Recommendations from the Second session of Working Group 2 – Social Policy and Employment (Chapter 19) – “Regulation of new (flexible) form of work in the Reforms of Labor relations in Republic of Macedonia”

RECOMMENDATIONS

26th of June 2018, Skopje

1. Clear legal definition and regulation of new forms of work (e.g., labor relationship through a digital platform).
2. The emergence of new heterogeneous forms of employment imposes the need for an analysis of the labor market trends in the Republic of Macedonia.
3. It is necessary to open a debate on the sensitization of public opinion and institutions related to issues on the protection of the labor rights and the social protection of workers.
4. Introducing flexibility and reform of the social security system in order to provide forms of protection for workers.
5. Inserting new forms of employment into active employment policies of the Government.
6. Providing Government subsidies for the formalization of new forms of labor and conducting an active public awareness campaign on the benefits of this measure.
7. Participation of labor unions, employers’ associations, and state authorities in defining and regulating new forms of employment as such.
8. The need to determine the difference between what may be legally considered an employment as such from what represents an economic exchange between independent contracting parties as such (defining the labor status in context of a contract of service – locatio conductio operis).
9. Further capacity building of the professional staff in the inspection bodies for the consistent implementation of the legal provisions on labor relations.
10. Defining clear legal criteria on regulating work from home, to avoid the implementation of a subjective approach in the adoption of measures to ban work from home.
11. Harmonization of the systemic laws and bylaws related to employment, wages, insurance, forms of organization of economic entities, taxation, education, and entrepreneurship (Law on Labor Relations, Salary Law, Law on Trade Companies, Law on Entrepreneurship, Personal Income Tax Law, Law on Education, Social Security Law, Law on Local Self-government).
12. Specifying the competencies in context of settling labor disputes (Second Instance State Commission on decision-making in administrative procedure and labor procedure, as well as the Courts that process labor disputes).
13. Introduction of an employment review procedure (third-instance procedure).
14. The state should introduce and support co-working premises for consultative meetings between people who offer or seek new forms of employment.
15. New forms of labor contracts are needed that will regulate the legal status of the party exercising his or her labor rights.