Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) - Serbia (Ratification: 2010)

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

The Committee takes note of the observations of the Trade Union Confederation “Nezavisnost”, received on 20 October 2023, the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS), received on 13 October 2023, and the Serbian Association of Employers, received on 13 October 2023. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 1 of the Convention. Coverage of women in atypical forms of employment. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that section 183(1) of the Labour Law guarantees that fixed-term contracts expiring during pregnancy or maternity leave are extended until the end of the maternity leave. The Committee also notes that section 187 of the same Law states that during pregnancy, maternity leave, leave to breastfeed a child and leave for special care of a child, the employer cannot terminate the employment contract, including in respect of fixed-terms contracts, which shall be extended until the end of the leave.

Article 8(2). Remuneration after maternity leave. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government that, according to section 33 of the new Law on Gender Equality, No. 52/2021, of 1 June, employers are obliged to guarantee the return of the worker after maternity leave to the same or equivalent job. The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Confederation “Nezavisnost”, indicating that national legislation is not yet fully harmonized with Article 8(2) of the Convention, since it does not expressly guarantee the return of the worker to the same position or equivalent, without a reduction in salary. In this context, the Committee requests the Government to reply to the observations of the Trade Union Confederation “Nezavisnost” in this regard. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to provide information concerning the measures adopted to ensure the return of women to the same or equivalent position without salary reduction, including, for example, labour inspection reports concerning violations in this respect, penalties imposed on employers and any court decisions or legal disputes if available.

Article 10. Nursing breaks. The Committee takes note with interest of the information provided by the Government that section 93A of the Labour Law provides nursing women with one or more daily breaks of a total duration of ninety minutes or reduction of daily work hours by ninety minutes, until the child is one year of age, if the amount of daily working hours is six or more. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which it ensures that women who work less than the statutory working time, e.g. those working less than six daily hours, are also entitled to nursing breaks, as required by Article 10 of the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Article 8(2) of the Convention. Remuneration after maternity leave. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, after maternity leave, parental leave or special leave for childcare, the employee shall be reinstated into the post set out in the employment contract. However, the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS) indicates that, in practice, after maternity leave, women who return to work face a reduction in their wage on the grounds that they will have lost the capacity for work that they would have acquired if they had not been absent. This wage reduction appears in a rider to the employment contract. The Confederation emphasizes the difficulty of providing proof of harassment or discrimination of the employee. The Committee recalls that, under Article 8(2) of the Convention, at the end of the maternity leave a woman is guaranteed the right to return to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate. In view of these comments, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the application of Article 8(2) of the Convention is ensured in law and practice.

Article 10. Nursing breaks. The Government indicates that there is no provision on nursing breaks or the reduction of hours of work for breastfeeding as employees are entitled to leave of up to two years. The Government also indicates that amendments will be made to the Labour Law to enable women who wish to work to benefit from daily breaks to breastfeed their child. The Committee hopes that these amendments will be adopted shortly and that they will ensure the full application of this Article of the Convention in national law.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Article 1 of the Convention. Atypical forms of work. The Committee notes the comments of the Trade Union Confederation “Nezavisnost” dated 5 September 2013 indicating that, although the national legislation provides for maternity protection that exceeds the provisions of the Convention, in practice those provisions are not applied to all forms of work. Only employees in the formal sector with an open-ended contract are covered, which represents less than 10 per cent of the country’s women employees. In 2012, there were 935,486 women aged 15–65 years in the labour market, of whom 850,971 (90.96 per cent) had a fixed-term contract and only 84,515 (9.34 per cent) had a permanent contract. In respect of the number of workers of childbearing age, according to the trade union, only 7.8 per cent of women exercise their right to cash benefits during maternity leave. The Committee requests the Government to reply to these comments and to specify the manner in which the provisions of the Labour Code on maternity protection apply to women workers with a fixed-term contract, including women workers with occasional or temporary employment, or who are members of youth or student cooperatives governed by sections 197, 198 and 199 of the Labour Code.

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