In this article
Key takeaways
When an agency provides workers in Slovenia, the agency is the employer, but you as the user answer for safety and health at work, working time, breaks and rest, whatever the agreement with the agency says. Before work starts, you send the agency the job conditions, your risk assessment and correct pay data under the collective agreement that binds you. An agency worker at your site has the same rights and benefits as your own staff, and you are secondarily liable for their wages.
When you lease workers through an agency, you do not sign an employment contract with them. Slovenian law calls this the provision of workers to a user (zagotavljanje dela delavcev uporabniku): the agency stays the employer and your company is the user. For as long as the worker works for you, you carry four duties that no contract can pass to the agency. ZDR-1 is Slovenia's Employment Relationships Act.
- Safety and health at work: the Occupational Safety and Health Act (ZVZD-1) treats you as an employer for this purpose.
- Working time, breaks and rest: you are responsible for them, whatever the agreement with the agency says (Article 62 ZDR-1).
- Equal treatment: the worker has the same rights and benefits at your site as your own staff (Article 63 ZDR-1).
- Correct pay data: you answer for the data the agency uses to calculate the pay (Article 62 ZDR-1).
How labour leasing works in practice and what the agency takes on is described on our page on labour leasing. Below, each duty is explained in turn, followed by a checklist for the first week.
Who the user is and what stays with the agency
The user is the company to which the agency sends its worker. The worker follows your instructions, and the agency pays the wage (Article 63 ZDR-1). Before work starts, you and the agency must sign a written agreement on the rights and duties of all three parties (Article 62 ZDR-1).
The agreement divides tasks, not responsibility. ZDR-1 states that the user is responsible for health protection, working time, breaks and rest, whatever the agreement says. ZVZD-1 treats a user that receives agency workers as an employer (Article 5).
| Duty | Who | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Employment contract, payroll and payment of wages, social contributions | agency | Articles 59 and 61 ZDR-1 |
| Education and training of the worker | agency; what happens during the assignment is set in the agreement | Article 62 ZDR-1 |
| Work instructions and supervision | user | Article 63 ZDR-1 |
| Risk assessment, safety statement, a safe workplace | user | Article 62 ZDR-1; Articles 5, 17 and 18 ZVZD-1 |
| Working time, breaks and rest | user | Article 62 ZDR-1 |
| Working-time record | agency, with data from the user | Records Act (ZEPDSV); Ministry of Labour guidance, 2025 |
| Reporting a workplace accident to the inspectorate | both are employers under ZVZD-1; agree who files | Article 41 ZVZD-1 |
| Wages the agency fails to pay | user, if the agency does not pay | Article 62 ZDR-1 |
What to send the agency before the worker arrives
The first duty starts before the worker arrives. You must tell the agency every condition the worker has to meet and give it your risk assessment (Article 62 ZDR-1). A risk assessment is the written document in which you identify the hazards of a job and the measures against them (Article 17 ZVZD-1).
In the safety statement with the risk assessment you also set any special health requirements for the job (Article 17 ZVZD-1). From it, the agency can see which medical check and which training the worker needs. Before work starts, send the agency:
- a job description and conditions: qualifications, certificates, experience, shifts and place of work;
- the risk assessment for this job, with its health requirements;
- pay data: the collective agreement and internal rules that bind you, the pay grade of a comparable job, and the allowances for shifts, night work and overtime;
- notice if your workers are on strike, or if you dismissed a larger number of your employees in the past 12 months. Agency workers may not replace strikers and may not be used after such dismissals, and you must tell the agency within eight days (Article 59 ZDR-1).
The pay data is not a formality. An agency worker at your site must be paid under the collective agreement and internal rules that bind you (Articles 61 and 63 ZDR-1). The agency can only calculate that pay from your data. You answer for its accuracy and completeness (Article 62(5) ZDR-1).
Some jobs are closed to agency workers. You may not use them where your risk assessment says exposure to a hazard must be time-limited (Article 59 ZDR-1). The other bans and the 25% rule are covered in our article Labour hire vs leasing vs recruitment agency in Slovenia.
Safety and health on your site
You are responsible for an agency worker's safety in the same way as for your own staff. ZVZD-1 treats you as an employer, so all of its duties apply.
- Safety statement: hand the worker the part that concerns them when work starts. The law requires this for everyone present at the workplace (Article 18 ZVZD-1).
- Information: the worker must learn the hazards and measures at the workplace, and who is responsible for first aid, fire safety and evacuation (Article 37 ZVZD-1). Agree with the agency in which language the written instructions are given.
- Safety training: it takes place before work starts and whenever the job changes, during working hours and at no cost to the worker (Article 38 ZVZD-1). Write into the agreement who gives the general part and who gives the part specific to your workplace.
- Personal protective equipment: the employer must provide it where the work environment is not safe despite other measures (Article 19 ZVZD-1). Under ZVZD-1 you and the agency are both employers, so the agreement should say who provides it and who checks that it is worn.
