Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

The Committee takes note of the observations concerning the application of the Convention by the Republic of Serbia made by the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) on behalf of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS). These comments were transmitted to the Government in January 2004, but no reply has so far been received.

According to the WCL, the Labour Law of the Republic of Serbia, which was adopted on 21 December 2001, fails in many respects to secure the effective observance of the Convention and considers its provisions on minimum wages to be retrogressive compared with those of the former Law on Labour Relations of the Republic of Serbia. More concretely, the WCL indicates that section 84 of the Labour Law of 2001 does not explicitly provide for the binding force of minimum wages nor does it refer to the prohibition of abatement of minimum wages once fixed. The WCL adds that the legal nature of the tripartite agreement, or the Government decision, as the case may be, fixing the minimum wage is not clear and further estimates that the absence of specific provisions on penal or other sanctions in the case of infringement of the minimum wage regulations is yet another indication of the inconsistency of the Serbian labour legislation with the requirements of the Convention. Finally, the WCL raises the question of procedural mechanisms enabling workers to recover sums by which they may have been underpaid and considers that the labour law offers no protection in this respect.

The Committee notes that since these comments were made, the Labour Law of the Republic of Serbia of 2001 has been superseded by a new labour law, which was adopted in March 2005 and subsequently amended in July 2005. The Committee also notes that the new labour law of the Republic of Serbia essentially reproduces the provisions on minimum wages of the previous labour law and therefore most of the comments of the WCL may be deemed to apply by analogy to the new labour legislation. The Committee therefore asks the Government to reply to the points raised by the WCL so that these points may be examined in detail at its next session.

The Committee is raising a number of points in a request addressed directly to the Government.