To limit the economic consequences of the coronavirus epidemic The Slovenian Parliament has adopted the Intervention Act on Measures in the Field of Salaries and Contributions (‘Intervention Act’) which provides for the possibility of (partial) reimbursement of salary payments to employers.
Reimbursement of salary compensation will be available:
- To employers who cannot provide work to more than 30% of their employees and send them home to wait for work. In this case, the state will reimburse 40% of the salary costs to the employer, while the employer bears 60% of the cost. The maximum amount of reimbursement is limited to the maximum amount of compensation for unemployment (currently EUR 892.50 gross).
- If a healthy employee is ordered to stay in quarantine and cannot work from home. In this case the state will reimburse to the entire cost of the employee’s salary compensation, i.e. 80% of the employee’s average salary in the last three months.
The reimbursement of salary set out in the Intervention Act is not general: it will only be available to employers who fulfil the conditions set forth in the law. These include that the employer must:
- Submit a description of its business situation due to the COVID-19 virus (key information that must be included in this description is set out in the law).
- Prove that based on the business situation described, the employer cannot temporarily provide work to at least 30% of its employees at once and has therefore ordered employees to wait for work at home.
- Submit a written statement committing to preserve the jobs of employees waiting for work at home for at least six months after the start of the waiting for work at home period.
- For requests for reimbursement of salary payments for quarantined employees, employers must submit a decision on quarantine issued by the Ministry of Health and their statement that it was not possible to organise work from home for the relevant employee.
It is important that employers who fulfil the conditions set out above and wish to benefit from the measures available under the Intervention Act act swiftly as the law has established short deadlines to submit reimbursement requests, namely:
- A reimbursement request should be filed by employers within eight days after sending employees home to wait for work, or after a quarantine is ordered, but not later than by 30 September 2020.
- If the employer sent its employees to wait for work at home or if an employee was ordered into quarantine before the Intervention Act entered into force, the deadline for filing the reimbursement request is eight days after the Intervention Act entered into force.
Employers whose reimbursement requests are approved by the Slovenian Employment Service will enter into an agreement on partial reimbursement of salary compensation paid with the Employment Service, which will define the mutual relationship, obligations and responsibilities of the parties.
The Intervention Act also provides for the possibility of deferred payment of social contributions for self-employed individuals due in April, May and June 2020. Beneficiaries will be able to pay these contributions (in full or in installments) by 31 March 2022 at the latest.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.