Santa Clauses – in some companies the decision has already been made. Where are the highest?

In most companies, concrete numbers have not yet been served. Of all the ones we contacted, the highest – otherwise variable – awards will be paid out to the technology company Datalab. On average, they will amount to 4,900 euros per employee. The exact amounts are still in the confirmation phase, but once they are determined by the company, they plan to make the payments by the end of the year. However, employees also have the option of paying a bonus in the form of stock options,with which they can increase their reward even more,” announced Datalab.

Lumar employees will also receive an award for business performance. The company, which develops energy-efficient prefabricated houses, will reward them with around 2,400 euros gross at the beginning of January. The payment will be one tenth higher than in 2023.

This week, the owner of Gorenje adopted an agreement on end-of-year rewards. The management of the Hisense Europe group and the trade union have agreed that 5,500 employees in the group’s companies will receive a Christmas bonus, which will amount to 900 euros gross, which is 50 euros more than last year, and will be paid on December 16.

Merchants will mostly reward

The amount of the reward for business performance is also known for most companies with retail chains. More than two thousand employees in Hofer will receive 400 euros gross in December, which is 100 euros more than last year. “The amount of the award is not affected by possible absence from work, e.g. from the title of sick stock,” they wrote at the company and added that their colleagues also received holiday pay in the amount of 1,800 euros in June.

A little more than two thousand Lidl employees will also receive a 400 euro gross reward from business performance, which will be paid out on a value card. The amount will be the same for all employees, regardless of whether they are part-time or full-time. »The employees of Lidl Slovenia will thus receive a total of 800 euros gross this year as a result of their business performance; they received the same amount (400 euros) already in March,” the corporate communications department announced, stressing that this year they also paid out the highest ever annual leave allowance.

In Spar, around 5,200 employees will be paid a bonus, which is tied to business performance, in the amount of 33 percent of their salary. The average payout will be approximately 584 euros gross. “In addition, the company will reward those employees who have demonstrated above-average individual achievements,” they point out in Spar, where the awards will be paid out on December 10. This year, the employees also received a holiday in the amount of 2,000 euros.

Engrotuš, which manages the Tuš stores, has not yet made a decision regarding the payment of the Christmas bonus. Last year, it was paid out on a value card in the amount of 190 euros.

Mercator and Eurospin have not (yet) answered our questions. Last year, Mercator gave employees 240 euros in Christmas gifts in the form of vouchers.

There will be a reward, but it is not yet clear how much

Some companies have already made the decision to reward employees, but have not yet determined the amount of the reward. The system operator of the transmission electricity network Eles assured that the amount will not be lower than last year, when employees were paid 1,400 euros gross. Petrol will pay a performance bonus, but they are still coordinating the details of the payment. Last year, employees received 1,600 euros gross. Talum from Kidričevo announced that the payment for business performance in the form of the 13th salary has been agreed with the union; the award will be paid no later than December 31, and its amount is determined as a proportion of the planned profit. Exact estimates of the business result will be known shortly, at which time they will define the amount that will be allocated to slightly more than a thousand workers in the company where primary aluminum and aluminum alloys are produced.

Christmas will also be paid by two pharmacists, Lek and Krka. The management of the company based in Novi Mesto has not yet decided on the amount (last year it was a good 2,174.70 euros gross), but in Lek, “in accordance with the exceptional achievements and efforts of the employees”, the amount will be revealed next Thursday. On December 15, Lek’s employees will receive a proportional amount based on the time of employment this year, while agency employees will receive the Christmas bonus in the same amount through the agency. Last year, the Christmas market in Lek brought in 1,750 euros. »In addition to the Christmas bonus, Lek’s collective agreement also regulates payment for work and business performance, which is calculated based on the employee’s actual contribution and the company’s performance,” added the first Slovenian pharmaceutical company, which employs approximately four thousand people and is part of the Swiss Sandoz group. Employees will receive payment for work and business performance at the beginning of the next year based on the results and performance of the previous business year.

In many places, there is still no decision on the reward

Some other companies were more stingy with their answers. At Cinkarna Celje, they wrote that the decision on the payment of bonuses to employees will be known within the next few days, and that they will first communicate it to slightly more than 700 employees. The decision on the payment of the award for business success has not yet been made in Dars and Pošta Slovenije, where employees were rewarded with 350 euros gross last year.

In the Slovenian State Holding, which last year paid employees a Christmas bonus of one thousand euros, they explained that the management had not yet decided on rewarding the employees. Also, two insurance companies, Sava Re Group and Zavarovalnica Triglav, have not yet decided on the additional payment of employees.

Last year, Telekom Slovenije paid a Christmas bonus in the amount of the last known average monthly salary (2,174.40 euros gross). They have not yet decided what will happen with the payment this year. »The possible payment of part of the salary for business performance (13th salary) depends on the achieved business results in the individual year,” the telecommunications operator explained.

However, employees of NLB cannot expect Christmas, because they do not pay her at the largest Slovenian bank. However, employees can expect rewards for business performance, which is regulated by the collective agreement and depends on the bank’s achieved results. »Although the financial year is not yet over, we estimate that the results of the parent bank will enable the payment this year as well,” NLB answered our question, adding that the date and actual amount of the payment are not yet known.

There is no Christmas party (yet) in the public sector

Employees in the public sector are not familiar with Christmas gifts or other forms of reward at the end of the year. The Act on Civil Servants prohibits them from receiving a greater range of rights than those specified by law, by-laws or collective agreements. Civil servants can be rewarded on the basis of regular work performance, work performance due to increased volume of work or sales of goods and services on the market. The “reward” for work done, which can reach up to 20, and in special cases even 50 percent of the basic salary, is paid monthly.

The Minister of Labor, Luka Mesec, announced two years ago that, as part of the amendments to the Law on Employment Relations, they would introduce “mandatory Christmas card“, which would also apply to employees in the public sector. The idea was supported by the trade unions at the time, opposed by the economy, and the proposal was apparently stuck in a drawer until further notice.