• 2021-10-07

Announcement Commemorating World Day of Decent Work

The Center for Democracy Foundation wishes all workers and all people of the Republic of Serbia a happy World Day for Decent Work and reminds us that we are all responsible in the fight for the right to decent work!

With the ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Serbia assumed the obligation to adhere to, protect, to provide the means by which to exercise the right to decent work.

Still, data shows that most of our inhabitants are denied the right to decent work with regard to the possibility of gaining employment, exercising the right to adequate wages, right to protection in the event of unemployment as well as job security.

Serbia falls among the category of countries with the highest rate of those with unmet employment needs, in 2020 the number of unemployed or underemployed amounts to 620,100. The wages do not allow for a decent lifestyle for most employed persons and their families: The earnings of over 683,000 employed persons do not allow them to settle the cost of the minimum consumer basket, and over 1.6 million of these persons do not have the funds to afford the average consumer basket. 93% of the unemployed registered with the National Employment Service fail to receive monetary compensation, and those few who do, it is not enough for them to cross over the poverty line. Only three out of five employed persons in Serbia have signed employment contracts for an indefinite period, yet this type of contract does not guarantee future security, as the Serbian Employment Protection Legislation Index (EPL index) is one of the lowest in Europe.

Today the struggle to exercise labour rights is the struggle to preserve personal dignity. We believe that the only type of society that is solidary, that protects the social rights of workers and their families, is the only type of society that has the chance of developing.

The Center for Democracy Foundation will continue to promote decent work standards in Serbia - by supporting solid legislation which is effective in protecting labour rights, the equality of women, eradication of discrimination of elderly workers, the Roma population and other vulnerable social groups when seeking employment, and during employment, as well as the employment of youths in quality positions which offer potential for both personal and social development in line with the European standards to which Serbia aspires.

Center for Democracy Foundation