The working group working on the preparation of the new General Collective Agreement will continue its work on January 21st, and in addition to the union's request to increase the calculation value of the coefficient from 90 to 100 euros, the entire package of requests put forward by employers and the Government will be considered, which refers to a different standardization of sick leave, reducing the cost of sick leave for the employer from 60 to 30 days, reviewing standards for rewarding workers, working on Sundays for shops, and a seven-hour working day.
This was confirmed to "Vijesti" by participants in yesterday's meeting of representatives of social partners with the Prime Minister. Milojko Spajić.
A new meeting of social partners with the Prime Minister has been scheduled for January 23rd, in order to try to have the new General Agreement signed by the end of January.
The calculation value of the coefficient is a basic element of salary calculation, and its increase from 90 to 100 euros would mean an increase in the salary for these workers by about ten percent. This would not apply to activities where sectoral agreements already define it at amounts of 100 euros or more.
The General Labor Code, which defines a significant scope of labor rights such as rights to overtime and holiday pay, severance pay, annual vacations, paid leave, benefits, union work, etc., expired on December 30th, and by amending the Labor Law on December 31st, MPs extended the validity of the existing law until March 31st.
The unions demanded that the new OKU with the increased calculation value be signed by the end of January, because with each month of delay, employees would lose out on an increase in their earnings.
Representatives of the Ministry of Finance will also participate in the meeting on January 23, who should provide an estimate of how much the increase in the calculation value would affect the state budget. An earlier unofficial estimate was that the total increase in wages would be around 70 to 80 million euros per year, but this is not a final analysis because the state would also have increased revenue from taxes and contributions on wages by the percentage of their increase. Also, part of the public sector and state-owned enterprises already have a calculation value of 100 and more euros through collective agreements.
The Union of Free Trade Unions, the Confederation of Trade Unions and the Employers' Union sent a joint letter to the Ministry of Finance on December 11th, requesting that a new General Collective Agreement (GCA) be concluded by the end of the year, which would, among other things, discuss increasing the calculation value of the coefficient from 90 to 100 euros. However, no agreement was reached by the end of December.
The Parliament extended the validity of the old Collective Labor Agreement so that around one hundred thousand employees, whose basic labor rights are not protected by sectoral collective agreements or employer contracts, would not be left without them.
The calculation value of the coefficient was set at 90 euros 13 years ago and has not been changed since then. The obligation from the General Collective Agreement, which was last signed at the end of 2022, is to review its amount at the end of each year by December 31 by adjusting it to inflation, movements in the minimum consumer basket, cost of living, economic factors..., however, this has not been done since then.
The same article of the General Terms and Conditions also states that "in the event that the contracting parties do not review and agree on the calculation value of the coefficient in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article (by December 31), the calculation value of the coefficient from paragraph 1 of this article (of 90 euros in the following year as well) will apply."
"We consider the increase in the calculation value of the coefficient (OVK) from 90 to 100 euros necessary in order to preserve the positive effects of "Europe Now" 1 and 2, which were undermined by inflationary trends in the previous period. In doing so, we also took into account the position of the World Bank, which requires us to reduce public spending and maintain salaries in 2026 at the level of 2025. However, we believe that budget expenditures for employee salaries, which would follow the increase in the OVK, could be compensated from internal reserves, so as not to increase the budget," it was stated, among other things, in the letter from social partners to the Ministry of Finance dated December 11.
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