In 2003, April 28 has been established as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, when the International Labour Organization launched an initiative for promotion of safe and healthy work, with the aim of raising awareness of its significance.

Since then, several regulations have been passed in the Republic of Serbia in order to establish conditions for safe and healthy work, among which the most important is the Law on Safety and Health at Work (Official Gazette of RS no. 101/2005, 91/2015 and 113 / 2017 – other law) (“the Law”).

Some of the key provisions of the Law

According to the Law, not only employees are entitled to the safety and health at work, but also pupils and students on mandatory production work, professional practice or practical classes, individuals undergoing vocational training, retraining or additional training, individuals on vocational rehabilitation, individuals serving sentence while working in the economic unit of the penitentiary institution or at another place of work, individuals on voluntary and public works organized in the general interest, work actions and contests related to work, as well as individuals being in the work environment for the purpose of performing certain tasks, if the employer is aware of their presence.

Obligations of the employer in terms of the Law and by-laws passed thereon at the same time represent the rights of employees regarding the implementation of safety and health measures at work.

Thus, the employer is obliged to ensure that the employees work at the workplace and in the work environment where the necessary measures for safety and health at work have been applied, to adjust the work process to the physical and mental capabilities of the employee, as well as to enable work environment, work assets, and equipment for personal protection at work which are arranged, i.e., produced and secured so that they do not endanger the safety and health of the employee. Additionally, the employer is obliged to ensure that the implementation of safety and health measures at work does not cause financial obligations for employees and their representatives, as well as to provide preventive measures to protect lives and health of employees, and the financial resources necessary for their implementation.

In relation to the above, the employer is obliged to issue a written risk assessment act for all workplaces in the work environment and to determine the manner and measures to eliminate risks, as well as to stipulate rights, obligations, and responsibilities with regards to the safety and health at work in its general act or collective agreement.

Furthermore, the employer is obliged to provide employees the work assets, i.e., means and equipment for personal protection at work with prescribed measures for safety and health at work applied thereto, and to ensure control of their use in accordance with the purpose, as well as to educate the employees for safe and healthy work.

Safety and health at work during the COVID-19 pandemic

Safety and health at work became particularly vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, when both employers and employees encountered numerous challenges in this regard.

For this reason, as a by-law to the Law, the Rulebook on Preventive Measures for Safe and Healthy Work to Prevent the Occurrence and Spread of an Epidemic of Infectious Disease (Official Gazette of RS no. 94/2020) (“the Rulebook”) was passed, which prescribes preventive measures that the employer is obliged to apply in order to prevent the occurrence and spread of an infectious disease and eliminate risks for safe and healthy work of its employees, as well as of other persons present in the work environment, when the competent authority declares such epidemic.

The provisions of the Rulebook apply to all workplaces in the work environment in which the work is performed, except for the fieldwork and working from home.

Pursuant to the Rulebook, the employer is obliged to adopt a plan for the implementation of measures for prevention of occurrence and spread of an infectious disease epidemic, which is an integral part of the risk assessment act, and which needs to be compliant with decisions of the competent authority during the epidemic.

The above-mentioned work from home, which according to the provisions of the Labour Law (Official Gazette of RS no. 24/2005, 61/2005, 54/2009, 32/2013, 75/2014, 13/2017 – decision of the CC, 113/2017 and 95/2018 – authentic interpretation) (“the Labour Law”) is one of the two possible forms of employment for performing work outside the employer’s premises, which also attained huge importance because of the pandemic, especially during the state of emergency.

Regarding the remote employment, the Labour Law prescribes the content of the employment contract concluded between the employer and the employee for the respective purpose, while it also involves provisions on the basic salary of such employee, as well as regarding the quantity and deadlines for performing of the work the basis of such contract.

ILO conventions

 Conventions passed by the International Labour Organization, some of which have been ratified by the Republic of Serbia, i.e., integrated into our legal system, are of particular importance for the subject matter.

Thus, in accordance with the Law on Ratification of the Convention no. 155 of the International Labour Organization on Occupational Safety and Health and Working Environment (Official Gazette of the SFRY – International Agreements No. 7/87) (“the Convention”), each Member shall, in the light of national conditions and practice, and in consultation with the most representative organisations of employers and workers, formulate, implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment, as well as to, by laws or regulations or any other method consistent with national conditions and practice and in consultation with the representative organisations of employers and workers concerned, take such steps as may be necessary thereof.

The Convention also sets out that employers shall be required to ensure that the workplaces, machinery, equipment, and processes under their control are safe and without risk to health, that the chemical, physical and biological substances and agents under their control are without risk to health when the appropriate measures of protection are taken, as well as to provide adequate protective clothing and protective equipment to prevent risk of accidents or of adverse effects on health.

Expected novelties in domestic legislation

In the end, although the Government of the Republic of Serbia declared 2019 as the year of safety and health at work, to draw special public attention to the importance of this matter, since it is an issue of general social importance, i.e., in the common interest of all employees and employers, a new Law on Safety and Health at Work has not yet been enacted. The last draft of the said regulation was published on 20 September 2021, and according to the latest information, it has received a “green light” from the Social and Economic Council.

In addition, although the provisions of Article 53 of the existing Law stipulate that the employer is obliged to insure employees against injuries at work, occupational diseases and diseases related to work, in order to provide compensation, whereby the conditions and procedures in that regard are regulated by law, such law has not yet been passed.

Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the legislative framework will be completed soon, as well as how it will be implemented in practice, so that each day at work is indeed safe and healthy.

This article is to be considered as exclusively informative, with no intention to provide legal advice. If you should need additional information, please contact us directly.