Social security

Social insurance in Slovenia is a legal obligation – this means each person is obliged to have insurance.¹ It is primarily financed by employers’ and employees’ contributions. Social security contributions in Slovenia are paid as taxes by the employer and also by employees via their monthly salary. These contributions are:

• contribution for compulsory health insurance
• parental care contribution
• employment contribution
• contribution for pension and disability insurance

For employees, it is the employers’ obligation to register the employee for social insurance. As a self-employed worker, the person has to register him/herself.

In the following, you will find an overview about the most relevant social insurance services:

Child benefits can be claimed in the following situation:
One of the parents or the guardian of the child is entitled to child benefit. The child must be below 18 years of age and have (permanent or temporary) residence in Slovenia. Income for the family member may not exceed EUR 1,019.86 (January 2018).

Child benefit is not valid for a child who:

• is in employment or carries out farming or sole trader activities or is a company partner;
• receives full care as a result of treatment, education, school or training in an institution where full-time free care lasts for more than 30 days;
• is in foster care;
• has the right to child benefit on the basis of an international agreement;
• does not live with both parents and only one of the parents is entitled to parental rights, if maintenance is not agreed by the Centre for Social Work or defined by a court ruling except in cases where paternity is not registered.²

Family allowances are intended for parents or guardians as lump sum or monthly allowances for child birth and child care. Family allowances include:

• parental allowance: a monthly allowance for parents who are not entitled to childbirth allowance;
• childbirth allowance: a lump sum for the purchase of clothing and other necessities, received by one of the parents;
• large family allowance: an annual payment for families with three or more children;
• child care allowance: a monthly payment for a child requiring special care;
• partial payment for loss of earnings: a monthly payment for parents or guardians/foster parents caring for a child with a serious mental developmental disorder or serious physical impairment.

These social insurance services concern the following allowances:

• maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave and parental right to reduced working hours resulting from parenthood;
• the right to the payment of social security contributions as a result of parenthood in the instance of four or more children and the right to benefits during nursing.

In Slovenia, the statutory pension insurance scheme comprises the following:

• Old age pensions: Every person reaching a certain age (currently set at 60 years for women and 65 years for men) and having worked for the required period (while paying pension contributions) is entitled to an old age pension;
• widows pensions’ and survivors’ pensions – benefits for family members upon death of the insured person;
• benefits on grounds of reduced capacity for work (invalidity pensions);
• early retirement pensions;
• partial pensions – persons entitled to a pension also have the right to a partial pension if they choose to remain employed at least half-time.

For all of pensions, one has to fulfil certain conditions/requirements. The amount of pension benefits depends on the contributory income, the number of insurance months accrued and the age of the retired person.

Pensions are managed by ZPIZ (Zavod za pokojninsko in invalidsko zavarovanje) – Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of the Republic of Slovenia.³