According to the official data of the Tax Administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the period from January 1 to January 16, 2025, the total number of applications for employment was 2065 workers, while the number of deregistrations was 6769.
For the same period last year, the number of registrations was slightly higher, 2736, while the number of withdrawals was 6105.
These data clearly indicate that there are no significant changes in the trend of employee registrations and deregistrations, regardless of the attempts of individuals to present different data – says Vojin Mijatović.
The sector of education and public administration stands out in particular, in which the deregistration of workers dominates. Thus, in the first 16 days of January 2025, 1,659 workers were deregistered from the education and public administration sector, while the same number in 2024 amounted to 2,313 workers. This trend indicates stability and similar patterns in labor force exits in this sector.
Without a clear economic calculation, using mostly populist arguments about helping vulnerable workers, the Minister of Trade of FBiH pompously announced during the year before last that he would introduce a non-working Sunday in the Federation. The terminology itself was problematic considering that the issue of work and non-work is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, not trade.
Prohibition of work
Therefore, this is actually not a non-working Sunday, but a ban on shops. Finally, in the second half of last year, the Law on Internal Trade, which prohibited the operation of shops on Sundays, was first adopted by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then in both houses of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which enabled it to enter into force.
However, it was clear from the beginning that all things were not well thought out, so the HDZ conditioned its support on making an exemption from the non-working Sunday for Orašje, to which the FBiH Government agreed. Then, after Orašje had already received an exemption, Hasičević decided to draw up some kind of rulebook on the conditions that a municipality could be exempted from the ban on working on Sundays.
And the catastrophic consequences of the decision to shut down the economy for 50 days a year, which economists warned about, can be seen already in the first weeks after the entry into force of this provision. Therefore, it should not be surprising that a large number of municipalities requested an exemption from this provision, such as Maglaj and the Municipality of Stari Grad, and some will do so in the coming period, such as the entire Tuzla Canton.
Representative in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, Admir Čavalić, in an interview with “Dnevni avaz”, says that this decision has proven to be absurd and that he has no doubts that it will soon be repealed.
– The biggest damage is done by the workers – from those who have been fired to those who now work overtime on other days, especially on Saturdays, to those who now have to work in the morning hours or late at night on Sundays at the drug store. Closing facilities in half of the country minus Orasje represents a kind of economic experiment. The price of that experiment is paid by everyone, with the exception of the RS, Brčko District and Orašje – points out Čavalić.
Withdrawal of decision
Representative Dennis Gratz agrees with his opinion, who believes that it is a matter of days when this decision will be withdrawn.
– As the days pass, and more and more cities from the FBiH request an exemption from the idiocy called non-working Sunday, the withdrawal of this decision is inevitable. The experiment failed – says Gratz.
And while the FBiH Government is facing an increasing number of requests from municipalities to be exempted from the ban on working on Sundays, the devastating economic data and the chaos they have created on the ground clearly tell them that the only logical solution would be to abandon this failed experiment and stop to play with an economy that they obviously don’t understand.
A loss of 200 million
The cancellation of the decision to ban work on Sundays was openly requested from the Administration for Indirect Taxation, referring to alarming data, writes Avaz.
– The FBiH will lose, and the RS will gain 16,540,000 KM in income from indirect taxes per month or 198,500,000 KM, therefore, close to 200 million KM per year due to the ban on working on Sundays – warned Zijad Krnjić, a member of the Management Board of the Administration for Indirect Taxation of BiH.
