The agreement sets down employment conditions, procedures for issuing work permits, and obligations of employers and foreign workers.

Encouraging workers to integrate into Slovenian society and conditions to return home are also set down.

The agreement was signed by Labour Minister Anja Kopač Mrak and Serbian counterpart Zoran Đorđević on the margin of a session of the Slovenian and Serbian governments.

It is modelled on a similar accord Slovenia had signed with Bosnia, the country from which it has the largest number of foreign workers; Serbia places second.

The agreement with Bosnia has brought positive results in that it has put an end to problematic employment practices and increased the workers' legal protection, the Labour Ministry said in a press release.

Kopač Mrak was quoted as saying that the agreement did the same for workers from Serbia, at the same time responding to the shortage of workers in some Slovenian industries.

A special protocol will specify how candidates for jobs in Slovenia are selected, but in general only people who are already looking for a job in Serbia will qualify.

A Serbian worker will first get a permit to work here for three years, and the employer will have to give them a contract for at least one year.

Following the first year, the worker will have an option to get free access to the labour market, having no longer be tied to his first employer, the ministry explained.