Délégués Des Ministres
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
25/02/2016 RAP/RCha/SER/5(2016) EUROPEAN SOCIAL CHARTER 5th National Report on the implementation of the European Social Charter submitted by THE GOVERNMENT OF SERBIA Articles 1, 9, 10, 15, 18, 20, 24 and 25 for the period 01/01/2011 – 31/12/2014 Report registered by the Secretariat on 25 February 2016 CYCLE 2016 REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLES 1, 9, 10, 15, 18, 20, 24 and 25 for 2015 5 Article 1 – The right to work With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to work, the Parties undertake: 1. to accept as one of their primary aims and responsibilities the achievement and maintenance of as high and stable a level of employment as possible, with a view to the attainment of full employment; 2. to protect effectively the right of the worker to earn his living in an occupation freely entered upon; 3. to establish or maintain free employment services for all workers; 4. to provide or promote appropriate vocational guidance, training and rehabilitation. Appendix to Article 1§2 This provision shall not be interpreted as prohibiting or authorising any union security clause or practice. Article 1§1 1) Please describe national employment policy and the general legal framework. Please specify the nature of, reasons for and extent of any reforms. 2) Please indicate the measures taken (administrative arrangements, programmes, action plans, projects, etc.) to implement the legal framework. 3) Please provide pertinent figures, statistics (for example Eurostat data) or any other relevant information, in particular: the GDP growth rate; trends in employment covering all sectors of the economy: employment rate (persons in employment as a percentage of the population aged 15-64 years), youth employment rate; activity rate (total labour force as a percentage of the population aged 15 years and over); unemployment rate, long-term unemployment rate, youth unemployment rate; employment status (employed, self-employed); all figures should be broken down by gender; employment policy expenditure as a share of GDP, including the relative shares of ‘active’ (job creation, training, etc.) and ‘passive’ (financial compensation, etc.) measures. ANSWER: Legislative and Strategic Framework and Measures to be Implemented The legislative framework for the field of employment is comprised of the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance, Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities and the recently adopted Law on Employment of Foreign Nationals. Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance (“Official Gazette of RS”, No 36/2009, 88/2010 and 38/2015), which entered into force on May 23, 2009, regulates employment- related activities and institutions competent for employment affairs, active employment policy measure, financing of the active employment policy programmes and measures, monitoring and assessment of the effects of the measures, rights and obligations of unemployed persons and employers, unemployment insurance, employment abroad and records in the field of employment. Law on Amendments to the Law on Employment and Unemployment Insurance which has been in force since May 7, 2015, more closely defines individual issues for the purpose of achieving more effective implementation of the regulations in practice. Amendments to the Law ensure that the national employment action plan, annually adopted by the Government, proposes 5 6 new measures and programmes in accordance with the needs of the local labour market and based on the effect analysis of previously implemented measures. A new concept of public works has also been defined as one of the active employment policy measures with the aim to engage through work engagement a big number of unemployed persons in public works, who will get the opportunity to improve their work skills and acquire work experience. The obligation of obligatory continuous professional development and training of employees in the NES has also been planned, and their final result will be a provision of better quality services to the employers and unemployed persons. Also, regarding the obligations and responsibilities of the employment agencies, the amendments precisely state the obligations and responsibilities in terms of the responsibilities towards the persons for whom the employment agencies mediated for employment abroad, in particular in the event of their early return from the country where they were sent for work, as well as for the damage suffered by the employee, caused by wrong information on important elements regarding the living and working conditions in the country where the person was sent for work. Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities (“Official Gazette of RS”, No 36/2009 and 32/2013), which entered into force on May 23, 2009, regulates promotion of employment to create conditions for equal participation of persons with disabilities in the labour market, assessment of capacity for work, professional rehabilitation, obligation to employ persons with disabilities, conditions for establishment and operation of enterprises for professional rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities and other special forms employment and recruitment of persons with disabilities and other issues relevant for professional rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. Amendments to the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which entered into force on April 16, 2013, had the objective to align with official statistics and therefore monitor the income movement at monthly level; establishing the balance between various forms of performance of employment obligations in favour of establishing labour relations with persons with disabilities (which is the best option for the employers having in mind the fact that it refers to the employed workers who earn their salary themselves) and alignment of provisions of this law with the defined regulations on the state aid defining the schemes of the state aid for the employment of persons with disabilities. Law on Employment of Foreign Nationals (“Official Gazette of RS”, No 128/2014), which entered into force on December 4, 2014, regulates terms and procedures for employment of foreign nationals in the Republic of Serbia and other issues of importance for employment and work of foreign national in the Republic of Serbia. In comparison with the previously valid Law on Conditions for Employment of Foreign Nationals (“Official Gazette of SFRY”, No 11/78 and 64/89, “Official Gazette of FRY”, No 42/92, 24/94 and 28/96 and “Official Gazette of RS”, No 101/05 – other law), positive effects of the new Law on Employment of Foreign National are the following: fuller regulation of the matter regarding the employment of foreign nationals in line with the latest trends related to the movements of workers and exercising of the rights to work, and alignment with other positive regulations; regulation of the possibility for establishing labour relations with foreign nationals, i.e. conclusion of other contracts for exercising labour rights, as well as self-employment of foreign nationals under specifically defined conditions and within precisely defined periods; possibility to exercise the right to family reunification in certain cases, exercise the unemployment rights and other specific rights, in line with the law; possibility of defining the quota, i.e. limit of the number of foreign nationals exercising the right to work in accordance with the situation and trends in the labour market in the Republic of Serbia; precise regulation of issuance of work permits which contributes to the acceleration and simplifications of the procedures; insight into the total number and movement of foreign nationals exercising the labour rights in the Republic of Serbia, keeping the records regarding the issued work permits, specific and effective surveillance of exercising of labour rights by foreign nationals, stipulating adequate sanctions for persons providing illegal work and stay to foreign nationals, and other issues of importance for recruitment of foreign nationals. A foreign national employed in the Republic of Serbia in line with this law, shall have equal rights and obligations regarding the work, employment 6 7 and self-employment as a local citizen, if the conditions are met in line with the law. For the creation of this law, the ILO conventions were taken into account: Convention No 97 concerning Migration for Employment and Convention No 143 concerning Migration in Abusive Conditions and the Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers; then the relevant directives of the European Union, and the requirements of the World Trade Organisation. Strategic framework of the employment policy is presented in the National Employment Strategy for the period 2011-2020 (“Official Gazette of RS”, No 37/2011, hereinafter referred to as: Strategy), setting the basic objective of the employment policy in the Republic of Serbia until 2020 – establishing the efficient, stabile and sustainable trend of employment growth and full alignment of the employment policy, and the labour market institutions with the EU acquis. The priority activities refer to the increase of employment by investment in the human capital and higher social inclusion. Also, the Strategy defines individual objectives of the active employment policy of the Republic of Serbia, as follows: Encouragement of employment in less developed regions and development of regional