Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 22/8/2024; Author: Eva Gračanin
Two ministries say that a provision under which the employer would bear the cost of Slovenian language instruction for foreigners they hire is not part of forthcoming legislation.
The Moja Dolenjska portal ran an article on 5 August headlined New taxes: As if it wasn’t enough, they are planning to impose a cost for the integration of migrants. It reported on the tax wedge on Slovenian wages, which it said would now widen due to an “integration tax,” the money it will cost to pay for the integration of foreigners.
They invoked a statement by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), which stated on its website on 19 July that employers may face additional integration costs. The GZS explained to Razkrinkavanje.si that they were referring to a proposed Emergency Bill on Measures to Optimise Certain Procedures at Administrative Units.
Article 27 of the bill provided that when a Slovenian employer first hires a foreigner, they would have to pay for them to attend a course on Slovenian language and civics, whereby course attendance would count towards working time. Violations would carry a fine of between €3,000 and €30,000 and an optional one-year ban on hiring foreigners.
The GZS pointed out that this provision was withdrawn before the bill was passed, which happened almost a month after the post on their website was published. They however think that it could be reinstated in the Aliens Act, which is currently being drawn up.
The Ministry of Public Administration explained that there are two principal laws governing the employment of foreigners that also provide for integration through the learning of the Slovenian language, the Aliens Act and the Act on Employment, Self-employment and Work.
The draft amendments to the Aliens Act, which are currently under consideration, do not contain a provision that would pass on the costs of integrating foreigners to employers, nor is this planned, according to the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. So far, the government has only debated the blueprint for the legislation.
The Ministry of the Interior meanwhile explained that the proposed amendments to the Aliens Act, which are in the final stage of inter-ministerial coordination and are expected to be approved by the government in the autumn, do not foresee such a measure.
In response to Razkrinkavanje.si’s findings, the editor of the Moja Dolenjska portal said that everything had been explained in the article and the source had been added.
The GZS said they did not claim that the draft amendment contained a provision that would impose the cost of integration on employers, they only expressed fears of a repeat of the scenario that unfolded during the passage of the emergency bill, when such a provision was added at a later stage, when the bill was already in parliament.
The claim of Moje Dolenjska in the headline of the article New taxes: As if that were not enough, they are planning to impose a cost for the integration of migrants is not true.
