WORKERS in one European country are set to get an extra Christmas gift this year, in the form of cold hard tax-free cash.
Slovenia’s prime minister Robert Golob, 58, put forward a plan to give every worker in the country a tax free bonus just in time for the holidays.
The plan – which was passed through parliament in November – would see the estimated one million workers get an extra €639 (£560).
Backed by the majority of voters, Golob’s plan could boost his chances of re-election in March.
The bonus is equivalent to half the monthly minimum wage in the Central European country.
However, not everyone is happy about the plan, which is slated to cost €600 million.
The Slovenian opposition and the European Commission have both slammed the plan, with a massive amount of employers – who have to pick up the tab – calling it unaffordable.
The European Commission warned the government of the risks to breaking fiscal rules as a result of the giveaway.
The payment must be processed by December 18, with exceptions given to companies facing cash flow problems, who will be given until the end of March.
Up to 91 per cent of employers oppose the payment, according to a poll from the Chamber of Crafts and Entrepreneurship of Slovenia.
The Chamber’s president, Blaz Cvar, said the poll results demonstrated that claims the plan was “supported by business people” was “pure demagogy, even a lie”.
The main objections from employers relate to it being compulsory.
Peter Bruncic, 49, who owns a small agency specialising in tailor-made travel in Maribor, Slovenia’s second city was in support of the payment being tax-free for employers, saying he “already gives employees a Christmas bonus”.
“I have three employees, and for years I have been paying them Christmas bonuses at the end of the year, simply because I felt it was the least I could do for my workers,” he said.
“This is the time when everyone gives presents, but it is also the time when money is often scarce, so I support this idea.”
“Nevertheless, I can imagine that this is not so easy for many others, especially medium-sized companies in Slovenia with a large number of employees, because the regulation came rather unexpectedly,” he added.
Andrej Zorko, head of ZSSS – the largest trade union association in the country – said complaints were to be expected.
He however, said the deal is justified.
“People work hard all year and because of that the companies are making profit, and it’s fair that some of that should go to them, too,” he said.
“Now, because next year there are elections in Slovenia, the prime minister came up with his proposal, which we accept with both hands.”
The government will also be required to pay its own employees in the public sector.
Zorko said he would be using his bonus to buy presents for his nine-year-old daughter and five -year-old son.
He also said he would put the money towards going skiing for a few days in neighbouring Austria.
Workers in Slovenia, previously part of the communist Yugoslavia, have been receiving summer bonuses equivalent to one month’s salary, payable before the end of June.
The practice is known as the 13th month’s pay.
Taken together, the two bonuses will give workers an extra €2,000 (£1,753).
Pensioners and Slovenians on disability insurance benefits will get their own winter allowance, coming in at €150 (£131).
Golob has been in power at the head of a three-party, centre-left coalition since the April 2022 election.
At the polls, he beat Ivan Jansa, a populist politician who admires Donald Trump.
Previously, Golob worked as an executive at a state-owned energy company that launched green power projects and was also a competitive white water rafter.
He later took over a small environmental party that relaunched after a few months as the Freedom Party.
The previously unknown man led the new party to the election and won, after he promised to take Slovenia back to the political mainstream.
Voters turned out to support him, with the Freedom Party earning 34 per cent of the vote.
Manufacturing and tourism have made the country the most prosperous in both central and eastern Europe.
Despite the election win, support for Golob’s government dropped to 22 per cent as the population were hit by inflation and the cost of living crisis, worsened by the Russian-Ukraine war, as well as a string of scandals, including being accused of interfering with police.
This has left him trailing Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic Party, which has an approval rating of 29 per cent.
Golob announced the bonus in September, shocking both employer groups and unions, as well as his junior coalition partners.
Jozef Horvat, an MP in the New Slovenia Party, said it was “clear as day that this is a pre-election sweetener”.
