The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare will submit the Draft Amendments to the Labor Law to the European Commission for its opinion after completing internal procedures, such as the report from the public hearing and obtaining the consent of the relevant institutions, representatives of that department announced.
The State Secretary of the Ministry, Anđela Bašović, announced that the key reasons for changing this important law are to comply with two EU directives - on the balance between the business and private life of parents and guardians, and on transparency and predictable working conditions, as well as defining the provisions that remote work is regulated according to the European framework agreement.
Bašović told the Mina-business agency that the changes in the law significantly improve this area and additionally protect employees on probation, organizing its duration for those employees who have concluded a fixed-term employment contract.
"Probationary work cannot last longer than a quarter of the period for which the employment contract was concluded, and certainly not longer than six months," specified Bašović.
As she stated, a longer duration of trial work is also prescribed when the employee is absent from work due to temporary inability to work according to regulations on health care and health insurance, maternity, parental, adoptive, foster and paternity leave.
Bašović emphasized that the intention is to improve the institute of work from home and that in the future it will be more precisely defined and harmonized with European standards.
One of the novelties, she added, is that the employer is obliged to provide the employee with equipment and means for working from home, as well as that it is only a voluntary possibility.
"Precisely, the institute of work outside the employer's premises is voluntary and the employees themselves, if they do not accept that they do not perform the duties of the workplace in this way, they cannot and will not suffer any harmful consequences", emphasized Bašović.
She said that employees who work remotely will have the same rights as employees who work on the employer's premises.
"The draft law stipulates the possibility of inspection if the employee works from home. However, in order to protect the privacy and rights of employees, inspections can only be carried out with prior notification and the consent of the employee", said Bašović.
It is foreseen that after the birth of a child, fathers will have the right to ten paid working days in the future, as well as two months of parental leave from work.
"The aim of the measure is to encourage fathers to use parental leave for a minimum duration of two months, which cannot be transferred to the mother. On the other hand, this measure facilitates the reintegration of mothers into the labor market after maternity and parental leave. Also, the manner in which parents will individually or alternately use the right to parental leave is regulated," Bašović explained.
Bašović pointed out that, among other things, the aim of the changes in the law is to achieve better coordination between the employer and the employee through the changes foreseen.
She reminded that the working group, formed at the tripartite level, prepared the draft amendments to the Labor Law, as well as that this bill will be the result of compromise and consensus with social partners.
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