My first salary

by ZS Law
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

The Government of the Republic of Serbia on August 13th, 2020 adopted the Decree on the youth employment promotion Program “My First Salary” (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 107 of August 14, 2020, hereinafter: the “Decree”), which entered into force the following day. The aim of the Decree is to train 10,000 young people with secondary and higher education, up to 30 years of age, without work experience, who are on the unemployment register of the National Employment Service.

The beneficiary of the Program with secondary education will be provided with a monthly financial compensation in the amount of 20,000 dinars, and the beneficiary of the Program with higher education in the amount of 24,000 dinars, for a period of nine months, paid by the National Employment Service. The beneficiary of the Program is entitled to the payment of contributions in case of occupational injuries and occupational diseases, in accordance with the law. In addition to the amount of compensation of 20,000 dinars, or 24,000 dinars, the employer may pay additional compensation to the beneficiary of the Program.

Although the aim of the Regulation is to encourage youth employment, as well as to gain experience and train unemployed persons for independent work, the provisions of the Decree do not provide young people with sufficient rights under the Labor Law, primarily because the Program is implemented without employment and because the Decree is not adopted on the basis of the Labor Law and does not refer to the same law in any of its provisions. In addition to this, it is unclear what kind of contracts are concluded by the National Employment Service, the employer and the beneficiary of the Program, which contracts establish a tripartite relationship.

The fact that the Program is implemented without employment relationship and that it does not refer to the Labor Law does not guarantee young people the basic rights from the Labor Law, such as the right to annual leave and the right to leave due to temporary incapacity for work, which can lead to various abuses by employers. In addition, taxes and contributions will not be paid to young people and they will not have continuity of insurance, and for that reason their work with the Employer can be characterized as a paid internship, rather than as employment. It will certainly mean for young people to gain experience working for employers, but their status after the end of 9 months is still uncertain since employers are not obliged to employ beneficiaries of the Program.

The National Employment Service has issued a public call for the implementation of youth employment promotion Program “My First Salary” and employers are invited to submit a request to participate in the program in the period from August 17th, 2020 until September 25th, 2020, while candidates can apply from October 1st, 2020 until October 15th, 2020. An employer with up to 5 employees has the right to include one unemployed person in the program, an employer with 6 to 14 employees has the right to include a maximum of two unemployed in the program, and an employer with 15 or more employees has the right to include unemployed the number may not exceed 20% of the total number of employees.

If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this topic, we invite you to follow our newsletters and/ or contact Ana Popovic, ana.popovic@zslaw.rs. Partner in the employment department at the Zivkovic Samardzic law office, as well as the regular contact at the Zivkovic Samardzic law office at office@zslaw.rs.


Moja prva plata

Vlada Republike Srbije je dana 13.08.2020. godine usvojila Uredbu o Programu podsticanja zapošljavanje mladih „Moja prva plata“ („Službeni glasnik RS“, broj 107 od 14. avgusta 2020. godine, u daljem tekstu:“Uredba“), koja je sledećeg dana stupila na snagu. Cilj Uredbe je osposobljavanje za samostalan rad 10.000 mladih sa srednjim i visokim obrazovanjem, do navršenih 30 godina života, bez radnog iskustva, koji se nalaze na evidenciji nezaposlenih Nacionalne službe za zapošljavanje. 

Korisniku Programa sa srednjim obrazovanjem obezbediće se mesečna novčana naknada u iznosu od 20.000 dinara, a korisniku Programa sa visokim obrazovanjem u iznosu od 24.000 dinara, u trajanju od devet meseci, koju naknadu isplaćuje Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje. Korisnik Programa ostvaruje pravo na uplatu doprinosa za slučaj povrede na radu i profesionalne bolesti, u skladu sa zakonom. Pored iznosa novčane naknade od 20.000 dinara, odnosno 24.000 dinara, poslodavac može korisniku Programa isplatiti dodatna sredstva.

Iako je cilj Uredbe podsticanje zapošljavanja mladih, kao i sticanje iskustva i osposobljavanje nezaposlenih lica za samostalan rad, odredbe Uredbe ne pružaju mladima dovoljno prava u skladu sa Zakonom o radu, pre svega zato što se Program realizuje bez zasnivanja radnog odnosa i zato što Uredba nije doneta na osnovu Zakona o radu i ni u jednoj svojoj odredbi ne upućuje na isti zakon. Pored ovoga, nejasno je kakva je vrsta ugovora koji zaključuju Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje, poslodavac i korisnik Programa, a kojim ugovorima se uspostavlja trojni odnos. 

Time što se Program realizuje bez zasnivanja radnog odnosa i što se ne poziva na Zakon o radu, mladima se ne garantuju osnovna prava iz Zakona o radu, kao što su pravo na godišnji odmor i pravo na odsustvo sa rada zbog privremene sprečenosti za rad, što može dovesti do raznih zloupotreba od strane poslodavaca. Dodatno, mladima se ne uplaćuju porezi i doprinosi i ne ide im staž, te se iz tog razloga njihov rad kod Poslodavca pre može okarakterisati kao plaćena praksa, nego kao zaposlenje.  Mladima će sigurno značati da stiču iskustvo radeći kod posodavaca, ali je njihov status nakon okončanja 9 meseci i dalje nesiguran iz razloga što poslodavci nisu u obavezi da zaposle korisnike Programa. 

Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje je raspisala javni poziv za realizaciju programa podsticanja zapošljavanja mladih „Moja prva plata“ i poslodavci su pozvani da podnesu zahtev za učešće u programu u periodu od 17.08.2020. godine do 25.09.2020. godine, dok se kandidati prijavljuju od 01.10.2020. godine do 15.10.2020. godine. Poslodavac koji ima do 5 zaposlenih ima pravo da u program uključi jedno nezaposleno lice, poslodavac koji ima od 6 do 14 zaposlenih ima pravo da u program uključi najviše dva nezaposlena, a poslodavac koji ima 15 i više zaposlenih ima pravo da u program uključi nezaposlene čiji broj ne može biti veći od 20% ukupnog broja zaposlenih.

Ako imate bilo kakva pitanja u vezi sa ovom temom, budite slobodni da kontaktirate Anu Popovićana.popovic@zslaw.rs, partnera u advokatskoj kancelariji Živković Samardžić ili Vašu redovnu kontakt osobu u advokatskoj kancelariji Živković Samardžić.

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