Given that the number of employees in the real sector is approaching the number of pensioners, the question arises as to who will fill the budget?
At the same time, workers expect employers to pay them adequately for their work, and as things stand, even two average salaries are not enough to satisfy the consumer basket. Federal Television analyzed what changes await workers and employers after the adoption of the Labor Law of the Federation, which represents one of the most significant reforms of the labor market in recent years.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted to the Government the Preliminary Draft of the Labor Law, which has been worked on for several years and which started the formal procedure for this reform. After the Government, the Parliament will have the last word, and the proponent of the law explains that they want to improve the position of workers and increase legal certainty.
“The law is not passed to harm anyone, especially employers who are the driving force and engine of our society. We will never do anything against them, but we have an obligation to improve the business environment and the rights of workers in the private sector,” says Adnan Delić, Minister of Labor and Social Policy of FBiH (NiP).
All partners in the economic-social dialogue who are involved in its drafting agree that the law is very necessary. The trade union welcomes more flexible use of parental leave, for the first time penal provisions have been introduced for discrimination based on pregnancy, gender and parenthood. The novelty is the abolition of the limit on the duration of annual leave.
“Many things are key – from salaries, salary supplements, to annual vacations, protection of the rights of workers and trade unionists. There are a huge number of things and this is a law that will be of much higher quality than the current one,” says Samir Kurtović, president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Adoption of this law is also extremely important for employers because they want to continue the growth of companies and investments. However, they have a number of suggestions for correction, and they have also done an analysis of the cost of a break within working hours.
“It is clear to me that there were a lot of employers who abused the law, so the workers were given contracts month by month, which is a great uncertainty, but because of such individual cases, the entire economy should not be brought into uncertainty”, says Suad Ećo, president of the Executive Board of the Sarajevo Canton Employers’ Association.
“We are dissatisfied with the solutions of certain institutes in the law, first of all, with the types of contracts. We are also doing certain calculations of burden costs that will burden employers – instead of relieving themselves – again. It is not a problem to calculate the average hourly wage, times the paid break, and you will see how serious the amounts are,” says Mario Nenadić, director of the FBiH Employers’ Association.
The contract for an indefinite period must become a legal practice, said Minister Delić explicitly, with the clarification that the law will define new tools for seasonal jobs, remote work and in the period of natural disasters.
“When it comes to a fixed-term contract, it will be retained, but it will be more precisely defined so that there are no abuses where people work for tens of years and are unable to ever get an indefinite contract. As for the break, that is something we discussed, but we did not reach a compromise,” says Delić.
Employers and Minister Delić agree that the economy needs additional relief. At the same time, the profession calls for finding a solution that benefits everyone.
“The law is a step forward compared to what was before and we should be aware that Europe is the part of the world where workers’ rights are the most protected. Employers’ deliberations are justified to a certain extent, but you always have a dialogue and that is why there is ESV and the mediating role of the Government because a compromise must be found”, concludes Aziz Šunje, professor at the UNSA Faculty of Economics.
The continuation of the dialogue and the finalization of the procedures for the modernization of the labor market, the relief of the business sector and the improvement of the position of workers are to come.
