The new collective agreement for the hospitality and tourism sector introduces various changes affecting employers and employees. These include increases in minimum base wages by tariff classes, higher minimum holiday allowances, and meal allowances. It also establishes the right to disconnect, shortens the “validity” of warnings before termination, and imposes stricter limits on assigning different work and overtime, etc.
The Collective Agreement for the Hospitality and Tourism Sector of Slovenia (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 112/24) came into effect on January 1, 2025. As one of the first agreements at the sectoral level, it establishes the right to disconnect. It highlights the importance of timely planning for substituting absent employees, using email auto-replies to notify about absences, and fostering a workplace culture that respects employees’ private lives. The collective agreement outlines the minimum measures employers must implement to ensure the right to disconnect. Employers may, of course, introduce additional measures tailored to the specific needs of their respective work processes.
A key change introduced by the new collective agreement is the shortening of the “validity” period for warnings issued prior to regular termination for culpable reasons. This refers to the period during which an employer may terminate an employee’s employment contract for culpable reasons if the employee commits a serious breach of their employment obligations within that timeframe. This period has been reduced from 18 months to 12 months, which is still longer than the 6-month period stipulated by the Employment Relationships Act (ZDR-1). This change does not apply to regular termination warnings issued up to and including December 31, 2024. They remain subject to the employer’s right to give the employee regular notice of termination for culpable reasons if the employee commits repeated breaches of their contractual and other obligations under the employment relationship within 18 months of receiving the written warning.
Changes are also being introduced regarding allowances for overtime hours worked during the reference period in the system of unevenly distributed and temporarily redistributed working time. The previous arrangement encouraged employers to allow employees to take time off for overtime or pay them for it within 6 months of when the overtime was worked (in any case, before the end of the reference period). After 6 months, the allowance for the payment of overtime hours increased from 30% to 45% of the basic hourly rate, and after the end of the reference period, it even rose to 50%. Under the new arrangement, employers can now pay out these overtime hours within the reference period (regardless of when they were worked) with a 30% allowance and, after the reference period ends, the allowance increases to 50%. The use of overtime hours within the reference period is still permitted.
The new collective agreement also raises the minimum basic wages by tariff classes and holiday and meal allowances. The stipend for secondary school pupils and university students on internships is also changing. Severance pay upon retirement has also been increased for all employees with at least 5 years of service with their last employer, rising from one to two months of gross salary (either the employee’s salary or the average salary in Slovenia).
The new collective agreement for the hospitality and tourism sector also introduces numerous other smaller changes that will affect employment relationships in the industry. A more detailed overview of these changes is available here on this link.
