Slovenia’s dynamic political environment is keeping the legal market on its toes, with pressing developments in taxation, employment law, cybersecurity, capital markets, and infrastructure all demanding close attention, according to Peterka Partners Senior Associate and Head of Slovenian office Pia Florjancic Pozeg Vancas.
"There’s certainly no shortage of activity in Slovenia," Florjancic Pozeg Vancasbegins. "Politics has been quite dynamic lately, and that is naturally echoed in the legal sphere. I’d highlight a few hot issues that lawyers and businesses are currently dealing with, starting with what is perhaps the most pressing, the high taxation of salaries."
"According to the OECD, Slovenia had the second-highest growth in Europe for tax burdens on salaries, surpassed only by Italy," Florjancic Pozeg Vancas reports. "The situation has worsened following the replacement of supplementary health insurance with a new mandatory health contribution." She adds that this is not the end of it, "as of June 2025, a new contribution of 1% of gross salary will be introduced, which will apply not only to employers of traditional employees separately, but also to pensioners and the self-employed." According to Florjancic Pozeg Vancas, this trend is already undermining Slovenia’s competitiveness. "We’re seeing foreign investors act more cautiously, while domestic investors are increasingly looking abroad. This is especially unfortunate given Slovenia’s geographic position and potential to serve as a regional hub for investment."
Taking aim at legal issues in the area of employment practices, Florjancic Pozeg Vancas says that "salary practices and remuneration policies have become an emerging flashpoint. One issue is the rising use of annual leave allowances as a way to reward employees, a relatively rare type of payment in comparison with other legal systems, that is mandatory under Slovenian legislation. Annual leave allowances and, for example, Christmas bonuses as tax-efficient payments are being used more widely and we can see the trend of blurring the line between regular compensation and performance bonuses." Moreover, she says that this development gained momentum after a notable Supreme Court decision, "which ruled that reducing a female employee’s Christmas bonus due to her justified absence from work constituted discrimination. More recently, the scope of that ruling was broadened to cover individual performance-based bonuses as well, meaning employers can no longer adjust bonuses based on personal absences that are legally justified, like sick or maternity leave."
As for regulatory developments in other areas, Florjancic Pozeg Vancas reports that Slovenia adopted a new Information Security Act in May, "which transposes the EU’s NIS2 Directive. This significantly enhances our national cybersecurity framework, outlining both the organizational and operational infrastructure. A new National Cybersecurity Strategy is also expected to be adopted soon, with the aim of reducing vulnerability to cyberattacks and establishing a more resilient digital infrastructure across both public and private sectors. The adoption of this act also represents an important normative response to recent intrusions."
Focusing on capital markets, Florjancic Pozeg Vancas reports positive developments, especially in terms of financial literacy and public participation. "The government issued a second round of retail bonds in 2025, targeting natural persons with minimum subscriptions of EUR 1,000 and a cap of EUR 250,000. This follows a similar issuance in 2023 and led to the creation of over 600 new investor accounts." She adds that these measures offer people an alternative to traditional bank deposits, help diversify public savings, and strengthen the state’s financial strategy. "In parallel, a new draft act on individual accounts has been proposed. It aims to simplify tax procedures, provide more flexibility, and improve investor protection, all steps in the right direction."
Finally, Florjancic Pozeg Vancas reports on a large infrastructure project currently underway to "build a railway between two key Slovenian cities, intended to improve connectivity and boost national competitiveness. Unfortunately, the project has faced media scrutiny, particularly regarding the Turkish construction company as the main contractor." As she reports, "their frozen bank accounts have led to employee’s payments being delayed, and negotiations are already underway for subcontractors to be paid directly by the investor."
