Unemployment insurance in Slovenia

This article covers unemployment benefit (denarno nadomestilo za čas brezposelnosti).

In what situation can I claim?

Unemployed persons who were compulsorily insured and who became unemployed against their own will or not as a result of their own fault are entitled to unemployment benefits.

What conditions do I need to meet?

For unemployment benefit, persons are entitled who:

were insured for at least 10 months in the previous 2 years prior to unemployment (or at least 6 months in the last 2 years if they are under 30)
have applied to ZRSZ and submitted a request for unemployment benefit within 30 days of unemployment arising

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Unemployment benefit amounts to: 80% of the basis (which is the average monthly salary received by an insured person during the eight months prior to unemployment, including compensation of salary, health insurance, family protection insurance, old-age and invalidity insurance) for the first 3 months; 60% for the following 9 months; and 50% of the basis after 12 months.

Benefit may not be lower than EUR 530.19 gross and may not exceed EUR 892.50 gross.

An insured person is entitled to benefit from the day following termination of compulsory insurance, if the insured person has submitted unemployment documentation and a request for benefit within 30 days of terminating compulsory insurance.

The length of benefit payment depends on the previous insurance period:

2 months for an insured person younger than 30 who has been insured for at least 6 months in the last 2 years prior to unemployment
3 months for an insurance period of 9 months to 5 years
6 months for an insurance period of 5 to 15 years
9 months for an insurance period of 15 to 25 years
12 months for an insurance period of more than 25 years
19 months for an insurance period of more than 25 years (if the age of the insured person is over 53), and
25 months for an insurance period of more than 28 years (if the age of the insured person is over 58)

During the period of accepting benefits, ZRSZ will pay all social security contributions.

Jargon busters

ZRSZ - Employment Service of Slovenia

Forms you may need to fill in

Application for entitlement to unemployment benefit in the case of unemployment.

Know your rights

Who do you need to contact?

Requests must be submitted to one of the ZRSZ labour offices or through the ZRSZ web site.

Contact phone numbers and e-mails.

This page was last updated in 2024.

Unemployment insurance in Europe →
Unemployment Insurance in Slovenia

Key points of EU Unemployment Insurance coordination

Transferring periods of work and insurance between EEA countries As an EU citizen you can transfer acquired rights from Unemployment Insurance when moving between EU/EEA contries. In this way it may be easier to become entitled to unemployment benefit in the country you move to.
In the vast majority of the Member states the aggregation rule become fully applicable as soon as you starts to work in the country. However in Denmark, Belgium and Finland you must work some period there before you can use the aggregation rule.
You need a PD U1 document in the country you leave or if the involved countries use electronically exhange (EESSI) there will be issued a SED U002. The countries who issues the highest number of PD U1 documents are Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The countries who receives most PD U1 documents are Lithuania and Italy.
Transferring unemployment benefits Under certain conditions you can go to another EU country to look for work and continue to receive your unemployment benefits from the country where you became unemployed. The period you can export your unemployment benefits varies from 3 to 6 months in the different Member states.
You have to apply for a PD U2 document in the country you leave, or if you haven't done that the institution in the receiving country must request a SED U008 from the competent institution in your last country.
The countries who issues the highest number of PD U2 documents are Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark. Poland is the country who receives by far most PD U2 documents.
Unemployment benefits coverage According to OECD the net replacement of income after 2 months of unemployment, for a single person without children whose previous in-work earnings were 67% of the average wage varies from 33 percent (Ireland) to 91 percent (Belgium). Read more here..

Having residence in another EU country than where you work? According to EU social security coordination rules you must only be insured against unemployment in one country at a time. As a generel rule this country is where you work.
In Member states who have compulsory insurance, you will automatically be covered when you start working there.
However you may be insured by your country of residence if you are posted to a EU/EEA country or work in two or more EU/EEA countries at a time. In these situations you can not your self decide where to have unemployment Insurance, but you (or your employer) must apply for a PD A1 document which states in which country you are covered by social security, including Unemployment Insurance. Special rule also apply for cross-border workers ("frontier workers").
Third-country Nationals working in EU/EEANON-EEA citizens are covered by Unemployment Insurance in the EU countries who have compulsory Unemployment Insurance. In countries with voluntary Unemployment Insurance (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) third-country nationals can become member of an Unemployment Insurance Fund.
In the most countries Third-country nationals can also use the EU Coordination rules when moving within EU/EEA (however not in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).
Third-country nationals in short-tem working relations often faces problems with actually get Unemployment benefits, even though they have contributed to the system. This is due to the fact that one normally need a residence permit which allow one to take any job, and also because of a qualifying period in most countries between 6-12 months.

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