It often happens that an employee who is no longer able to do the work required by his/her job cannot be retrained, but is still not made redundant. Possible reasons are: connections and acquaintances, lengthy procedures (full of room for manoeuvre for lawsuits) and a bunch of bureaucracy, allegedly even inadequate legislation to allow such a person to be dismissed in the first place. Examples are the SNG Opera and Ballet LJ, the SNG Opera and Ballet MB, the RTV and RTV orchestras, the Slovenian Armed Forces, etc.
The existing legislation does not seem to provide for such cases or exceptions, and I therefore propose either appropriate amendments to the law or the introduction of a contract for a longer period of time, but for a fixed term. Thus, it would be possible to conclude contracts for, for example, 5, 10, 15 or 20 years, and not just for a maximum of 2 years. This could solve the problem of employing profiles that are physically unable to do a certain job until retirement, such as dancers, singers, musicians, firefighters, soldiers and police officers.
Existing legislation - 89. (1) The grounds for regular termination of an employee's employment contract by the employer are: failure to achieve the expected work results due to the employee's failure to perform the work in a timely, professional and quality manner, failure to meet the conditions for the performance of the work laid down by laws and other regulations issued on the basis of the law, as a result of which the employee does not or is unable to fulfil the contractual or other obligations arising from the employment relationship (hereinafter referred to as: a reason for incapacity), - a breach of a contractual obligation or other obligation arising out of the employment relationship (hereinafter referred to as a 'culpable reason'), - an inability to perform work under the terms of the employment contract on grounds of disability in accordance with the rules governing pension and invalidity insurance or the rules governing vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons, - unsuccessful completion of a probationary period.  (2) An employer may terminate an employee's employment contract only if there is a valid reason as referred to in the preceding paragraph which makes it impossible to continue working under the terms of the employment contract. (3) In the case of termination of an employment contract on grounds of incapacity, the employer shall give notice of termination not later than six months after the valid reason has arisen. In the case of culpable cause, the employer must give notice of termination not later than 60 days after the establishment of the justifiable cause and not later than six months after the occurrence of the justifiable cause. If the wrongful reason on the part of the worker has all the elements of a criminal offence, the employer may terminate the employment contract within 60 days of the employer's having established reasonable grounds for ordinary dismissal and, in the case of the perpetrator, for as long as prosecution is possible. (4) In the case of dismissal for wrongful reason on the part of the worker, which has all the elements of a criminal offence, the employer may, during the pendency of the proceedings, prohibit the worker from performing work. During the period of the prohibition to work, the worker shall be entitled to a salary allowance equal to half of his average salary during the last three months preceding the initiation of the dismissal proceedings.
It would be necessary to clarify what type of reason (in the light of Article 89 quoted above) is physical incapacity to perform the occupation due to age and other physical changes. To give an example. Can the SNG Opera and Ballet dismiss a ballet dancer or singer who is no longer able to dance or sing and thus perform in performances? Apparently not, because they would not be able to recruit someone else to fill the post. That is the management's answer.
2. A corresponding change in the law is needed to allow the employer to dismiss the worker in the above cases on the grounds that he is physically incapable of continuing in the occupation, while also allowing another worker to be immediately recruited to the post.
3. I propose that the legislation be amended to provide for the possibility of concluding contracts for a longer period (fixed term), i.e. more than two years, depending on the capabilities of the worker and the needs of the employer.
If you have further ideas for improving the proposal, please let me know.