Background information

The representatives of public sector trade unions and the government reached an Agreement on Measures in Wages and Other Labour Costs in the Public Sector for 2022 and 2023 (Dogovor o ukrepih na področju plač in drugih stroškov dela v javnem sektorju za leti 2022 in 2023) on 25 September 2022. The aim of agreement is to help workers deal with the higher cost of living caused by inflation.

Content of measure

The agreement provides a 4.5% pay rise for all public sector employees and a 4% pay rise for employees working abroad. It also provides a pay raise on 1 April 2023. Health and social care workers are excluded from this measure, as their salaries increased in 2021 following the Annex to the Collective Agreement for the Health and Social Care Sector of Slovenia and the Annex to the Collective Agreement for Health Care Employees .

Furthermore, the agreement stipulates an additional bonus to the annual leave bonus paid in 2022. It is a bonus on a sliding scale: the highest (€1,374) for employees up to the 24th wage bracket and the lowest (€1,175) for the 51st wage bracket and above. The measure provided €300 on top of the already paid bonus for employees in the lowest wage brackets and €250, €200, €150 or €100 for the rest, depending on pay grade.

The agreement also stipulates a €6.15 food allowance with an additional six-month recalculation on the ground of the rising prices of food products.

Use of measure

No information.

Contents

• Income protection

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Trade unions	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	No involvement as case not in social partner domain
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

The agreement was reached in the context of bilateral social negotiations between the government and public sector unions.

Views and reactions

The Slovenian Higher Education Union (VSS) and other trade unions protested against the most controversial clause, which endowed doctors and dentists with the right to promotion up to the 65th wage grade. According to the Slovenian Higher Education Union (VSS), it would mean a five-fold wage increase for doctors and dentists compared to inflation-related wage adjustments. VSS finds ‘privileges of the most politically powerful professional groups in the public sector misplaced’ given that ‘the government has been unwilling to take better care of the lowest-paid, who do not know how they will survive the winter.’

After the signing of the agreement, the government concluded separate agreements on significant pay increases with certain occupation groups (mainly doctors and judges). Separate deals triggered a backlash among many other unions. To calm them down, government offered an overall reform of the public sector wage system. Pivotal solutions are a new pay scale, the establishment of pay pillars, a review of remuneration systems and a re-examination of other necessary changes across the public sector. The proposal also includes a proposed pay gap increase of 1:7. The proposal is under negotiations.

Sources

• 25 October 2022: Agreement on measures in wages and other labour costs in the public sector for 2022 and 2023 (Dogovor o ukrepih na področju plač in drugih stroškov dela v javnem sektorju za leti 2022 in 2023 (www.pisrs.si)