The funding of activities for which the ESS is responsible is defined in Article 60 of the EUIA.

The funds for unemployment insurance (unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance) are provided partly from contributions (from workers' wages, from employers on the wages they pay) and are accrued in the national budget, and partly from other national budgetary sources.

In 1999 budgetary funding was regulated by the following:

• The 1999 Budget (Ur. l. RS, No. 91/98)
• The Act Amending the Implementation of the Budget of the Republic of Slovenia Act (Ur. l. RS, No. 91/98)

From employment contributions which, for the whole year of 1999, amounted to 0.1% of the gross wage for employees and 0.1% for employers on the same basis, a total of SIT 2,942,183,000 was accumulated in the national budget (source: the National Payments Agency). These funds amount to just 10.2% of the funds required to honour entitlements arising from unemployment insurance. The amount collected through contributions has become, because of its falling in value, only a symbolic contribution to the funds required. The remaining part of the funding for the purpose and also the funding for employment programmes, scholarships and ESS operation is provided from other budgetary sources.

The resources required for ESS operations are secured on the basis of annual contracts between the ESS and the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs (the MLFSA), which define the rights and obligations of both contractual parties and the amount available for ESS operations.

In essence the resources for ESS operation are budgetary funds. SIT 3,970,639,000 was allocated on the basis of contract between the ESS and the MLFSA; a further SIT 175,284,000 were allocated from the budget to pay for workers employed by the ESS on public works, which meant that the total revenue amounted to SIT 4,145,923,000.

In addition to these resources, other incomes were accrued to a total of SIT 73,936,000 (partly accrued through its own profit-making activities, with interest on sight deposits and other incomes, income from services, revenues to pay the costs of the Guarantee Fund and other incomes).

The total revenue of the ESS in 1999 was SIT 4,219,859,000.

In 1999, a total of SIT 58,796,554,000 was accrued for the purposes of implementing social welfare and active employment policy programmes (current budgetary funds, the surplus from the previous year and refunded surplus payments were shown as a reduction in current spending). In the same period, expenditure amounted to SIT 58,683,669,000, or nearly 99.8% of available resources. The surplus of resources over expenditure in the total of SIT 112,888,000 was paid back to the national budget on 9 March 2000 in line with the Implementation of the Budget of the Republic of Slovenia Act.

Table I shows the income generated for programme tasks in 1998. Table II shows expenditure on the implementation of rights and other programmes.

Tabel II: Expenditure on programmes in 1998 and 1999

Figure 6: ESS expenditure in 1998 and 1999

A comparison between revenue and expenditure reveals a surplus of SIT 7,959,000. This is the surplus (gross profit) before the tax on profits (profit-making activities) of SIT 7,959,000 had been paid, meaning that in 1999 the ESS made no profit after tax.

The majority of the ESS resources was spent on employee labour costs. In 1999 these costs for the annual average of 833 employees by work hours amounted to SIT 2,789,670,000. Together with the costs of workers employed by the ESS on public works, the labour cost totalled to SIT 2,976,320,00 or 70.7% of all expenditure. Material and non-material costs came to SIT 1,070,823,000 or 25.4% of all expenditure. Depreciation with revaluation amounted to SIT 164,757,000, or 3.9% of all resources.