Employers can't lay off workers in Serbia until New Year: Deadline extended for another 3 months

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The legal framework to implement the second package of economic measures has been adopted. The package includes the payment of 60 percent of the minimum wage twice, as well as postponement of the payment of taxes and contributions on wages for one month - and the whole package is worth 66 billion dinars.

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For this package as well, the state has set certain conditions, the most important point concerning workers being whether the deadline for employers' right to fire them will be extended, linked to minimum wage payments.

As the relevant ministry confirmed for our portal, the deadline has been moved for another three months, after workers receive the last payment.

Therefore, the condition for receiving state assistance is, as during the first package, not to fire more than 10 percent of the workforce.

Effectively, if the second minimum wage is paid in September, then these extra three months are October, November and December.

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"If an economic entity wants to make use of the measures of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary not to reduce the number of workers by more than 10 percent in the period of three months from the payment of the last minimum wage. The state has managed to maintain full employment, our economic activity and cash flows shows that the Republic of Serbia is on the right track. The effects of the first package of measures are already visible, because more salaries were paid on July 30 than on February 29 this year," said Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali.

During the previous package to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, employers were not allowed to fire workers until the end of October, for as long long as the whole package of measures was ongoing.

Previously, the state supported the economy by paying three months' worth of minimum wages. The first was paid to the companies' accounts at the beginning of May, the second on June 4, and the third on July 7. Large companies received 15,000 dinars three times for each worker, while all others received a little over 30,000 per worker, i.e., the entire minimum wage.

(Telegraf Biznis)