The activities of the ESS were determined by the 1991 Employment and Insurance Against Unemployment Act (the Act) (Ur. l. RS, nos. 5/91, 12/92, 71/93, 38/94, 80/97 - CCRes, and 69/98).

The tasks and powers of the ESS in the fields of employment, scholarships and unemployment insurance are regulated by numerous regulations, laws and rules.

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

• Pension and Disability Insurance Act (Articles 17, 24, 40, 78, 123, 124, 140, etc.);
• Healthcare and Health Insurance Act (Articles 15, 48, etc.);
• school legislation (vocational guidance, advice and education);
• labour regulations (redundant workers, trainee periods, employment contracts, inspections, etc.), parental care (maternity benefit, recording of years of insurance in workers' records, calculation of income limits, cadastral income, re-evaluation, etc.).

The tasks of the ESS are laid down in the ESS Business Plan, which is adopted by the Administrative Board.

The ESS is an independent legal entity with public institute status. It operates uniformly across the whole of Slovenia. It was founded on the basis of Article 61 of the EUIA.

As determined by the Statute adopted by the Administrative Council of the ESS, the main office is situated in Ljubljana, Glinška ulica 12.

This report describes the organisation of the ESS in 2001. The new Statute (Ur. l. RS, no. 84/99) redefines its organisation on a different basis and, according to plans, the implementation of this new organisation will be fully completed in 2002, once the new Rules of Internal Organisation, adopted by the Administrative Board (UB) in October 2001, are implemented.

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 covering the whole of the country with its services.

ESS services are used by unemployed people, employers, recipients of and applicants for scholarships, people in need of professional assistance in jobseeking and vocational guidance, professional institutions and providers of employment programmes, social partners, and the general public.

Central office and ESS management

The central office (CO) and ESS management formulate professional doctrines of work, prescribe and evaluate all the tools used in ESS work (manuals, instructions for work, organisational regulations, etc.), and coordinate all ESS business functions and ensure their direct and uniform application throughout the country. Within this framework they also provide analytical, informational, legal, personnel, financial, accounting, supervisory, organisational, material and developmental support for the needs of ROs and Los, or else directly carry out individual activities throughout the country.

Regional and local offices

With their local offices, regional offices perform professional and organisational tasks and conduct basic ESS business activities in the territory they cover. These include: employment services (job placement for unemployed people, working with employers, employment of foreign workers in connection with the labour market), vocational guidance, employment programmes, implementation of rights stemming from unemployment insurance, and national scholarships. They also provide analytical services, participate in international projects, conduct public relations at local and regional levels, and carry out a number of other activities required for operation. ROs collaborate on the development of employment policy and programmes with other partners in their area (employers, trade unions, local community bodies, professional institutions, providers of employment programmes, etc.) for the joint fulfilment of objectives.

The managing director in 2001 was Jože Glazer, the deputy director was Mavricija Batic, and assistants to the managing director were: Franc Belcic, Leopold Hanžic, Damjana Košir, Sonja Pirher and Janez Urbas.

The directors of the ROs were as follows: Uroš Pešec (Celje), Mira Kocevar-Furlan (Koper), Damjana Košir (Kranj), Cvetka Cvek (Ljubljana), Marko Strban (Maribor), Cvetka Cahuk-Mandic (Murska Sobota), Erna Kufersin-Rehberger (Nova Gorica), Franc Smerdu (Novo Mesto), Žare Markovic (Ptuj), Anton Koren (Sevnica), Lijana Vidic Ristic (Trbovlje) and Srdan Arzenšek (Velenje).

ESS administration:

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

• members of national employers' organisations;
• members of national trade unions;
• members of the Slovenian government;
• a member of the ESS workers' council.

Figure 1: Regional Offices of the ESS

Figure 2: Organisation of the ESS

Figure 3: Organisation of the central office

Figure 4: Organisation of the regional and local office