The aim of the amendments to the Labor Fund Act is to correct injustice towards victims of transition

Amendments to the Law on Labor Fund envisage resolving the problem of unpaid contributions for pension and disability insurance of employees whose employers have ceased to exist.

According to the proposed changes, workers who cannot exercise their right to a pension due to unpaid contributions will be able to submit a request to the Labor Fund, which will pay the missing part for the acquisition of retirement benefits.

The Directorate of Labor pointed out to "Boje jutra" that there is no precise data on the number of affected workers and closed companies, but that the goal of the law is to correct injustice towards victims of transition. The Employers' Union supported the changes to the law, emphasizing that it is important to enable workers to exercise their right to a pension.

The amendments to the law are currently in the public debate phase, followed by the adoption procedure in parliament. Speaking on Boje jutra, Ivana Mihailović from the Union of Free Trade Unions added that according to the current draft law, only the missing part of the contribution will be paid, and not the entire amount, which is why they expect that in further discussion, the possibility of paying the entire contribution will be considered in order to fully protect the rights of workers.

"What the Union of Free Trade Unions wanted was to pay the entire contribution, which was not paid to workers whose employers ceased to exist, because it is not the same if you have, say, 20 or 25 years of service, to be paid only 15 or only 5 if you are short of reaching the right to a pension, or to be paid your entire service. And in that sense, we have not reached agreement at this point at the working group level, but given that the process has only just been completed and that we are awaiting a public debate, and then, let me say, adoption before parliament, I believe that there is still room to consider the overall picture."