The field isn't regulated by law and is a new form of slavery, warn the president of the National Youth Council of Slovenia, Tea Jarc, and the president of the Mladi plus union, Sanja Lebar Trojar.

Doing an internship or volunteering is mandatory in some educational institutions before graduating and earning a vocational title. In other situations it's being carried out in order to acquire work experience. The state has no overview of how this volunteering process is being carried out in any of the above mentioned cases.

The young work even up to 16 hours per day
It is impossible to ascertain the number of young people who work from 8, and even up to 16 hours per day in the private sector. The relevant ministries either refuse to reveal this information, don't have it, or they all have different information.
Unclear facts

According to Sanja Lebar Trojar, the Ministry of Education informed them that in the 2013/2014 school year there were 200 volunteers in doing work in primary schools and 44 in kindergartens, who were all there in order to get their teaching certificates; in the year 2014 there were 400 volunteers in primary schools and 11 in kindergartens, while in the 2014/2015 school year there are 199 volunteers in primary schools and 47 in kindergartens. This year there were only two volunteers working at the Slovenian Financial Administration FURS, while last year there were 57 interns at the Slovenian Tax Administration Office DURS.

The young don't make coffee
»Interns do the most unpaid work while volunteering for public administration offices. Young people don't make coffee there. They do professional work which should be done by others.« said Tea Jarc. She also called on PM Miro Cerar to cancel all open calls for internships until his government doesn't regulate the field.

Let the government volunteer!
Tea Jarc and Sanja Lebar Trojar called on all the relevant authorities and officials to continue doing their work voluntarily, until this issue is resolved. They demand a thorough analysis of the issue and its regulation. They also want internships to be abolished in places where volunteering is not necessary for the acquisition of a professional title. They're also in favour of mandatory supervision of the whole area.

Exploitative offices
The public sector at least admits that they do have interns which they can't afford to pay, or let alone employ them, once they even acquire professional titles. On the other hand students fear revealing the names of other employees who take advantage of them and threaten them with lawsuits. Ana Belčič, a student of architecture who has completed her studies but not yet graduated, explains that the incomplete legislation is to blame for the unregulated conditions on the market. It enables a one-month student internship, which is often prolonged as the list of everyday work activities for students of architecture grows.

An architect during the day, a waiter during the night
According to Ana Belčič architecture students work in offices for free during the day, and work in bars during the night. The Slovenian Chamber of Architecture is aware of the problem, however those that take advantage of the young have not yet been sanctioned. The young keep listening to false promises that their work will be paid, if it is to be awarded at a competition. Many of them therefore decide to leave Slovenia.

Saša Banjanac Lubej; translated by K. J.