At the invitation of the Portuguese Presidency, State Secretary Dr Božo Predalič and Director of Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants Katarina Štrukelj joined an informal ministerial video conference on integration and the impact of the pandemic on the access of migrants to the labour market. State Secretary Predalič commended the Portuguese initiative agreeing with the rest of the participants that "the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted integration policies and that access to the labour market by migrants is no exception either." Slovenia adopted a number of measures to address in as flexible way as possible the status and rights of workers in essential professions. "Sadly, many were left out of work as a result of the pandemic, but this occurred independently of their worker status. Those with fixed-term contracts were made to leave their jobs first," said Predalič noting "that in Slovenia these workers have been supported with unemployment benefits and solidarity allowances."