The Government of the Republic of Slovenia As the Party on the Side of the Employer

In accordance with the provisions of the Salary System in the Public Sector Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia – Uradni list RS, Nos. 108/09 – official consolidated version, 107/09 – Constitutional Court Decision, 98/09-ZIUZGK, 13/10 and 59/10); hereinafter: ZSPJS)

the Government of the Republic of Slovenia as the party on the side of the employer

and

representative public-sector trade unions as the party on the side of public employees

hereby conclude the

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR

(KPJS)

I.GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

(Validity of the collective agreement)

a)Territorial validity:

In the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.

b)Subject matter:

Budget spending units referred to in points 1 and 2 of Article 2 of ZSPJS:

-public authorities and self-governing local communities (hereinafter: local communities),

-public agencies, public funds, public institutes and public utility institutes,

-other public law entities that are indirect users of the budget of the central government or local community.

This agreement shall not apply to public enterprises and commercial companies in which the state or the local community has a majority or controlling interest.

c)Personal validity:

Public employees.

d)Temporal validity:

This collective agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period.

II.OBLIGATION PART

Article 2

(Positive duty to implement)

The contracting parties shall strive, by all means at their disposal, for a correct implementation of this collective agreement and observance of its provisions.

Article 3

(Negative duty to implement)

The contracting parties shall refrain from any activity that may be in contradiction to the implementation of this collective agreement.

Article 4

(Amendments and modifications of the collective agreement)

Each contracting party may at any time propose amendments and modifications to the current collective agreement.

On the side of the public employees, amendments and modifications to the collective agreement may be proposed by at least four representative trade unions from at least four different areas of the public sector.

Amendments and modifications to the collective agreement shall become effective when they are agreed upon in writing between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the majority of the representative trade unions of the public sector representing at least four different public sector areas.

Article 5

(Proposal for amendments and modifications to the collective agreement)

The contracting party requesting amendments and modifications to the current collective agreement shall send to the other party a substantiated proposal by registered letter.

The other party shall take its position on the proposal within 60 days of receipt thereof.

In the event that the other party does not accept the proposed amendments and modifications or does not take its position on the proposal within 60 days, the proposing party may resort to mediation.

Article 6

(Initiative to sign a new agreement)

The procedure for signing a new collective agreement may be initiated by either party.

The other party shall respond to the written proposal for signing a new collective agreement within 60 days of receipt of such a proposal.

Article 7

(Negotiations)

Negotiations for a new collective agreement or amendments and modifications to the current collective agreement shall commence when a contracting party submits to the other party a proposal for a new collective agreement or amendments and modifications to the current collective agreement.

Article 8

(Settlement of differences and disputes)

Any differences and disputes between the parties to the collective agreement that could not be settled by mutual negotiations between the parties shall be settled by mediation or arbitration pursuant to the provisions of this collective agreement.

Article 9

(Mediation procedure)

A mediation procedure shall be introduced on the proposal of either party.

The proposal for mediation shall specify an independent professional – a mediator.The other party shall respond to the proposal.If the other party fails to respond to the proposal within 45 days of receipt of the proposal or does not agree with the choice of professional, the procedure shall be deemed unsuccessful.

The procedure shall also be deemed unsuccessful if the parties fail to reconcile their positions on the subject matter of mediation within 60 days of the commencement of the procedure.

The mediation procedure shall be closed by a written agreement to be published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije.

Article 10

(Arbitration proceedings)

In the event that no mediation procedure has been introduced or a procedure has proved unsuccessful, the issue that is to be regulated by the collective agreement shall be decided by arbitration.Arbitration proceedings may be initiated by either party.

Either party to the collective agreement may also initiate arbitration proceedings in the event of violation of the rights of employees or parties to the collective agreement.In such a case, dispute settlement by arbitration shall not be obligatory.

A party to the collective agreement may introduce arbitration proceedings for issues for which settlement by collective agreement is not obligatory under the regulations and thereby settle an issue for which resolution by collective agreement or arbitration award is of mutual interest to the parties solely with the consent of the other party to the collective agreement.

For the purpose of deciding on individual issues, each party shall appoint a member and a deputy member of the arbitration committee, while the chairman and the deputy chairman of the committee shall be determined by mutual agreement.

Should no arbitrator be appointed within 45 days or should no arbitral award be issued within 90 days of the commencement of arbitration proceedings, each party may initiate a collective dispute in the competent court.

The provisions of the Labour and Social Courts Act relating to collective labour disputes shall be applied, mutatis mutandis, to arbitration proceedings.

The arbitration award shall be published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije.

Article 11

(Committee for the interpretation of the collective agreement)

The contracting parties shall appoint by mutual agreement a seven-member committee for the interpretation of the collective agreement, and appoint the chairman of the committee by mutual consent.The committee shall be constituted within at least 60 days of the entry into force of the collective agreement.

The committee shall adopt interpretations of the collective agreement that shall represent a compulsory method of application of its provisions by both parties and a compulsory basis for decisions on disputes and rights arising from this collective agreement.

The committee’s interpretations shall be published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije.

The committee’s interpretations shall mean a compulsory method of application of the provisions, including those in sectoral and professional service collective agreements, with regards to interpretation of the provisions of sectoral and professional service collective agreements that are identical to the provisions of this collective agreement.

The costs of services provided by the committee shall be borne by the ministry responsible for the salary system in the public sector.

Prior to the constitution of the committee for the interpretation of the collective agreement, its tasks shall be performed by the committee to negotiate a collective agreement for a common methodology and a collective agreement for the public sector.

Article 12

(Cessation of the collective agreement)

The collective agreement shall cease to be valid by mutual agreement of both parties or when terminated by either party.

