- 2016Approved/Agreed
- 2017Implementation
- 2018Implementation
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Completed
Description
The Elderly and the labour market in Slovenia (Starejši in trg dela) document was adopted by the government in December 2016 and set directions for 2016-19. It provided for measures in support to lifelong learning and validation of non-formally acquired skills for people aged 50+.
Demographic challenges from the labour market perspective need to be addressed by various measures, at the levels of society, employers, and especially individuals. It is necessary for employers to strengthen management of older employees and for the individuals to recognise the necessity of lifelong learning and continuous development of competences for a changing labour market.
- The Employee benefits programme: Comprehensive support for active ageing companies addresses the challenges of negative demographic trends and focuses on strengthening competences: training and further training of older employees as a particularly vulnerable group in the labour market, with the aim of prolonging their employment. It also aims at empowering employers to manage an ageing workforce.
- With the aim of promoting employment and maintaining the employment of older people, a labour market intervention measure was in force, which enabled the employer to apply a temporary incentive for employment of older unemployed persons. Employers who employed an unemployed person over the age of 55, who had been on the unemployment register for at least half a year, were exempted from paying the employer's social security contributions for the first 24 months of employment. The measure was effective from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2019.
- Active to retirement programme.
Active employment policy programmes also play an important role in employment: the older unemployed can be included in most programmes, depending on their needs and job opportunities. The Active to retirement programme is for unemployed people who are 58 or older. It encourages employment and permanent employment of older unemployed persons for an indefinite period of time, or at least until the conditions for retirement are fulfilled. The programme is part-financed by the EU through ESF.
Within the framework of intervention laws for the preservation of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Republic of Slovenia also offered a possibility of training and education for employees included in the measure of part-time work and for employees included in the measure of waiting for work. This measure was prepared in cooperation with the social partners. Employees who have been assigned to part-time work or waiting for work due to lack of work can improve their knowledge and skills during this period. They may be involved in non-formal education and training or in the validation and recognition of national vocational or basic qualifications. Participation in the programmes is free. This measure is implemented by the Employment Service of Slovenia.
The document, valid for the 2016-19 period, ceased to apply. Various measures are ongoing, implemented by individual projects and by various national authorities. The elderly population remains one of the main target groups of most of the labour market measures.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZ)
Target groups
Learners
- Older workers and employees (55 - 64 years old)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of incentives that encourage learners to take part in VET and lifelong learning; VET providers to improve, broaden and update their offer; companies to provide places for apprenticeship and work-based learning, and to stimulate and support learning of their employees. It also includes measures addressing specific challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) willing to create work-based learning opportunities in different sectors. Incentives can be financial (e.g. grants, allowances, tax incentives, levy/grant mechanisms, vouchers, training credits, individual learning accounts) and non-financial (e.g. information/advice on funding opportunities, technical support, mentoring).
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Elderly and the labour market: Slovenia. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28802