Labor Relations
Serbia's Labor Law follows current European standards and international labor conventions.
Labor Contracts
Labor contracts may be signed for an indefinite or a definite period of time. A labor contract for a definite period of time may be established for specific engagements, such as seasonal jobs, specific projects, etc. Contracts for a definite period of time may last maximum 3 years with or without recess.
The Labor Law allows for temporary contracts defining temporary work relating to the employer's line of business that does not exceed 120 days during a calendar year. In that case, an employee is entitled to pension, disability insurance, and health insurance. In addition, companies can meet their needs by using part time working contracts. Finally, short-term agreements include special service contracts for jobs outside the company's line of business, in particular, physical labor or intellectual work.
Salaries and Salary Compensations
The minimum salary has to be at the statutory minimum wage determined by mutual consent of the Serbian government, labor unions, and the association of employers currently standing at €0.61 per hour. In addition, the employee has the right to receive additional percentage of the salary based on the overtime, public holidays, night work, and work in shifts. Salary compensations include the following:
- Compensations during sick leave due to occupational disease or injury at work (65% of the salary),
- Compensations during the annual leave, public holidays, and paid leave (100% of the salary).
Working Hours
Statutory working hours in Serbia are 40 hours per week, whilst time over the statutory hours is considered overtime and may amount up to 4 hours per day or 8 hours per week. The Law states that an employee is obliged to work overtime in cases of enforced measures, sudden increase in work volume, and when an unplanned task must be completed within a specified time limit.
It is required to reduce working hours for work done under particularly difficult working conditions and/or harmful effects. The working hours can be decreased by up to 10 hours per week and proportionally to the harmful effects of the working conditions.
Recess, Leave and Absence
A recess is at least 30 or 15 minutes depending on whether an employee works full time or 4-6 hours a day. An employee has the right to a recess between two consecutive working days of at least 12 hours, while a weekly recess is no less than 24 hours.
Annual leave can be used after a minimum of 6 months from the employment contract starting date and totals a minimum of 20 days per year.
Maternity leave lasts up to 3 months starting from the date of delivery. Upon the expiry of the maternity leave, the mother or father of the child may use a paid leave for infant care for a total of 365 days, which includes maternity leave.
Termination of Employment
The employment may be terminated based on the employee's or the employer's initiative, and the expiration of the contract. The employee is obliged to give a 15 days advance notice in writing to the employer. In addition, the statutory retirement age for men is 63 years of age and for women-58 years of age. However, employees may retire following 10 years of paying into the statutory pension plan and reaching the required age for retirement.
Layoff Regulations
Layoffs can be individual and collective.
An individual can be dismissed for just cause related to the employee's work ability, qualifications, behavior, and/or employer's requirements. If the employment contract has been terminated due to unsatisfactory performance or lack of required qualifications and ability, an employee is entitled to a severance pay.
A collective layoff is at effect if the employer is dismissing at least 10% of a minimum of 50 employees within one calendar year. The employer is obliged to present a 'preservation plan' to the labor authorities and labor union representatives.
