The fundamental problem with employment of persons on the farm stems from the lack of legal status of the farm. According to Article 4 of the Slovenian Agriculture Act, a farm is defined as a form of agricultural holding, which, however, does not have its legal subjectivity. Although agriculture is defined in the Agriculture Act as a form of agricultural holding, it is not disputed that it is a sui generis entity, since it is not a legal entity. The author analyses whether a farm can have an employer status in the employment of persons on farms and identifies opened issues regarding farm employment.

Keywords: employment, work on the farm, employer, farmer, farm, agricultural holdings, status and legal aspect of the farm.

The author discusses forms of work (the term employment for both contracts of employment and civil law contracts is used) in agriculture. She argues that the agricultural holding, organised as a legal entity, is the predominant legal organisational form of employment in the agricultural sector. The author gives a brief overview of the legal regulation of agricultural workers. In addition to employment contracts under the provisions of the Slovenian Employment Relationship Act (Zakon o delovnih razmerjih – ZDR-1), in the agricultural sector are also possible on the basis of civil law contracts, in particular under the provisions of the Obligations Code (Obligacijski zakonik – OZ). A new form of a civil law contract has been introduced by the Agriculture Act (Zakon o kmetijstvu – ZKme-1). This is a contract for temporary or occasional work, which the author critically assesses from the perspective of its regulation as a civil law contract and its necessity.

Key words: agricultural holding organised as a legal entity, forms of employment temporary or occasional work contract.