In 2025, Slovenia introduced a new employee entitlement – the winter allowance, stipulated by the Winter Allowance Act and revising the determination of the tax base by taking standardised expenses into account. This is a cash benefit paid at the end of the year, similar in nature to the annual allowance, but regulated as a separate legal right of employees.

All employees in the private and public sectors are entitled to a winter allowance. The right is linked to the individual employer, so for employees with multiple jobs, it is assessed separately for each employer. The winter bonus is set at half the minimum wage and must be paid in cash.

An employee is entitled to a proportional part of the winter bonus if the employer has not employed them for the entire calendar year or if they work shorter hours. Proportionality does not apply in cases of shorter working hours due to special legal circumstances (e.g. disability, parenthood). This raises two important questions in relation to the law: the first concerns the method of calculating proportionality, as it is not specified whether the actual time of employment by days will be taken into account or whether the analogy of calculating the annual leave allowance from ZDR-1 will apply, where the rule of 1/12 applies for each completed month of employment. The second question is whether the employer will be obliged to pay a proportional part of the winter allowance also to employees who were employed by him in 2025 but whose employment relationship ended before the law came into force, as the transitional provisions do not expressly regulate this; In this regard, the constitutional principle of non-retroactivity must also be taken into account, which, as a rule, prevents the imposition of obligations on employers for the period before the entry into force of the law.

The winter bonus must be paid no later than 18 days after the November salary is paid, or on the next working day if the deadline falls on a public holiday. In the private sector, payment may be deferred due to the employer's illiquidity, but no later than 31 March of the following year; in the public sector, deferral is not possible. Transitional rules apply for 2025: a quarter of the winter bonus may be paid by 18 December 2025 and the remainder by 31 March 2026, with the possibility of extending the deadline due to illiquidity.

The winter bonus has more favourable tax treatment, as up to half of the minimum wage is not included in the income tax base. The restriction on cumulation with the business performance bonus is also taken into account. If the employer pays a higher amount, the difference is treated as a business performance bonus and taxed accordingly as income from employment. Up to the statutory amount, no pension and disability insurance contributions are paid on the winter bonus, and contributions are calculated on any excess amount. If the winter bonus is paid in several instalments, the total amount is checked at the time of the last payment, and the corresponding contributions are calculated on the surplus.

The winter bonus thus represents a new right arising from the employment relationship to which all employees are entitled, but it also creates a new financial obligation for employers.

For professional implementation of the winter bonus and other issues in the field of labour law, lawyers Žiga Sternad and Maja Skorupan, experts in labour law, are at your disposal. For more information, please contact us.