Minimum accommodation standards for foreign workers in Slovenia

Employers who provide accommodation to foreign nationals in Slovenia must meet the minimum living and hygiene standards in article 10 of the Employment, Self-employment and Work of Foreigners Act. The figures sit in separate rules. The Labour Inspectorate supervises, and the fine runs from 3,000 to 30,000 EUR.

What the rules actually require

The criteria are set by the Rules on minimum standards for accommodation of foreign nationals employed or working in the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette RS, no. 71/11), in force since 1 January 2012. The rules do not speak of general suitability. They speak of floor area and headcount.

Each occupant must have at least 6 square metres for sleeping, 1 square metre for the kitchen and 1 square metre for living, excluding sanitary rooms. No more than six people may live in a room used for living, sleeping and eating.

Beyond floor area the rules require warm floor coverings, thermally insulated walls and ceiling, doors and windows that seal and open for ventilation, premises maintained in usable condition, heating, and a first aid cabinet mounted where it is visible and reachable by all occupants.

The hygiene half is written as a ratio of users. Where sanitary facilities are shared by up to and including five users, there must be a flush toilet, a washbasin and a shower with cold and hot water. For six or more users there must be at least one flush toilet per five users and at least one washbasin and one shower with cold and hot water per ten users. Toilet and shower must be physically separated from living rooms, and sanitary facilities must be physically separated by gender. Ventilation and electric lighting must be provided, and floors and walls finished in materials that can be cleaned with sanitary cleaning agents.

The tenancy agreement for the accommodation must state the floor area, the number of people using it and the rent. The rent is set by contract, and a dispute over it is decided by the competent court.

Who supervises and what follows a breach

Supervision of the rules belongs to the Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia. Where a breach is suspected and the owner or user objects to an inspection of the premises, the inspector must first obtain a decision of the competent court and ensure that two adults are present as witnesses.

A report of a breach can be filed by the foreign national, by co-tenants from the same or a nearby building, by an interested non-governmental organisation or by any other interested party. That matters for risk assessment. Inspections often begin not with a planned campaign but with a report from someone living in the building.

The penalty framework sits in article 54 of the act. An employer or work contractor that fails to provide the minimum living or hygiene standards is fined 3,000 to 30,000 EUR, the responsible person 500 to 2,500 EUR, and an individual 500 to 1,500 EUR. A final fine under this article also triggers a one year ban on employing and engaging foreign nationals, covered in the review of hiring bans and labour inspectorate fines.

What the 2025 inspection data shows

In its 2025 report the Labour Inspectorate recorded 52 breaches of the Employment, Self-employment and Work of Foreigners Act. Of those, 26, exactly half, concerned the living and hygiene standards in article 10. No other provision of that act was breached as often.

Those proportions are useful for planning. Accommodation is not a side task in a hiring project. It is the single most common source of an offence across the whole body of rules on foreign nationals. The rules are also one of the few instruments where compliance can be measured in advance, with a tape measure and a count of beds.

The accommodation declaration is part of the application. The employer must mark on the permit application whether accommodation will be provided in premises owned or leased by the applicant, or by a legal or natural person with a capital link to the applicant. An application for a single permit includes a signed employer declaration on whether accommodation is provided. The remaining steps on arrival are set out in the guide to the logistics of relocating a non-EU hire. Werklist runs this part of the project for employers in Slovenia, and the scope of that work is set out on the employers page.

The rules are old and short, which is exactly what makes them firm. Six square metres per person for sleeping, no more than six people in a room, one toilet per five users. A building that misses those three numbers will not become compliant through better fittings or a higher standard elsewhere.