New way to calculate salaries as of 1 January 2017 - Parliament of Serbia adopts Law on Public Sector Salary System

The Serbian parliament on Monday passed the law on the salary system for public sector employees, which will apply to around 500,000 people employed by the state - their salaries will be calculated based on the same elements, the same base pay and a single pattern of coefficient range. In that way, the law implements the principle of "equal pay for equal work."

The coefficient range will be defined by separate laws, whose adoption is expected to follow in the wake of the passing of the umbrella law.

This law also stipulates that there shall be a basic salary as the product of multiplying the base pay by the coefficient. The coefficient range will be determined by accompanying regulations, but the base pay shall be determined every year in accordance with the budget of the Republic for the following year. As announced, the same base pay for the entire public sector will be determined by the budget law for each new year, but with a previously obtained opinion from the Social Economic Council.

The plan is to pass the laws regulating the employment status, salaries and other payments to public sector employees by 1 January 2017, while the laws regulating salaries and other payments to police officers, professional members of the Army of Serbia and security and intelligence agents shall be aligned with the provision of this law by 1 January 2018.

The law comes into force on 1 January 2017, but it will apply to police officers, professional members of the Army of Serbia and security and intelligence agents as of 1 January 2018.