Area: Delovno pravno
Competent authority: MDDSZ
EZU URL: .nan
Initiative ID: 240
Initiative accepted and completed: '2013-11-21'
Initiative classified in EZU: .nan
Initiative forwarded in response: '2013-11-08'
Initiative published: '2013-11-08'
Initiative submitted: '2013-11-06'
Response from the competent authority: 'Reply from the Ministry of Labour, Family,
  Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities: We would like to clarify at the outset that
  the length and the large number of articles (Article 430) of the Law do not in themselves
  constitute unconstitutionality. A law is unconstitutional if, in its legal substance,
  it regulates certain situations contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of
  the Republic of Slovenia. With regard to the requirement of Article 406 of the ZPIZ-2
  to reconcile the insured, we would like to clarify that pension and invalidity insurance
  is insurance against the occurrence of a certain risk. Among the risks, the legislation
  in question includes, inter alia, the age at which it is presumed that the individual
  is no longer able to provide his own income through work, which, if the other conditions
  laid down in the law are also met, may entitle him to an old-age pension to replace
  the income he received during his active life. The Law on Pension and Disability
  Insurance (Official Gazette of the RS No 96/12, hereinafter referred to as ZPIZ-2)
  thus provides that pension and disability insurance rights are conditional on the
  insured person''s status, and in this sense the pension is a continuation of the
  salary or other income from work which the insured person received until his or
  her retirement. The legislator''s intention in regulating the subject is to ensure
  that all persons who, in the context of an employment relationship, carry out work
  or engage in an activity as an independent person are guaranteed a secure old age
  when they decide to leave the labour market or, if they are injured at work, are
  provided with adequate financial compensation under the insurance scheme to compensate
  for the loss of personal income resulting from a reduced capacity to work or, in
  the event of the death of the breadwinner, to ensure that their family members,
  who have no resources of their own, are provided with adequate entitlements under
  the PIP scheme. Retirement is not compulsory and it is up to each individual to
  decide whether to retire or to continue working or pursuing an activity, as under
  pension legislation the status of insured person is not normally compatible with
  that of pensioner or beneficiary, except in certain cases provided for by law. This
  means that someone cannot be a pensioner, receive a pension and still be employed
  or have a sole proprietorship or a management function in a company. A person wishing
  to retire must therefore have previously lost his/her insured status (termination
  of employment, cessation of self-employment, etc.), otherwise he/she would be regarded
  as a person fit for work for the purposes of pension legislation, for whom the insured
  event (old age) has not occurred. According to the provision of Article 406(4) of
  the Social Insurance Act (ZPIZ-2), a pension recipient who, at the time of the entry
  into force of this Act, was engaged in a job or activity which would have made him/her
  re-acquire the character of an insured person as referred to in Article 14 (workers
  in an employment relationship), Article 15 (self-employed persons) and Article 16
  of this Act (partners), must therefore, no later than one year from the date of
  entry into force of this Act (31 December 2013), bring his/her status into line
  with the provisions of Article 116 of the Social Insurance Act (ZPIZ-2), which regulates
  the re-entry into the insurance. The insured person will acquire the status of insured
  person again as of the date of application for insurance and his/her right to pension
  will cease. Pursuant to Article 406(5) of the ZPIZ-2, a pension recipient who fails
  to adjust his/her status within one year will cease to receive a pension from the
  first day of the month following the expiry of the time limit, and the Pension and
  Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia will, on the basis of the data of the
  Health Insurance Institute and the Business Register, ex officio establish the insured
  person''s insured status as of 1 January 2014 for persons who fail to join the insurance
  within the one-year time limit mentioned above. Accordingly, under the provisions
  of the new ZPIZ-2, it is not permissible to have the status of insured person and
  pensioner at the same time, unless the insured person works or carries out an activity
  on a pro rata part of full-time work or insurance time. Therefore, if a pension
  recipient wishes to keep his/her s.p. and still partially leave the labour market,
  he/she may exercise the right to a partial pension. A partial pension, which is
  provided for in Article 40 of the Social Insurance Act (ZPIZ-2), is possible despite
  the retention of the status of a sole proprietor. An insured person who has fulfilled
  the conditions for an early retirement pension or an old-age pension and who remains
  insured to an extent corresponding to a proportionate part of full-time working
  time or insurance time, but not less than 4 hours per day or 20 hours per week,
  may take a partial retirement pension entitlement. In this case, the insured person
  shall be paid the pro rata part of the pension determined in the amount referred
  to in Article 116(3) of the Social Insurance Act (ZPIZ-2), but throughout the period
  of employment, the insured person may, at his/her own discretion, choose and vary
  the extent of his/her employment or activity (but not less than 4 hours per day
  or 20 hours per week for the insured persons referred to in Article 14 and not less
  than half of the full-time insured time for the insured persons referred to in Articles
  15 to 17), and, as a consequence, request a change of the extent of the pro rata
  part of the pension. The inadmissibility of receiving a pension and income from
  self-employment at the same time, except in the case of a partial pension, was already
  applicable under the previous pension legislation to employees in an employment
  relationship, and was introduced with the latest reform for self-employed persons,
  who under the previous legislation could be exempted from compulsory insurance in
  certain cases (Article 18 of ZPIZ-1). Under the new ZPIZ-2, those who, under Article
  18 of the old law (ZPIZ-1), did not have to be compulsorily insured if they fulfilled
  certain conditions, will also have to join compulsory insurance for at least 4 hours
  and pay the same contributions as other insured persons. The legislation here follows
  the principle that all forms of work should be equally valued and that everyone
  who performs or receives income from work should be insured and pay contributions.
  From the point of view of the onset of the risk of old age, there is no reason why
  work under an employment contract or self-employed work should be regulated differently.
  However, we would like to clarify that pensioners are not completely prevented from
  working, as they can conclude civil law contracts or author''s contracts. If the
  elements of an employment relationship are not present, which is primarily a matter
  for the employer and is monitored by the Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of
  Slovenia, pensioners may, after retirement, conclude civil contracts under the Code
  of Obligations (Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia No 97/07-official consolidated
  text), such as subcontracts or contracts under copyright law in cases where the
  work is an author''s work. The ZPIZ-2 does not restrict a pensioner from earning
  income in addition to his pension on the basis of civil law contracts or copyright
  contracts. At the same time, we would also like to clarify that, following the amendment
  to the Labour Market Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 21/2013),
  pensioners are allowed to perform temporary or occasional work, which may also contain
  elements of an employment relationship. Finally, we would like to add that activities
  are currently underway at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and Social Security
  to extend the one-year time limit laid down in Article 406 of the Social Insurance
  Act (ZPIZ-2).'
Text file: 240.txt
Title: Initiative to amend the Social Security Act 2
URL: https://www.stopbirokraciji.gov.si/pobuda/?st=240
