On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) a pandemic. In recent days, the number of cases has also been on the increase in the Republic of Serbia, wherefore the Government adopted several measures to prevent the spreading of the disease. They include the ban on gatherings of more than 100 people in confined spaces, temporary ban on entry into Serbia for foreign citizens arriving from the zones particularly affected by the disease, temporary closing of 44 minor border crossings and transfer of international road transport to major border crossings.

With regard to labour relations, the Government ordered that the employees in catering facilities along the transit route through Serbia and on motorways be provided by means of protection due to their contact with foreign tourists. Also, the staff in health and social protection systems in the Republic of Serbia are recommended not to travel to the countries with intensive transmission of COVID-19, i.e. to the countries with epidemic hot spots.

So far, there have been no recommendations for other employers, however it has been announced that the Government and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia would prepare rulebooks for companies regarding their further operation in the conditions of disease.

Anyhow, employers should act responsibly and to abide by the instructions and recommendations of health institutions and decisions of responsible state authorities.

In certain businesses and jobs, employers may consider the introduction of working from home or another form of remote work in order to prevent the risk from employees getting the disease, which many employers already practice within flexible working hours. The Serbian Labour Law also recognises such possibilities, however in extraordinary conditions like this one there needs to be a certain degree of flexibility. Therefore, employers cannot be expected to formally change the agreed working conditions by conclusion of annexes to employment contracts for the purpose of introducing work outside employer’s premises.

The Labour Law regulates the situations of employees’ absence from work due to suspension of work or reduced scope of work without the fault of employees. In case of absence of special regime for COVID-19, these options might be applied if employers temporarily suspend or reduce their business activities. According to the Law, in such situations employees would be entitled to salary amounting to at least 60% of average salary in the preceding 12 months, which cannot be lower than the minimum salary.

With regard to salary compensation, an employee who was prevented from working due to temporary measure of mandatory isolation as carrier or due to the outbreak of communicable diseases in his/her environment, as well as employees temporarily prevented from working due to sickness, shall be entitled to salary compensation amounting to 65% of the prescribed basis, in accordance with the Law on Health Insurance.

In addition to the above, one should also ensure that employees’ right to being informed does not collide with the right of a possibly diseased employee to privacy. Therefore, processing of data on health status of employees should be done carefully, considering that these are special types of personal data.

This article is to be considered as exclusively informative, with no intention to provide legal advice.
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