A1 certificate for posted workers – terms and conditions

When opening a company in Slovenia, many entrepreneurs also decide to do business in Europe. Some only have clients or suppliers in other EU states where they issue invoices to. For this kind of business, your Slovenian company has to enter into the VAT system and you do not need to obtain additional certificates.

But if you plan to provide your company’s services directly in that EU member state, you would have to assign posted workers in order for them to perform the services directly on-site. Posted workers are very common in construction business, where companies do not do business in Slovenia as well as abroad. But posting workers on assignments is also popular with other company types, like IT, event planning etc. When posting your workers to work in other EU member states, all of them need to obtain an A1 certificate.

What is an A1 certificate?

The A1 certificate is a confirmation with which the worker can prove that even when he/she is working abroad, he is still enrolled in basic social security in Slovenia through his salary in Slovenia.

The Slovenian Insurance Office (ZZZS) issues the A1 certificate. When issuing it, they check if the employers fulfilled the conditions of issuing this certificate. They obtain all the necessary information from the Agency for Public Legal Records and Services (AJPES), the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS), the Labor Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia and from their own records and previously issued A1 certificates.

What conditions does the employer have to fulfill to post workers to projects in other EU states?

The employer has to submit an application for issuing the A1 certificate to the Slovenian Insurance Office (ZZZS). When applying the company has to fulfill the following conditions:

• the company has to be registered in the Slovenian business registry at least 2 months,
• it has to have an unblocked bank account,
• it has to have the appropriate number of employees employed in accordance with the size of the company and the number of posted workers,
• performs the business activity that is listed in the application,
• does not violate the important provisions of the Labor Law,
• the company submitted all calculations for the taxes related to employment before submitting the application,
• that the company has no outstanding tax debt to the government.

Employers can only apply for the A1 certificate for the posted workers it they paid all taxes and contributions

When applying for the A1 certificate, the Slovenian Insurance Office (ZZZS) also checks if the employer has fulfilled the abovementioned conditions. They also connect with the Slovenian Tax Office (FURS) to check if the company has submitted all calculations from employment income (salary calculation, called REK-1). They also check if the company has no other outstanding debt to the government.

If the company exists for less than 6 months, they check the whole period since company registration.

In case a company gets a rejection for issuing the A1 certificate due to unpaid salaries or other tax obligations, they can reapply when settling the debt. But when reapplying they also have to obtain a certificate (C140) from FURS in order to prove that they have no more outstanding debt.

Do you need help registering a company in Slovenia? Data d.o.o. has been assisting entrepreneurs for over 28 years!

If you need a trusted partner to help you register your company in Slovenia, Data d.o.o. can offer full support.

We can assist in obtaining documents for company registrations.

You can also register the company in our office, as we are a licensed VEM point.

Our legal team can help you to understand the legislation regarding posted workers. They can also help you to submit the application for the A1 certificate.

The accountants of Data d.o.o. can make sure that your employees’ salary calculations are done in accordance to Slovenian legislation and accountancy standards.

If your company requires a business address, we can offer services of virtual office.

For more information on company registration in Slovenia, send us an e-mail to data@data.si. You can also contact us over the phone 00386 1 6006 270 or 00386 40 530 718 (Viber, WhatsApp). You can also follow us on Facebook.