Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Slovenia (Ratification: 1992)

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination on the ground of national extraction. The Committee notes with satisfaction that, in December 2018, an amendment was adopted to the Act Regulating Compensation for Damage Sustained from Removal from the Register of Permanent Residents. This amendment removes the cap on compensation amounts in court proceedings, allowing for payment of the full principal amount of compensation. The Government confirms, in its report, that affected individuals are entitled to full compensation for pecuniary damages and fair compensation for non-pecuniary damages. These individuals may: (1) submit a compensation claim (€50 per month of “erasure”) in administrative proceedings, with the option to appeal the decision to the Ministry of Interior; (2) pursue a compensation claim through court if the damages exceed the awarded or awardable amount in administrative proceedings; and (3) seek other forms of redress, such as contributions for compulsory health insurance, priority access to social assistance programmes, eligibility for state scholarships, and preferential access to integration programmes for foreigners. The Government further explains that specific exceptions may apply to the maximum filing periods for administrative and judicial claims, especially if the applicant’s process for obtaining a permanent residence permit or citizenship remains unresolved. The Committee requests the Government to provide data on the number of claims received, the claims deemed admissible, and the average compensation amounts granted.

Article 2. Equality of opportunity and treatment. Roma. The Committee notes that, according to 2023 data provided by the Government, more than half of registered unemployed Roma did not have a primary school-level education (55 per cent). Thus, it welcomes the very detailed information provided by the Government with respect to measures adopted to promote access of Roma children to preschool education by: (1) strengthening Roma children’s language competence in Romani and Slovenian, as well as their knowledge about Roma cultural heritage; (2) promoting innovative and flexible teaching practices in multifunctional Roma centres; (3) raising the competences of professional staff working with Roma pupils; (4) employing Roma assistants in kindergartens and as additional school teachers and counsellors; or (5) inspecting cases of absenteeism at school. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that the National Programme of Measures for the Roma for 2021–2030 has been adopted, which includes measures regarding education, employment, social protection and social integration. The Government reports annually to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on the situation of the Roma community in Slovenia and the implementation of this National Programme. The Government adds that: (1) the Roma are considered a priority target group of labour market measures and active employment policy programmes, particularly in community work programmes; (2) the National Platform for Roma Project monitors the implementation of measures for Roma inclusion; (3) before the entry into force of the Personal Data Protection Act on 26 January 2023, the Advocate of the Principle of Equality made systemic efforts to eliminate concerns about the lawfulness of obtaining statistics on ethnicity, as the collection of such personal data was not supported by members of the Roma community. The Advocate invited the Ministry of Justice to clarify that the exception allowing for the collection of personal data on national/ethnic origin is permissible in the context of the protection of minorities, i.e. the implementation of special measures and action in the field of identifying and eliminating discrimination, and it also offered support in formulating the normative part of the text, based on the European Data Protection Board Guidelines on consent; (4) the Advocate also undertakes awareness-raising initiatives, such as developing a booklet in Slovenian and Romani on the situation of members of the Roma community in terms of employment, work, and education, and a manual on protection against discrimination and equal opportunities in employment and work; etc. The Committee asks the Government: (i) to indicate how the recent possibility to collect data on ethnicity is being used to inform and evaluate public policies, as well as to sensitize the general public about thepersistent discrimination of the Roma community; and (ii) to continue to provide detailed information on the results of the various initiatives taken to promote non-discrimination in education and employment of Roma women and men.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.