- Accidents: report them to the labour inspectorate at once (Article 41 ZVZD-1). This covers a fatal accident, an accident that keeps the worker off work for more than three working days, a collective accident and a dangerous occurrence. You and the agency are both employers here, so agree who files and how you inform each other.
The worker may also refuse to work if the user does not respect the law, the collective agreement or its own internal rules (Article 63 ZDR-1). Weak safety therefore risks a stoppage as well as an accident. A labour inspector can also order a test of safety training at your site (Article 38 ZVZD-1).
Working time, breaks, rest and the record of hours
You are responsible for the agency worker's working time, breaks and rest (Article 62 ZDR-1). That covers the shift plan, overtime, the break during work and daily and weekly rest. Your supervisor must look after them as for your own staff.
The working-time record is kept by the agency as the employer. That is how the Ministry of Labour explained the 2025 amendment to the Labour and Social Security Records Act (ZEPDSV-B, 23 April 2025). Because the work happens at your site, the ministry advises setting out in the written agreement how you send the hours to the agency.
In practice, write down who records arrival and departure, who approves the hours and by which day of the month the agency receives them. The worker takes annual leave by agreement with the agency and with you (Article 63 ZDR-1).
Equal treatment: pay, benefits and vacancies
While working for you, an agency worker is covered by ZDR-1, the collective agreements that bind you and your internal rules (Article 63 ZDR-1). This includes the benefits you give your own staff in connection with their employment.
Check which benefits you have. Think of a canteen or meals during work, organised transport to work, work clothing and changing rooms. If your staff get them because they work for you, the agency worker must get them too.
You must also tell the agency worker about vacancies at your company and give them the same chance of a permanent job as your own staff (Article 166 ZUTD, the Labour Market Regulation Act). If a trade union or works council asks, you inform it once a year of the reasons for using agency workers and their number (Article 59 ZDR-1).
What you risk if you miss these duties
The largest financial risk is secondary liability for wages. You answer for the wages and other payments for the time worked at your site if the agency does not pay them (Article 62(6) ZDR-1). Secondary liability means the worker can claim the money from you when the agency does not pay.
The second risk is an agency without a licence. A user that accepts a worker from an agency without a licence and register entry faces a fine of €10,000 to €30,000 (Article 178 ZUTD). For a user with ten or fewer employees the fine is €5,000 to €10,000. Check the entry in the public register of agencies providing workers on podatki.gov.si.
The third risk is a stoppage. A worker can refuse to work if the law, the collective agreement or your internal rules are not respected at your site. Wrong pay data means a wrong wage, and you are responsible for that data.
Checklist for the first week
- Before you sign: check that the agency is in the register, and under which register number.
- Before work starts: sign the written agreement and send the agency the job description, the risk assessment and the pay data.
- In the agreement, set who provides protective equipment, who gives the training for your workplace, how the hours reach the agency and who reports an accident.
- Day one: hand over the safety statement, introduce the first-aid and evacuation contacts and give the workplace training.
- First week: check that the worker gets the same benefits as your staff and that shifts and rest stay within the law.
- End of the month: send the agency the approved hours and allowances by the agreed day.
These rules apply to work in Slovenia. For projects in Austria or Germany, the rules of the country where the work is done are added. When a German project is labour leasing and when it is a contract for work is explained in labour leasing or contract for work in Germany.
Next step
Evroproces d.o.o. is entered in the Slovenian Ministry of Labour register of agencies under register number 111. Our workers for production, welding, industrial metalwork and pipefitting stay employed by us. For work in Austria and Germany we arrange A1 certificates, the forms that prove a worker stays insured in Slovenia while working abroad.
If you are planning a project or a production peak in Slovenia, Austria or Germany, describe the need on our hire workers page: profile, number of workers, location, start date and duration. We reply to enquiries within 24 hours.
Sources & further reading
- 01Zakon o delovnih razmerjih (ZDR-1), 59.–63. člen — PISRS (2026-10-13)pisrs.si
- 02Zakon o varnosti in zdravju pri delu (ZVZD-1), Uradni list RS, št. 43/2011, 5., 17.–19., 37., 38. in 41. člen — PISRS (2026-10-13)pisrs.si
- 03Zakon o urejanju trga dela (ZUTD), 163., 166. in 178. člen — PISRS (2026-09-18)pisrs.si
- 04Novosti glede beleženja izrabe delovnega časa na podlagi novele ZEPDSV-B, verzija 1.2, 23. 4. 2025 — MDDSZ, gov.si (2026-10-13)gov.si
- 05Zagotavljanje dela delavcev uporabniku — gov.si (2026-10-13)gov.si
- 06Register domačih pravnih in fizičnih oseb za zagotavljanje dela delavcev uporabniku — podatki.gov.si (2026-10-13)podatki.gov.si
