the governmental side. The provision related to the higher payment of temporary employed staff has not yet been implemented.
The Ministry of Culture has, on behalf of employers with representative trade unions in culture, concluded a Collective Agreement for Cultural Activities in Slovenia. (adopted in 1994 with the last amendments in 2013. This agreement regulates separate legal questions and includes provisions intended to regulate the issues on which both sides have reached an agreement.
From the point of view of the cultural field, Slovenia has neither special legal provisions nor experience concerning the inclusion of volunteers in working relationships.
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