The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia recently adopted the amendments to the Labor Law and the Law on Employment of Foreigners which do not have a significant scope, but prescribe certain novelties which are of importance for the employers.
Labor Law
Shorter deadline for registration of employees to mandatory social insurance
The employer is now obliged to submit a uniform application for mandatory social insurance, on the basis of employment agreement or other agreement for work performance, at the latest before starting of work of the respective person. Failure to adhere to this deadline represents a misdemeanor for which the respective pecuniary penalty is prescribed.
Daily record on overtime work
There is also a new obligation for the employers to keep a record on overtime work, but its mandatory elements are not determined. Failure to comply with this obligation is a misdemeanor for which the respective pecuniary penalty is prescribed as well.
Delivery of warning on existence of reason for termination of employment agreement
One of the novelties relates to delivery of the warning on existence of reason for termination of employment agreement. In accordance with the newly introduced solution, the detailed provisions regulating delivery of the decision on termination of employment agreement now apply to delivery of the warning as well.
Stricter fines for non-compliance with legal provisions
Pecuniary penalties for non-compliance with certain legal provisions are significantly increased, whereas a new misdemeanor is introduced for failure to make severance payment.
Law on Employment of Foreigners
New exceptions from application of the law
The new provisions stipulate that the Law on Employment of Foreigners does not apply to a family member of the persons engaged in the diplomatic-consular missions of the states with which the Republic of Serbia has concluded a bilateral agreement allowing the persons to perform paid activities in the Republic of Serbia. The members of the author and the acting teams are also excluded from application of the law due to the specificity of their position as well as the specificity of the audiovisual industry, for the purpose of encouraging audiovisual production in the Republic of Serbia.
Work permits for special cases of employment, training and specialization
The new type of work permit for special cases of employment i.e. work permit for training and specialization, has been introduced. This type of work permit will be issued if a foreigner has previously obtained temporary residence permit in the Republic of Serbia and if he has concluded an agreement with the employer on training, internship, professional practice or vocational training. As well as in other cases, this work permit is also issued for the period for which the temporary residence is approved.
Extension of the work permit for the seconded persons and work permits for movement within the company
The possibility of extending work permit for seconded persons and movement within the company that performs activities or services of interest for the Republic of Serbia is now introduced, by prescribing that this working permit can be extended for a period of up to two years.
Deadline for submitting request for extension of work permit
According to the newly introduced solution, the request for extension of the work permit is submitted at the earliest 30 days before expiration of the valid work permit, and no later than the expiry date of the previous work permit. Given that the previous provision was imprecise and created problems in practice, this new legal solution was adopted for the purpose of regulating this matter in a more accurate manner.