2003 Annual Report

1. 1  Legal foundations of ESS operations

The activities of the ESS were laid down in the 1991 Employment and Insurance Against Unemployment Act (the Act) (Ur. l. RS, 5/1991, 12/1992, 71/1993, 38/1994, 69/1998, 67/2002), and in a number of other implementing acts, rules and regulations.

The tasks and powers of the ESS in the fields of employment, scholarships and unemployment insurance are regulated by several other laws.

In addition to the laws directly regulating employment, the ESS also performs its activities on the basis of laws and regulations from related fields. These include:

• the Pension and Disability Insurance Act;

• the Healthcare and Health Insurance Act;

• school legislation (vocational guidance, advice and education).

The ESS performs specific tasks laid down in government documents and programmes. These include:

• Active Employment Policy Guidelines for 2002 and 2003;

• the Active Employment Policy Programme for 2003;

• the Programme of Employment and Training for Redundant Workers from the Payments Agency in 2003, which is carried out in line with the Active Employment Policy Programme for 2003;

• the Public Works Programme for 2002 and 2003;

• the National Programme for the Development of the Labour Market and Employment Up To 2006;

• the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire.

1. 2 Organisation

The ESS is an independent legal entity with public institute status. Its central office is located in Ljubljana (Glinška ulica 12). Organisationally as well as functionally, the ESS operates uniformly throughout the country.

The organisational and functional aspects of ESS operations take place at ESS headquarters, where the management and the central office are located, in regional offices (ROs) and in local offices (LOs), which are located in all administrative units, thus providing the whole of the country with coverage. ESS services are used by: unemployed people; employers; scholarship recipients; people in need of professional jobseeking assistance or vocational guidance; professional institutions and providers of employment programmes; social partners; and the general public.

The central office (CO) and ESS management formulate professional doctrines of work, and prescribe and evaluate all the tools used in ESS work (manuals, instructions for work, organisational regulations, etc.).

ESS management coordinates all ESS business functions, thus ensuring uniform execution of activities and the fulfilment of objectives set by the Business Plan. In order to ensure effective, successful and cost-effective operation, it provides centralised support and accompanying activities in the areas of analysis, IT, legal, personnel, organisational, financial, accountancy and general affairs; it also performs activities aimed at ensuring quality and development, supervisory functions, internal auditing, public relations, international cooperation and other services for the entire ESS.

Organisationally, the ESS covers Slovenia with a network of 12 regional and 59 local offices. This ensures that ESS services are easily accessible to all users at the local or regional level (unemployed people, employers, scholarship recipients, providers of education programmes, chambers, trade unions, municipalities and other social partners).

Regional and local offices run and operate the ESS basic business functions: job placement, employment programmes, vocational guidance, scholarships, and the implementation of rights stemming from unemployment insurance.

In cooperation with its partners at the local and regional levels, regional and local offices carry out employment programmes, international projects, cross-border cooperation and similar activities and, within the ESS, carry out analytical, PR-related and other services related to their working environment.

The Director General of the ESS in 2003 was Jože Glazer and the Deputy Director General was Mavricija Batič. The assistants to the Director General were Leopold Hanžic, Damjana Košir and Sonja Pirher.

The directors of the ROs were as follows: Uroš Pešec (Celje); Mira Kočevar Furlan (Koper); Lučka Žižek (Kranj); Cvetka Cvek (Ljubljana); Žarko Markovič (Maribor); Cvetka Čahuk Mandič and, from 1 October, Cvetka Sreš (Murska Sobota); Erna Kufersin Rehberger (Nova Gorica); Franc Smerdu (Novo Mesto); Vlasta Stojak (Ptuj); Anton Koren (Sevnica); Lijana Vidic Ristic (Trbovlje); and Srdan Arzenšek (Velenje).

Under the Statute, the administrative bodies of the ESS are the Administrative Board and the Director General. The Administrative Board has 13 members, as follows:

• members of national employers' organisations;

• members of national trade unions;

• members of the Slovene government;

• member of the ESS workers' council.

The president of the Administrative Board was Gregor Miklič.

The ESS has a workers' council and a trade union.