Skopje, 16 January 2023 (MIA) – Minister of Labour and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska stated Monday evening that there will be no scrapping of workers’ rights in the new draft law on labour relations and draft law on public sector wages system.

Speaking to Top Tema show on Telma TV, Trenchevska assessed the remarks to these two draft laws as spin and untruths and said that she does not know why trade unions are concerned about the two laws, especially the law on labour relations which, as she said, is being drafted in consultation with the trade unions.

According to Trenchevska, both laws promote labor rights. He assessed as positive the provisions in the law on labour relations, which reduce the duration of fixed-term contracts from the current five to two years.

Work from home and remote work are being introduced, and the new thing is that the upper limit for the duration of the annual leave has been removed, which will be determined together by the trade union and the employer through collective bargaining.

It is also an advantage that an obligation is introduced for the employer, if the employee’s work contract is terminated, to pay the employee annual leave, she added.

Trenchevska also rejected the claims that with the draft law on wages system, only the basic wage will be paid to the employee during the annual leave. As she noted, the basic wage will also include the past work.

This is a draft law, public debates will be organized and any possibility of a different interpretation will be part of public debates, Trenchevska said, adding that she expected all comments on these laws to be gathered by mid-February.

Trenchevska did not agree with the assessments of the trade unions that collective bargaining is suspended. According to Trenchevska, the powers given to the Minister of Finance, from whom a positive opinion should be obtained regarding the fiscal implications of the collective agreement on the budget, are justified. If a positive opinion is not received from the Minister of Finance for a concluded collective agreement, as explained by Trenchevska, the trade union and the employer will again sit down at the negotiating table.