Several companies in Slovenia will pay out generous Christmas bonuses to their employees this year, especially those in the pharmaceutical, financial and ICT sectors.

Left-wing Labour Minister Luka Mesec triggered a firestorm of criticism in 2022 by proposing a mandatory Christmas bonus and the proposal was dropped after a public consultation period.

But many companies hand out Christmas bonuses and some are very generous. Standing out among those for which data is available is Datalab Tehnologije, a Ljubljana-based developer of ICT solutions for businesses. Its staff are looking at €4,900 gross each.

The Novo Mesto-based pharmaceutical company Krka will pay out a €170 higher Christmas bonus this year, at €2,343 gross. The company also rewards employees for their performance twice a year.

Another pharma company, Ljubljana-based Lek, will give out a Christmas bonus of €2,000 gross per employee in mid-December, raising last year's figure by €250 gross. The staff will also receive a performance bonus in January.

Insurers Zavarovalnica Triglav and Sava Re do not have information about their bonuses yet. The latter paid €1,900 gross last year. At Zavarovalnica Generali employees will receive between €1,000-1,500 or 40% of average pay.

Attractive bonuses at banks, energy companies

The state-owned NLB bank told the Slovenian Press Agency that, given the business results, it will pay out bonuses this year like every year but it would not give any numbers yet.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian-owned bank OTP Banka, which was created through a merger between the banks NKBM and SKB, said they would reward their employees with €1,540.

In the energy sector, national grid operator ELES will pay out Christmas bonus in at least the same amount as last year, i.e. €2,102 on average, while Gen Energija is to make the decision in the first half of next year. Last year, it paid out €2,102 on average.

The country's leading fuel retailer Petrol announced a performance bonus in the amount of €1,700 gross after paying out €1,600 gross last year. The Slovenian branch of the Hungarian MOL group has not provided any information yet.

Telecommunications provider Telekom Slovenije will reward its staff with a Christmas bonus of €2,343 gross, which matches the average monthly gross wage in the country.

A1 and Telemach have not reached a final decision on the bonuses yet, and neither has postal operator Pošta Slovenije, where staff recently threatened to strike over work conditions. Last year, they received €350 gross.

Lower bonuses at retailers

Slightly lower bonuses are expected at retailer Mercator, which will pay out €240 gross to employees in e-vouchers, the same as last year.

Meanwhile, Spar Slovenija will pay out performance bonuses in the amount of €548 gross in addition to giving out individual bonuses for outstanding achievements. In total €3.5 million in bonuses is being paid out this week.

No decision has been made about bonuses at Tuš yet, while Hofer has set it at €400 gross, which is €100 more than last year. Staff at Lidl will receive just as much on their Lidl voucher cards.

Other companies will also pay out bonuses, including the Dutch Heineken-owned brewer Pivovarna Laško Union, where it will stand at €750 gross, and the Chinese-owned appliance maker Hisense Europe, where it will be €50 higher than last year at €900 gross.

In the automotive industry, where generous bonuses are usually paid out, the final decisions are yet to be made. However, tyre maker Goodyear Slovenija says it will pay out €1,000 gross in annual bonus, the same as battery maker Tab.

Standing out among other sectors is maker of prefab homes Lumar, where employees will receive some €2,400 in January, up 10% compared to last year.

Christmas bonuses are not paid out in the public sector. Performance-related payments are tax-free, but social security contributions are paid off of them. The bonuses that do not exceed average monthly salary are exempt from income tax.