Employees at Slovenia’s Ministry of Education, Science and Training have received a mandatory employment annex attempting to shift legal liability for administrative errors entirely onto staff. The controversial document, issued under Minister Borut Rončević, comes amid widespread staff tension over plans to relocate the entire ministry to Novo mesto.
A freshly issued administrative directive within Slovenia’s educational authority has ignited a sharp internal dispute. Staff members across the Ministry of Education, Science and Training found themselves facing an unexpected contractual change that seeks to reassign institutional fault from executive leadership directly onto individual workers.
Contractual Annex Shifts Fault Away from Leadership
The newly introduced employment annex requires workers to accept personal accountability for any procedural mistakes made during their daily duties.
Slovenian labor legislation and public servant regulations already govern how professional duties and disciplinary breaches are handled.
This is stipulated in the Employment Relationships Act and the Public Servants Act. Violations of work duties are determined if someone knowingly or negligently violates obligations toward the employer or makes mistakes in their work. Labor regulation framework, via Delo.si and Telegraf.si
Therefore, additional protocolling in the employment contract as an annex seems like something special, which we do not hear about from other ministries or observe this trend. Administrative analysis, via Delo.si and Telegraf.si
Staff Uncertainty Following Ministry Consolidation
The controversy arrives at a particularly delicate time for the workforce. The current Ministry of Education, Science and Training was formed by amalgamating several previous educational bodies, a merger that already left institutional morale strained and day-to-day conditions difficult for many employees.
Rather than easing these organizational friction points, the rollout of the liability annex has intensified anxiety across the department. Staff members feel cornered by a document that forces them to assume legal risks that statutory frameworks place squarely on supervisory management.
Minister Borut Rončević Pursues Full Relocation to Novo mesto
Friction inside the agency escalated sharply after Minister Borut Rončević outlined sweeping physical changes for the institution. In an interview with Dolenjski list, the minister made clear that administrative adjustments would go far beyond surface-level rebranding.
I am not talking about a symbolic relocation of the minister’s office or a few employees. My goal is the relocation of the entire ministry, not just a change of address on the letterhead. Borut Rončević, Minister of Education, Science and Training, via Delo.si and Telegraf.si
This planned move to Novo mesto has generated profound unease among personnel, who view both the physical relocation and the new liability annex as compounding pressures that threaten their working conditions and personal stability.
Sanction Risks and the Limits of Contractual Signatures
Signing or not signing the annex, especially when it comes to such a slightly strange provision, changes nothing, so he cannot be sanctioned nor can he lose his job. The employer merely issues a decision to him. Legal evaluation, via Delo.si and Telegraf.si
As the ministry pushes forward with its relocation strategy and administrative overhauls, the broader impact on the public sector workforce remains an open question, leaving employees and observers waiting to see how leadership responds to internal resistance.
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