Determining the Existence of Employment Relationship in the Republic of Slovenia

Magistrsko delo z naslovom Ugotavljanje obstoja delovnega razmerja v Republiki Sloveniji bralca seznani s problematiko razmejitve oseb, ki delo opravljajo v odvisnem delovnem razmerju v relaciji do samozaposlenih oseb, poseben poudarek pa se daje podrejenosti delavca, ki je hkrati tudi temeljni razlikovalni kriterij v odnosu do samozaposlenih. Do delovnopravnega varstva so upravičene le osebe, ki delo opravljajo na temelju pogodbe o zaposlitvi in so v delovnem razmerju. V praksi pa je vse bolj razširjen pojav prikritih delovnih razmerij, v okviru katerih se delo opravlja na temelju raznih pogodb civilnega prava, četudi ima takšno razmerje vse značilnosti delovnega razmerja. Navidezni samozaposleni se predvsem zaradi stanja na trgu dela in posledično slabih možnosti drugih oblik zaposlitve sodnega varstva ne poslužujejo v zadostni meri. Odločanje o obstoju delovnega razmerja pa nedvomno predstavlja izredno kompleksno ter pravno zahtevno vprašanje delovnega prava. Uveljavljanje in dokazovanje obstoja delovnega razmerja je oteženo zaradi nejasnih, nepreglednih in izredno zapletenih pravil glede postopka, še posebej na področju rokov za uveljavljanje sodnega varstva. Področje obravnavane tematike je v slovenski zakonski ureditvi izredno pomanjkljivo urejeno, večino pravil pa je razvila in uveljavila sodna praksa. Sodišča so modernizirala definicijo delovnega razmerja in glede materialnopravnih vprašanj obstoja delovnega razmerja razvila bogato prakso. V sodni praksi so se kot pokazatelji obstoja delovnega razmerja uveljavile določene okoliščine opravljanja dela, ki so pravno relevantne pri odločanju o obstoju delovnega razmerja. Za zagotovitev doslednega spoštovanja delovnopravnih pravil na področju prikritih delovnih razmerjih bi bilo potrebno zakonsko urediti in prilagoditi procesna pravila glede rokov in zahtevkov na področju uveljavljanja obstoja delovnega razmerja, s čimer bi olajšali dostop do sodišča, obenem pa izboljšati inšpekcijsko nadzorstvo.The Master’s thesis titled Determining the Existence of Employment Relationship in the Republic of Slovenia informs the reader of the problem of separating the dependent working relationship from the self-employed persons with a special emphasis on the subordination of the worker, which represents the basic criterion of distinction in comparing them to the self-employed. Labor law protects only the persons whose work is based on an employment contract and enter an employment relationship. The existence of disguised employment relationships is continually increasing, meaning work is performed based on various types of civil law contracts, even though such relationships have all the elements of an employment relationship. Due to the conditions on the labor market and unfavorable conditions that prohibit other forms of employment, the falsely self-employed inadequately use the judicial protection. Determining the existence of employment relationship undoubtedly represents an extremely complex and legally demanding area of labor law. Enforcing and proving the existence of employment relationship is also encumbered by unclear, non-transparent and extremely complicated rules of procedure, especially in terms of deadlines for enforcing the judicial protection. Slovenian law is especially undefined in this area and most of the rules were developed and enforced by the case law. Courts modernized the definition of the employment relationship and in terms of substantive law, they established the existence numerous case laws on employment relationship. Case law established various indicators to determine whether work performed constitutes an employment relationship in terms of law. To ensure a consistent enforcing of labor law in the area of disguised work relationships, it would have been necessary to regulate and adapt the procedural rules in terms of deadlines and demands for enforcing the employment relationship, which might simplify the access to courts and at the same time improve the supervision of inspectors