Control of employers in all municipalities regarding compliance with salary calculations under the "Europe Now 2" program is carried out by 22 inspectors. The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue, due to the increasing number of companies on the domestic market and the broad competence of the Labor Inspectorate, plans to hire more of these, as well as occupational health and safety inspectors.
This was officially told to "Vijesta" by the department he manages Naida Nišić, but they did not specify the optimal number of inspectors they need.
Amendments to the Law on Mandatory Social Contributions entered into force on October 1, abolishing the employer's pension insurance contribution of 5,5 percent of gross salary, and reducing the employee's contribution from 15 to 10 percent.
Then the amendment to the Labor Law entered into force, increasing the minimum wage from 450 to 600 euros for those who work in positions that require education up to the fifth level of education, i.e. 800 euros for jobs that are defined by systematization as requiring a high school education. with a sixth or higher degree of education.
"Until now, controls have been carried out ex officio on the territory of all municipalities. The inspectors control whether the employees have been paid the minimum wage provided for by the Labor Law, as well as whether the reduction of contributions to the mandatory social insurance at the expense of the employee has been paid to the employees by the employer as part of their salary (this part of the control refers to persons who, before the implementation of the program Europe now 2, already receiving earnings above 600 euros, i.e. 800 euros). Currently, 22 inspectors are engaged in the work of performing inspection supervision", said the Department of Labor.
"Vijesti" asked how many fines the inspectors have written on this basis so far and in what amount, but the Ministry of Labor did not disclose that information.
They also explained that non-payment of the minimum wage is not prescribed as a misdemeanor, which is why the inspector cannot impose a fine, so in the case of established irregularities, he issues a warning measure or a decision giving employers a deadline to eliminate these problems. If the employer does not comply with these measures, the inspectors may, according to the Law on Inspection Supervision, impose fines of 500 to 5.000 euros until enforcement.
In the event that, as they say, the companies do not pay the reduced contributions to the mandatory social security at the expense of the employee as part of the salary, a fine of 2.200 euros can be imposed, and entrepreneurs can be fined 500 euros.
When asked if they also control the ministries, considering that the state is also the employer, the department stated that they are not responsible for that.
"The significant increase in the number of business entities in recent years and the wide-ranging jurisdiction of the labor inspection, which controls the implementation of around 20 regulations, in order to more comprehensive and effective control of employers, it would be necessary to employ an additional number of inspectors. Bearing in mind that the Labor Inspection is under the jurisdiction of our department from October 1, 2024, we will certainly undertake all activities and measures in the future with the aim of improving both the number of labor inspectors and the inspectors of the occupational health and safety inspection, they stated from Ministries.
500 - 5.000 euros can be fined by companies if they do not pay the reduced contributions to the mandatory social insurance at the expense of the employee as part of the salary
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic at the beginning of November, he said that, unfortunately, there is not a sufficient number of inspectors to monitor compliance with the measures from the Europe Now 2 program. He also emphasized that the reform of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs (UIP) had been carried out, with which inspections were divided by departments, so ministers have no excuse not to they are doing their job.
The UIP was officially closed on October 1, with inspectors, inspections and other officials being distributed within state departments.
The Government previously said that they decided to do so because they were dissatisfied with the work of the UIP, and that they believe that the return of inspections to the ministries will bring better results.
"Any minister who does not do his job will no longer be able to blame the UIP, but it will be - you, comrade, are not doing your job, your ministry is not doing well. That is the goal of this reform, and we hope that it will encourage all ministries to work at full steam," Spajić pointed out.
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