Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

The Committee notes the Government’s report received in September 2011 in response to its previous direct request, including a copy of the Labour Relations Act as amended until December 2010. It also notes that section 77(3) of the Labour Relations Act provides that sick leave does not constitute a valid reason for dismissal as long as absence for illness or injury is justified by a certificate, which can be delivered either by the general practitioner or by the Health Insurance Fund depending on leave duration (Article 6 of the Convention). It further notes that, by virtue of section 93 of the Labour Relations Act, an employee must exercise the right to appeal against dismissal within eight days from the date of receiving notice of termination of employment (Article 8(3)). The Government also indicates that about 9,700 cases of labour disputes were reported in 2010, almost 67 per cent of which were resolved, while approximately 5,300 appeals were processed. Nevertheless, the courts do not keep separate records indicating the number of disputes specifically based on termination of employment. The Committee therefore invites the Government to provide further information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including recent court decisions and relevant data, such as the number of appeals against unjustified termination, the outcome of such appeals, the nature of the remedy awarded and the average time taken for an appeal to be decided (Parts IV and V of the report form).

Exclusions. The Government reports that there are no exceptions in the application of the Convention for the categories of persons listed in Article 2(2) of the Convention. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement indicating that it does not believe there is any reason for excluding those persons from the scope of the Convention. The Committee invites the Government to explain in its next report the nature and the reasons for the exclusions contained in section 95(10) of the Labour Relations Act and to give examples of such collective lay-offs.

Invalid reasons for termination. The Government refers to section 77(3) of the Labour Relations Act which stipulates that approved leave due to illness or injury, pregnancy, birth, parenthood and care for a family member are invalid reasons for dismissing an employee. The Committee notes with interest the ban on discrimination stipulated in section 6(1) of the Labour Relations Act. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report examples of judicial decisions prohibiting employment termination on the grounds listed in Article 5 of the Convention.

Articles 13 and 14. Termination of employment for economic, technological, structural or similar reasons. The Committee notes that section 95(1) of the Labour Relations Act considers that terminations of at least 20 employees in a period of 90 days are due to business reasons (Article 13(2)). The Government indicates that this number of the workforce is deemed sufficiently precise but that it might be further defined in future collective agreements. The Committee also notes that, according to section 95(8) of the Labour Relations Act, employers shall notify the authorities (the service competent for mediation) at least 30 days before the reaching of its decision on collective dismissals (Article 14(3)). The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report available statistics on the number of terminations for economic or similar reasons.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2014.]