In early January 2026, the Slovenian Institute for Economic Democracy published an article by Dr Tej Gonza, Dr David Ellerman, Kosta Juri, Gregor Berkopec and Tilen Božič that discusses the Employee Ownership Cooperative Act. The Act, which was passed in October 2025 by the Slovenian government, aims to facilitate the conversion of private businesses into cooperatives through legal and tax incentives.
A summary from the article can be found below:
In October 2025, Slovenia adopted a new law that will make employee ownership – and employee ownership conversions – on a clear legal and tax footing. The idea behind the Employee Ownership Cooperative Act (EOCA) is to a structured pathway for employees to become long-term co-owners of the company where they work, without requiring workers to pool personal savings or take on personal debt to buy shares.[1]
The objective of legislation as stated in the EOCA is for the employee ownership cooperative (EOC) “to obtain and manage shares [of the operating company] with the purpose of ensuring a long-term and sustainable inclusion of majority of employees in ownership.” While the EOCA may be used to create employee incentive plans (for profit, value, and control sharing), the main purpose is to provide a new tool for exiting owners looking to transfer ownership to a new generation.[2]
You can read the article in full here.