Text file: 8483.txt
author: Anti NWO
downvotes: 10
end consideration date: 2017-08-21
id: '8483'
number comments: 36
number views: 5300
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities\n\
  Working time is one of the fundamental institutes of labour law, important both\
  \ from the point of view of the interests of employers and from the point of view\
  \ of the interests of employees. From the point of view of employers' interests,\
  \ working time and its allocation are considered to be an economic category, since\
  \ the legal frameworks governing this institute, or the flexibility allowed, determine\
  \ the possibility of organising the working process in accordance with business\
  \ requirements, the capabilities of technology or the requirements of service provision.\
  \ From the employees' point of view, the safety aspect of the regulation of this\
  \ institution is of particular importance, since the regulatory frameworks for limiting\
  \ the length of working time, the provision of breaks and rest periods and the flexibility\
  \ allowed in the scheduling of working time protect employees' health and psycho-physical\
  \ capacities.\nBoth the length of working time and its distribution or forms of\
  \ working time are important elements in the regulation of working time. In defining\
  \ the length of working time and, even more so, in regulating the organisation of\
  \ working time, the legislator is torn between the increasingly accentuated demand\
  \ from employers for more flexible organisation of working time on the one hand,\
  \ and the requirement to protect the employment status of workers and the need to\
  \ reconcile their professional and family life on the other.\nBecause of its great\
  \ importance, working time is regulated by the International Labour Organisation\
  \ (ILO), the Council of Europe and the European Community (EC). Slovenian labour\
  \ legislation takes into account ILO Conventions on daily, weekly and annual working\
  \ time, on the distribution of working time, on short-time working and night work,\
  \ on daily and weekly rest periods and on the protection of special categories of\
  \ workers.  The Directive sets out the minimum health and safety requirements to\
  \ be taken into account in the organisation of working time. It requires Member\
  \ States to take measures to meet minimum safety and health requirements in the\
  \ organisation of working time in relation to the duration of daily rest periods,\
  \ breaks, weekly rest periods, maximum working time, annual leave and aspects of\
  \ night work, shift work and patterns of work.\nThe Labour Relations Act (Official\
  \ Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No 21/13, 78/13 - corrected, 47/15 - ZZSDT,\
  \ 33/16 - PZ-F, 52/16 and 15/17 US Decree No 15/16, hereinafter referred to as ZDR-1),\
  \ in Article 143, defines and limits working time. It provides for the possibility,\
  \ within the general legal framework of between 36 and 40 hours per week, to determine\
  \ full-time working time in a particular activity or with a particular employer\
  \ by a specific law or by a collective agreement. This also sets a lower limit for\
  \ the working time to be considered as full-time work, which constitutes the benchmark\
  \ for determining the rights and obligations of the worker. This means that the\
  \ social partners may determine the length of full-time working time (within a time\
  \ frame set by law) at the level of the sector or the employer. The ZDR-1 also allows\
  \ that full-time working time, which may be less than 36 hours per week, may be\
  \ determined by law or other regulation in accordance with the law or a collective\
  \ agreement for jobs where there is a greater risk of injury or health damage.\n\
  The full-time working time regime resulting from that Article is in line with the\
  \ Directive and the MESL. The Directive stipulates that full-time working time must\
  \ be limited by law, regulation or collective agreement and that the average working\
  \ time in any seven-day period, including overtime, must not exceed 48 hours. However,\
  \ the provision that full-time working time may be fixed by law or collective agreement\
  \ at less than 40 hours per week, but not less than 36 hours per week, takes account\
  \ of the MESL, which obliges Member States to set reasonable daily and weekly working\
  \ time, with the working week to be progressively reduced to the level permitted\
  \ by productivity gains and other relevant factors. The legal possibility to reduce\
  \ working time below 36 hours per week in particularly hazardous workplaces is also\
  \ a concretisation of the obligation under the MESL - if the risks inherent in unhealthy\
  \ or hazardous occupations cannot be eliminated or sufficiently reduced, the working\
  \ time of workers engaged in such occupations must be reduced (or additional paid\
  \ leave provided).\nIt can be concluded that the proposal for a gradual transition\
  \ to a 30-hour week as full-time would require more extensive legislative changes.\
  \ It should be borne in mind that the establishment of a full-time working time\
  \ of 30 hours per week for workers constitutes a benchmark for the vesting of 100%\
  \ of the benefits accruing to full-time workers (minimum wage, compulsory insurance\
  \ rights, etc.), which would have the effect of increasing labour costs. However,\
  \ a change in the regime, if there is an interest in doing so and if this is confirmed\
  \ by a broad discussion with the social partners, should also be based on the results\
  \ of an examination of the effects on productivity, GDP, tax and social security\
  \ systems.\n "
response date: 2017-10-10
response due date: null
sent date: 2017-07-31
title: Phasing in the 30-hour working day over 10 years
upvotes: 34
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/8483
