I propose the following to the Government of the Republic of Slovenia:
Abolish the Compulsory Supplementary Pension Insurance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia (beneficiaries of the added period) and transfer its assets to the SPIZ. The beneficiaries shall be credited with the pension period at the SPIZ in the amount of the accepted liabilities of the abolished fund (up to 31.12.2012).
From 31.12.2012 onwards, instead of the added period, the benificated period of service is again calculated, which is equivalent to the actual period of service (police officers, customs officers, miners....). Instead of 3 months of added seniority, 2 months of bonus seniority are calculated for each completed year of service./ For miners, the amount of the new bonus seniority is still under consideration./ Bonus seniority is paid to the SPIZ.
The past service allowance shall be abolished. This makes the older worker competitive with the younger worker and does not represent a major cost for employers. The permanency allowance remains at its current level and represents loyalty to the employer. Past service is already included in promotions, i.e. for civil servants in the salary grades achieved. Otherwise, there are huge differences in salaries between young and older workers for roughly the same work.
The shift work allowance (i.e. working hours from 06:00 in the morning to 22:00 in the evening) is abolished. The night work allowance (22:00 to 06:00) is 10 % of the basic salary of the employee achieved through promotions in the salary grades. The holiday and Sunday day allowance shall be 30%. For night work on public holidays and Sundays, an additional allowance of 10% for night work shall be added.
Overtime, up to a maximum of 20 hours per month, shall be charged at the normal rate applicable to ordinary hours. The night and holiday/Sunday allowances for these hours (if worked during these periods) shall be calculated on the basic salary with the salary grade attained and added under the heading allowances. Overtime in excess of 20 hours worked shall be used in subsequent months and cannot be paid.
This needs to be harmonised because there is a huge disparity between young and older workers and between shift workers and those who work only day shifts. This is particularly acute in the army, the police, customs... (E.g. a young judicial police officer, who carries out the most demanding escorts to court on a daily basis, is actually paid far less than his colleague who works in a prison on a shift basis. This is not, of course, a devaluation of holiday/Sunday and night work, but an attempt at some kind of optimisation and fair distribution of the salary cake.)
As regards transport to work, the worker is assessed the nearest commuting distance, i.e. the distance in kilometres from the place of residence to the place of employment. He shall be charged a mileage allowance for this distance, which shall be the retail price of 6 litres of unleaded 95 octane petrol per 100 km. This is the actual consumption of a low-end passenger car. I think that the petrol paid is more than enough in these times of crisis. Of course, if the employees so wish, reassignments should also be made closer to home. (It is absurd for a policeman/soldier to commute from Maribor to Postojna. Let those who wish to do so - young families - also be provided with official housing.) Only in this way will we resolve the constant disputes over the level of transport costs.
As for lunch, let each worker decide for himself whether he will take a half-hour break for lunch or whether he will receive a cash allowance (reimbursement) for lunch and will make up the time for lunch (if he does have lunch, of course) from his monthly hours worked pool. Everyone has the right to choose whichever (one option) is more favourable to them. (Workers in direct production should retain the right to a snack break as well as a paid snack, because of the working conditions themselves!)
I know that my proposals will meet with disapproval, but this is the only way to save existing jobs and prevent redundancies from the public sector. We need to know that the government is finding that 15% of workers are too many. And yet! All those who meet the conditions for retirement will have their employment terminated when the first regular conditions are met. Those who have already been granted extension decisions by the government for the purpose of work continuity will be terminated immediately on expiry of the extension (no new extensions!). Existing extensions are reviewed, and if they were granted unjustifiably (acquaintances, pressure, etc.), both the beneficiary and the manager who granted (signed) the extension are dismissed.