TSG Legal guide for employers: Redundancy – rights, obligations and procedures

Newsletter 153

Technological, economic and organizational changes are an inevitable part of modern business operations. In situations where such changes result in the cessation of the need for a certain number of employees, the employer is faced with a number of legal obligations under the Labor Law of the Republic of Serbia in order to lawfully conduct redundancy procedure. Properly defining the criteria for determining redundancies, preparing a redundancy program and communication with employees, trade unions and governmental institutions are key to ensuring this process is carried out in compliance with the law.

Below, you can read more about the mandatory elements required for implementing the redundancy procedure.

Redundancy program

An employer is obliged to adopt a redundancy program if it determines that, due to technological, economic or organizational changes, within a 30-day period, there will be a cessation of the need for employees employed for an indefinite period, i.e., at least:

• 10 employees with employers having more than 20 but less than 100 employees employed for indefinite period
• 10% of employees with employers having between 100 and 300 employees employed for indefinite period
• 30 employees with employers having more than 300 employees employed for indefinite period

Additionally, the redundancy program must be adopted if at least 20 employees are determined to be redundant within a 90-day period, regardless of the total number of employees employed by the employer.

Mandatory elements of the program

Redundancy program must contain key information, such as:

• the reasons for the cessation of the need of the employees
• the total number of employees at the employer
• the number and structure of employees who are declared redundant and the jobs they perform
• the redundancy criteria
• possible employment measures (transfer, additional training, employment with another employer, part-time work, etc.)
• measures for addressing the socio-economic status of redundant employees
• the deadline within which the employment agreement will be terminated