COVID-19 quarantine costing migrant workers jobs in Slovenia, 24 September 2020

Their rights already often violated, migrant workers in Slovenia say quarantine measures are now costing them their jobs...

Serbians... and Bosnians make up the bulk of the migrant worker population in Slovenia, where they enjoy significantly better pay than in their own countries but often at the price of labour rights.

The Workers’ Counselling Service, the first port of call for migrant workers having issues with their Slovenian employers, says abuse of labour regulations has worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March...

Currently, anyone arriving from a long list of countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, is subject to mandatory quarantine in Slovenia, originally 14 days but this month cut to 10.

[Goran Lukic of the Workers' Counselling Service] said quarantine had cost many migrant workers their jobs and accused employers of being insensitive to the personal reasons that cause migrant workers to visit home and incur quarantine on return to Slovenia...

In August, Slovenia’s Health Ministry reminded employers of the need to provide food and other basics for workers undergoing quarantine, citing reports about some left for 14 days without any support.