The agreement shall be considered to have ceased to apply based on the agreement of both parties if it is signed by the majority of representative trade unions on the trade union side, representing at least four different public-sector areas.

The agreement on termination of the collective agreement shall be published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije.

Article 13

(Termination of the collective agreement)

The collective agreement may be terminated by either party by sending notice of termination to the other party by registered mail, giving at least six months' notice.

On the side of public employees, the collective agreement can only be terminated jointly by all the signatories.

On the termination of the collective agreement, each party may propose the conclusion of a new collective agreement.

The termination of the collective agreement shall be published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije.

III.THE TARIFF PART

1. BASIC SALARY

Article 14

(Definition of basic salary)

A public employee’s basic salary shall be determined by a wage grade pay scale.

Article 15

(Lowest wage grade for individual wage rate brackets)

The lowest wage grades for individual wage rate brackets are the following:

1.1. Benchmark posts

Article 16

(Determination of wage grade for benchmark posts)

In accordance with this Agreement, benchmark posts for wage groups C to J shall be determined as follows:

Wage group C:

Wage group D:

Wage group E:

Wage group F:

Wage group G:

Wage group H:

Wage group I:

Wage group J:

Article 17

(Annex 1)

Information on transfer of nominal amounts of basic salaries for benchmark posts and their classification into the nearest wage grade in accordance with ZSPJS is in Annex 1 to this collective agreement.

Article 18

(Catalogue of duties, positions and titles)

Benchmark posts from wage groups C to J referred to in Article 16 of this collective agreement are an integral part of the Catalogue of Duties, Positions and Titles in the Public Sector.

Article 19

(General adjustment of basic salaries for 2011 and 2012)

The general basic salary adjustment scheduled for July 2011 shall not be carried out.If the actual rise in consumer prices in the Republic of Slovenia in the period December 2010–December 2011 exceeds 2%, a basic salary adjustment for the amount of difference above the 2% shall be made in January 2012.

The general basic salary adjustment for 2012 shall be defined within the time limit specified in Article 5 of ZSPJS.

2. REGULAR PERFORMANCE-RELATED BONUS

Article 20

(Amount of funds earmarked for payment of regular performance-related bonus)

The total amount of funds earmarked for payment of the regular performance-related bonus to public employees in 2008 shall be 2% of the annual amount of funds for basic salaries.

The total amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus shall be determined for each subsequent year by an annex to the collective agreement for the public sector by no later than 1 September.Should the total amount of funds not be determined within this time limit, the percentage of basic salary funds for the current year shall remain the same as in the previous year.

The percentage of the annual amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus to public employees of individual budget spending units shall be the same as agreed pursuant to the preceding paragraph of this article.

This total amount of funds does not include the amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus to school principals, directors and secretaries whose salary is determined by government decree.

The annual amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus by a budget spending unit shall be paid in full notwithstanding that budget spending unit’s operating result.

Article 21

(Basis for determining amount of funds and for payment of performance-related bonus)

The amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus under the preceding article shall be determined for individual budget spending units on the basis of the amount of basic salaries of public employees determined by their employment contracts.In this respect, account shall be taken of the level of basic salaries for individual months.On this basis, budget spending units shall determine the amount of funds for individual performance-rating periods.If funds are distributed on the level of organisational units, the amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus shall be determined in the same way for each organisational unit.

The basis for determining the maximum annual amount of funds for payment of the regular performance-related bonus to public employees in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 22 of ZSPJS shall be the basic salary to which they were entitled for the month of December for the previous year under their contract of employment.If a public employee takes up employment in the public sector in the current year, a proportion of the amount from the preceding paragraph shall be determined on the basis of the basic salary to which the public employee would be entitled for the month of December of the previous year.

The basis for calculating the regular performance-related bonus for individual public employees shall be the basic salary paid to them for regular work during the performance-rating period.

Article 22

(Distribution of funds earmarked for payment of regular performance-related bonus)

Funds earmarked for payment of the regular performance-related bonus shall be distributed on the level of budget spending units or organisational units.

Article 23

(Procedure)

The procedure for assessing compliance with the criteria for determining the proportion of salary for regular performance-related bonus shall be carried out on a monthly, quarterly and semi-annual basis for all public employees.

The procedure from the preceding paragraph shall be carried out prior to each payment of the proportion of salary determined as a performance bonus and by using the forms in Annex 2 to this collective agreement.

On payment of the salary for January, each public employee shall receive a notice of the number of performance ratings carried out in the previous year and the number of rating points achieved in individual performance-rating periods.The annual notice of rating of public employees who achieved above-average performance results shall also be filed in the employees’ personal files.

Article 24

(Criteria for determining proportion of salary as a basis for calculating performance-related bonus)

A proportion of salary to be paid to a public employee as performance-related bonus shall be determined on the basis of the following criteria:

• knowledge and professional competence,
• quality and accuracy,
• attitude to work and means of work,
• volume and efficiency of work,
• innovation.

Article 25

(Methods for evaluating criteria and calculating proportion of salary as basis for payment of performance-related bonus

Each individual criterion for assessing work-related performance from the preceding article of this collective agreement shall be valued with one point, which means an above-average work performance under individual criteria.

The total number of points achieved by a public employee shall be a basis for determining the proportion of salary representing the amount of the regular performance-related bonus.In addition to the total number of points achieved by a public employee, the amount of funds specified in the first paragraph of Article 28 of this collective agreement shall also be taken into consideration in determining the proportion of salary representing the amount of the regular performance-related bonus paid to the public employee.Instructions for calculating the regular performance-related bonus to be paid to a public employee are provided in Annex 2 to this collective agreement.