Employment in Serbia is regulated by the Labour Law. While you have freedom to decide what tasks to assign to your employees, it would be useful to get familiar with the most important aspects of the Labour Law.
To make sure that your company is compliant with regulations it is recommended that you consult with your accountant or an HR advisor.
What does Serbian Labour Law define?
Serbian Labour Law defines most important aspects of employment. It stipulates all the rights and obligations of an employment relationship, such as conditions for employment, Labour Contract, working hours, holidays and leave, protection of employees, etc.
What are general employee obligations?
In general employee is obliged to:
- to conscientiously and responsibly carry out the tasks on which he works;
- to respect the organization of work and business with the employer, as well as the conditions and rules of the employer in relation to the fulfilment of contractual and other obligations arising from employment;
- to inform the employer of significant circumstances that affect or could affect the performance of the tasks specified in the employment contract;
- to inform the employer of any type of potential danger to life and health and the occurrence of material damage.
What are general employers’ obligations?
The same way Labour Law stipulates general responsibilities of an employee it stipulates the responsibilities of an employer. Therefore, employer is obliged to pay the employee for the work performed, in accordance with the law, general act and employment contract and provide the employee with working conditions and organize work for the safety and protection of life and health at work, in accordance with the law and other regulations.
Additionally, employer is obliged to provide the employee with information on working conditions, organization of work and the rights and obligations arising from labour regulations and regulations on safety and health and safety at work, as well as to provide the employee with conditions to perform the tasks specified in the employments contract.
Finally, it is employer’s obligation to request the opinion of the Union in cases stipulated by law, and if the Union has not formed from the representatives appointed by the employees.
What does Labour Contract govern?
First of all, it is necessary to state that employment is based on a Labour Contract. While it may not contain provisions granting the employee less rights or establishing less favourable working conditions than the rights and conditions established by Labour Law, Labour Contract must contain following provision:
- name and seat of employer;
- personal name of the employee, place of permanent or temporary residence of the employee;
- the type and degree of professional qualification, i.e. education of the employee, which are a prerequisite for performing the activities for which the Labour Contract is concluded;
- the name and description of the tasks that the employee should perform;
- place of work;
- the type of employment (for an indefinite or fixed term);
- the duration of the fixed-term employment contract and the basis for the fixed-term Labour Contract;
- day of commencement of work;
- working hours (full, part-time or short time);
- the amount of basic salary at the date of conclusion of the Labour Contract;
- elements for determining basic salary, performance, remuneration, increased earnings and other employee benefits;
- deadlines for payment of earnings and other benefits to which the employee is entitled;
- duration of daily and weekly working hours.
If an HR expert assists you already during recruitment, you can rest assured that all the relevant aspects of the Serbian Labour Law will be considered while formulating the position and drawing up the Labour Contract. This ensures that hiring a new employee will be the beginning of a beautiful employment relationship.
