In neighboring countries, students are given the opportunity to get temporary employment during the winter and summer holidays, gain work experience and earn their own pocket money.
Such a practice encourages the development of work habits, a sense of responsibility and financial literacy among young people, from which the students themselves, as well as society and the country as a whole, benefit in the long term.
However, this is not the case in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although employers receive hundreds of inquiries and requests every year from parents who want their children to work during school holidays, current laws do not allow this.
In this way, young people are not only denied the opportunity to earn, but also the opportunity to learn through work, develop independence and prepare for the future labor market, but also encourages the development of the black market, because a large number of them will find those who are willing to pay them for their work in cash, without any documentation and without benefit to the state.
Portal Vijesti.ba brings an example of an employer who approached the FBIH Tax Administration with a question about how students who do not have the status of employees can be paid for their work on simple jobs and whether such payments are allowed and how such payments would be treated from a tax perspective, and what forms to submit in this case?
Answer from the Tax Administration
The FBIH Tax Administration received a response that they received a response from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy that there is no possibility of engaging minors in regular education in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law.
Regarding the specific situation, an opinion was also requested from the Federal Ministry of Finance on the actions of the Tax Administration regarding the tax treatment of benefits that would be paid to students engaged in simple jobs, and given that the Federal Ministry of Finance issues a general tax opinion that represents its position when the regulations do not clearly indicate how to act in the presented tax situation.
The Ministry replied that regulations under their jurisdiction regulate the payer, basis, rates and method of paying taxes and contributions, as well as the submission of applications to the Unified System of Registration, Control and Collection of Contributions in connection with the employment of minors.
“However, in order to define the above, it is necessary to find a way to engage such persons in accordance with the labor regulations, which, according to the current provisions of the Labor Law, is not feasible,” the Ministry’s response stated.
What does the Law say?
The Labor Law prescribes general conditions for establishing an employment relationship. The law does not explicitly state anywhere that regular students are prohibited from working. In terms of the provision of Article 20 of the mentioned law, an employment contract cannot be concluded with a person younger than 15 years of age, with the fact that a person between 15 and 18 years of age, i.e. a minor, can conclude an employment contract, i.e. be employed only with the consent of the legal representative and on the condition that he obtains a medical certificate from an authorized doctor or a competent health institution proving that he has the general health capacity to work.
Special conditions for establishing an employment relationship, such as required professional qualifications, work experience, etc. are determined by the employer’s work regulations in accordance with the provisions of Article 118 of the Labor Law. Therefore, in order for a certain person to conclude an employment contract and establish an employment relationship based on it, it is necessary to meet the general conditions from the Labor Law, as well as special conditions from the labor regulations, i.e. another internal act of the employer, i.e. that he has the necessary professional qualifications and work experience.
“However, considering that in the case in question we are talking about regular students who have not yet completed high school education, i.e. they have not obtained a professional title, the question arises of their fulfillment of special conditions for starting an employment relationship in terms of the necessary professional education, i.e. acquired qualifications, as well as the necessary work experience. Also, based on their status, regular students exercise certain rights, such as the right to health insurance. Considering that the right to health insurance is also exercised based on applying for mandatory insurance when starting an employment relationship, this would in in the case of the possible establishment of a working relationship with regular students, there was an overlap in the realization of the aforementioned right”, it is stated in the letter of the Ministry of Social Policy of the FBiH.
Regulations for temporary work
Furthermore, the Labor Law, in addition to establishing an employment relationship by concluding an employment contract, also provides for the performance of work for the employer on the basis of a concluded contract on the performance of temporary and occasional jobs, on the basis of which the employment relationship with the employer is not based. Namely, the provision of Article 166 of the mentioned law stipulates that a temporary and casual work contract can be concluded for the performance of temporary and casual work, under the conditions that the temporary and casual work are determined in the collective agreement or in the labor regulations and that the temporary and casual work do not represent jobs for which a work contract is concluded for a fixed or indefinite time, with full or part-time work and that they do not last longer than 60 days during the calendar year. A person who performs temporary and occasional jobs is guaranteed rest during work under the same conditions as for workers in an employment relationship and other rights, in accordance with the regulations on pension and disability insurance.
“Therefore, we are talking about certain auxiliary jobs with the employer, i.e. non-systematized jobs for which an employment contract is not concluded, but a contract for the performance of temporary and occasional jobs, the conclusion of which does not establish an employment relationship with the employer. The performance of the aforementioned jobs can last no longer than 60 days during the calendar year. Although the conclusion of a contract for the performance of temporary and occasional jobs does not establish an employment relationship, we point out that possible obstacles for this type of engagement could be related to the fact that the mentioned persons have the status of regular students. Bearing in mind that in the case in question, among other things, we are talking about minor regular students who have not yet completed high school education, and who would be employed by the employer during the vacation between two school years, we are of the opinion that the employer should first of all consider the possibility of doing part-time work in accordance with the cantonal regulations on secondary education”, according to the letter of the Ministry of Social Policy of the FBiH.
The law obviously needs to be changed, and the tax records of students who want to work would enable the authorities to not have bureaus full of fake job seekers tomorrow, they write. Vijesti.ba
